If you think all Mexican rice is bright red and loaded with tomatoes, think again! Arroz Blanco (Mexican White Rice) is a comforting, fluffy, and incredibly versatile side dish that deserves a permanent spot on your weekly menu.
Unlike its tomato-infused cousin (Arroz Mexicano), this classic white rice relies on a simple onion-garlic blend, toasted grains, and a secret touch of vegetables for a light yet deeply flavorful dish that pairs effortlessly with everything from enchiladas to grilled chicken.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- Fast “Slow Food”: Comes together quickly with minimal hands-on time, yet tastes like it simmered all afternoon.
- Naturally Plant-Based: Easily made vegan or vegetarian using vegetable bouillon, though it’s universally loved by meat-eaters too!
- Sneaky Veggies: Loaded with colorful peas, carrots, and a gentle hint of jalapeño for extra depth without the heavy heat.
- Foolproof Texture: Toasting the rice first locks in the grains, ensuring a fluffy, non-mushy result every single time.
-Maggie
📖 Family Story
Arroz Blanco always reminds me of my Tía. She is like another mother to me, and we even celebrated her 80th birthday in Paris—where we somehow walked 10,000+ steps every single day!
My Tía is unique because she cooks differently than most of our family. First off, she doesn’t live in Durango anymore, even though that’s where she’s from. She now lives in Tabasco, where fresh fruits and vegetables are abundant. Everything she makes must be healthy: nothing is ever fried, sugar is kept to a minimum, and she packs lots of veggies into everything.
This rice was one of her special ways of adding wholesome vegetables to our family meals without sacrificing an ounce of flavor.
🍚 Ingredients
- 3 ½ cup water
- ¼ onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon vegetable bouillon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1 jalapeño or serrano pepper
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup frozen carrots
Instructions
Making the Onion Sauce
- It starts by adding onions and garlic to your trusty blender.
- We are only using ½ cup of water. Enough to blend everything.
- I’m using vegetable bouillon. You can easily change this up and use chicken bouillon instead. Or, if you’re not a bouillon fan, use salt instead.
- Blend and set this concoction aside until it’s ready to be used.
Cooking the Rice
- Heat oil in a medium-sized stockpot.
- Add the rice. Stir constantly. You simply want to toast the rice.
- This will only take about 2 minutes. Pay close attention. If any burned rice starts to happen, remove immediately from the heat.
- Now add the onion and garlic concoction. Stir frequently.
- You want the liquid to disappear, or be absorbed by the rice. This will take about 4-5 minutes.
It will look kinda like Arroz con Leche. Milky, creamy, and white, but it’s far from our beloved Mexican dessert.
- Once the liquid is gone and you’ve been stirring for a bit, add the rest of the water. Give everything a stir.
- Make an incision into the jalapeño (Think “kitchen surgery” without the anesthesia or insurance co-pay). This jalapeño is completely optional. You need not to worry. There will only be a mild jalapeño flavor.
- Let this cook for 20 minutes with the lid on. Make sure the heat is not on too high, or you will need more liquid.
- At the 20 minute mark, the rice will almost be done. Add the frozen veggies. My Tía would have cooked the vegetables fresh with the rice, but I take shortcuts where I can. You can also add diced green beans and calabacitas.
- Check to see if it needs more water. If so, add another ¼ cup and cook for 3 more minutes. If not, add the frozen vegetables at the 20-minute mark, and put the lid back on. Let this cook for another 2 minutes on low.
- Once it’s cooked, fluff everything together with a fork and serve.
Rice can be tricky, but it’s all in the amount of water you use. You can always add more, but you can’t take out.
Please know that the jalapeno will not make your Arroz Blanco spicy, but it will add a lot of flavor. You can also use a serrano pepper. If you’re not keen on using a chile, simply don’t use it. It will only change the flavor slightly.
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Not really! Slitting the jalapeño or serrano pepper and dropping it into the pot adds an incredible aromatic background flavor rather than actual heat. If you want it spicy, you can finely dice the pepper instead, or serve it with Chiles Toreados on the side.
Absolutely. If you aren’t cooking for vegetarians, chicken bouillon adds a wonderful, savory depth. Just keep in mind that using vegetable bouillon keeps the dish entirely vegan/vegetarian!
Toasting the rice in a bit of oil for a couple of minutes helps seal the exterior of the grains. This prevents the rice from turning mushy or sticking together as it absorbs the liquid, giving you that signature fluffy texture.
More Side Dishes You Might Like
- Chiles Toreados
- Ensalada de Nopales
- Frijoles Refritos
- Frijoles de la Olla
- Instant Pot Mexican Rice
- Pickled Jalapeños
- Papas con Rajas
- Instant Pot Pinto Beans
- Fideo Seco
Whether you’re hosting a taco night or looking for a wholesome side to complete a weeknight dinner, Arroz Blanco is a foolproof, comforting classic that never disappoints. With its tender grains, hidden veggies, and cozy homemade flavor, it’s a wonderful taste of my Tía’s healthy kitchen straight to your table.
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Arroz Blanco (Mexican White Rice Recipe)
Ingredients
- ¼ onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon vegetable bouillon
- ½ cup water + ½ cup water + 2 cups water divided
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1 jalapeño or serrano pepper
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup frozen carrots
- ¼ cup water if needed
Instructions
- Add onion, garlic, bouillon, and ½ cup water to a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Set aside until ready to use.
- Heat olive oil in a medium-sized stock pot.
- Add rice. Stir constantly.
- Toast rice for 2-3 minutes.
- Be careful not to burn.
- Add the onion mixture from the blender to the pot.
- Stir frequently for the next 4-5 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.
- Add ½ cup of water to the blender to get any remaining onion mixture.
- Add the liquid from the blender to the stock pot along with 2 cups of water.
- Stir to combine.
- With a sharp knife, gently make a cut into the center of the jalapeño.
- Add the jalapeño to the stock pot.
- Cover with a lid.
- Check the rice after 20 minutes.
- The rice should be fully cooked.
- If the rice needs liquid, add ¼ cup water and cook for more 3 minutes.
- If not, add the frozen peas and carrots.
- Cook for 2 minutes more on low heat.
- Turn the heat off and let rest for 1 minute.
- Fluff the rice with a fork.
- Enjoy!
Fantastic Mexican rice dish, love Mexican cuisine and will be perfect for our Mexican night
Perfect for Mexican night indeed! Glad you liked it
This was delicious! We love spicy food so added a little extra jalapenos. Thanks!
I think so too delicious glad you liked it
I love the simplicity of this recipe. A great recipe here!
Right? So easy and delicious
Such a simple and quick delicious recipe. I’m definitely going to make it.
Easy and delicious. What’s better that that?
This Arroz Blanco is making me hungry! I love this quick and delicious dish.
Quick and delicious!
I love the fresh, bright look of this Arroz Blanco! A perfect side to so many meals.
The perfect side dish indeed! Hope you try it!
How simple but full of flavor! Love this recipe
Thanks! So glad you liked it.
I don’t usually think of rice as something I can’t wait to make but this arroz blanco looks so amazing! I also can’t wait to try the jalapeno infusion, so cool!
Hope you try it, os delicious!
What a fabulous and flavoursome sidedish!
Thank you very much. Hope you try it!
Oh man, that looks SSOOOO delish. I have never added anything to my rice while cooking it, but it sounds so flavorful, I need to try it now. And I love that it soaks up the flavor before you do the full cook
Yes! You must try adding stuff to your rice. Arroz Blanco is so yummy! Perfect way to sneak in some veggies.
This looks so tasty and fresh and so quick and easy to make! I’m sure that my family will love it!
My family loves Arroz Blanco. Yes, very quick and easy recipe.
Yum this recipe looks so delicious. We love cooking with rice, but we try to be gluten / starch free during the weekend and save rice for the weekends.
That’s very smart. I know several people who do the gluten free weeks. I hope you save Arroz Blanco for one of your weekends.
This rice recipe looks quick to make and incredibly delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe with us!
Quick recipes. I am not a fan of food taking hours to get on the table – with the exception of maybe tamales. lol. Arroz Blanco does not take long to make.
I love anything made with rice and this recipe looks yummy as well as easy to make. I will be going to try this recipe on the coming Sunday.
We like rice in our family too especially this Arroz Blanco (Mexican White Rice). Any way you can add more veggies into your food is a good idea in my book.
oh my the dish looks oh so tasty , i never eat that before but i so want to try it
Hope you do. Arroz Blanco (Mexican White Rice) is very yummy.
What a good idea to cook with the pepper that way. I think this sounds delicious.
I think so too. The peppers adds only a mild flavor to the Arroz Blanco (Mexican White Rice).
Thank you so much for this easy recipe, it is thrusday march 26 at10:00 am during the covid-19 crisis and I am on my first day off from work for two months (gotta take care of my father whose got lung issues, and me,well I get anxiety attacks where I can’t breath, so better be safe than sorry) and i am officially on quarantine but happy to tell you I watched your blog and am so excited to look forward on making this easy white rice recipe. Thank you, and hey who doesn’t have those ingredients in their pantry, it practically calls for nothing! I think everyone’s got those ingredients that we all stocked during the Covid-19 pandamic crises, so let’s all put a smile on our faces with this easy recipe and chow down. Thanks a bunch! See ya, gotta go make it
Hope you try it! It’s so delicious and simple to make!
Arroz Blanco looks so healthy and delicious. The recipe sounds familiar to the Indian vegetable pulao although there are some differences
I’ll have to Google that. Never heard of it. I have had several Indian readers tell me that we have similar foods.
you make this look pretty easy to make. i’ll have to try it
Hope you do. Arroz Blanco is super easy and super tasty side dish.
Easy to make. Once I recover I will try making it… So yummy!
Hope you have a speedy recovery.
Looks delicious! Veggie and rice work great alongside each other. Veggie rice is currently my favorite!
Mine too! The more veggies, the better. 🙂