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
I tried this tonight and was the best spanish rice I have ever made. I have tried a few recipes too. Used prosciutto instead of bacon, 1 cup brown rice and had to add an extra cup of water and a bit more cooking time. But delicious, thanks.
Allie–I think at my elevation, I need less water than most people. I was actually a little worried that there wasn't enough water in there, so I changed the recipe to add a bit more water and I think that will be better for most people. I'm so sorry it turned out crunchy! That's the worst!
I made this last night with the creamy chicken taquitos WHICH WERE TO DIE FOR, thank you very much! I have just found your site and am dreaming about all the yummy stuff I’m going to be making in the VERY near future.
Anyhow, I made this last night and mine was also nowhere near done after the 25 minutes…it probably took 40 to soak up all the water and it was also very crunchy. What did I do wrong?
Also, I have just discovered that I have possibly been using the wrong type of rice all along. I have always used Uncle Ben’s non-instant white rice. I went to a friend’s house and borrowed some rice to make your recipe…it wasn’t Mahatma, it was Hinode, I think…but it was long grain. Can I use Uncle Ben to make your rice recipes? Next on my list to try is the Pineapple Cilantro Lime rice with the teriyaki bacon skewers…but I want to make sure I’m not gonna screw up the rice again. Any pointers?
K I just made this and the rice wasn't done after the 25 mins. I cooked it for almost an hour and the rice was STILL kind of hard and crunchy! I even added a little more water to see if that would soften it up. What did I do wrong?
I've been searching for a good Spanish Rice dish…Lipton packets just aren't cutting it. Looks different and yummy, can't wait to try it out!
This looks delicious and sounds a lot like the Spanish rice my mom makes!
This looks great – added to my list of 'must makes'!
Anna–you can use any heavy pot or skillet as long as it has a lid.
Kelli (and Roommate Sara)–Failed cheese fondue. And Hollandaise sauce. In one night. It was epic. 🙂 I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one!
Man, I can totally relate to the difficulties of the first two years at college! Maybe it's because we have happy middle-school memories, but I swear those years were the hardest of my life so far. 🙂
I also remember yummy foods that brought solace (as well as plenty of attempts that were utter failures!) Ahh…so nice to be just a little bit older and wiser. 🙂
The recipe looks great! Thanks for sharing.
Sooo if I don't have a Dutch oven, what do you recommend? (keep meaning to buy one… :p)
Sara–I think we should totally get bonus points for that…and for the fact that I'm using the BHG dishes that I totally bought with my own pennies. 🙂
Michelle–You could go either way. Really, it's plenty for us to serve as a main dish; I usually just serve it with cornbread.
ilovecroc–Yep, you can totally make this without bacon (although as soon as you get un-pregnant, you need to try it with bacon because it's SO good!); just use olive oil in place of the bacon drippings.