Mexican Tomatillo Rice

Appetizers and Side dishes — By Ben on 15 September 2009

After a long and lazy week spent at my friends’ house in Dayton I am back with more Mexican inspired recipes. All this month I am posting this kind of recipes to celebrate the 199th anniversary of Mexico’s Independence. Mexican rice is my favorite way to eat this grain, but I wanted to give it a twist by using tomatillos instead of tomatoes and I spiced it up a little by adding some pepper and basil.

Mexican tomatillo rice

The ingredients:

2 cups long grain rice

2 TBSP canola oil

1/2 pound tomatillos

1/2 medium onion

2 garlic cloves

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded

1 tsp chopped fresh basil

2-3 cups chicken broth

The how-to:

In a medium sauce pan fry rice in canola oil until it starts to turn golden brown and has a nutty smell. Make sure to stir constantly to fry evenly.

In a blender mix together tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapeno and basil with 1 cup of chicken broth. Once it’s blended and smooth, add more broth until you get 4 cups of tomatillo sauce (double the amount of rice in cups)

Pour sauce over rice, mix well and bring to a boil.

Mix again and reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring lightly every 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning.

The liquid should be absorbed in that period of time and the rice should be tender. Serve with your favorite Mexican dinner and enjoy!

The afterthoughts:

I enjoyed this rice a lot. It is a good alternative for the popular red Mexican rice. Unlike tomatoes, tomatillos flavor is more sour hence giving this dish a very different and distinctive flavor. The jalapeno gave it a nice kick and even though I like how it mixed with the basil flavor I will keep it out next time. I’ll also add some peas or other kind of veggie next time.

¡Buen provecho!

This post also goes to Heidileon’s event Mexican Fiesta 09 that is also celebrating Mexico through its cuisine this month.

Tagged as: Basil, Easy recipes, Mexican food, Mexican ingredients, Rice, Tomatillo

« « Roasted Green and Red Salsas | ¡Viva México! » »

About Author

Ben

grew up around food. His family owned a restaurant in Mexico City and he spent a big deal of his childhood helping and learning after school the art of creating delicious dishes from simple ingredients. He created this blog to share his kitchen adventures with the world.

(23) Readers Comments

lisaiscooking
September 15, 2009 at 1:33 pm

The tomatillos and jalapeno sound delicious in this! I'd love some of this rice with a grilled fish.

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Jill McKeeve
September 15, 2009 at 1:45 pm

Tomatillos sauce instead of tomatoes, I need to try this out. I think I'll use cilantro instead of basil.
Thank you for the inspiration Ben!
Stumbled!

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Soma
September 15, 2009 at 5:56 pm

Sounds so good!! This is really strange.. i went & got raw green tomatoes, chili peppers & some cilantro from my yard to make a rice today:-) didn't think of posting it….

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Simone (junglefrog)
September 15, 2009 at 7:03 pm

That looks delicious Ben, athough I have to confess that after three weeks of eating rice I really want to wait a while for trying this!

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joan nova
September 15, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Looks good to me! I agree with Jill. I think cilantro is a kissing cousin to tomatillo.

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Esi
September 15, 2009 at 7:35 pm

I loooove flavored rice. This is right up my alley. Bet it''s great with grilled chicken or fish. Hey, are you going to foodbuzz's blogger festival?

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superdiamond
September 15, 2009 at 9:00 pm

MMMHHHH that really looks good

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Erica
September 15, 2009 at 9:03 pm

I love rice….this one sounds wonderful. I really like all the flavors in that rice. Great recipe as usual

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Lydia
September 16, 2009 at 12:07 am

Tomatillos in rice — I've never tried it, but I'm putting this recipe on my to-do list. I agree about cilantro — a natural partner to the tomatillos — but as I'm not a cilantro lover, I might try some parsley from my garden.

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nina
September 16, 2009 at 3:53 am

I love rice in all forms, shapes and origins, but when it is flavored I jump with joy!!!! Now, where shall I find tomatillos????

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Parita
September 16, 2009 at 9:56 am

Looks lovely..simple ingredients and delicious flavors

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Anshika
September 16, 2009 at 12:17 pm

That looks so delicious and easy to make. I really loved the recipe. And your pics are just awesome. Great work.

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Anshika
September 16, 2009 at 12:18 pm

Stumbled it too

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cafefenix
September 16, 2009 at 2:24 pm

Delicious, I'll try both options cilantro or basil. The Basil option I would serve with fish (perhaps "a la talla" or grilled) served with fresh ripe tomatoes.

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pigpigscorner
September 16, 2009 at 7:21 pm

Love flavoured rice, this sounds really good with the tomatillos, jalapeno and basil.

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jen of a2eatwrite
September 17, 2009 at 12:51 am

Oh Ben, this recipe is amazing – I love the fact that there's no hint in the look of the rice of all the goodies packed inside. YUM. I would never have thought of this.

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@LaCuisineHelene
September 17, 2009 at 2:20 am

I like that you add tomatillos to your rice. Must be so good. Nice plating and beautiful pics Ben.

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Eralda
September 17, 2009 at 5:36 am

What a clever twist. I love tomatillos, and the addition of basil sounds delicious, too. Great photograph! Love it.

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Sook
September 17, 2009 at 6:45 pm

Wow, this looks beautiful! What an art!

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Sam
September 17, 2009 at 8:44 pm

Sounds delicious! I love all the flavours in this

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kellypea
September 19, 2009 at 10:18 pm

You'll always get my attention with rice — especially green rice! We've tried several versions and have used Anaheim chilis and lots of cilantro. Can't wait to try your version. Great photo ; )

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elly
September 21, 2009 at 12:16 pm

This looks like a great twist on the classic version. I really love tomatillos and the jalapeno and basil addition sound delicious.

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