Rice makes for an excellent and filling side dish for just about any meal — but especially with Mexican foods like tacos, burritos, and nachos. And with so many different types of rice dishes, the possibilities are truly endless. You can pair a yummy rice recipe with just about any dish you could imagine, and by adding a meat component to your rice, you can even make it into a full meal. 

Easy Spanish Rice

With just eight simple ingredients, you can have this yummy Spanish rice ready in about a half an hour. Specifically, you’re going to need:

• 3 large roma tomatoes
• one and a half cups of chicken stock
• one and a half cups of rice (long-grain preferred)
• a tablespoon of butter
• two teaspoons of chili powder
• a teaspoon of oregano
• a teaspoon of ground cumin

Start by combining all the ingredients into a medium-sized saucepan, bring to a boil, and then reduce to low. Cover the saucepan and let it sit for about 25 minutes, or until all the excess liquid has boiled off. For added taste, top with cheese and some chopped green onion.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

If you want a lighter, fresher taste with your rice, you can’t go wrong with cilantro lime. And with this recipe, all you need is six simple ingredients:

• two cups of water
• a tablespoon of butter
• a cup of long-grain white rice
• a teaspoon of fresh lime zest
• two tablespoons of fresh lime juice
• half a cup of fresh, finely chopped cilantro

Start by bringing two cups of water to a rolling boil. Then, add the butter and rice into the water, covering and simmering on low for about 25 minutes (or until excess liquid is boiled off and rice is nice and tender). 

Once the rice is done, stir in the lime zest, lime juice, and fresh chopped cilantro. Serve immediately and enjoy! Depending on how strong of a cilantro taste you want, you can always adjust the recipe to use more or less cilantro as well. Love cilantro lime rice? Come on by the Macayo’s location in Scottsdale to try our fresh family recipe!