..where teens can learn to cook restaurant quality meals for the family
UpCooked Spanish Rice
This Spanish rice is a great side dish to Spanish or Mexican meals, but also could be eaten pretty much as it's own meal. You could always cook some chicken breast up and throw that in too!
ADJUST SERVINGS
Most of our recipes are for 4 people. You can check and adjust the serving size by clicking on the red number above.
GET SHOPPING!
This is a reminder to check what ingredients you need to buy and add them to your shopping list. It’s good to do your own food shopping, but at the very least, you’re head chef, so send a family member out to the shops for you!
GET ORGANISED
Remember ‘Skill 2’ of the Big 5: Become super-organised.:
Add your own private notes:
Equipment
- Large frying pan/skillet
- Blender or food processor
- Measuring cups and spoons
- wooden spoon
- Small bowls
- sieve
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 400 g tinned tomatoes
- 2 tbsp sliced jarred jalapeños (or one fresh one sliced up)
- 2 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 500 ml vegetable broth/stock
- 1 Bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Prep in Advance
- Wash your hands
- Pour enough water in your kettle to make 500 ml vegetable broth/stock and boil
- Mince the 2 cloves garlic either with a knife or garlic press
- Once your kettle has boiled, add enough stock cubes to a measuring jug (read packet to determine how many) and fill with water enough to make 500 ml vegetable broth/stock. (Usually it's 1 cube for 500ml.) Stir to dissolve.
- Finely chop 1 medium onion (and jalapeño if whole. Otherwise measure out the 2 tbsp sliced jarred jalapeños) and put it aside in a bowl
- Measure out 2 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste) and put in a bowl
- Measure out 1 tsp cumin and add to the same bowl
- Measure out ½ tsp dried oregano and add to the same bowl
- Measure out your 1 cup basmati rice – it's OK to go a bit over to suit your appetite!) pour it in a sieve, and rinse it well under cold running water, swishing it with your fingers to wash all the starch out (and do this until the water running through it runs pretty clear).
Let's Cook!
- Grab your large frying pan and put it over medium heat
- Add your 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan
- Add the chopped onion. Cook, stirring to stop it burning until translucent. Do this for about 5 minutes. If not soft and translucent, keep it going for anothere minute or so. You may need to add a bit more oil. You don't want the onion to stick to the pan or go brown.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute
- Stir in the basmati rice and cook until it starts to turn golden. Keep it moving (you don't want it to burn). This should take about 2 minutes, maybe slightly longer
- Add the crushed 400 g tinned tomatoes. If they're not crushed, pour them in anyway and bash them up with a wooden spoon! (Don't make a mess…did I really have to say that?)
- Add the jalapeño and bowl of chili powder, cumin, and oregano
- Add your 1 Bay leaf
- Pour in enough vegetable stock (that you made earlier) to come to about 1cm or so above the level of the rice. You don't have to be too precise! But don't add too much, as you can always add more stock later.
- Season with salt and pepper to your liking – remember, a little at a time! Then taste it, and adjust if required
- Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed.Keep checking on that, you don't want it all to go and find that the rice has burnt to the pan! If your 20 minutes is up and there's still liquid in the pan, keep it on the heat and stand over it, until the last water is no longer visible.If on the other hand, the water has gone before the 20 minutes is up, then you may have had the heat on too high, and you may need to add a bit more vegetable stock that you kept back! The goal is to get the water boiled away and soaked up by the rice in around 20 minutes or so. Once done, turn the heat fully off and LEAVE THE LID ON!
- Let it sit covered for 5 minutes.
- Fluff the rice with a fork before serving into bowls
Please share with us how you went!We need your feedback so we can improve the recipes and help others succeed! Please let us know by leaving a comment 🙂