The Border Table · Source Edition
Mexican Rice with Green Chiles
Rice toasted with onion and green pepper, then simmered in tomato and chile.
A second rice recipe from the owner’s 2021 archive, with optional peas and carrots.
Cook it
Use a skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Measure the blended tomato mixture before adding the water: the source specifies both that one-cup tomato base and one cup of hot water.
- Toast the rice. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the rice, sliced onion and green pepper. Stir until the rice takes on color and the vegetables soften; watch closely so the rice does not burn.
- Blend the tomato base. Blend the tomatoes with green chiles, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin and bouillon granules. The archived card says the blended tomato mixture should measure about 1 cup. Add the 1 cup of hot water and blend again.
- Bring to a boil. Pour the blended liquid over the toasted rice and stir. Bring it back to a boil for 30 seconds. Add the optional peas and carrots now, if using, and stir only once or twice.
- Cover and cook. Fit a tight lid on the skillet. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Remove from the heat and check that the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed; if needed, cover and cook a little longer.
At the table
Fluff gently with a fork. The peas and carrots are optional, so leave them out if you want the tomato, onion and pepper to be the only visible vegetables.
Understand it
Why toast before simmering?
The rice spends its first few minutes in oil beside onion and green pepper. That step develops color before the tomato mixture goes into the pan. Once the liquid is added, the archived method calls for very little stirring and a covered low simmer. Frequent stirring or lifting the lid works against that method.
Know it
One family version among many
This particular formula is recorded in the owner’s 2021 recipe archive. Its green pepper, tomato with green chiles, chicken bouillon and optional peas and carrots distinguish it from the site’s other Mexican Rice recipe. The archive does not identify an inventor, a restaurant, or a geographic birthplace for this exact mixture. Mexican American and Tex-Mex cooking encompasses many regional and household versions; this page documents one of them without claiming it is the only authentic way.
Sources and method
About this version
The ingredient list, one-cup blended tomato measure, one cup of hot water, optional peas and carrots, and 15-minute covered simmer come from the owner’s 2021 Authentic Tex-Mex Recipes card. Checking for tenderness after the stated time is practical cooking guidance; the original card gives no can size and no resting time. The broader context below describes Mexican American cooking, not an invented origin for this recipe.
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Tex-Mex Invasion — context for regional variation and the spread of Tex-Mex restaurant food.
See our corrections policy to suggest an update.
