I loaded this Mexican fried rice with ground beef, vegetables, corn, beans, bold spices, and all kinds of toppings. It’s a great way to use up your leftover rice while putting a flavorful weeknight-friendly meal on the table in only 30 minutes.
I’ve spent years cooking rice—way before I walked into my first professional kitchen. And while nothing usually tops my classic Egg Fried Rice or this Chicken Fried Rice, I decided to lean into some Tex-Mex flavors for a change. Safe to say, this experiment completely knocked it out of the park.
Mexican Fried Rice
If you visit Mexico, you probably won’t find “Mexican fried rice” on any menus. Authentic Mexican rice, like red rice and arroz blanco, is very different and cooked 100% from scratch with fresh ingredients. This dish, on the other hand, is really just a fun fusion of the typical day-old fried rice techniques with classic Mexican ingredients.
Instead of ingredients like scrambled eggs, sesame oil, and soy sauce, I loaded my fried rice recipe with ground beef, warm Mexican spices, black beans, veggies, and tomato puree. As a result, you get the tried-and-true, slightly crispy fried rice that just happens to taste like Tex-Mex rather than Chinese takeout.
There are two big reasons I created this recipe: (1) My daughter wanted a taco bowl, and (2) I just wanted something I could throw together in one pan. Mexican-inspired fried rice was the answer. Everything is cooked together in one pan, and everyone can load their bowl with all of the taco toppings they want. My bowl of fried rice literally tasted like tacos, and I couldn’t get enough.
Ingredients and Substitutions
These are the ingredients I used to infuse standard fried rice with Mexican flavors, plus a few simple substitution ideas that I can recommend.
- Olive Oil – For browning the beef.
- Ground Beef is my protein of choice. I like 85/15 ground beef because it has just enough fat for flavor and frying, but not so much that the rice ends up greasy. Ground chicken, ground turkey, or Mexican chorizo also work.
- Mexican Spice Blend, either store-bought or homemade, is where those bold Mexican-inspired flavors come from. My homemade Taco Seasoning (or a seasoning packet) works, too.
- Aromatics – I started the dish with sautéed yellow onions, red bell peppers, and garlic.
- Corn, fresh, frozen, or canned
- Black Beans also bulk up the rice. If you need a substitute, use pinto beans or red kidney beans.
- Cooked White Rice – Whenever I make fried rice, I ALWAYS use day-old, long-grain white rice. Freshly cooked rice holds way too much moisture and turns mushy, whereas cold leftover rice has dried out just enough to absorb flavor and get crispy.
- Tomato Puree brings the red color, hinting at just how much flavor is packed into this meal. If you need a substitute, swap it for your favorite smooth red salsa.
How to Make Mexican Fried Rice
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Brown the ground beef in the skillet and season it with some of the Mexican spice blend. Set it aside on a plate.
Sauté the onions in the empty skillet until they start to soften.
Add the peppers, season with salt, and cook. Stir in the garlic.
Stir the corn and black beans in with the peppers, onion, and garlic. Season with salt.
Add the rest: Add the cooked beef, cooked rice, tomato puree, and the remaining Mexican spice blend to the skillet. Give everything a good stir until the beef, rice, and veggies are well-coated and evenly seasoned.
Stir fry until the rice is slightly fried and crispy.
Serve the Mexican rice in bowls with your favorite toppings.
Chef Tip + Notes
The best rice for fried rice will always be day-old, cold rice. I recommend dumping your freshly cooked or leftover rice onto a baking sheet, spreading it into an even layer, and refrigerating it overnight. The grains will be dry the next day, which will help them stay firm and separate when stir-fried instead of turning into a gummy, clumpy mess in the pan.
- No leftover rice? You can cook the rice from scratch if you need to make the fried rice today. Afterward, spread it in a thin layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes to help it cool and dry out before it hits the skillet.
- Make this in a large, wide skillet, because if your pan is too small, the ingredients will be overcrowded, which will cause them to steam instead of crisp up. We want high, direct surface heat so the rice actually fries.
- Use pre-cooked meat instead, like leftover shredded chicken, carne asada, carnitas, or taco meat. You can skip browning it altogether and fold it into the pan with the cold rice and tomato puree at the end.
- Add-in ideas: try adding diced carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, or jalapeños with the peppers. There’s nothing wrong with scrambling an egg or two in the pan, too. Just push the finished rice to the side of the pan, scramble the eggs in the empty space, and then fold it all together.
Serving Suggestions
I prep lots of toppings when I know we’re going to have Mexican fried rice for dinner. My go-tos are fresh cilantro, sliced green onions, pickled onions, avocado, lime wedges, and crumbled queso fresco. Here are even more to choose from: pico de gallo, pickled jalapeños, crumbled cotija, shredded Monterey Jack, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, etc.
The mix of rice, beef, and beans makes this meal pretty filling on its own, but we’ll still have it with a side of tortilla chips with guacamole or, if we’re really fancy, queso fundido for dipping.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: Serve the fried rice as soon as it’s done cooking for the crispiest texture. To keep it warm, cover the skillet and leave it over low heat for up to 30 minutes.
How to Store: Cover the cooled leftovers and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the rice in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the leftovers to a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until warmed through and slightly crispy again.
More Rice Recipes
Mexican Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound 85/15 ground beef
- 3 tablespoons Mexican spice blend, or taco seasoning
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and small diced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and small diced
- 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 15 ounce can corn, drained
- 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups cooked white rice
- 15 ounces tomato puree
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely minced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- Pickled onion slices, optional garnish
- Sliced avocado, optional garnish
- Lime wedges, optional garnish
- 1/3 cup queso fresco
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to an extra-large cast-iron skillet or rondeau and heat over medium heat.
- Place in the ground beef along with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Mexican spice blend and cook for 5 to 7 minutes while breaking it up.
- Once browned and cooked through, set it aside on a plate, leaving as much rendered fat in the pan as possible.
- Next, add the onions along with a gentle seasoning of salt and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they start to brown.
- Add in the peppers, gently season with salt, and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 to 45 seconds or just until you smell it.
- Next, add in the corn and black beans, season with salt, and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add back in the beef, the cooked rice, tomato puree, and remaining 1 ½ tablespoons of the Mexican spice blend.
- Stir-fry over medium to medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes until all the ingredients are incorporated and the rice is slightly fried.
- Serve with garnishes of cilantro, green onions, pickled onions, avocado, lime wedges, and queso fresco.
Mexican Fried Rice Recipe