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I have a wonderful little side dish recipe for you all today. This fabulous Cheesy Spanish Rice can be made in 30 minutes or less and goes perfectly with many delicious Mexican dishes like Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Ground Beef Enchiladas or the tasty Sweet and Hot Shrimp Tacos I posted this past Friday. The rice is flavorful, without being overly spicy. If you want to leave out the cheese (fewer calories, you know) then please do. It’s still delightful! Hope you enjoy it!
I also wanted to tell you about a great giveaway I have posted today sponsored by Rubee Lane. Click here to read all about it. 🙂
Have a great day!
1. Heat a large, deep skillet up over medium high heat. Toss 2 tablespoons of butter into the not pan and let it melt.
2. Add 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1/4 cup chopped red pepper. Allow the vegetables to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent.
3. Add 2 cups of rice. Give it a nice stir to combine and then and allow the rice to cook a bit. You want some of it to turn a beautiful golden brown color. This really enhances the flavor of the rice. Be carefull not to let it burn. We are just looking for some of the grains of rice to turn golden brown. Not all. Just some. 🙂
4. Add 1 can of tomato sauce
and 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth. (I used 3 1/2 cups of hot water with 3 1/2 teaspoons of chicken bullion mixed in).
5. Toss in 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and stir everything together.
6. Reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Allow the mixture to simmer and cook for about 12-15 minutes,
or until the rice has soaked up the liquid and is no longer crunchy.
7. Sprinkle the rice with a bit of salt and pepper and toss another tablespoon of butter in. Stir it all together to combine.
8. Turn off the heat and sprinkle 1 cup of mexican blend cheese over the top of the rice. (The cheese is optional. If you are looking for a rice dish with less calories, just skip the cheese. It’s still super yummy without it.)
Cover the pan and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Serve and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 T butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 C chopped onion
- 1/4 C chopped red, orange or green bell pepper
- 2 C rice (I use short grain)
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 3 1/2 C chicken broth
- 1/2 t cumin
- salt and pepper
- 1 T butter
- 1 C shredded mexican blend cheese
Instructions
1. Heat a large, deep skillet up over medium high heat. Toss 2 tablespoons of butter into the not pan and let it melt.
2. Add 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1/4 cup chopped red pepper. Allow the vegetables to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent.
3. Add 2 cups of rice. Give it a nice stir to combine and then and allow the rice to cook a bit. You want some of it to turn a beautiful golden brown color. This really enhances the flavor of the rice. Be carful not to let it burn. We are just looking for some of the grains of rice to turn golden brown. Not all. Just some. 🙂
4. Add 1 can of tomato sauce and 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth. (I used 3 1/2 cups of hot water with 3 1/2 teaspoons of chicken bullion mixed in).
5. Toss in 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and stir everything together.
6. Reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Allow the mixture to simmer and cook for about 12-15 minutes, or until the rice has soaked up the liquid and is no longer crunchy.
7. Sprinkle the rice with a bit of salt and pepper and toss another tablespoon of butter in. Stir it all together to combine.
8. Turn off the heat and sprinkle 1 cup of mexican blend cheese over the top of the rice. (The cheese is optional. If you are looking for a rice dish with less calories, just skip the cheese. It's still super yummy without it.) Cover the pan and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!
I love your website and the beautiful pictures.
thank you
Looks delicious. A perfect side for some upcoming burritos ! Thanks.
Hi, love your site, I am new to it. Did you use white or brown short grain brown rice? Do you find that with regular rice or is it a bulk item? Thank you. Looks delicious.
Hi Teresa,
I used short grain white rice. Good luck!
~Jamie
Hi, how do I register to receive new recipes?
Oh, and THANK YOU for having a crockpot section!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🙂
Z
ZZ,
If you look up at the top of the page, under my header you’ll see four gray circles. Click on the envelope to register to get email updates. Hope this helps! 🙂
~Jamie
Jamie
This look so good—It looks like it would be a good recipe to have as a standard with Mexican food—and we tend to eat quite a bit of it here.
One question I do have—I am looking at your skillet–it looks like a real nice one–I am so fed up with my skillets I use–seems so many of them once they are good and worn in they get rockety (you know rock on the stove). That one looks like it has a good solid bottom. May I ask what kind you have. I do have cast iron type—but for cooking like this I prefer something similar to what you are using.
Skillets warp for many reasons; but the biggest reason is when they are hot people take them to the sink and put water in them. Never wash a pan until it is completely cooled to prevent warping.
I made this to go with your creamy chicken enchaladas the other day, and both were great, but I have to say I really loved this rice dish. The cheese on top was so yummy.
I made the rice with the Creamy Chicken Enchilada Casserole over the weekend. Everyone loved it……Thank you so much for a new go-to meal.
made this for my parents today – they loved it! will definitely cook this again 🙂
I made this for supper and let me tell you….it was delish!!!! Better than our local restaurant. I was feeling very proud of myself, even shared some leftovers with our youth pastor–he and his family loved it also. Jamie I love your recipes!! I have made many, many of your recipes and they have all been delish! You have never let me down! 🙂 Thank you!!!