This Traditional Mexican Yellow Rice with Green Peas is a simple side dish made with long-grain rice, toasted cumin, turmeric for that golden color, and a handful of sweet green peas stirred in near the end.

It’s fluffy, never mushy, and comes together in one pot with barely any hands-on time.

I make this whenever we’re doing tacos, enchiladas, or really any Mexican-inspired dinner that needs a starchy side that isn’t just plain white rice.

It holds up well for meal prep too, so I’ll often double the batch for lunches during the week.

If you’re planning a full Mexican-inspired dinner, these are worth checking out too:

Traditional Mexican Yellow Rice with Green Peas

Ingredients You’ll Need

Nothing complicated here (just pantry rice, spices, and frozen peas). Turmeric is what gives this Mexican yellow rice its signature golden color without reaching for saffron, which is expensive and honestly unnecessary for a weeknight side.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups long-grain white rice
1/2 cup diced white onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (or salt, to taste)
1 cup frozen green peas
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pot or deep skillet over medium heat.
Add the rice and toast it, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes until the grains turn slightly golden and smell nutty.
This step matters more than it seems. Toasting the rice first keeps the grains separate instead of clumping together later.
Add the diced onion and garlic to the pot and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the onion softens and turns translucent.
Stir often so the garlic doesn’t burn.
Burnt garlic turns bitter fast, and there’s no fixing it once it happens.
Stir in the cumin and turmeric and cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
This blooms the spices in the oil, which pulls out more flavor than adding them straight to the liquid later.
Pour in the chicken broth and add the bouillon powder (or salt), stirring to combine.
Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. That’s flavor you don’t want to leave behind.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot tightly.
Let it simmer undisturbed for 15 to 18 minutes.
Resist the urge to lift the lid and check. Every peek lets out steam the rice needs to cook evenly.
After about 15 minutes, sprinkle the frozen peas evenly over the top of the rice without stirring.
Cover again and let everything cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, just until the peas are heated through and the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes.
This little rest lets the rice finish steaming and firms up the texture (skip it and the rice can turn a bit gummy when you fluff it).
Fluff the rice gently with a fork, mixing the peas through evenly.
Taste and adjust the salt if needed, then top with chopped cilantro.
Serve warm with lime wedges on the side and enjoy!

Rice Cooker Version

You can easily make this Mexican yellow rice with green peas in a rice cooker. Rinse the rice well, then add it to the rice cooker with the broth, seasonings, tomato mixture, and any other liquid ingredients from the recipe.

Stir everything together, close the lid, and cook using the regular white rice setting.

When the cooking cycle is almost finished, stir in the green peas, or add them once the rice is done and let them warm through on the Keep Warm setting for about 5–10 minutes.

Fluff the rice gently with a fork before serving. If your rice cooker tends to produce softer rice, reduce the liquid slightly.

Important Recipe Notes

Toast the rice before adding liquid. This keeps the grains separate and gives the rice a slightly nutty base flavor instead of tasting flat.
Don’t lift the lid while it simmers. Every peek releases steam, and the rice needs that steam to cook through evenly.
Swap chicken broth for vegetable broth to make this vegetarian. The flavor holds up just fine without the chicken broth.

Use frozen peas straight from the bag, no need to thaw. They go in during the last few minutes and cook perfectly from frozen.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat with a splash of water or broth to loosen it back up.
This rice freezes well for up to 2 months. Spread it out on a tray to cool completely before freezing so it doesn’t turn into one big clump.
Add diced carrots for extra color and texture if you want to bulk this up into more of a one-pan side.

How to Serve, Store & Customize This Recipe

Serving:

This rice is best served warm, straight from the pot, alongside tacos, enchiladas, or grilled chicken.

A squeeze of lime and a scattering of fresh cilantro right before serving brightens the whole dish. It also works well scooped into bowls as a base for a bigger Mexican-style dinner plate.

Storage:

Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The rice firms up as it chills, so reheat it with a splash of broth or water in the microwave or on the stovetop to bring back some moisture.

It freezes well too, just cool it completely before portioning it into freezer bags.

Customization:

Swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth to make this vegetarian, or stir in diced carrots along with the peas for more color and texture.

If you like a little heat, a pinch of cayenne or a diced jalapeno cooked with the onion works well. You can also finish it with a squeeze of lime juice stirred right into the pot for extra brightness.