Green Rice from Vegan Mexico

Green rice is a delicious dish made with peppers, onion, garlic, and herbs. Serve it as a side dish with beans and vegetables, in burritos, alongside tacos, or even in stuffed peppers. This easy recipe from Vegan Mexico by Jason Wyrick is vegan and gluten-free.

Green Rice

When a new cookbook arrives, I sit down with it and mark off what I want to make. When Vegan Mexico by Jason Wyrick arrived a few years ago, I found myself marking off most of the recipes in the book.

I decided to start with Green Rice, since green is my favorite color. This dish was extremely flavorful, and it was the perfect accompaniment to many of the other dishes I made. The recipe makes a big batch, but it kept well in the fridge, and we ate it with our meals throughout the week.

What is Green Rice?

Green rice, also known as arroz verde, is an herb-filled alternative to red Spanish rice. It's rice that's been cooked with peppers, onion, and herbs.

What You Need

You don't need much to make this recipe!

• Poblano chiles
• Onion
• Cilantro
• Epazote (optional)
• Garlic
• Vegetable broth
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Brown rice

See recipe card for exact amounts

How to Roast Poblano Peppers

To pan-roast, take a heavy-bottomed pan or cast iron skillet and bring it to medium heat. Place the pepper directly on the hot, dry surface. Leave them until they blister, which will take about five minutes. Flip the peppers and repeat until most sides are slightly blackened.

To oven roast, preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Place the peppers on the baking sheet and roast them for 35-40 minutes or until skins are blackened, flipping them at about the halfway point.

How to Make Green Rice

This recipe is really easy to make!

• First you place the poblanos, onion, cilantro, epazote (if using), garlic, 1 ½ cups of the broth, and salt in a blender and purée them. You then add the remaining broth and blend well.
• Then you add the oil to a medium saucepan over medium heat. You add the rice and toast it for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring it slowly.
• Next you add the the sauce and bring the mixture to a boil.
• You cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook the for 20 minutes.

Serving Your Green Rice

Chef Jason Wyrick suggests serving your green rice with sliced avocado and lime wedges and a bowl of seasoned black beans for a delicious lunch.

You can also serve it alongside grilled vegetables, soy curls, and fajitas.

You can use it in a burrito bowl, burrito, tacos, or even in stuffed peppers.

Storing Your Green Rice

Store any unused green rice in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It will last in the freezer for up to a month.

Recipe Notes

• Epazote is an herb that's commonly used in epazote herb is commonly used in Mexican and Guatemalan cooking. If you can't find it, you can leave it out.
• Cilantro is commonly used to make green rice, but if you're one of the unfortunate people who think it tastes like soap, you can use parsley. 

Vegan Mexico

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Mexican food. Rice, beans, chiles, avocados, tortillas… what’s not to love? Getting Mexican food at restaurants can be a bit of pain though, because everything comes drenched in cheese and sour cream, and you always need to be on the lookout for hidden animal ingredients like lard and beef stock. Fortunately, Jason Wyrick has made it a lot easier for vegans to make delicious vegan Mexican food at home with his aptly titled cookbook Vegan Mexico.

Just as he did with his first book Vegan Tacos, Jason spent a lot of time researching Vegan Mexico. He begins the book with a bit about the history of Mexican food, explaining the basic foods that can found in each region of the country, and what their influences are. Did you know that most of the cuisine in the Veracruz area of Mexico has a Spanish influence, whereas dishes in Baja are designed to cater to American and Japanese tourists? I found it pretty interesting to learn that most of the food in Mexico was plant-based until the Spanish brought animal foods with them in the early 1500s. They also spices, citrus fruits, onions, and garlic with them.

Jason also spends some time explaining the different ingredients that are used in Mexican cooking, so if you don’t know the difference between a poblano chile and a Serrano chile, you’ll learn. He also has a list of kitchen equipment that’s handy to have when cooking Mexican food. I can vouch for my tortilla press – it’s inexpensive and I’ve made the most amazing homemade tortillas with it, using Jason’s recipe, of course!

Vegan Mexico Recipes

The recipes in Vegan Mexico start with Corn, Beans, Rice, and Chiles, where you’ll learn the basics of cooking with these integral ingredients. Jason explains how to dry chiles, as well as how to roast and fry them. The next chapter is full of salsas and dips, which accompany many of the book’s dishes.

The food in Vegan Mexico includes street food, tacos (of course!), sandwiches, enchiladas, tamales, salads, soups, main dishes, grilled fare, snacks, breads, drinks, and sweets. If you don’t know the difference between a chalupa, a gordita, and a chimichanga, don’t worry – Jason will explain what they are. There’s also a glossary that includes some of the Spanish terms that are used throughout the book.

The recipes in Vegan Mexico are versatile. You can make your own tortillas, or you can use store-bought. You can make one of Jason’s salsas, or you can use your favorite jarred salsa. If you’re into DIY, you can even make your own chili powder, or you use your favorite store-bought variety. Jason also includes options, so if you can’t find cactus paddles, you can use zucchini. If you’re gluten-intolerant, you can use portobellos instead of seitan. Some of the fried recipes I made also had options for baking, for those worried about oil.

I've made many of the recipes in Vegan Mexico, including homemade tortillas. Trust me – when you start making your own tortillas, you won't want to go back to store-bought. Even though it's been on my shelf for years, it's a cookbook I come back to again again.

Vegan Mexico is the perfect book for anyone who wants to cook authentic Mexican food at home!

Green Rice from Vegan Mexico

Jason Wyrick

Arroz verde is a refreshing, herbaceous alternative to Mexican red rice. It’s ideal on a hot day as a great side for lighter dishes. If you want to kick up the heat level, add a couple fresh serrano chiles. Serve with sliced avocado and lime wedges and a bowl of seasoned black beans for the perfect lunch.

This recipe produces about 4 cups of rice. A serving of rice is ½ cup.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 27 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 8 servings

Calories 188 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 2 poblano chiles roasted
• 1 small white onion coarsely chopped
• 4 bunches cilantro stems included (3 cups, roughly chopped)
• ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh epazote optional
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 cups vegetable broth divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ cups medium-grain brown rice

Instructions

 

• In a blender or food processor, purée the poblanos, onion, cilantro, epazote (if using), garlic, 1 ½ cups of the broth, and salt. Add the remaining 1 ½ cups broth and blend well. Set the sauce aside.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the rice and toast it for 5 to 7 minutes, slowly stirring. Add the sauce and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes.

Notes

Recipe from Vegan Mexico, copyright © 2016 by Jason Wyrick. Used by permission Vegan Heritage Press.

Serve Your Green Rice With

• Spanish Style Soy Curls
• Vegan Fajitas
• Double-Shelled Black Bean Tacos
• Sofritas Burrito Bowl

More Rice-Based Recipes You Might Enjoy

• Thanksgiving Rice from Back to the Cutting Board by Christina Pirello 
• Brown Rice Salad
• Kimchi Fried Rice
• Spanish Rice

What would you serve your Green Rice with?