Spanish Rice Recipe

Spanish rice is a dish that many of us are familiar with in packet form — open the envelope, pour it into pan, add water, and cook. Sure, it makes for a pretty decent side dish, but guess what? A made-from-scratch version isn't too difficult, either, plus it comes with a significant upgrade in flavor. As recipe developer Catherine Brookes describes this recipe, it's "a great way to spruce up basic rice, and turn it into a flavorful, colorful side dish that pairs brilliantly with meat, fish, or many other main meals."

Brookes notes that one convenient thing about this Spanish rice recipe is that it only requires a single pot to prepare it in. She also says "I love that it only requires simple ingredients," although adds that if you want to get a bit fancier, you could use a shallot in place of the onion. You could also swap out the canned tomatoes for tomato sauce, if that is what you have on hand. 

Most of what you'll need to cook this rice, you can probably find in your pantry. Check for olive oil, rice (the long-grain white kind), a can of diced tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and salt. You'll also need chicken broth or stock — Brookes uses the kind from a carton, but canned or homemade would also work. The last thing you'll need is 2 types of fresh produce: an onion, and a couple cloves of garlic.

While the rice will fully cook once the liquid has been added, Brookes likes to give it a little more flavor by pre-cooking it in a little oil. Heat the olive oil over medium-high, then fry the rice for a few minutes, until it begins to brown.

Once the rice is brown-ish, add the chopped onion to the pot, and cook it for 5 minutes, until it's soft. Add the minced garlic, and cook it for a minute more, then add the stock, tomatoes, and spices to the pot, along with as much salt as you feel the dish needs. Remember — you can always add more salt, but you can't take it away. 

Heat the rice until the liquid is boiling, then turn the temperature down, until it's merely simmering. Cook the mixture for 15 to 20 minutes, until all of the liquid has been absorbed, then fluff up the rice with a fork.

If you have leftover Spanish rice, you could always use it in a casserole, or Brookes suggests that "It would also work well as part of a burrito or taco filling." She also says that this rice dish does freeze pretty well, so that's another option.