Skip to main content
Main

Hamburger Spanish Rice

A one-pan dish of ground beef, onion, green pepper, and instant rice simmered in tomato sauce and seasonings.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Onion and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,259 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Hamburger Spanish Rice

Time20 to 25 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a skillet, brown beef, onion, green pepper and rice.

  2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

  3. Bring to a boil.

  4. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

614Calories
35 gProtein
16 gFat
80 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,065 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lean ground beef
Provides the main protein and savory, browned flavor base for the dish.
Uncooked instant rice
Absorbs the sauce and liquid as it cooks, becoming tender and giving the dish its body.
Tomato sauce
Supplies the liquid and acidity that flavor the dish and help the rice cook through.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth as it softens during browning.

The step that matters

Simmer covered until the rice is tender. Keeping the lid on traps steam so the rice cooks in the liquid. Lifting the lid or simmering too hot lets moisture escape, leaving the rice hard or the sauce dry.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, rice, tomato, sauce, mustard, sugar):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Horseradishfits better
  3. Okrafits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, rice, tomato, sauce, mustard, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesRoast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipes