Spanish Rice Recipe With Rotel

Reviews (3167)

Most helpful positive review

This is the best Spanish rice recipe on this site! I don't understand why people don't follow the direction to saute the rice! This is not supposed to be a "sticky rice" like Puerto Rican or Chinese rice, but that's what you'll get if you don't saute it first. I don't agree that you should brown it.... it should turn translucent, but not brown. If you are adding fresh garlic, add it after sauteing the rice and only cook it long enough for it to release it's aroma..don't brown it-it will turn bitter. After you add the liquid, bring the rice to a full, rolling boil before turning it down to low and putting the lid on. Also, make sure you have a tight fitting lid...cover it with foil to make it tighter if necessary. Don't peek while the rice it cooking! After 20 minutes move it off the heat and let it "rest" another 5 minutes. If you do these things you will have purfect rice! Even though I ususally use homemade salsa, I think the Pace "Make Mine Medium" gives the right amount of heat and flavor to the dish. Thanks for a great recipe that everyone can master and enjoy! Read More

Most helpful critical review

this was just ok for us. i found it kinda bland. the texture was great though. i had extra long grain rice and i only used 1 cup and the whole amount of liquid as stated. Read More

3108 Ratings

5 star values: 2220
4 star values: 645
3 star values: 156
2 star values: 53
1 star values: 34

HELPFUL TIPS NOT MENTIONED: I've tried all the other recipes on this site & decided this is the best! I like using salsa more than diced tomatoes b/c it has more flavor and spice ...and it doesn't taste like you just dumped salsa in it like I expected. This is only for my family of 4, so I use 3/4C of uncooked rice, definitely a little more than half a tablespoon of olive oil (full recipe calls for too much), with 3/4 of the can of chicken broth (approx 1 1/2C), BUT still use 1C of salsa as I feel it's necessary, as well as a few dashes of pepper. I only brown rice a few minutes longer after it's turned WHITE (very apparent white color). Being Asian myself, I could cook rice w/my eyes closed it seems. lol Many times we don't add onions b/c I'm too lazy to dice them. If we do, it definitely needs more than suggested or it's pointless adding. It's even better when you add diced green & red peppers to the rice you are browning or use green onion instead of white/red. We eat the rice every time we make "Whit's Chicken Enchiladas" which is SUPER EASY and YUMMY! This takes less time than indicated for the rice to be done. Also great to put in baking dish, add cheese, and bake at 350 until it melts! :) Read More

I made this spanish rice for Xmas Eve Dinner, it was excellent. However I did have to add some water & let it simmer a little longer to get the rice done. I added just 1/4 tsp. chili powder to it. My cousin who is a chef said, "it's perfect". That ought to tell you something. Thanks for the recipe. Read More

Delicious results for minimal effort. I prepared this as written except for using butter rather than vegetable oil. This worked perfectly with our chicken enchiladas and Frijoles a la Charra. Good stuff! Read More

I made this yesterday to go with the Mexican Theme of my son and husband's birthday party dinner. I modified it for a large group and used 6 cups chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups picante sauce and 4 cups rice. I did have to add about 2 cups more water since the rice was still a little chewy after cooking down. I then just added garlic and onion powder to it, spread it in a 9x13 baking pan and sprinkled mexican blend cheese over the top and put in the oven for about 15 min till the cheese was melted. this was sooo good and sooo easy to make! Thanks for the great recipe! Read More

Delicious & Easy! Best Spanish rice I have ever made. I think even better than our local mexican restaurant. I added about 2 & 1/2 C. chicken broth. Either need to do that or cut rice from 1 & 1/2 C. down to 1 C. Also, did not brown rice as read reviews saying made it too crunchy. I sauteed onions and then added broth, rice, and salsa and cooked slowly so that rice would be soft. A keeper! Read More

tastey! i used pace picante sauce (salsa) and 1/2 brown rice and 1/2 white. Next time, i'll use all brown rice since it is so much healthier for you! We couldn't taste the dirty bland-ness of brown rice at all, the flavor was perfect. One thing to change however- it takes about 30 mins or so to simmer! It was the last part of our dinner to finish. ;) Read More

This is a GREAT base for spanish rice. I love the idea of cooking it in chicken broth! However I do make a few changes. I use enchilada sauce instead of salsa-just about 1/2 of a small can. ( I usually make this with my enchiladas so I have it on hand) I also add cumin which is ESSENTIAL and green chiles. I also add a little cayenne, but that is just my preference! Read More

This is a good recipe. Did it exactly as recipe says except substituted with ROTEL...what I don't understand is people giving low stars but yet they make all these changes to the recipe...brown rice, etc. By the way recipe say to cook onions on med. for about 5 minutes it doesn't say you have to. And as with alot of recipes when you brown or toast the rice first then you add the liquid. It doesn't have to be hot liquid and then adding the rice. I just get really annoyed when people change up recipes and then low star it It ridiculous. Great recipe Read More

this was just ok for us. i found it kinda bland. the texture was great though. i had extra long grain rice and i only used 1 cup and the whole amount of liquid as stated. Read More