Instant Pot Mexican Rice with Black Beans is an amazing one-pot meal that’s perfect for any occasion. It’s a meal in itself and is quite versatile. Dress it up with some shredded chicken, include it in a burrito, or lay enchiladas on top before they’re baked. You’re in for a real treat regardless of the way that you serve it.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy: This recipe is made in an Instant Pot, which makes it much faster and easier than traditional methods. It’s perfect for busy weeknights or when you’re short on time.
- Delicious flavors: The combination of Mexican rice and black beans creates a savory and satisfying dish. The spices and seasonings used in this recipe, such as cumin and chili powder, add depth and complexity to the flavor.
- Nutritious ingredients: Both rice and black beans are good sources of fiber, protein, and other essential nutrients. This recipe is also vegan and gluten-free, making it a healthy option for a variety of dietary needs.
- Versatile: This recipe can be served as a side dish or a main course. You can also customize it by adding your favorite vegetables or protein sources, such as diced tomatoes, corn, or shredded chicken.
Here’s What You’ll Need for This Amazing Recipe
- The Rice: I used basmati rice in this amazing recipe that I sautéd briefly in olive oil.
- The Vegetables: For the vegetables in included onions, celery, jalapeño peppers, and garlic. I also included black beans and Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies.
- The Seasonings: To add more flavor to this recipe, I used chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, and Kosher salt.
- The Liquid: I used low-sodium chicken broth for the liquid.
Steps: Here’s How I Made the Rice in the Instant Pot
- I started by adding the olive oil to the Instant Pot and selecting the sauté function on normal heat. Once the oil had reached temperature, I added the rice which I had rinsed, drained, and let dry. I cooked the rice for about 4 minutes.
- After 4 minutes, I added the onions, celery, jalapeños, garlic, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and salt. I stirred to combine everything and let the mixture cook for about 2 minutes.
- Then, I added the chicken broth and stirred everything together to deglaze the pan.
- Next, I added the Rotel tomatoes, which I had drained. I was very careful not to stir in the tomatoes.
The reason was that the tomatoes would likely burn if they came in contact with the bottom of the Instant Pot.
So again – DO NOT STIR after adding the Rotel tomatoes.
- I secured the lid on the Instant Pot and made sure that the pressure valve was closed. Then, I selected the manual setting and high pressure for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, I allowed the Instant Pot to naturally release its pressure for 2 minutes. Then, I did a quick pressure release for the remaining pressure.
And Now for the Black Beans
While the rice was cooking, I rinsed and drained the black beans.
After the Instant Pot had depressurized, I removed the top and added the black beans. Since the black beans were already cooked, all they needed was warming up.
Once I added the beans, I stirred everything together and returned the top with the pressure valve open.
I let the rice mixture sit covered for about 3 minutes to heat the beans.
After the 3 additional minutes, I removed the top and fluffed the rice with a fork.
The Instant Pot Mexican Rice with Black Beans was perfectly seasoned and perfectly delicious. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
When rice is cooked the traditional way, a lot of the liquid added is evaporated during cooking. With the sealed Instant Pot, none of the liquid is evaporated. Therefore, the excess liquid is not needed.
Corn would be an excellent replacement for the black beans.
This recipe for Mexican Rice with Black Beans makes excellent leftovers. I like to gently reheat it in the microwave so that the rice doesn’t become mushy.
Generally, Mexican Rice gets its color from the addition of tomatoes and cumin. Spanish Rice, on the other hand, is colored with saffron. In addition, Mexican Rice tends to be softer than Spanish Rice.
The main reason for rinsing the rice is to remove the surface starch from the rice grains. This surface starch can make the rice gummy as it cooks.
You can definitely replace the chicken broth with either vegetable broth or water.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- I always rinse the rice under running water until the water runs clear before making rice dishes such as the Instant Pot Mexican Rice with Black Beans. This helps to remove excess starch and prevent the rice from becoming too sticky.
- I always rinse canned beans, such as black beans. Rinsing the beans can help remove excess sodium from the canning liquid. It can also remove any residual flavors from the canning process and improve their overall texture.
- When using the InstantPot, it’s best to add acidic ingredients like tomatoes on top of the other ingredients and not stir them in. The reason for this is that acidic ingredients can cause the Instant Pot to display a “burn” error message, which means that the food is sticking to the bottom of the pot and may burn. This can happen because the acid can break down the protective layer on the bottom of the pot, causing the food to stick.
- This is one of my favorite recipes for generating leftovers. The reason is that the
Other Mexican-Themed Recipes
If you’re a fan of Mexican food, you should definitely check out some of my favorite Mexican recipes.
I hope you liked this recipe for Instant Pot Mexican Rice Black with Beans as much as I do. If so, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. Also, if you’d like to receive notifications of new posts by email, enter your email address in the Subscribe box.
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Recipe
Instant Pot Mexican Rice with Black Beans
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup (7-ounces) basmati rice, rinsed until the water turns clear, drained, and allowed to dry
- 1 cup minced onion (about 1 medium onion)
- ½ cup chopped celery (1 to 2 stalks)
- 1 jalapeño pepper, membrane and seeds removed and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth (See Tip 1)
- 10 ounce can Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
- 15.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro or Italian parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Add olive oil to Instant Pot. Select the sauté function with normal heat. When the oil is hot, add rice. Cook for 4 minutes until lightly browned.
- Add onions, celery, jalapeños, garlic, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken broth; stir to deglaze the pan.
- Add the drained Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chilies on top of the rice. DO NOT STIR. (See Tip 2)
- Secure the lid on the Instant Pot; make sure that the steam valve is shut. Select manual, high pressure, and 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, allow to depressurize naturally for 2 minutes. Then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid. Add the drained black beans; stir to combine. Return the lid to Instant Pot with the steam valve open. Allow to sit for 3 additional minutes. Remove the lid; fluff the rice with a fork.
- If desired, garnish with chopped cilantro or Italian parsley. Yield: 6 servings.
Chula’s Expert Tips
- You can easily make this delicious dish vegetarian by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth or water.
- The reason that you don’t want to stir in the tomatoes is that they will likely burn if they come in contact with the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- My Instant Pot is the DUO60 6-quart model.
Good recipe, I will make it.
Hope you enjoy it. It’s really good. Also, the leftovers are great!
Followed recipe exactly. My rice rice wasn’t cooked at the end of 5 mins with the natural depressurization, so I set 5 more minutes on IP. Perfect. I love the flavor. Definitely will do it again
Hi Msdoo,
Sorry that you had to cook the rice a bit longer, but I’m so pleased that it turned out for you! In fact, I’m planning on making the Instant Pot Mexican Rice with Black Beans tomorrow!
Chula
I’ve tried this 2 times. Burned both times. Seems like it needs more stock or something. Very frustrated right now, to say the least!
I’m so sorry Julie. I’ve never had a problem with the rice burning. The only thing that I can think of that would cause burning is stirring the mixture once you add the tomatoes with green chiles. It’s important to just add them and let them sit on top of the other ingredients.
Recipe looks great but I’m one of those hold-outs without an instant pot. Would I just double the broth and cook with the lid on for the typical 20 minutes or is there another modification that would be needed?
Thanks so much!
Angie,
I understand holding out on getting an Instant Pot. The only reason that I got one was that it was on a super sale. Having said that, it is really useful in certain circumstances. As far as the Mexican Rice recipe is concerned, I’ve not made it the traditional way. However, based on the Instant Pot requiring half the liquid for rice recipes, I suspect that doubling the broth would work well. I’d love to know how this works!
Chula
This was pretty good. However, I had to make some alterations. The rice was not cooked after 5 minutes. I set it for 5 more minutes in the pressure cooker and it was perfect. Next, the amount of seasoning was too much for me. Instead of 3/4 of a tsp I’m going to try 1/2 tsp. And, it was a little too spicy for me. I might try 1/2 of a jalapeño pepper. I will make this again with those changes. Thanks.
I also had an issue with the amount of liquid . I got the “add water “ message about half way through (once it came to pressure) . Sure enough , all the liquid was gone and rice was burning . I did not stir in the tomatoes. I added more broth and set the instant pot for about 4 minutes . Flavor was really good but rice was super clumpy and sticky . I would like to try this again . Should I try 1.5 cups of broth or perhaps even 2 cups ? Thanks !
I’m so sorry Trish that you had an issue with the amount of the liquid. I’ve made this recipe a number of times with no problems. The only thing that I can think of is that you didn’t use basmati rice which tends to require a smaller amount of liquid than regular long-grain rice.
Chula