This Instant Pot Mexican Rice recipe (also known as Spanish Rice) is a great easy side dish! Made with just 3 main ingredients and some spices, it comes out perfectly light and fluffy every single time!
This Instant Pot Mexican Rice is one of my favorite side dishes and a great compliment to many recipes, like Instant Pot Chicken Tacos, Instant Pot BBQ Ribs, Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken, and Boneless BBQ Chicken Thighs. It’s light, flavorful, and you can use this recipe as a base to create your own flavors by adding more vegetables.
My favorite way to cook grains is in a pressure cooker. You just need to put all the ingredients in a pot, stir, press the button, and in about 20 minutes you will have perfectly cooked fluffy rice. I use the same method for cooking simple white rice (check out my recipe for How to cook White Rice in Instant Pot) and it comes out light and fluffy every single time.
How to make Mexican Rice in Instant Pot
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then drain.
Add the rice to the Instant Pot, together with 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 8 oz tomato sauce, and 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth. Stir everything together.
Close the lid and make sure that the venting knob is sealed. Turn the manual high pressure on for 4 minutes. When done, let the natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
Then open the lid, and using a fork, fluff the rice.
Tips for best results
- Rinse. Make sure you properly rinse the grains until the water runs clean. We need to make sure that we remove the starch to make the rice fluffy and not clumpy or sticky.
Options and substitutions
- Rice. This recipe is made with long grain white rice. If you want to use brown rice, you will need to adjust the cooking time to 24 minutes and add ¼ cup additional water.
- Add more veggies. To make this side dish more nutritional, sometimes I like to add some veggies, like finely chopped onion, carrots, fresh tomatoes, peas, or corn.
- Salsa. To spice it up, you can substitute tomato sauce with your favorite salsa.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store it in an air-tight container and keep in the fridge for about 4-5 days. Although, it is best to use it within 2 days.
Yes! When it’s completely cooled off, transfer to an air-tight container or a freezer-safe bag. You can safely freeze it for up to 1 month. You can easily reheat it in a microwave when needed.
Most likely when you rinsed the rice, you didn’t drain it well enough and ended up with having too much liquid. Make sure you drain it well and then add the amount of liquid according to the recipe.
More Side Dishes Ideas:
- Gruyere Potatoes au Gratin
- Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- Green Bean Almondine
- Loaded Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese Recipe
- Roasted Parmesan Broccoli
Instant Pot Mexican Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups Long-grain rice rinsed ad drained
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
Instructions
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then drain.
- Add the rice to the Instant Pot, together with 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 8 oz tomato sauce, and 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth. Stir everything together.
- Close the lid and make sure that the venting knob is sealed. Turn the manual high pressure on for 4 minutes. When done, let the natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
- Then open the lid, and using a fork, fluff the rice.
Notes
- Rinse. Make sure you properly rinse the grains until the water runs clean. We need to make sure that we remove the starch to make the rice fluffy and not clumpy or sticky.
- Rice. This recipe is made with long grain white rice. If you want to use brown rice, you will need to adjust the cooking time to 24 minutes and add ¼ cup additional water.
- Add more veggies. To make this side dish more nutritional, sometimes I like to add some veggies, like finely chopped onion, carrots, fresh tomatoes, peas, or corn.
- Salsa. To spice it up, you can substitute tomato sauce with your favorite salsa.
- How to store. You can store it in an air-tight container and keep in the fridge for about 4-5 days. Although, it is best to use it within 2 days.
My rice came out hard…I don’t know exactly what happened since I followed it to a “T”in my Insta pot. It smelled great, but I cooked it for an additional 10 minutes and it came out still horrible. Any suggestions?
I made the mistake of only making 1 cup of rice….there were no leftovers for burritos today! Everyone loved it I may have to make 3 cups next time.
Thank you, Mae! I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe 😉
I love making rice in the instant pot, it’s always so fluffy and perfectly cooked. I love the addition of the chili powder. Very flavorful.
This was my first time making Mexican rice in my instant pot. It came out perfectly fluffy, this is my new favorite way to make it!
I love Mexican rice! I find it so colorful and tasty. And knowing it can be made quick like this makes it even more appealing!
This was so delicious! My whole family loved this recipe and we’ll be making it again soon. Thank you!
Thank you for all of the tips and suggestion concerning the Instant Pot and rice. I normally don’t use my pot for rice but I decided that the Mexican rice looked so good I had to make it. My heavens, it was so flavorful and the texture of the rice was perfect. Thank you.
This Mexican rice looks petfect. Easy. Flavorful and could be used so many ways like burritos, enchiladas or as a side dish. I like the backdrop of tomato, Nice recipe!
This Instant Pot Mexican rice is the perfect way to make fluffy rice to go along with tacos or burritos.
I’ve been a bit hesitant to try rice in my Instant Pot out of fear I would overcook it. The texture of this rice looks perfect, however. I’m going to give this recipe a shot next Taco Tuesday.
Yummo! Absolutely my kind of rice and so easy too! Thanks for sharing.
I love Mexican rice, and am so happy I can now make it in the Instant Pot! I love how easy it is and perfect rice every time!