This green rice, or arroz verde, is so rich and full of flavor… not to mention the vibrant green color! Â You can pair this rice with any main dish!
Green rice. Â Sounds weird, but I promise you… this is one strikingly delicious side dish! Â I love it alongside just about any entree, and really enjoy the nice change up from other traditional rice dishes.
It’s no secret that I’m basically hopelessly hooked on Mexican food… I mean just take a look HERE to see all my Mexican inspired dishes (with more to come!). Â But when it comes to side dishes, I would tend to stick with the same rice recipe. Â Now don’t get me wrong… it’s a GREAT recipe, but I wanted some variety!
This past summer I picked up a copy of Fine Cooking’s Mexican issue and pretty much drooled all over every single page of the magazine. Â But one dish in particular really stood out to me… Arroz Verde.
So fresh, so vibrant… so beautiful! Â And I love that there’s no dye or coloring in this dish… just a handful of great ingredients. Â I did make a slight change… I added some minced jalapeno for a slight kick, but you could leave that out if you’d prefer. Â Feel free to change up the pepper too, if you prefer poblanos or another type of pepper.
Since the jalapeno cooks with the rice, the heat really mellows the spiciness.
Even though you’ll be toasting the uncooked rice in some oil, this green rice has some great nutrients in it since half of the green color comes from fresh spinach!
My personal favorite recipes to serve alongside this rice are my smothered beef barbacoa chimichangas, slow cooker pork carnitas, and Caribbean citrus habanero chicken skewers.
I’m pretty sure this is my new favorite rice dish, and I anticipate making it over and over and over again this summer!!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro
- 1 cup tightly packed fresh spinach leaves
- 1-1/4 cups chicken stock
- 1-1/4 cups milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1-1/2 cups long-grain rice
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 1 jalapeno seeds removed, minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lime quartered
Instructions
- To a blender or food processor, add cilantro, spinach, chicken stock, milk and salt. Puree until smooth and well combined. Set aside.
- Add olive oil and butter to a large saucepan (with tight fitting lid), and heat over MED heat.
- Add rice and stir. Saute rice, stirring often, until it starts to toast and turn golden brown. This will take about 3 minutes or so.
- Add onion, jalapeno and garlic, and saute for an additional minute, stirring constantly.
- Pour in pureed mixture, stirring to combine well.
- Increase heat to HIGH to bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to LOW, cover with lid, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Stir rice once, cover pan again and cook another 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let rice sit in the covered pot for 10 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork and serve.
- Squeeze a lime quarter over the rice right before eating for extra freshness!
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Chef Tips
2. Recipe adapted slightly from Fine Cooking magazine, Mexican issue
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Rachael says
I wish I could give this 50 stars! It was delicious. I was skeptical about cooking the rice in milk, but it turned out amazing!
The squeeze of the lime wedge (or two) at the end is key. We also topped the rice with finely grated cotija cheese. Absolutely wonderful!
Nancy Merritt says
This was fantastic very similar to the green rice that we LOVE from the El Tiempo restaurants in Houston. I did exacrly as instructed but at the end I tossed in half a cup of thawed frozen corn and also half cup of thawed green peas and a handful of fresh Cilantro. Excellent!
Wind says
I prepared it as directed and it came out looking olive drab/brown/green with a pleasant flavor but not the “wow” I expect from arroz verde.