A Delicious and Zesty recipe, based on our Mexican Rice. It's easy and extremely versatile, yielding numerous dishes. From serving as a side, added as an ingredient to certain foods, or transforming it into a complete meal with added choice of meats and cheese. Even the leftovers can be fried up in a wok in minutes for Fried Taco Rice, or cheese added in different ways to get a Taco Rice Melt or Nacho Taco Rice. With an Enchilada sauce drizzled over, you get a Cheesy Enchilada Rice. Add Fritos as a garnish and for some crunch, and you get Crunchy Taco Rice.This recipe is great for a Taco Tuesday Meal with Meat & Cheese added for about 4 servings. It's also fantastic as a side for about 8+ servings or used as an ingredient to stuff Burritos, or used in Burrito Bowls with a variety of Taco seasoned meats.
Servings: 8 portions
Equipment
- 1 Large and deep Skillet
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 C Long Grain Rice - American White, Basmati
- 1/4 C Fat - preferably Beef Suet or Rendered Fat, can use Lard or Neutral oil
- 1 Onion - diced
- 3 Cloves Garlic - minced
- As Desired Cilantro - to garnish
- As Desired Chili Flakes - to garnish
Taco Rice Broth
- 2 C Water
- 2 Cubes Bouillon - Beef, Chicken, Pork, Vegetable, or Tomato
- 1 pack Old El Paso Taco Seasoning
- 2 Tbl Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbl Pimento Paste - Sweet or Hot for some heat
Instructions
- If adding in Meats, Cook them in the skillet and then set aside until ready to be added back in when the liquids go in.
- Combine into a bowl, Water, Bouillon Cube, Lemon Juice, Pimento Paste, Taco Seasoning. Mix and set aside until needed.
- Heat Fat in a Skillet over medium heat with Rice. Mix to coat the rice well and continue to mix for about 10 minutes or until the rice takes on a browner color.Add the Onions & Garlic in to cook for a few seconds.
- Add in the liquids and mix well again, ensuring the Bouillon cube is completely dissolved. Once boiling, drop the heat to low, and cover. Let it cook for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, don't remove the cover, but shut the heat off, leaving the skillet on the burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff the Rice before plating. Garnish with fresh or dried Cilantro and Chili Flakes.
Notes
Rice Cooker Taco Rice: Wash and rinse the Rice well to place into the rice cooker, or optionally skip rinsing and toast in a bit of fat before emptying into the rice cooker. Heat the water with bouillon cubes until the bouillon cubes are completely dissolved. Assist by mashing it with a fork. Empty into the Rice cooker with the remaining ingredients to mix through and cook on the basic white rice setting.
Beef Taco Rice: Cook ground beef in the skillet until browned and set aside. Continue with the recipe and add back the ground beef, when adding the remaining ingredients. Diced Beef can be done the same way as the Chicken and Pork below.
Chicken Taco Rice: Dice chicken breast and sear, set aside to add back in when the liquids go in.
Pork Taco Rice: Dice Pork and sear and set aside to add back in with the remaining ingredients. Leftover Pork such as Carnita can be added at the same time the remaining ingredients are added.
Taco Rice Melt: Immediately after the 10 minutes rest and fluffing the rice, sprinkle shredded cheese, cover and leave until just melted. Optionally, empty into a casserole and cover with cheese to go in the oven just until the cheese is melted.
Nacho Taco Rice: Hot Nacho Cheese Sauce can be mixed in after resting the Rice and during fluffing. Add as much as desired and mix well before serving. Additionally, top with cheese if desired for extra Cheesy Taco Rice.
Salsa Taco Rice: Mix in the desired amount of Salsa into the Rice after it has rested and during fluffing before serving. Salsa can also be spread on a plate before topping with Taco Rice.
Taco Fried Rice: Any leftover Taco Rice can be portioned into Ziploc bags and frozen. To make Taco Fried Rice, heat a wok up over max heat until it starts to smoke, no fat is needed. Empty the refrigerated or frozen Taco Rice and keep it moving for a few minutes until heated through. Plate, garnish and enjoy!