Rice is one of the simplest building blocks for recipes. It is almost infinitely adaptable to whatever your dish needs. From homemade risotto to sweet rice pudding, it can be a main dish, side dish, or dessert. And so, it is the perfect base for the mouthwatering mix of flavors that make up this rice cooker Mexican rice recipe.

Mexican cuisine is famous for being savory, spicy, and full of flavor. It has a huge selection of foods ranging from tacos, quesadillas, and tortas to enchiladas and burritos. But, one of its many commonalities is that nearly every dish is accompanied by a side of rice and beans.

They just pair so well with everything, that there’s no reason not to have them as a tasty side dish.

However, I don’t want to just settle for plain rice on the side.

So, it is time to mix it up. Combine the rice with lots of powerful seasoning ingredients to make the flavors pop. Then cook it in a mix of water and chicken stock to let it simmer in even more flavor. It is all about building cohesive flavors for a unique final side dish.

Here is how I make my favorite rice recipe every time – and it’s a breeze!

What is Mexican Rice?

Mexican rice is a popular dish in northern and central Mexico and the southwest United States.

Put simply, Mexican rice is seasoned, cooked rice. To season the rice, it is first toasted in vegetable oil. Then garlic and onion or shallot are added to the mix.

Then it is cooked with tomato paste, tomato bouillon, chicken broth, water, and chili powder. It is usually served with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and a dollop of sour cream. It is usually served as a side to other dishes, such as tacos, burritos, or enchiladas.

You can try mixing it up by adding in minced cilantro, beans, lime juice, or anything else that seems like it would fit within the mix of flavors.

It can also be referred to by the names Spanish rice (though it definitely doesn’t come from Spain), arroz rojo (red rice), or arroz Mexicano.

Why I Use a Rice Cooker

Learning how to cook rice is an important kitchen skill. But when you are making a meal and handling multiple things at once, sometimes it is easier to pop things into a rice cooker and let it handle most of the cooking and timing for you.

Making this rice cooker Mexican rice does not mean that you just dump everything into the rice cooker and then forget about it until dinner time. It still needs some time and attention. Especially with this preparation of rice cooker Mexican rice, since we will be adding in more than just rice and water.

I love cooking with a rice cooker.

Besides prepping everything beforehand, I find that it can take some effort after the rice cooker has finished cooking. I usually will lift up the lid, try to fluff and turn all of the rice over and check the moisture level. Sometimes it needs a little extra water, sometimes I need to leave the lid open so it can steam off extra liquid.

You can kind of set it and forget it, but make sure to check it out and fluff it up before serving.

I have used this Aroma Housewares rice cooker for at least 5 years.

Preparing the Rice Ingredients

The first step to making Mexican rice is to rinse the rice until the water is clear. Then mince the garlic and shallot and measure out all of the other ingredients to have your mise en place. With everything ready to go, it’s time to toast the rice.

If you can toast the rice directly in the rice cooker, then I would recommend going that route. I kind of was able to trick the rice cooker into letting me sautee the rice, garlic, and shallot together in the vegetable oil. If you can’t, then just toast it in a saucepan first and then transfer everything into the rice cooker to cook the rice.

I also decided to add the tomato bouillon, tomato paste, and chili powder to the mixture and sauteeing for a bit before adding the liquids.

Then add the water and chicken stock, give it a good stir, and set the rice cooker to cook.

What to Serve with Mexican Rice

Unless you are making fried rice or risotto, rice is usually not served by itself. It is typically accompanied by some other food or protein to help turn it into a full meal.

And so, try this rice recipe out as a side for any Mexican or Tex-Mex dish. I find that it goes well with all of the following recipes:

• Fried Baja Shrimp Burrito
• Ground Beef Taco Meat
• Taco Bell Copycat Quesarito

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this rice cooker Mexican rice! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Rice Cooker Mexican Rice

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SidesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

45

minutes

This is a very easy and flavorful rice recipe for the rice cooker. This quick, simple, and mostly hands-off side dish will be great for your next meal.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 cups rice, washed

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 small shallot, minced

• 4 tablespoons tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons tomato bouillon

• 2 teaspoons chili powder

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 2 cups water

Directions

• Add the oil to either a hot rice cooker or saucepan, then add the rice and toast it for 3 to 4 minutes
• Add the garlic and shallot to the rice and continue to sautee until the shallot is partially translucent, about 5 minutes
• Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir them together until well combined, if you were using a saucepan then pour everything into the rice cooker
• With everything combined in the rice cooker, start the cooker according to its directions
• When the rice cooker has finished, fluff the rice and serve it

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The post The Perfect Rice Cooker Mexican Rice Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

I love chipotle peppers. (Note my chipotle hot honey, chipotle crema, blackened seasoning, and bbq sauce recipes…) I also love alliteration. And so here is my chocolate chipotle chili con carne.

All of the C’s.

It is the time of year for a nice hearty, warm meal and chili fits the bill. The chipotle peppers and adobo sauce add a whole lot of smoky flavor with an added kick of heat to the pot. Warning, there is some spice to this recipe.

Just make sure to consistently stir the pot so that nothing burns to the bottom of your pan. Even though it is stuck at the bottom of the pan, it can ruin the rest of the chili with that burnt flavor.

Also, please do not let the long list of ingredients scare you away from this recipe. A lot of the recipe is simply dumping things into the pot (gently, so there’s no splashing) and stirring them together.

So get to dumping and bring this chili to a table near you.

Chocolate and Chipotle in a Chili?

So I guess chipotle peppers aren’t too strange to add into a chili since peppers are a common ingredient. Though a lot of times plain chile powder, jalapenos, or cayenne are the ones included in recipes. As I stated above, my main pepper of choice here is the chipotle pepper for its smoky flavor. Along with some ancho powder and poblano.

But chocolate is on the more interesting side of ingredients in a chili.

Honestly, not much cocoa powder is actually added to the chili. It is used more like a seasoning. And I think it adds a subtle depth of flavor and helps round out some of the heat from the peppers.

Also, it isn’t like we’re adding a milk chocolate bar to the chili. It is just a bit of unsweetened cocoa powder. So it will not make the entire pot of chili taste like a weird chocolate soup with meat and beans.

Together the chocolate and chipotle add smoky, roasted, and bitter flavors to the chili. But they aren’t overwhelming. And they complement the meat, beans, and tomatoes.

The goal is a single cohesive dish where all of the flavors work together.

What to Put in Your Chili

I debated with myself before making this recipe on whether I would use dried or canned beans and fresh or canned tomatoes. In the end, the quality, consistency, and ease of the canned goods won out.

In the recipe, I call for one large can of crushed tomatoes. I would also suggest potentially subbing out for canned fire-roasted tomatoes. It will lend even more smoky flavors to the chili. Fire-roasted tomatoes will complement the smoky chipotle peppers.

I think it is important to use a good quality cocoa powder. Higher-quality cocoa will have a lot more depth of flavor. For this chili, I ended up using a Valhrona cocoa powder.

Besides what to put inside your chili, you may want to put some thought into what you put on top of your chili.

Try topping your hot bowl of chili with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled cotija cheese, chopped cilantro, pickled jalapeno or red onion, sour cream, avocado, and/or chives. It is great to have your toppings set out so that everyone can add their own toppings.

Add more sour cream and stir it in to help temper the spiciness of the chipotle peppers.

Serve this chili with some cornbread or tortillas on the side to make it a full meal.

Chocolate Chipotle Chili con Carne

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SoupsDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

Total time

2

hours 

20

minutes

Peppers, spices, beans, and meat combine in this chocolate chipotle chili con carne for a deeply smoky, roasted, and spicy stew

Ingredients

• 1 large poblano pepper

• 2 large shallots

• 5 cloves garlic

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 pound ground beef

• 1 and 1/2 to 2 pounds beef chuck roast

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 1 cup beef broth

• 1 can (7.5 ounces) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

• 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 teaspoon chipotle powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ancho powder

• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1 large can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

• 2 cans (15.5 ounces) kidney beans

• 2 cans (15.5 ounces) black beans

• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

• For serving: cheddar cheese, cotija cheese, cilantro, jalapeno, sour cream, avocado, cornbread, tortillas, and/or chives

Directions

• Seed and chop the poblano, chop the shallot, and mince the garlic
• Add the oil, the chopped poblano and onion, and the minced garlic to a large Dutch oven (if using a Dutch oven) or a large frying pan (if using a slow cooker)
• Sauté them over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until the shallot becomes translucent
• While the poblano, shallot, and garlic are cooking, cut the chuck roast into 1/2-inch cubes and cut away any extra fat
• When the shallots are cooked, add the chuck roast into the pot/pan and crumble in the ground beef
• Brown the meat on medium heat, stirring until all sides are browned
• While the meat is browning, combine the vinegar, broth, chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, paprika, cumin, cloves, chipotle powder, and ancho powder in a blender and mix together until smooth
• Dutch Oven Instructions
• Pour the blended mixture into the Dutch oven and stir to combine
• Add in the tomato paste, bay leaves, salt, pepper, honey, crushed tomato, kidney beans, black beans, Worcestershire sauce, and cocoa powder to the pot and stir thoroughly
• Cook with the lid on at medium-low heat for at least 90 minutes, stirring frequently enough to make sure nothing burns to the bottom of the Dutch oven
• Once the cubed chuck roast is fork-tender, remove the pot from the heat and serve the chili with your choice of toppings
• Slow Cooker Instructions
• Add the mixture of browned meats, blended peppers/spices, tomato paste, bay leaves, salt, pepper, honey, crushed tomato, kidney beans, black beans, Worcestershire sauce, and cocoa powder to the slow cooker
• Stir everything together until it is thoroughly combined
• Set the slow cooker on low for 4 hours, or high for 2 hours
• Once the cubed chuck roast is fork-tender, turn the slow cooker off and serve the chili with your choice of toppings

Notes

• If the chili ever gets too thick, then add beef broth a half-cup at a time and stir it together until it reaches the desired consistency

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The post Chocolate Chipotle Chili con Carne Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.