Instant Pot Mexican Rice
Jul 12, 2018, Updated Aug 08, 2019
Restaurant style Mexican Rice made in the Instant Pot! This pot meal makes a great side and also be served with tacos, beans, burritos! Vegan and gluten-free.
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Instant Pot Mexican Rice – easy, quick, restaurant style Mexican Rice made in the Instant Pot. Serve it as a side dish or along with tacos, burritos, wraps!
If you love all the Instant Pot vegetarian/vegan recipes that I share on the blog, please join me on this Facebook Group – Instant Pot Vegetarian Recipes. The group shares/features vegetarian instant pot recipes and ideas from all around the web!
Mexican food is quite a favorite around here. In fact the first food that I warmed up to besides Indian was Mexican and it continues to be my favorite. While we get really good Mexican food here, I really had the best one in Mexico itself.
You clearly get the best food at it’s place of origin. Isn’t it?
I remember we went on to this trip to Chichen Itza from Cancun and in between somewhere we ate tacos with veggies and those were the best soft tortillas I have ever eaten! So good! I didn’t even need anything fancy topping, it was that good. I wish I could make tortillas like that at home, well maybe someday.
For now, let’s talk about Mexican Rice! So my most pinned recipe and one of my most popular posts on the blog is this – Vegetarian Mexican Rice. It’s a super simple recipe but people really like it.
Because you guys love it so much, I thought I should share an instant pot version of the same too. I tried to make it even more simpler. Less ingredients, less prep work and restaurant style Mexican Rice all made in the IP!
The recipe for this Instant Pot Mexican Rice is really simple but it took me several tries to get it right. When you use thick canned tomatoes in your IP, the sauce can get stuck at the bottom. The pot doesn’t come to pressure and you get the burn message.
Fir my first trial, I did everything as usual and stirred the tomato along with everything. The pot did not come to pressure. I did not get the burn message and the rice got cooked too (because it was covered for so long) but I obviously couldn’t share the recipe with you.
So for the next trial, I again did everything as usual but this time around added the tomatoes at the very end didn’t stir it. And that was it, perfect Mexican Rice in the Instant Pot! The key is not stir the tomatoes especially when there isn’t enough liquid to begin with.
This Instant Pot Mexican Rice Recipe
✓ is easy, one-pot recipe
✓exactly like the one you get at restaurants
✓ great as a side or inside tacos/burritos
✓ vegan & gluten-free
I have used basmati rice in this recipe. I know it is not the traditional rice to make Mexican Rice but that’s what I had at home and it worked out quite well for the recipe. If you change the rice, the water quantity might change too. So stick to basmati recipe for this recipe.
This recipe is relatively simple with garlic, onions, jalapeño, pepper and cilantro. You can even add corn here. A squeeze of lime juice at the end would be nice too! The recipe is easily customizable.
I make a big batch of this instant pot Mexican rice for summer parties and get togethers. First of all I don’t need to turn off my stove in this heat so that’s a huge plus!
And second, this rice can be pretty much used as a side or a main along with tacos/burritos. I love the versatility and ease of this dish!
Method – How to Make Instant Pot Mexican Rice
Rinse the rice until water turns clear. Then drain the water and let the rice dry.
1- Press the saute button on your Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add oil to the pot. Then add the rice and cook for 4-5 minutes until toasty.
2- Add the bell pepper, jalapeno, onion, garlic and saute for 1 minute.
3- Add the cumin, salt and saute for 30 seconds.
4- Now add the water and stir to deglaze the pot (there shouldn’t be anything sticking to the bottom).
5- Add the canned crushed tomatoes on top. Do NOT STIR.
6- Close the pot with its lid. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. The pressure valve should be in the sealing position.
7- Let the pressure release naturally for 2 minutes and then do a quick pressure release. Open the pot, now carefully stir the tomato with the rice using a spoon. Cover pot with a glass lid, let it remain like that for 2 minutes.
8- Remove the lid and add the cilantro. Fluff the rice with a fork. You may squeeze in some fresh lime juice.
Serve Mexican Rice as a side or with beans or inside tacos, burritos! Enjoy!
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Mexican Rice Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Instant Pot Mexican Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup basmati rice 200 grams, rinsed until water turns clear and drained until dry
- 1/2 red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño seeded & chopped
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 cup water 8 oz
- 1 cup crushed canned tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons cilantro minced
- lime juice optional
Instructions
- Rinse the rice until water turns clear. Then drain the water and let the rice dry.
- Press the saute button on your Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add oil to the pot. Then add the rice and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until toasty.
- Add the bell pepper, jalapeno, onion, garlic and saute for 1 minute.
- Add the cumin, salt and saute for 30 seconds.
- Now add the water and stir to deglaze the pot (there shouldn't be anything sticking to the bottom).
- Add the canned crushed tomatoes on top. Do NOT STIR.
- Close the pot with its lid. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. The pressure valve should be in the sealing position.
- Let the pressure release naturally for 2 minutes and then do a quick pressure release.
- Open the pot, now carefully stir the tomato with the rice using a spoon. Cover pot with a glass lid, let it remain like that for 2 minutes.
- Remove the lid and add the cilantro. Fluff the rice with a fork. You may squeeze in some fresh lime juice.
- Serve Mexican Rice as a side or with beans or inside tacos, burritos!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sounds like a great receipe.
If I want 2 cups of water, what is the relevant amounts of water.
Many thanks!
you mean 2 cups of rice? You would double everything. Cooking time remains same.
Hi Manila,
Can this recipe be scaled up?
Thank you!
yes it can be scaled, the cooking time will remain same
This is delicious- but each time I’ve followed this recipe exactly it burns in my instant pot.
the newer models especially the 8qt are quite prone to the burn message unfortunately. Try adding little more water next time and make sure nothing is stuck at the bottom of the pot.
Love your blog Manali! Everything always turns out so good! You are my go-to person now for trying new recipes! This Mexican rice is my granddaughter’s favorite
Thank you Lina!
Do you pre soak the rice?
no
I come back and use this recipe every single time I want Spanish rice. It took a few times to really perfect it. Letting it sit w the glass lid and being extremely gentle to mix in the tomatoes is essential or it turns into delicious mush. Thank you for this recipe! Now that I’ve got the hang of it I am very confident and proud to serve this to guests <3
glad to hear that Brittany!
Looks good i’ll try it!!!
Really good recipe. I added black beans and green onion after it was cooked so good. I was thinking maybe next time I will add corn too.
I made it couple times , big change I made to salute veggies first and then added the rice and saluted for few min . Added Traders Joe’s taco seasoning. I used one 8oz can of tomato sauce and half cut fresh tomato on top . It turned out awesome.
What you have described is a completely different recipe. Although your version also sounds delicious too, it’s clear you didn’t follow this recipe, so curious as to why you decided to provide a star rating on the original recipe when you made something different.
Hi
Can I use fresh tomatoes instead of canned ?
Also can I prep everything as you mentioned and keep it ready in the morning . And cook it last minute before dinner time ?
Will that work ? Or is it better to make it right away and reheat it before serving.
Thanks
Suman
make it right away and re-heat. Mexican rice does get more flavor from canned tomatoes so I would suggest to use that.
Even with accidental and intentional alterations, this was very good! I used Jasmine rice but otherwise followed the recipe up until adding the can of tomatoes. I forgot! I cooked the rice using the Amy&Jacky method for Jasmine rice (1:1 rice:liquid, cook 3 minutes, 10 minutes NR — their recommend rice times always work for me). When I opened the pot the rice was so good as is, I didn’t need to add the tomatoes.
Great recipe! I used the whole can of Rotel tomatoes.
Note: clean your liner well and be sure to deglaze the pot before adding tomatoes, turn off the sauté if needed to avoid too much evaporation because any stuck bits will give a burn notice, start clean, scrap well to loosen residue, wait until hot to add oil and you will have success!
After reading comments I followed your recipe line by line . Since we like spicy food I added couple teaspoon of Trader Joe’s Taco seasoning. I noticed cooking rice in sauté mode absorbed all oil and 4-5 is too long to sauté . Next time I will add veggies first and then rice . Amount
water and tomato purée was perfect .5 min was perfect time to cook . Overall great recipe.
In your recipe you mention to use 1 cup rice and 1 cup water. Is that right? I thought we needed 2 cups water with 1 cup rice
it is right, there’s also a cup of crushed tomatoes, so a lot of liquid already
Can we use Fresh tomatoes or puree in stead?
yes you can try
Will this recipe fit in a 3 qt instant pot?
yes
No matter how perfectly I follow this recipe, I get the “burn”message.
Bina, I am not sure what is wrong. Because I tell you not to stir and the reason I do so it so that you don’t get the burn message. So even after doing that you are getting the burn message, I am not sure what’s going on. Because it works perfectly in my IP. Are there any burnt bits stuck at the bottom of the pot after sauteing?
I was getting the BURN message often when making things. A friend asked it I had ever removed all the little ports in the lid, which I hadn’t. Once I cleaned them all, I haven’t had the BURN message. You all probably know about needing to clean those parts (I’m still a newbie to IP cooking), but just in case… maybe that’s way you keep getting it. Just a thought.
Thanks for the delicious recipe! Tried doubling this last night for a party. Did get the burn message but turned it off immediately. Next time I think I would heat the water and tomatoes prior to adding. The pressure never built enough to seal. When the burned alarm came on I immediately shut it off and opened. It was clearly done. I just didn’t scrape up the bottom. My guests loved it! The flavors were delicious. Thanks for sharing this excellent recipe. I will definitely make this again.
This is as good as any restaurant Mexican rice I have eaten. Yes, it is a little bland, but I always put salsa or other sauce on the rice. I never over season at the start. You can season at the end and get it up to your salt level. I put Franks Red Hot sauce on it when I tried it and it brought all the flavors out. Great recipe. Thanks.
Glad you liked it! and yes I don’t season it a lot since you can always end up adding things on top
LOVED this meal! It really hit the spot for me, thank you so much!
You are welcome Lauren!
Loved the flavor of this rice but 5 minutes is no where near long enough, rice was way under cooked will just use rice button next time
really? 5 minutes is plenty for basmati or long grain white rice… IP does take time to come to pressure so one has to keep that time in mind too..I am very surprised that white rice didn’t cook in 5 minutes..I cook it all the time this way..glad you liked the flavor!
Will agree, used long grain white rice and followed recipe. Definitely needed 2 or so more minutes of cooking time.
Do you think this would work with riced cauliflower?
it could but then I would use my stove-top. Riced cauliflower will turn so mushy in the Instant Pot! I have never tried it personally
Thank you thank you thank you thank you for introducing me to this recipe!!!!!! When I commented the other day on the Thai Peanut Noodles I hadn’t had a chance yet to taste the rice because I was super busy on my one day off but I had some last night and WOW!!! I will never use that stuff in a bag at the store ever again!!!! I shared some with a buddy at work who’s been eating my cooking for a few years now and we’ll see how he likes it! For the rest of my life this will be the recipe I will use any time I want Mexican Rice!!! Love your videos and channel and website!!!! I am not a vegetarian but do like veggies! Thanks again very much!!!! I will definitely recommend this and others to people on the Instant Pot Community or anywhere else if someone asks for a recipe for this or other items!!!!
Thank you so much Gary, so glad you liked it! 🙂
Just an FYI! My buddy at work loved it as much as I did and asked me to thank you from him!
awesome! 🙂
This was absolutely delicious! My whole family loved it.
Would definitely suggest ? sauce, I used about 8-10ounces and came out perfect. I also used chicken less broth instead of water and was no need for salt
Glad it turned out well!
Can you use regular white instant rice?
hmm but instant rice will take much less time to cook right? I have never cooked instant rice so can’t comment on the cooking time
Manali, Thank you so much for this recipe. I do think it needs more salt as it is a little bland…maybe a tablespoon?
tablespoon salt would be too much, trying adding 1/2 teaspoon!
Hi there!
Is it possible to replace the basmati rice with brown rice? One less thing to buy at the grocery store would be awesome.
Thanks 🙂
Brown rice would take extra time to cook. I have not tried this recipe with brown rice but brown rice usually takes around 22-24 minutes to cook in the IP. Check here- https://www.cookwithmanali.com/instant-pot-brown-rice/
I don’t know why, but when I made this, I got a burn message! I had to remove the lid and although everything was cooked, it had a slightly mushy texture and the outcome was a bit bland. What do you think went wrong?
hmm did you follow the instructions exactly and did not stir after adding the tomatoes? I don’t see any reason why you should get burn message if there’s nothing thick at the bottom. And if you think it was bland, add more jalapeno, more cumin!
Thanks for the recipe–it looks great! If I want to double the rice, do you think I should double everything else (but not the cooking time)?
Also, did you drain your crushed canned tomatoes first?
Thanks!
I did not drain my crushed canned tomatoes. & I would probably double everything except the cooking time…hope that helps!
If I want to double this recipe, do I change cook the time?
cook time should remain same
This recipe is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Just a couple of questions, have you made it with brown basmati rice and have you ever doubled or tripled the recipe? If yes, do I need to increase the cooking time? I’m having 30+ people over and serving pulled pork burrito bowls. Any tips appreciated. Thanks!
I have not tried this recipe with brown basmati rice..the cooking time will change significantly if you do that. I have also never doubled or tripled this recipe but I am sure you could. The cooking time should remain same.
I didn’t see how much tomato sauce to add so I did an 8 ounce can. It came out great.
its 1 cup of crushed canned tomatoes..glad you like it!
You say to add tomato sauce and cover with glass lid and let sit for 2 minutes. You say to add the crushed tomatoes prior to this so lm confused!
Hi Julie, i mean the same thing. We add crushed tomatoes on top of rice and do not stir and pressure cook. Once rice is cooked, I then stir the tomatoes with rice and cover with lid and let it sit for 2 minutes. Let me remove the word “sauce” so that there’s no confusion.