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This Instant Pot Mexican Rice recipe is flavored with tomato bouillon or caldo de tomate for an authentic Mexican taste. It cooks up perfectly and is a great side dish to all your favorite Tex Mex recipes! Ready in about 30 minutes!
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Why you'll love it
It's easy to make. Take the guesswork out of making rice when you use your pressure cooker! The Sauté function makes it easy to crisp the rice before setting it and forgetting it!
It's made with easy to find ingredients. Sometimes the best foods are the simplest foods! This Instant Pot Mexican Rice is made with panty ingredients that are easily found or that you may already have on hand. If you haven't heard of tomato bouillon or caldo de tomate, you can usually find it right along side other bouillon cubes.
It pairs well with all your favorite Mexican and Tex Mex dishes. Feeding the family or a crowd can be a lot easier when you have a filling side dish to offer along with dishes like my Ground Beef Tacos, Beef Burritos, and Instant Pot Mexican Beans. Don't forget to grab some chips and this delicious Homemade Guacamole too.
Ingredients
Long grain white rice: this will produce the best results. I don't recommend substituting brown rice for this recipe because you'll need to change the amount of liquid and the cooking time.
If you feel adventurous and want to experiment with brown rice, try adding 2 ½ cups of liquid and cooking the rice for 15 minutes using a natural release.
Chicken broth: you can use water or vegetable stock if preferred.
Onion and garlic: gives a subtle but necessary flavor. You can try a teaspoon of garlic powder if you like and you could skip the onion if you don't have it on hand.
Tomato bouillon: in my neck of the woods this is called Caldo de tomate (tomato broth). It is actually a chicken and tomato flavored bouillon. Please keep this in mind if you're a vegetarian.
Step by Step Instructions
Step One: Gather and prep ingredients. Cut an onion in quarters. Reserve half for another use. Crush one clove of garlic. Chop tomato bouillon or use powdered version.
Step Two: Rinse the rice (optional) and drain well. Set aside.
Step Three: Set the Instant Pot the the Sauté function. When heated, add oil then the rice. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Press cancel.
Step Four: Add garlic, onion, broth, tomato sauce, and chopped tomato bouillon, and salt.
Stir mixture to combine.
Step Five: Set Instant Pot to Manual or High Pressure for 3 minutes. IMPORTANT NOTE: turn Keep Warm to Off. This will help keep the rice from burning and sticking to the bottom of the insert.
Let pressure release (natural pressure release) for at least 10 minutes. If necessary, release remaining pressure.
Remove garlic and onion if desired and fluff with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.
Expert Tips
Be sure you are familiar with your brand of pressure cooker before making this recipe. Read the safeguards and understand the controls and features. I made this recipe with the Instant Pot Ultra 60 (6 quart).
It's important to have enough liquid. While less broth can produce a firmer rice, it may also result in a burn warning. This recipe follows the Instant Pot recommendation of a 1:1 ratio of rice to liquid, with the addition of ½ cup of tomato sauce for a slightly moister rice.
Why do I get a burn warning? This can happen when there isn't enough liquid in the pot. But adding too much can make the rice mushy, so be sure to measure ingredients correctly.
Also, be sure you don't burn the pot when sautéing the rice in oil. Err on the lower temperature side and cook a little longer if needed.
Why is my rice mushy? Perhaps you added more liquid then what was called for. Try letting the rice "rest" with the lid off so it can dry out a bit.
Substitute chicken broth with vegetable broth if desired. Note that tomato bouillon in not vegetarian. If you want to make this dish vegetarian, use a vegan or vegetarian bouillon or simply omit.
Tomato bouillon or caldo de tomate comes in cube and powder form. Use about 2 teaspoons of the powder if you prefer that over crushing up the cube.
Long grain rice will produce fluffy, separate grains. I don't recommend short grain or any glutenous types of rice.
No tomato sauce (puree) on hand? You can make your own tomato sauce by combining one 6 ounce can of tomato paste with ½ cup water. Sir vigorously with a whisk. Use ½ cup of this mixture in place of tomato sauce. You can also use my fire-roasted Blender Salsa in place of tomato sauce!
Add traditional ingredients like peas and carrots or additional spices like oregano, cumin and chili powder. In a skillet, lightly sauté fresh, diced carrots and frozen peas (about ½-1 cup) in a little butter and season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender. Add to the finished rice dish for added color and flavor. You can also add some fresh corn if it's in season. Frozen or canned corn works too.
Serving suggestions
Instant Pot Mexican Rice is also known as Spanish rice in much of the United States. It's popular in many Mexican restaurants.
This side dish is full of flavor and can be served as a side dish with just about any main dish you like to eat with rice. It's the obvious choice for your favorite Mexican food dinners.
What is the difference between Spanish rice and Mexican rice?
The terms have become synonymous when referring to the side dish made from long grain rice that's been cooked with chicken broth and tomatoes. However, the dishes can vary depending on the cook and region.
Why is my rice mushy?
Perhaps you added more liquid then what was called for. Try letting the rice "rest" with the lid off so it can dry out a bit. If the grains have split and become glutenous, it will still be soft, but hopefully it will still taste great!
Why is my Spanish rice sticky?
It's important to cook the rice in oil to keep the starch at bay. Just be sure you don't burn the bottom of the insert as that may result in a burn warning.
More Popular Side Dish Recipes
- Loaded Mashed Potatoes (Slow Cooker)
- Instant Pot Mexican Beans
- Stoneground Grits
- Corn Casserole
- Baked Mac and Cheese
- Instant Pot Refried Beans
- Click here to check out all my Mexican and Tex Mex favorites!
If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a ★ rating below. And since you made it this far, let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Mexican Rice
Recipe by Nikole Berg
This Instant Pot Mexican Rice is flavored with tomato bouillon for an authentic Mexican taste. It cooks up perfectly and is a great side dish to all your favorite Tex Mex recipes!
4.20 from 62 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Mexican/Tex-Mex
Servings 8
Calories 90 kcal
Equipment
Instant Pot
Ingredients
- ¼ cup mild flavored oil such as canola olive or vegetable oil
- 2 cups long grain white rice rinsed until water runs clear
- 1 clove garlic peeled and crushed
- ½ onion quartered
- 1 cube tomato bouillon, crushed caldo de tomate
- ½ cup tomato sauce or 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Rinse rice under cold running water until water runs clear. Set aside.
Peel and crush garlic. Peel and quarter an onion. Reserve half the onion for another use.
Turn Instant Pot to Sauté function (medium heat). Once hot, add oil to heat then add rice. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until rice turns very white and some of the grains turn slightly golden. If pot is too hot and rice is sticking to the bottom, lower heat to low.
Press cancel. Add garlic, onion, bouillon, tomato sauce, salt, and chicken broth. Be careful of any steam. Stir rice mixture being sure none of it is sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Close and lock the lid. Be sure the valve is in the sealing position.
Select Manual or Pressure Cook at high. Use the dial to set the time for 4 minutes. Set Keep Warm function to Off.
When the cooking cycle ends press cancel (if you don’t it’s ok, it will turn off automatically since the keep warm function is off). Allow the IP to release naturally for at least 10 minutes. If all the pressure has been released, the float valve will sink back into the lid. If the float valve is still up, use the end of a wooden spoon to press the pressure release valve to allow the remaining steam to release.
Remove lid. Fluff with a fork. Stir in any additional vegetables like peas and carrots. Season with salt and pepper.
Notes
Due to reader feedback, this recipe was updated on 12/21/22. The updated recipe calls for an additional 2 tablespoon of oil, an additional one cup of chicken broth, ½ cup reduction of tomato sauce, and one additional minute of pressure cooking time. The original version was foolproof in my kitchen, but some were getting a burn warning. Hopefully this will help resolve the issue!
Be sure you are familiar with your brand of pressure cooker before making this recipe. Read the safeguards and understand the controls and features. I made this recipe with the Instant Pot Ultra 60 (6 quart).
It's important to have enough liquid. While less broth can produce a firmer rice, it may also result in a burn warning. This recipe follows the Instant Pot recommendation of a 1:1 ratio of rice to liquid, with the addition of ½ cup of tomato sauce for a slightly moister rice.
Why is my rice mushy? Perhaps you added more liquid then what was called for. Try letting the rice "rest" with the lid off so it can dry out a bit.
Substitute chicken broth with vegetable broth if desired. Note that tomato bouillon in not vegetarian. If you want to make this dish vegetarian, use a vegan or vegetarian bouillon or simply omit.
Long grain rice will produce fluffy, separate grains. I don't recommend short grain or any glutenous types of rice.
No tomato sauce (puree) on hand? You can make your own tomato sauce by combining one 6 ounce can of tomato paste with ½ cup water. Sir vigorously with a whisk. Use ¼ cup of this mixture in place of tomato sauce.
Add traditional ingredients like peas and carrots. In a skillet, lightly sauté fresh, diced carrots and frozen peas (about ½-1 cup) in a little butter and season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender. Add to the finished rice dish for added color and flavor. You can also add some fresh corn if it's in season. Frozen or canned corn works too.
Nutrition
Calories: 90kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 589mgPotassium: 150mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 66IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 12mgIron: 1mg
Keyword arroz, arroz rojo, instant pot rice, mexican rice, rice, side dish recipe, spanish rice
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