Flavorful and bright green cilantro sauce turns plain white rice into a simple green rice you can serve with any Latin American or TexMex meal. Add spicy peppers to bring on the heat or, leave them out to keep this oil-free plant-based rice dish mild and versatile.
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🧄 Ingredient notes
To make this green cilantro rice, you'll need the following ingredients:
- basmati rice
- homemade Venezuelan cilantro sauce - this sauce blends up quickly in the blender and is also delicious on tacos, burrito bowls, falafel and more.
- sea salt
- water
Homemade cilantro sauce
This quick and easy cilantro sauce is responsible for the flavor and color in this green rice recipe. So, it's essential to the recipe.
Do not add the optional avocado to the recipe, when making the cilantro sauce for green rice.
The sauce recipe is not spicy, as written. However, if you like heat and spice, then add sliced jalapeño or serrano peppers (seeded or de-seeded) when blending the sauce.
Leftover cilantro sauce can be used in lots of different ways. Skip straight to the serving suggestions to read what else you can do with the sauce.
👨👩👦👦 Serving suggestions
Serve simple green rice with additional cilantro sauce, chopped fresh cilantro and vegan sour cream!
Serve this green cilantro rice with black beans, sautéed bell peppers and onions, tacos or any other TexMex meal. It would be delicious with creamy spinach and corn enchiladas.
🔄 Variations
To bulk up this rice and add more nutrition, add some minced onion, chopped tomato, carrots or bell pepper while it is cooking.
Adding chopped greens (fresh or frozen) will make it even greener in color, too.
🗺 Cultural influences
Rice flavored and seasoned heavily with sauces, onion, peppers, tomato, herbs and seasonings are common throughout the world.
Think of Spanish paella, Cuban arroz congri, Jamaican rice and peas, Italian risotto, African jollof rice, Louisiana jambalaya and Indian biryani. You get the idea.
This simple green rice recipe is most closely associated with Venezuelan cuisine, since I'm using Venezuelan cilantro sauce (guasacaca criolla sin aguacate) as the flavor agent.
But, you'll likely find similar recipes in other parts of Latin America and even across the ocean in India and other parts of the world.
I hope you enjoy it!
💜 More recipes you'll love
If you love this green rice recipe, check out these other vegan, plant-based Latin American and TexMex dishes!
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📖 Recipe
Simple Green Rice with Cilantro Sauce
Equipment
- Fine mesh strainer for rinsing rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice rinsed
- 3 cups water
- ½ cup prepared cilantro sauce or green salsa
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Rinse rice in fine mesh strainer and set aside.
- Bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan with a tight-fitting lid.
- Add rinsed rice, cilantro sauce and salt to water. Bring back to a boil, stir, then lower heat to low and cover.
- Cook for 20 minutes. Do not stir or lift lid while it's cooking. After 20 minutes has passed, turn off heat and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before fluffing and serving.
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