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!
Goes great with: Weeknight Enchiladas, Poor Man’s Burrito Bowls, Slow Cooker Carnitas, Sweet Potato Tacos with Lime Crema
Easy Taco Rice
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.
And what makes it 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.
Stay tuned tomorrow to see how this Taco Rice worked its way into my Sunday Meal Prep!
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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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
Ever since I first cooked this it has been a staple in our household. I remember me and my boyfriend standing over the stove eating forkfuls out of the pan because it was so good we didn’t wanna grab a plate!
Out of laziness, however, we have gone rogue to make this more of a complete meal with no extra steps.
I brown some hamburger and then cook the onion and a green pepper choped, and then when we dump the water in I also add those and a can of corn and a can of black beans and some salsa. I double the spices to compensate, but it becomes this perfect delicious burrito filling!
Thank you for the inspiration and the delicious recipes over the years.
Very good made as is with brown rice (2 cups rice, 4 1/4 cup water)! I would make again and add bouillon as mentioned by other reviewers.
Did you boil longer in addition to increasing the water with the brown rice?
So Delicious! Super easy to prepare and very tasty. This is a keeper recipe for me.