Mexican Green Rice

This Mexican Green Rice recipe (AKA arroz verde) is perfect for tacos, burritos, bowls and more! It’s incredibly easy to make, flavorful and both gluten free and vegan.

You probably know this by now if you’re a regular around here, but I looooove Mexican food. The flavors are always amazing and most recipes are actually fairly simple to make with minimal ingredients. Take my ground beef tacos for example!

This green rice recipe is no exception. It requires just 10 simple ingredients, including salt, and is ready in under 30 minutes.

I love to serve it in tacos, burritos or as a base for my nourish bowls. There’s so many options and it’s even freezer friendly! Serve this rice alongside my salmon tacos or cajun salmon for a very flavorful dinner!

Key ingredients

WHITE RICE. I recommend sticking with white rice just to ensure even cooking. I like jasmine rice and suggest that for this recipe!

CILANTRO. A generous amount of cilantro adds so much flavor to this green rice.

ONION/GARLIC. I like using white or yellow onion here. We’ll blend these up with the rest of the ingredients to create the sauce for cooking.

SPINACH. This is optional, but I love adding veggies into dishes when I can. You won’t taste it at all and it will make the sauce an even more vibrant green color.

LIME. Some lime, serrano pepper and salt really round out the flavors.

BROTH. You can use chicken or veggie broth. I used low sodium, but if you use regular, just decrease the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.

How to make Mexican Green Rice

Add the chopped onion, cilantro, spinach, garlic, salt, lime juice, diced serrano peppers* and 1/2 cup worth of broth to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Add in the rice and toast for 2-3 minutes. This helps bring out lots of flavor.

Add the cilantro mixture and the rest of the broth to the rice. Stir well, then bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, to finish cooking for about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and sprinkle on top extra chopped cilantro and red pepper flakes. Serve as a side with my gluten free enchiladas!

Storage Tips

This recipe makes a fairly big batch, about 6 cups of cooked rice since we’re starting with 2 cups of uncooked rice.

That may seem like a lot, but it stores well in the freezer for up to 3 months so you don’t have to worry about wasting any.

Tips for fluffy rice

Use the right ratio of rice to liquid. This will vary depending on the rice you use, but I find the best ratio for long grain white rice is about 1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups liquid.

For this recipe you need 2 cups of rice, so 3 cups of broth.

Keep the heat on low with the lid on. You want the lid to remain on so the steam is trapped which helps cook the rice without adding too much extra liquid. Keeping the lid on the whole time will also ensure the rice cooks evenly.

Don’t stir too frequently (if at all). Stirring rice is key when making things like risotto because you want it to get creamy, but when making regular rice, you want it fluffy, not creamy!

Stirring too frequently will release more starches into the broth and can cause the rice to get mushy.

You’ll also love…

• Cilantro Lime Rice
• Mexican Inspired Cauliflower Rice
• Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
• Fried Rice

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