Making homemade Spanish Rice is super easy and the taste, texture, and ingredients far exceed anything you'll find in a box. Long grain rice is toasted in a pan to create the most amazing flavor. Sautéed onion, spices, tomatoes, and roasted green chile come together in this simple recipe to create restaurant style Mexican rice.
Using a 4-quart covered sauce pan, add butter and half of the oil. Heat over medium high heat. Once butter and oil are hot, add uncooked rice and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring only a couple of times, until it starts to turn golden brown. It will smell almost like popcorn. Transfer browned rice to a bowl and set aside.
Add remaining oil to the pan. Still cooking over medium high heat, add chopped onion and allow to slightly brown, cooking about 5 minutes and stirring only to prevent burning. Add garlic, stir, and cook for another minute. Add spices, stir to coat, and allow to toast in the hot pan for a couple minutes. Finally, add the tomato paste, stir, and allow to cook for a minute or so.
Add the chicken broth, entire can of tomatoes, the green chile, and the rice to the pot. Stir to combine. Increase heat so that it starts to come to a boil and then reduce heat as low as you can to still maintain a very gentle boil (simmer). Cover with a lid but allow a small space for steam to escape. Stir only occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until rice is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed.