North America → Mexico → Puebla
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Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice)
Rinsed long-grain rice fried until golden, then simmered in a blended purée of ripe tomato, onion and garlic with chicken broth, carrot and peas until dry, fluffy and brick red.
Mexican · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 30 min · plus 10 min hands-off time
~275 cal · 5g protein · 46g carbs · 7g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Arroz rojo, also called arroz a la mexicana, is one of the most traditional accompaniments in Mexican cooking. It is a sopa seca, a dry soup: in the old order of a Mexican midday meal, the rice came after the broth and before the main dish, and today it sits beside everything from to breaded cutlets and fried eggs.
Its colour comes only from very ripe tomatoes, blended raw with onion and garlic. Two steps make it right. The rice is rinsed until the water runs clear, then fried in oil until it turns golden before any liquid goes in, which keeps every grain separate. Then the tomato purée and broth are added and the pot is left covered, without stirring, until the liquid is gone.
Most cooks add diced carrot and peas, and many lay a whole serrano chile on top so it perfumes the rice as it steams. The last step is a grandmother's trick: the rice rests off the heat, covered, and is fluffed with a fork from the edges towards the middle.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 1 cup (200 g) long-grain white rice
- 2 medium ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1/4 white onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) chicken broth, homemade or a gluten-free kind; the blended tomato supplies the rest of the liquid
- 1/2 cup carrot, finely diced
- 1/2 cup green peas, fresh or frozen
- 1 serrano chile, whole, optional
- 1 tsp salt, less if the broth is salted
- a few fresh cilantro sprigs
Instructions
- 1Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold water, rubbing it with your fingers, until the water runs almost clear. Drain it well and let it sit in the sieve while you make the purée.✎ Chef’s noteThe drier the rice, the better it fries. Wet rice spits and clumps.
- 2Blend the tomatoes, onion and garlic until smooth. You should have about 1 cup of purée.
- 3Heat the oil in a medium pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the rice and fry for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until the grains turn opaque and light golden.
- 4Pour in the tomato purée (it will sizzle) and stir for 2 minutes until it darkens slightly. Add the broth, salt, carrot and peas, and lay the whole serrano on top.
- 5Bring to a boil, then cover, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 to 18 minutes without stirring, until the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender.
- 6Take the pot off the heat, lay the cilantro sprigs on top, cover again and leave it to rest for 10 minutes. Fluff gently with a fork from the edges towards the middle and serve.
Mexican home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Puebla. Puebla is a cradle of Mexican cuisine and the ancestral home of mole poblano and chiles en nogada. The famous convent tales, of nuns improvising mole for a visiting archbishop, are legends: food historians read mole as a slow evolution from the pre-Hispanic chile-and-seed sauces the Nahuatl called molli, enriched over centuries with ingredients the Spanish brought. Colonial convents and Indigenous cooks together made a baroque, deeply layered regional table.
🗺️
Mexico. Mexican cuisine is UNESCO-recognized and older than any border, built on the ancient trinity of corn, beans, and chiles plus tomatoes, cacao, and a vast world of moles and salsas. From tacos to slow-cooked barbacoa, it layers Indigenous Mesoamerican roots with Spanish influence.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mexico
Cochinita PibilPork marinated blaze-orange in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaves and roasted until it shreds itself.
EnfrijoladasCorn tortillas bathed in silky black-bean sauce, folded and finished with cheese, crema, and onion.
BirriaJalisco’s chile-marinated slow braise, served as a rich consomé with tortillas, or griddled into dripping quesabirria tacos.
Browse all Mexico recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Blender.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Mexico meal
HorchataDrink
Pan de MuertoDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice)?
Rinsed long-grain rice fried until golden, then simmered in a blended purée of ripe tomato, onion and garlic with chicken broth, carrot and peas until dry, fluffy and brick red.
Where does Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice) come from?
Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice) is a Mexican dish from Puebla, Mexico.
Can Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Arroz Rojo (Mexican Red Rice) take to make?
About 55 min in all: 15 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking, plus 10 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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