Easy Gluten Free Spanish Rice

In our house, tacos seem to always make it onto the menu every week. Kind of like taco Tuesday…. only its taco whenever it fits in the schedule day! On the nights we do tacos, I always make a big batch of this easy gluten free Spanish rice to go with it!

In our house, we love Mexican food. It is something we could eat almost every night and everyone will love it. In fact, it is on my “go to” list for when I just don’t know what to make and everyone is staring at me for a meal. Check out my post on how to make a meal plan for the week. You will find tips and tricks to making a meal plan that actually works for your family’s busy schedule, while still allowing time to cook from scratch. 

Most of the boxed Spanish rice at the grocery store, is not gluten free. Not to mention, we don’t really care for the taste of them and we would like our Spanish rice to come without all the added unnecessary ingredients.

So, like most everything in my kitchen, when I can’t find what I want I go on a hunt to make it on my own! I have gotten real good at this, since living with food allergies for so long now.

Dietary restrictions will definitely force you to think outside the box!

I love this easy gluten free Spanish rice recipe because it uses real simple ingredients, and you probably have all that you need in your pantry.

This easy Spanish rice recipe is as close to our favorite Mexican restaurant rice as I could get. The authentic flavors in it, are so good and not spicy, which makes it kid friendly!

What real ingredients are in this easy gluten free Spanish rice recipe?

Using real tomatoes in this recipe makes the dish so delicious. I love it when my summer garden is in full swing and I can just go out my back door to grab the tomatoes that I need!

There really is nothing like farm fresh tomatoes in all your recipes. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand, just use tomato sauce.

Lately, I have been using a couple teaspoons of my blended dehydrated tomato powder from the garden in place of the tomatoes. I find it gives it extra flavor. I share how I dehydrate my tomatoes from the garden as a way to preserve them, in this post on my top 3 ways to preserve tomatoes. It has worked wonderful and gives a delicious flavor. So really you can use so many different variations to get the same amazing taste!

You can also buy tomato powder on Azure Standard. Which is what I have right since I ran out of my own from the garden. 

​Using a tomato bouillon cube is an option, but I stay away from them. The added ingredients in those are not something I want to put in my families bodies. Plus using wholesome real ingredients always brings a much more powerful taste!

If you don’t have any of the above, I have been known to take a tablespoon of tomato paste and add water to it until it creates the consistency of a tomato sauce again. You are just looking for a tomato base to add to your rice. So really you can use so many different variations to accomplish that, to get the same amazing taste!

I also use chicken bone broth, which gives the white rice some added health benefits! Sneaking bone broth into all kinds of recipes is a must on the homestead.

Make sure to check out how I make my own super immune boosting healthy bone broth and also how I pressure can my bone broth to be ready to use in all sorts of recipes.

If you don’t have bone broth made up, you can use canned chicken broth from the store. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup avocado oil or olive oil
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cup long grain rice (white or brown)
• 3 1/4 cups chicken bone broth, chicken stock, or vegetable broth
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pinch oregano
• 1 pinch parsley
• 1/3 cup pureed tomatoes about 1-2 Roma tomatoes 

How to make homemade gluten free Spanish rice.

• Put oil, diced onion and minced garlic into a medium saucepan or large dutch oven and turn your stovetop on medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic for 2 minutes or until golden brown.
• Add in 1.5 cups of white or brown rice and cook for another 2 minutes or until rice is lightly golden brown.

• Take your diced tomatoes and throw them in a blender or food processor to puree.
• Pour in chicken bone broth, spices, and pureed tomatoes (or tomato sauce/dehydrated tomato powder if using) to your pot. Stir and bring it all to a boil.
• Reduce heat and cover. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until your rice cooks all the way. Cooking times will vary. You may need a longer cooking time for your rice. 

A crowd-pleasing side dish!

This recipe is an easy delicious side dish that doubles or even triples well. This makes it the perfect side dish to feed a crowd, when making a mexican meal. In fact I believe I brought a quadrupled batch to a church function not long ago.

The best part about it, it’s not spicy so even kids love it! I love a good easy recipe that the kids love and that can feed a crowd. It quickly became a family favorite around here. 

We love to eat this gluten free mexican rice recipe, with vibrant flavors, as a side to fajitas or tacos, in a burrito bowl, or left over as a stir fry with veggies and meat. The possibilities are endless with this delicious rice recipe.

For best results store your leftover rice in and airtight container in the fridge. We like to use our leftover rice in a taco bank for another meal! 

So gather your family around your dinner table for taco night and add this delicious Mexican rice as an easy side dish. Your family will thank you for it and ask you to make it time and time again!

Other Gluten Free Favorite Sides We Love:

Rice a Roni

Scalloped Potatoes

Cornbread