This Arroz con Chorizo is packed with Mexican flavors, fluffy, fragrant, and seriously delicious! Serve this Chorizo and rice on its own or use it as a side for your favorite Mexican dishes.
About This Recipe
Mexican chorizo and rice, aka arroz con chorizo, is a delicious rice-based dish made with flavorful Mexican chorizo, peppers, onions, and spices. It is incredibly delicious, satisfying, and perfect for any day of the week.
If you love Mexican red rice, then you gonna love this recipe because it is very similar but with a kick from the chorizo meat that adds a slightly spicy and smoky depth of flavor.
Arroz con chorizo is an ideal side dish for my Mexican plate lunch brochetade pollo, potlucks, summer cookouts, and so much more. Packed with bold flavors is amazing comfort food for any occasion.
Ingredients And Substitutions
- Rice: If you have a Mexican food store near, go for Mexican rice as it is the best option, otherwise, use another type of long-grain rice such as Basmati or Jasmine.
- Chorizo: You will need Mexican chorizo, the one that comes packed in links. It can be found near fresh dairy products or at the butchery in many grocery stores. I made this dish using my homemade chorizo recipe.
- Bell Peppers: I used one large green pepper because normally those have a less sweet taste, almost like poblano peppers. You can use any color of bell peppers you want or other types such as Anaheim peppers.
- Onions: Use any type of onion you want.
- Tomato chicken stock: This is a key ingredient, it can be bought at Mexican grocery stores or also on Amazon, it is basically chicken stock with tomato, look for it as concentrado de tomate con pollo or caldo de pollo con tomate. If you can’t find it you can substitute it with 1 regular chicken stock cube + 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
- Cilantro: This is optional, you can leave it out or sub with parsley.
- Seasonings: I used only garlic, a pinch of cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Oil: Use any type of oil you prefer, in my case, extra virgin olive oil.
How To Make Arroz Con Chorizo
Wash the rice under cold water. Place it in a strainer and allow to drain the excess water for 10 minutes.
Related: Why You Should Wash Rice Before Cooking.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a cooking pan and sauté bell peppers for 1 minute, then add onions and sauté until soft and translucent (about 3 minutes).
Add garlic and Mexican chorizo. Break the meat with the back of a spoon and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the chorizo starts to crisp and the vegetables are nicely softened.
In a separate pan, heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil and add the rice. Stir for 4-5 minutes or until the rice has a slightly golden color.
Pour in 3 cups of hot water along with the chicken and tomato cube, then add also the chorizo mixture.
Mix well to dissolve the stock cube and season with salt, pepper, and cumin powder.
Bring the mixture to a boil, cover the pan and cook for about 16 minutes without uncovering or stirring.
Uncover and check if there’s still liquid by digging with a spoon to see the pan’s bottom.
If the rice is done, allow the remaining liquid to evaporate, if the rice need more cooking and there’s no more liquid, add a little bit of water and keep cooking until tender.
Once arroz con chorizo is done, allow sitting for 5 minutes, then use a fork to puff it and serve.
Recipe Notes
- You can use powdered chicken stock, about 2 teaspoons would be enough for this recipe. If you do so, add also 1 teaspoon of tomato paste for flavor and color.
- Or you can use store-bought chicken stock instead water, just make sure to heat it up before adding it to the pan.
- Do not uncover the pan until the rice is done, the steam helps to cook the rice quicker.
- Always keep an eye on it when you toast the rice because it can burn quickly.
Other Add-ins
This amazing chorizo and rice can be highly customized, try any of those add-ins for a change:
- Veggies: You can easily sneak in other vegetables such as tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, celery, or peas. Starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes are also nice additions.
- Proteins: Make it richer by adding some canned or homemade black beans, chickpeas, or even chicken leftovers nicely diced or shredded.
- Make it spicy: If you want a spicy kick, you can use chopped jalapeño peppers sautéed along with onions, or you can use also chili powder or chili flakes.
How To Serve Chorizo And Rice
This rice side dish will go with pretty much any food other and Mexican main dishes since those got enough flavor anyway. It’s so tasty and packed with bold flavors that can be easily eaten as it is for quick midweek meals.
Anyway, if you want to serve arroz con chorizo as a side, here are a few suggestions that go perfect with it:
- Enmoladas (chicken mole enchiladas).
- Chicken burritos (stuffed in).
- Turkey quesadillas.
- Papas a la Mexicana.
How To Store
This chorizo and rice will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge, which make it perfect for busy days. To store it, allow reaching room temperature then transfer leftovers to an airtight container and store.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months, I like to make a double batch and distribute it in resealable bags so I always have a flavorful rice side that can be thawed and reheated in the microwave!
More Mexican Rice Recipes
Craving more Mexican recipes that features rice? Try those mouth-watering classics:
Arroz Con Chorizo (Mexican chorizo and rice)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup long-grain rice (Mexican, basmati, jasmine)
- 7 oz Mexican chorizo
- 1 large green bell pepper (diced)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 1 cube tomato & chicken stock (read notes)
- 3 cups hot water
- 5 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Wash the rice under cold water. Place it in a strainer and allow to drain the excess water for 10 minutes.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a cooking pan and sauté bell peppers for 1 minute.
- Add onions and sauté until soft and translucent (about 3 minutes).
- Add Mexican chorizo and garlic. Break chorizo with the back of a spoon and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the meat starts to crisp and the vegetables are nicely softened.
- In a separate pan, heat 3 tablespoons of oil and add the rice.
- Cook stirring for 4-5 minutes or until rice slightly browns.
- Pour 3 cups of hot water and add the cube of chicken and tomato stock.
- Add the chorizo mixture and mix well to dissolve the stock cube. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin powder.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, cover the pan and cook for about 16 minutes.
- Uncover and check if there’s still liquid by digging with a spoon to see the pan’s bottom.
- If the rice is done, allow the remaining liquid to evaporate, if the rice need more cooking and there’s no more liquid, add a little bit and keep cooking until tender.
- Once arroz con chorizo is done, allow sitting for 5 minutes, then use a fork to puff it and serve.
Notes
- You can use powdered chicken stock, about 2 teaspoons would be enough for this recipe. If you do so, add also 1 teaspoon of tomato paste for flavor and color.
- Or you can use store-bought chicken stock instead water, just make sure to heat it up before adding it to the pan.
- Always keep and eye when you toasting the rice because it can burn quickly.
- Do not uncover the pan until the rice is done, the steam helps to cook the rice quicker.
Nutrition Information
Loved this authentic Mexican recipe? Then please don’t forget to rate it and leave us a comment below!
LOVED! I made this for dinner last night with one yellow bell pepper, half of a yellow onion and leftover chorizo from our local meat market- this was the easiest and most delicious dish I have ever made at home! I used 3 pans to make this dish (1 pot for the rice, which I later added to my chorizo mix pan.) 1 pan for the boiled water, and a sauté pan (5 quarts) try to use a marinated chorizo(from a meat market) as this helps build additional flavor – I followed the recipe exactly and did not need to add anything else! I measured my water and once it came to a rolling boil, I added to my toasted rice and then added 1 bouillon chicken cube, and about 3/4 cup powdered knorr tomato bouillon (roughly,) I mixed it and added it quickly to my chorizo sauté pan, then I stirred to combine, tasted, and added cumin, a pinch of salt, and pepper then placed the lid and pan on low simmer for 15-18 mins without lifting the lid, and the rice came out beautifully full and red! The recipe could be made without the bell pepper and onion if you don’t have these in the pantry.
Omigosh! This was a simple dish to make and yet, oh so flavourful!! I used ordinary, long-grain rice and chicken stock plus a good dollop of tomato paste. Delicious, with the right amount of Mexican flavours. My husband went back for seconds. :-)
I cooked up a double batch with the intention of taking this to a Potluck tomorrow, reheating in the microwave. I am certain it is going to get gobbled up! (Of course, I stole another good-sized portion for in my freezer first. 😉)
Put this in corn tortillas with pinto beans and it’s actually one of the cheapest meals you can make on a budget (factoring in calories per dollar). Seriously folks, it’s even cheaper than eating ramen noodles everyday. It also tastes better and is better for you.
Cooked this yesterday for our breakfast and they tasted so good! Gonna add this to my mealprep and will add chicken for more protein! Arroz con chorizo is one of my favorite breakfast food now!