Best Baked Vegan Mexican Rice (or Instant Pot)

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 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
• 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
• 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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Vegan Mexican Rice

Make restaurant style Mexican rice with this quick and easy recipe! Everyone's favorite dinner that's healthy, vegan, and gluten free! Choose the oven-baked method *OR* the Instant Pot method below.

4.93 from 27 votes

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 322kcal

Author: Kate

Ingredients

• 2 cups white rice long grain
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 10 oz. canned diced tomatoes with chilies Rotel or similar
• 1 med white onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 cups no chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Special equipment

• Blender
• Instant Pot

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!

Notes

The Instant Pot method makes a wetter rice, but this can be easily fixed by removing the lid and letting the excess moisture evaporate. Then fluff with a fork and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 899mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 165IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 0.6mg