Easy Taco Rice
Hey guys! It’s been a little quiet around the blog this week because of chaos elsewhere and the fact that I lost my internet connection for a couple of days (my worst nightmare). BUT I’m still keeping up with my meal prep and to prepare for that this week I made a big batch of Taco Rice. What is Taco Rice? It’s simply rice that has been seasoned with the same herbs and spices that I’d use to season taco meat. I’ve made several versions of this in the past, but this time I kept it simple and made it vegan-friendly!
How to Serve Easy Taco Rice
What can you do with taco rice? Welllllllll just about everything. Serve it as a side with beans like what you get at a Mexican restaurant (Mexican-American, that is), use it to fill a burrito, or build a delicious bowl meal on top of it. This rice is flavorful, but neutral enough to serve as a base for several different dishes. Here are some recipes that you can serve with Taco Rice:
- Weeknight Enchiladas
- Fish Tacos
- Poor Man’s Burrito Bowls
- Slow Cooker Carnitas
- Sweet Potato Tacos with Lime Crema
Don’t Skip the Fat
What makes this taco rice extra yummy? The fat. #sorrynotsorry. I used a neutral oil, but you could use whatever type of oil or fat you like best, just as long as there’s enough to lightly coat every grain of rice and make it absolutely deee-lish.
Easy Taco Rice
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 1 small onion ($0.32)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 2 cups long grain white rice* ($1.32)
- 1/2 Tbsp chili powder** ($0.15)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp oregano ($0.02)
- 3 cups water ($0.00)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.20)
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and cooking oil to a medium sauce pot. Sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent.
- Add the uncooked rice, chili powder, cumin, and oregano to the pot. Continue to stir and cook for about 2 minutes to toast the rice and spices. You should hear the rice making crackling noises.
- Finally, add the water and salt, and give everything a brief stir. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow it to come to a boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low, or slightly above low, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit for 10 minutes without removing the lid. After letting it rest for 10 minutes, fluff the rice with a fork. Sprinkle sliced green onions over top just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Taco Rice – Step by Step Photos
Begin by finely dicing one small onion and mincing a clove of garlic. Add the onion and garlic to a medium sauce pot with 2 Tbsp of your preferred cooking oil (I just used canola). Sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent.
Add 2 cups uncooked white long grain rice, along with 1/2 Tbsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp oregano, and 1 tsp salt. Continue to stir and cook the rice and spices for about 2 minutes. This will toast the rice and spices and enhance their flavor. You should hear the rice making crackling noises.
Add 3 cups of water and give the pot a brief stir. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come to a boil. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low (or just slightly above low) and let the pot simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let the rice sit with the lid in place for 10 minutes. Finally, uncover the rice and it should look a little like the photo above. :)
Fluff the rice with a fork to redistribute the spices and onions which probably floated to the top.
Sprinkle sliced green onions over the Taco Rice just before serving. And try not to eat spoonfuls right out of the pot. :P
Easy taco rice recipe , Could this be done with precooked rice?
Thx
You would need to use a different technique for pre-cooked rice. I’d need to test out some options before offering advice.
This recipe is less flavorful than I expected–I wouldn’t use it on its own, but it makes a great “canvas” for other recipes like burrito bowls or a bed for grilled chicken. I recommend doubling or tripling the spice amounts.
Use chicken or vegetable broth. It’s perfect.
I would like to know if you could do this recipe in a rice cooker?
Love all your Recipes have made quite a few now. Thank you so Much!
Yes, you definitely can! :)
I’ve been making this recipe at least once a month (and sometimes more than once a week!) for the past 2.5 years or so, so I have learned the tricks of this recipe!
It is so important to use as much oil and salt as the recipe calls for – I tried to make it a little healthier by cutting down and it was not nearly as good! You can probably cut back on the oil and it would still be okay, but the salt really is key to bringing out the flavors.
The longer you let the onion cook, the better – it helps get the pan nice and hot to toast the rice and spices.
I personally double the oregano and do heaping measurements of the spices to pack a little more flavor in.
This recipe is good for everything from those make-ahead bean and cheese burritos to rice and bean bowls to just eating with a spoon over the pot because it’s that good!