The perfect side dish for Mexican night is this recipe for Mexican rice loaded with black beans, green peppers and spices.
One of my favourite things about being a food blogger are all of the opportunities we have to be creative. As a food blogger, I have the opportunity to create new recipes, take beautiful photos, write each post and even produce food videos. Then there are all of the not-so-creative elements like hundreds of emails, the behind-the-scenes late night server overloading and all the tech that I don’t really have a grasp on. But other than those few, less creative elements, I think in general that running any blog is extremely creative.
This recipe for Mexican rice is perfect for Taco Tuesday or just Mexican night in general, it would be the perfect accompaniment to my slow cooker chicken tacos, or you could even use this rice for burritos – it’s incredibly versatile. I love Mexican food and the other night when I was babysitting, dinner was this incredibly and authentic Mexican Rice, so I decided to put my creative mind to use and try and come up with my very own version of Mexican rice for you. I wanted this rice dish to have plenty of vegetables and flavour. In this case, I’ve used green pepper for the veggies and a combination of cumin, taco seasoning and tomato paste, I’ve also stirred in a bit of a cheddar cheese at the end to add a hint of cheesiness to this dish and black beans for a hit of protein. While this is the perfect side dish, I think it could also work for a budget-friendly main and a twist on rice and beans. I like to make my own taco seasoning at home, but you can use store-bought as well or a combination of chili powder, cumin, oregano and paprika.
If you’re looking for a Mexican rice recipe that is similar to what you’ll find at Chipotle, I’ve made a copy-cat Cilantro Lime Rice that is another great option to pair with Mexican dishes.
10 minPrep Time
26 minCook Time
36 minTotal Time
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Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ green pepper, diced
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- ½ tsp cumin
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup cheddar cheese
- 1 bayleaf
- ½ 19oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
Instructions
- In a medium pan, heat olive oil and saute onion for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or until fragrant. Add in the diced green pepper, taco seasoning and cumin and cook for another 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and hot sauce.
- Add, rice and stir to coat. Add water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 18 minutes or until rice is cooked and no liquid remains.
- Once rice is cooked, remove bayleaf and stir in cheese and black beans.
Let me know if you make this Mexican rice in the comments below.
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