Similar to Jambalaya, this Spanish rice is packed full of flavor. Bacon, tomatoes, and veggies come together in this easy one-pot meal. It makes a great dinner for cold nights and leftovers reheat really well.
It has rice, bacon, onions, garlic, green peppers, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder (definitely not in Jambalaya before someone goes and calls the Louisiana State Police on me!).
Cut the bacon into 1″ pieces and cook over medium heat.
While the bacon is cooking, chop the onion and pepper and mince the garlic.
When the bacon is crips, remove it from the pan and drain on paper towels. Add the onions, garlic, and pepper
in a little of the reserved bacon grease and cook until the onions are tender. While the onions are cooking, place the tomatoes in a blender jar…
and pulse a few times until the tomatoes have broken down. Add the seasonings…
Tabasco sauce…
and Worcestershire sauce.
When the onions are tender, add the tomato mixture, rice, and some water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20-25 minutes (at a low elevation, closer to an hour at high elevations) or until the rice is cooked. Super easy, right?
And perfect for fall. And the leftovers are awesome, especially if you have access to a microwave at work where you can re-heat them.
Spanish Rice
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Servings
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 4-6 cloves garlic minced
- 6-8 ounces uncooked bacon 1/2 package
- 28 oz. stewed tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/4 cups long-grain rice
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
Instructions
- Cut bacon into 1" pieces and cook until crisp in a Dutch oven if possible. Remove from pan and drain the grease, reserving 2 tablespoons in the pan. Return the pan to medium heat and add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent and fragrant. While the onions are cooking, place the tomatoes in the jar of your blender and pulse 2-3 times to chop them. Add the seasonings, Tabsco sauce, and Worcestershire sauce to the tomatoes and then, when the onions are done cooking, add the tomato mixture, seasonings, and rice and and bring to a boil. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20-25 minutes at low elevations or closer to an hour for high elevations or until the rice is cooked, stirring occasionally to make sure the rice is not burning. Serves 6-8-ish and makes great leftovers.
Notes
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Nutrition
Calories: 252kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 547mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 4g
Calories: 252kcal
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Questions & Reviews
Have you ever made this without the bacon? I am pregnant and for some reason this baby wont let me eat meat…but this looks so yummy I want to make it! Yet I would leave the bacon out..do you think it would taste ok?
Looks delicious! Do you use this as a main course or as a side? If a side, what do you serve it with?
Oh, I forgot to mention: I got the recipe from my mom, who adapted it from a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook! Does that get you any bonus points in the competition (not that you need them!)?
And yes, there are a lot of things I wish I could redo, but I'm not going to start listing them on a public forum!
Sara–So many. Hahaha. I kind of wish I could go back and do it again knowing what I do now, you know?
Shanna–I'm totally rocking the Walmart here. 🙂 No, they are actually Better Homes and Gardens at Walmart and I've been ogling them in the seasonal section for the last few weeks until I finally broke down and bought them. They have a whole bunch of super cute colors.
Carrie–I hear you on the sticky, mushy rice! Here are a few tips:
–Use long-grain rice (I use Mahatma)
–Most instructions tell you to use twice as much water as rice, but mine does tend to get mushy that way, so usually take out about 2 tablespoons per cup of water. So…if I'm using 1 cup of rice, I use 2 cups minus 4 tablespoons of water.
–Try adding a splash of vinegar when you add the water; it helps keep the grains of rice separated.
I love Spanish rice! Voted!!!
Any tips on non-sticky rice? I made your jambalaya this week, and it was great but the texture of my rice was awful! I've always been an instant rice user, but I'd love to make the switch. 🙂
I have such a random question for this post. What kind of dishes are in that last pic of the finished spanish rice? Which looks so yummy – making me hungry!! Btw – I love love love your blog!!
I started reading and thought I should tell you to try it with stewed tomatoes instead of regular — but it looks like you figured that one out, too! We did have some interesting… uh… adventures in the kitchen back in the day, didn't we? 🙂
I have never heard of bacon in spanish rice before. We love homemade spanish rice, and we are going to try this recipe this week!
Looks really good!!
I voted today!