Best Spanish Rice Salad Recipe

Everyone loves a nice dish filled with rice, but sometimes, when the weather gets warmer, it’s hard to enjoy it.

For those days, the Spanish rice salad comes to the rescue. With this dish, you get all the beloved Andalusian flavors of Spanish rice, and it can be served cold.

The recipe is super simple to make, and if you keep scrolling down this article, you’ll be able to learn how to make Spanish salad recipes like this one and get some extra tips for storing, serving, and more.

Pssst…!!?? You can’t get enough of Spanish rice recipes? Have a look at my other posts:

• Spanish Rice with Corn

• Spanish Chorizo Rice

• Spanish Rice Soup Recipe

You, dear reader, support this blog. If you purchase through a link, we earn a small commission. As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Background of the Dish

As well as other traditional Spanish salads, this one was born thanks to a mix between Asian, Moorish, and Andalusian gastronomic culture.

There isn’t an exact date for its origin, but in the past few decades, it started to gain more popularity and managed to stand out among other Spanish salads.

Something that makes the Spanish rice salad so unique is that it’s versatile in different ways: you can play with the ingredients, serve it cold or at room temperature, and use it as a side dish or a main one. 

Pin for later!

Things You’ll Need for Spanish Rice Salad

To make the Spanish rice salad you need white rice, onion, bell peppers, olive oil, and vinegar as the main ingredients.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (400gr) white rice
• 4 cups (950ml) water
• 150 g manchego cheese
• 150 g serrano ham
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red onion
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 1 cup (200g) pitted green olives
• 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Spanish Rice Salad – Step by Step Guide

1. To start making the Spanish rice salad recipe, wash the rice under cold water to remove excess starch. In a large pot, add the rice and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook the rice for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is tender and all the water has been absorbed.

3. Then, remove the pot from the heat and let the rice stand covered for 5 minutes to finish cooking. Drain any remaining water and allow to cool to room temperature.

4. After that, peel and chop the onion. Do the same with the peppers and remove the seeds.

5. Now, peel and cut the cucumber into slices or small squares. Also, wash, peel, and cut the tomatoes into small cubes (you can remove the seeds too).

6. For the next step for this cold Spanish rice salad, you have to cut the Manchego cheese and Serrano ham into small cubes. Cut the olives in half, or into slices.

7. Then grab a large bowl, and mix the cooked rice, Manchego cheese and serrano ham cubes, red and green peppers, chopped onion, tomatoes, cucumber, and olives.

8. In a separate bowl, prepare the dressing for the summer rice salad by mixing the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine the ingredients.

9. Now, pour the dressing over the Spanish salad and mix everything gently to make sure all the ingredients are well covered.

10. To finish making this ensalada española, cover the container with plastic wrap or a lid and place it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. After that time you can serve the Spanish rice salad cold (or serve it at room temperature if you prefer).

Substitution of Ingredients

The main ingredient that you can’t miss while making the Spanish rice salad is rice.

However, you can make this Spanish summer salad with any rice of your choice, just be sure to adapt the cooking times.

Besides that, feel free to add or remove any ingredient of your choice, especially when it comes to vegetables.

You can also take inspiration from other Spanish rice ideas and add classic spices like saffron threads or paprika powder.

The mix of olive oil and vinegar is the typical dressing of salads from Spain but use your favorite one.

Tips on Serving Spanish Rice Salad

This Spanish rice salad is commonly served as a side dish, but it is an amazing main dish too.

If you serve a full plate of this Spanish style salad, then you have your full meal ready (maybe add some hard-boiled eggs for some extra protein).

You can prepare other salad recipes from Spain and serve them together as a salad bar.

For example, some seafood salads like the ensalada de bacalao or the Spanish tuna salad would go really well, or a fresher one like the Spanish green salad or the ensalada de aguacate can work too.

How to Store Spanish Rice Salad

We love the Spanish rice salad because you can store it in the fridge for a few days, or freeze it and keep it for longer.

In both cases, you have to store the salad before dressing it, and we recommend skipping the tomatoes if you are planning on storing it for a long amount of time (you can add them the same day).

All you have to do is place the Spanish rice salad, before adding the oil and vinegar, in a covered container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 30 days.

Other easy Spanish salad recipes that can be stored for a long amount of time are the Spanish seafood salad and the Spanish octopus salad.

Recipe Card: Spanish Rice Salad

---

---