- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
What you’ll need — tap to tick off as you go
- 360 g
- 60 g
- 30 g
- 100 g
- 3 cloves
- 45 ml
- 600 ml
- 4 g
Process
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Rinse the long-grain white rice in a bowl of cold water, swishing with your fingers, until the water runs almost clear. Drain thoroughly in a sieve and leave it to sit while you make the purée.
Put the poblano pepper, fresh spinach, fresh cilantro, the roughly chopped half of the white onion and the garlic in a blender. Add 150 ml of the vegetable broth and blend for 60 to 90 seconds until completely smooth, with no flecks of spinach leaf left.
Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the finely diced half of the white onion and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent but not browned.
Add the drained rice to the pan and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the grains turn opaque and smell toasted. Do not let them colour.
Pour in the green purée and stir for 2 minutes so every grain is coated and the raw edge cooks off. The mixture will look wet and dark green.
Add the remaining 450 ml hot vegetable broth and the fine salt. Stir once, bring to a strong simmer, then reduce the heat to low.
Cover the pan tightly and cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid or stir, or the rice will turn gluey.
Remove from the heat and let the pan stand, still covered, for 10 minutes so the grains finish steaming and firm up.
Uncover and fluff gently with a fork, lifting from the bottom. Taste and add more fine salt if needed, then serve with lime wedges on the side.
Kitchen notes
Kitchen notes
- The single biggest mistake is not rinsing the rice: surface starch is what makes arroz verde sticky and dull instead of separate and fluffy. Rinse until the water is nearly clear.
- Fry the rice in the oil until the grains look chalky and rattle in the pan. This toasting step keeps the grains distinct once the wet purée hits them.
- Resist stirring after the lid goes on. Steam trapped in the pot is what cooks the top layer; every peek releases it and leaves crunchy rice at the edges.
- If the rice is still firm after the 10-minute rest, sprinkle 60 ml hot broth over the top, cover and steam for 5 more minutes on low heat.
Substitutions
- poblano pepper→1 green bell pepper plus 1 small jalapeño for a similar mild-green flavour with a little heat
- fresh spinach→Swiss chard leaves or watercress, both blended the same way
- vegetable broth→chicken broth for a richer, non-vegetarian version
- long-grain white rice→basmati rice, rinsed the same way, with the same liquid volume
Storage & reheating
Cool the rice within 1 hour, then store it in a shallow airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days; spread it no more than 5 cm deep so it chills fast. Reheat in a covered saucepan over low heat with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water per portion, or in a covered microwave-safe dish at 700 W for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once halfway. Freezing is not recommended because the cooked greens weep and the grains turn mushy on thawing.
FAQ
The questions we get asked most
Why did my arroz verde turn out mushy instead of fluffy?
Almost always too much liquid or too much stirring. The blended purée already carries water, so use about 1.6 times the rice volume in total liquid, not the 2:1 you would use for plain rice. Once the lid is on, leave it alone until the rest is over.
Can I make Mexican green rice ahead of time?
Yes, and it reheats well. Cook it fully, cool it within an hour, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat covered over low heat with a splash of water, or in the microwave at 700 W for 2 to 3 minutes, fluffing with a fork before serving.
My rice came out pale instead of bright green. What went wrong?
The greens were either under-blended or cooked too long. Blend the poblano, spinach and cilantro until the purée is completely smooth, and add it to the pan only after the rice is toasted, cooking it just 2 minutes before the broth goes in. Long boiling dulls the chlorophyll and turns the rice olive-coloured.
Can I use frozen spinach or jarred poblano instead of fresh?
Yes. Thaw 60 g of frozen spinach, squeeze out the excess water, and blend it with the rest. Jarred or roasted poblano works too, but drain it first and reduce the broth by about 60 ml, since both add extra moisture that can make the rice soggy.
How do I know when the rice is fully cooked?
Tilt the pan: no liquid should pool at the bottom, and a fork should slide through the grains with no resistance. The grains should be tender with a faint bite at the centre, and small steam holes will have appeared on the surface. If there is still liquid after 15 minutes, cook uncovered on low for 2 to 3 minutes.
Can I leave out the cilantro?
Yes, though it is a defining flavour. Replace it with 20 g of flat-leaf parsley plus a few leaves of fresh mint for a similar fresh, green note. The rice will still taste good, just less distinctly Mexican.
Is this green rice spicy?
No, it is mild. Poblano peppers are one of the gentlest chillies, and seeding them removes nearly all heat. If you want a kick, blend half a jalapeño or serrano in with the purée, or serve the rice with a spoonful of salsa on top.
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