March 5, 2021

The World’s Easiest Spanish Rice with Salsa

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The World’s Easiest Spanish Rice with Salsa is a recipe that delivers on the classic delicious flavors that you’re expecting in a fraction of the time. The secret shortcut ingredient? A good jarred salsa. This is a hearty and delicious dinner packed with protein from pork and red beans with just the right amount of bright freshness from the lime and cilantro. It’s a perfect side dish or quick weeknight main course.

spanish rice in red bowl with fork — This authentic Spanish rice tastes so delicious, you won’t believe it’s made with a jar of salsa.

This is a very delicious and easy to throw together Spanish rice recipe. It’s fabulous for a weeknight dinner all by itself, perfect for a side dish and a real crowd-pleaser for any barbeque.

The jarred salsa in this dish is really what makes the whole thing come together. Adding the fresh cilantro gives it a very bright and fresh flavor.

My Mom used to always make Spanish rice for any family barbeque that she was hosting. And believe me, there were tons of those. My Mom was the BBQ queen. I loved her Spanish rice but unfortunately, that was one of the few things that I wasn’t quite sure of how she made it.

Perfecting any dish that you are trying to blindly recreate on your own is all about trial and error. You can’t give up when you are trying to master something specific. Whether it be an old family classic like your Nana’s “Better Than Sex” Pineapple Cake or your Mom’s Favorite Holiday Wild Rice Stuffing. Or maybe you want to recreate something that you love from your favorite restaurant right in your own kitchen.

Trying to perfect something that you love on your own when you aren’t able to get your hands on the original recipe can be frustrating. You have to keep at it. With enough hard work, obtaining your goals cannot be impossible. You will get there.

I made this Spanish rice about eight different times until I tweaked this recipe to perfection. It was always okay. It was edible and it was food but that’s about all it had going for it. My Spanish rice was nothing to write home about but take number 50 was a success.

I won’t ever know for certain but I strongly suspect that my Mom’s secret ingredient was jarred salsa. I know that she always transformed white rice from her rice cooker into everyone’s favorite Spanish rice in the blink of an eye. Literally.. I would leave the kitchen for a minute and come back and it seemed to be done. So I never knew what made this rice so delicious or how it came together so quickly but I think this is it.

I add cilantro and lime to the rice to give it a hint of brightness and freshness. Jarred salsa really elevates this rice to the next level with all of the traditional flavorings that you would expect.

What substitutions can I use in place of the pork?

The possibilities are truly endless with this Spanish rice. Below are some additional add-ins or substitutions that would add to your rice.

-Kielbasa
-Ground beef
-Chicken breast or tenderloins
-Corn (for a veggie version)
-Ground turkey

What can I use in place of salsa?

This is always made with hot salsa in my household. Of course, medium or mild salsas would also be delicious.

In the event that you find yourself in the pantry and you are salsa-less, tomato sauce works. Just substitute the salsa with the same amount of tomato sauce and you’ll still have a delicious dish. The flavoring will be a bit more mild but delicious nonetheless.

I ran out of salsa one-time. Let me be more specific, Aidan secretly ate it all with Tostito chips and left me an empty jar in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, this occurs a few times a year (*eye roll*). During this dinnertime tragedy, I substituted the salsa in the recipe with pizza sauce from a squeeze bottle in my fridge and this turned out well.

A can of diced tomatoes with the juice and all would also be delicious in this Spanish rice.

What kind of rice should I use?

My house always uses Jasmine rice so that’s what we have on hand. However, any long grain rice is great. In a moment of desperation, I used a microwavable rice from the convenience store right near my house and that turned out fairly well.

What can I serve my Spanish rice with?

This rice is spectacular on it’s own. However, if you wanted to serve some additional toppings or mix-ins on the side, then that would be fantastic as well. Some ideas are:

-Sour cream
-Avocado
-Lime wedges
-Cilantro
-Taco or Mexican cheese blend
-Shredded lettuce
-Fresh sliced tomato

How To Prepare:

1. Heat a large pan sprayed frying pan over medium heat. Add pork and season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper and sazon seasoning. Cook for 6 minutes on each side. Continue frying until cooked through. Once done, transfer the pork to a cutting board and slice in 1 inch thick slices.

2. Using the same frying pan, pan spray again and heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and red beans. Fry for 1 minute. Add the sliced pork, cooked white rice, 1½ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, fresh cilantro, hot salsa, lime juice, garlic powder, cumin and chili powder. Stir continuously until fully combined for an additional 3 minutes.

sliced pork onion garlic on cutting boards

spanish rice garlic onion and beans frying

Let me know in the comments below how your Spanish rice turned out! What did you serve your rice with and what variation did you try?