This vegan Mexican Rice is easy to make and comes out fluffy and full of savory flavor every time! Garlic, onion, diced tomatoes and green chilies blend together into a quick broth to make this vegan Mexican rice the best you've ever had!
Make this family favorite in either your oven or Instant Pot Pressure cooker!
Fluffy Mexican rice!
I don't know about you guys, but rice is a favorite in our family! My husband and my kid can eat rice EVERY DAY. I love rice too, but I need to switch up the flavor every once in a while.
Luckily, this vegan Mexican Rice side dish BRINGS ALL THE FLAVOR!
And best of all, this Mexican rice is super easy to make - whether you want to make it in the Instant Pot or in the oven. You might just end up making this weekly!
How to make Vegan Mexican Rice in the oven:
First, thoroughly rinse your rice in a colander under cold running water. This will take several minutes, but it helps remove the starch and create fluffy rice!
After rinsing, let the rice drain and add to large oven-safe pot or skillet with a lid. Sauté rice over medium heat with the olive oil until grains become an opaque white (Photo 1). Be sure to stir frequently to prevent burning - usually takes 7-8 minutes.
In a blender, add vegetable broth (or use this vegan chicken broth seasoning + 2 cups water to make broth!), onion, garlic cloves, canned diced tomatoes with chilies (Rotel) and salt (Photo 2). Blend until smooth and add to the rice (Photo 3). Stir to combine.
Bring rice mixture to a boil over medium heat without the pot lid on. Once the rice is beginning to boil and cover with a lid.
Place the pot into the preheated oven to bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove pot from oven and stir to make sure all the rice is well coated. Return the pan to bake for the remainder of the time.
How to make Mexican Rice in the Instant Pot:
If you're obsessed with your Instant Pot (like I am! This is the one I have), you can absolutely make this rice in the Instant Pot.
A word of warning though: it does come out just a little bit more wet. But if you leave the lid off of the pressure cooker for a few minutes after completing the rice, that moisture will dissipate.
To make this rice in the Instant Pot, saute the rinsed rice in 4 tablespoons of olive oil in the Instant Pot for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomato sauce from the blender, stir, cancel the "saute" function, and cook on manual low pressure for 12 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, allow the extra moisture to evaporate, then stir to fluff the rice and serve!
What kind of rice is the best for this recipe?
I'm partial to long-grained white rice for this recipe. It is absolute perfection. You can certainly make substitutions, but if you want to use brown rice, you'll need to make time and water ratio adjustments.
Does this recipe have to be baked?
Baking the rice gives it a fluffiness that is hard to beat with other methods of cooking. As much as I love the Instant Pot, I still often make this Mexican rice in the oven.
If you don't have a pot that has a lid that can go in the oven, you can get one here.
Or complete the first three steps on the stove-top and then carefully transfer everything to a casserole dish and cover VERY well with foil or an oven-safe lid. You may need to bake a couple of extra minutes because you're allowing the rice to cool down a little when transferring it to a casserole dish.
This vegan Mexican Rice is a crowd favorite and an all-time perfect recipe to pair with:
- Vegan black bean taquitos
- A side of vegan refried bean dip and cabbage salsa
- A drizzle of vegan nacho sauce on top
- A generous scoop of mango pico de gallo on top
- Enchiladas
- Jackfruit tacos
- Taco Salad
- Tamales
- Fajitas
- Burritos
- Vegan taco soup
- Slow cooker pinto beans
I can't stop thinking about Mexican food so maybe it's time to hit the kitchen and make some of these vegan Mexican-inspired favorites:
- Vegan black bean taquitos
- Vegan Mexican pasta salad
- Jackfruit tacos
- Vegan tamales
- Vegan nacho cheese
- Best easy guacamole
- Mom's best salsa
- Vegan blender salsa
- Black bean salad
- Vegan black bean soup
- Vegan tofu and black bean tacos
If you’ve tried this Vegan Mexican Rice or any other recipe on my blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I LOVE hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food!!!
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Recipe
Vegan Mexican Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups white rice, long grain
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 10 oz. canned diced tomatoes with chilies, Rotel or similar
- 1 medium white onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 cups no chicken broth or vegetable broth, (from about 2 teaspoon + 2 cups no-chicken base)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
Special equipment
Instructions
Oven instructions for Mexican Rice
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees or follow instant pot directions in notes below.
- Thoroughly rinse your rice in a colander under cold running water for several minutes. Let rice drain and shake to remove excess water.
- Add the rice to large oven-safe pot or skillet. Sauté rice over medium heat with the olive oil until grains become an opaque white. Be sure to stir frequently to prevent burning – usually takes 7-8 minutes.
- In a blender add no chicken or vegetable broth, onion, garlic cloves, canned diced tomatoes with chilies and salt. Blend until smooth and add to the rice. Stir to combine.
- Bring rice mixture to a boil over medium heat without the pot lid on. Once the rice is beginning to boil, put the pot lid on and place the pot into the preheated oven to bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove pot from oven and stir to make sure all the rice is well coated. Return the pan to bake for the remainder of the time.
Instant Pot Mexican Rice
- Thoroughly rinse your rice in a colander under cold running water for several minutes. Let rice drain and shake to remove excess water.
- In a blender add no chicken or vegetable broth, onion, garlic cloves, canned diced tomatoes with chilies and salt. Blend until smooth and add to the rice. Stir to combine.
- Turn your instant pot onto Saute mode and add the 4 Tbsp. Olive Oil. Add rice and cook for around 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour blended mixture over the rice after the 5 minutes is up. Stir a little to combine everything. Cancel the saute mode.
- Close the Instant Pot, set the valve to "sealing," and set to Manual-Low Pressure mode and cook for 12 minutes. Allow natural release for about 10 minutes after it’s done, then manually release the pressure. Leave the lid off of the instant pot for several minutes to allow the excess moisture to dissipate, then fluff the rice and serve!
Lydia
I love this recipe but every time I make it my instant pot burns! I usually just wait for it to release naturally after that and the rice is mostly cooked by that point. What can I do to avoid the burning? I blend the tomato mixture as much as I can so there are no chunks.
Kate
From talking to people, it seems like some pots are prone to the burning symbol, and some are not. I've only had it happen once when I completely forgot to add liquid. So I don't have any tips other than "scrape the bottom and make sure nothing is stuck on to the bottom." The chunks in the tomato mixture shouldn't matter since I've made things with diced tomatoes and never had a burn notice.
Kerri
I'm going to try this recipe for a family reunion and will need to make the dish to serve 10 people. Can I use a rice cooker instead of an instant pot? Usually the rice cooker turns itself off when the rice is cooked and that's what I would like to happen, given that I'm doubling the recipe...any thoughts on that?
Kim
This rice is AMAZING! I made it as a side for stuffed poblano peppers and couldn’t believe how flavorful it was. I used the instant pot version, and it still came out super fluffy. Seriously, I can’t stress enough how good it was! This is going to become a staple meal in our home.
Kate
I'm so glad to hear that!! Enjoy!
Kelsey
I’ve made this recipe a few times and it’s absolute perfection. Everyone raves about it and the consistory is perfect, which is what I’ve always had trouble with with other Mexican rice recipes. I want to make it for a bigger crowd and was wondering if you’ve ever tried doubling it? I know that doubling rice isn’t as simple as just doubling all of the ingredients and the rice to liquid ratio changes. Any thoughts?
Kate
Hi, I have not tried doubling this specific recipe. I know that in general, if you double a recipe in the Instant Pot you just double the ingredients but do NOT double the cooking time. However, I have not tried to double this rice in the Instant Pot *or* in the oven. If you give it a try, let me know how it works out and what you do!
Manisha S
Can you use basmati rice for this recipe?
Kate
I haven't tried, but I don't see why not! Let me know how it works out!