Looking for a quick and easy way to make Mexican rice at home? Look no further than this recipe for Instant Pot Mexican Rice!
This recipe is perfect for those who are short on time but still want to enjoy a delicious, flavorful meal. Using an Instant Pot (or any pressure cooker), you can have perfectly cooked rice in just a few minutes, with minimal effort and clean up. Plus, the addition of traditional Mexican flavors such as cumin, garlic, and tomato sauce make this recipe a true crowd-pleaser.
How to make Mexican Rice in your Instant Pot
The first thing we need to do is get our Instant Pot onto a sauté mode with some oil so we can get pull some flavor from our carrots, onions and garlic. Once it’s up to temp we’ll add in the carrots first and give them a couple minutes head start before we add in the onions and garlic.
Once we get some color on the veggies we’ll add in the spices and bouillon so we can let them bloom a bit in the oil. This will really help bring out the flavors of them a lot more than adding them just before you close the lid.
Boosted Tomato Flavor
To boost the tomato flavor in the finished Mexican rice we will add in both tomato sauce and tomato bouillon.
Once we give the spices a couple of minutes to develop a bit we can add in the rice. This will allow us to get start cooking the rice, and adding a bit more flavor to it as well. We’ll also add in the tomato sauce as well here so we can give that some time to cook a little as well.
Now that we have everything mixed in we can add in either water or chicken stock if you have some on hand. Some people wait to bring this to a boil before they put the lid on, but I just add it in and then close the lid. I didn’t have any chicken stock so I just used water here and it still turned out great.
And here is the front of my pressure cooker and the settings I use. I do a 4 minute cook on High Pressure, with a natural release. And on my machine it usually takes around 10 minutes for it be ready to open.
Other Mexican Night Sides
Also, if you’re looking for another side to take your taco night to the next level check out these pickled jalapeños.
Ingredients
1/4 cup oil
1 carrot , diced
1/4 medium onion , finely diced
1 teaspoon garlic , minced
1/4 cup tomato sauce
3 tsp tomato bouillon powder
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups water (or chicken stock)
1/3 cup frozen peas (optional)
Instructions
1. Turn Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add oil to the bottom of the pot.
2. Add carrots to the hot oil and cook for about 3 minutes stirring often.
3. Add in onions and continue to cook for another 2 minutes before you add the garlic.
4. Add in your tomato bouillon and other spices and cook for a minute.
4. Add in your rice and stir it in to make sure all the rice is coated in the oil and spices.
5. Add in tomato sauce and water (chicken stock) and combine well.
6. Secure lid and turn valve to sealed position.
7. Turn on to Manual or High Pressure, and cook for 4 minutes.
8. When timer beeps, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes.
9. Remove lid and add peas and stir in the peas to fluff the rice.
10. Serve topped with cilantro and enjoy!
Notes
You can also blend up a couple of tomatoes and use them in place of the tomato sauce and bouillon as well.
Let me know how it turned out!
