I love to cook Mexican and Tex-Mex recipes for dinner because they are full of flavor and you can make them your own. This is my go to Sazon rice recipe because it is simple and versatile.
You can easily make adjustments to this recipe based on what you have on hand or your own taste preferences. Change it up by throwing in chopped onions, garlic, beans, of fresh tomatoes.
Play around with it and make it your own or enjoy the rice as is because it is delicious!
Easy Sazon Rice Recipe
Sazon rice is filled with flavor making it a delicious side to dinner or mixed into a burrito. The rice pairs perfectly ground beef, steak, and chicken dishes.
If you ever wondered why Spanish rice is orange, Saffron is the reason why. Saffron or also known as Azafran, is a orange seasoning filled with flavor that turns rice orange when cooking.
As I mentioned before you can make adjustments to this recipe, but I do recommend always using Goya Sazon con Azafran (Saffron) seasoning. This seasoning adds so much flavor and color to the rice, so I would use this as a staple for the recipe then expand from there.
Spanish Rice Ingredients:
- 2 cup of Goya long grain rice
- 1-2 packets of Goya Sazon con Azafran (Saffron)
- 1 teaspoon of Cuban seasoning
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon Premium Roasted Chicken Base
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 4 cups of water
How to Make Spanish Rice in a Rice Cooker
To make Spanish rice simply place the olive oil, rice, sazon, cuban seasoning, tomato paste, bouillon, and water into a rice cooker or rice pot on the stove.
Then mix all ingredients together before closing the rice cooker lid and pressing down the cook option.
The rice should take about 20 minutes to cook in the rice cooker, so while the rice is cooking prepare and cook a meat to pair with it.
How to Cook Rice on the Stove
If you do not have a rice cooker, you can cook the rice on the stove with a rice pot, pot and a lid, or a dutch oven.
To cook the rice on the stove, turn the heat to medium then warm a pot before adding the olive oil.
After the pot and oil have been heated, add remaining ingredients to the pot, making sure the rice is well coated.
Continue to heat the pot without the lid on until it comes to a boil then turn the heat down to low and top with a lid.
Set a timer for 15 minutes then take a peek to see if the rice is cooked through. The rice may take 15-20 minutes to totally absorb the liquid.
After the rice looks like it has absorb most of the liquid, remove it from heat to a cool burner with the lid on. Allow the rice to sit for a few minutes and absorb more liquid before serving.
Spanish Rice Dinner Ideas
While the rice is cooking prepare and cook a meat to top it with to make a delicious rice bowl.
Chicken, steak, pork, or ground beef go great with this sazon rice recipe. Serve the meat with chopped tomatoes and lettuce over the rice in a bowl, in a taco shell or wrapped in a burrito for a quick dinner option.
Top with homemade Pico de Gallo and guacamole for even more flavor and color to your dish!
These items make for great leftovers that can be repurposed a number of ways, so try to be creative with the items already in your pantry. You might enjoy my easy red sauce recipe too!