Cheesy Instant Pot Enchilada Rice

Try our cheesy Instant Pot enchilada rice tonight as the best side dish with a ton of flavor. New Mexican rice idea that’s great with tacos or burritos. We started with this Instant Pot Mexican rice and couldn’t stop there so we added black beans, corn and made this in our pressure cooker and Ninja Foodi.

Have you heard of enchilada rice yet? Probably not since it’s something I just kinda’ thought up. Tender with black beans and corn, it’s a great side dish. An easy Instant Pot recipe we serve with tacos and all the things. (affiliate links present)

Ninja Foodi Enchilada Rice

You can use your Ninja Foodi to make this using the lid that isn’t attached. a Mealthy or Crockpot Express works well too. All of them have the same basic functions and will work just as good. If you have both you could make your main dish in one and enchilada sides in the other one.

I have used this same sauce to make my Instant Pot chicken legs, it’s super versatile. So why not cross the two and see how it would turn out….and here we are today.

Mexican Rice for Enchiladas

When it comes to Mexican food it’s all about the seasonings and sauces right? This is no different, bring them all out! If we have made smoked chiles these are great to throw in too, diced into small pieces. Here are a few questions you might have to begin with:

We use it to make our Crockpot chicken enchilada soup quite often. Thinned with some broth you can use fresh or rotisserie shredded inside for a quick and easy meal. Now let’s talk about what you’re going to need out to get started with this easy Instant Pot recipe.

Enchilada Rice Recipe Ingredients

The extras are canned kernel corn and black beans. Those can be eliminated, use just one, or if you prefer pinto beans then go with that instead.

1. Long grain rice just like when making 2 cups Instant Pot white rice and black beans. I haven’t tested with brown rice yet so unsure of cook time
2. Canned corn
3. Red enchilada sauce in mild or medium heat is what we prefer
4. Chicken broth
5. Olive oil
6. Garlic powder
7. Onion powder
8. Cumin
9. Salt and pepper
10. Chili powder
11. Parsley
    • Alternatively you could add a taco seasoning packet instead of all these

If you’re making this as a weeknight dinner as is I would add sour cream and cheddar cheese on top when done.

Chicken Enchilada Rice Instant Pot

This is probably our favorite thing to serve with this authentic dish. I mean you can’t have enough of those flavors together on one plate. Want to amp it up even further? Add some leftover chicken breast sliced on top once done, folded inside, or serve with air fryer flautas.

With the rice, black beans and corn it would be a complete meal if you added some protein too. Number one tip to remember when cooking rice in a pressure cooker. You do NOT want to stir it in, it may trigger the burn on Instant Pot and stop cooking. Instead just submerge into the liquid below and fluff at the end.

How do you make enchilada rice dairy free?

Need to adjust for different dietary needs? It’s pretty easy to do so long as you follow the same amount of rice and liquid stated. You can use 2 cups of water instead of broth if you prefer. Use Vegan cheese if you’d rather, and toppings are totally up to you of course.

Here are quick step by step directions. I also have this in a printable form at the bottom of this post for your convenience.

How to Make Enchilada Rice in Pressure Cooker

• Pour olive oil, spices and broth into your pot and stir so they’re well combined. Pour in enchilada sauce with can of corn and black beans, stir.
• Sprinkle in uncooked rice and gently submerge into the liquid but do not stir.
• Close lid and steam pressure valve to sealing and set to high pressure for 7 minutes. Let pressure release naturally. This will take approx 15 minutes.
• Do not quick release or rice will not cook completely and become tender.
• Lift lid and fluff with a fork. You can add some shredded cheese now and stir in or place lid on and allow to melt on top before serving.
• Add sour cream, sliced avocado and anything else to top when serving if you’d like.

You could easily add diced precooked or leftover chicken into the mix at the end. This could make it more of a complete one pot meal rather than a side. Make sure you fluff with a fork before serving so all ingredients are mixed together.

Cheesy Enchilada Rice Recipe

We don’t think you can add too much cheese into the mix with this. Mexican blend is best. If you need a dairy free version I have found vegan cheese that is surprisingly good. Serve this alongside of tacos you’ve made or enjoy as is. If you want to take it a step further add ALL THE TOPPINGS.

What are good toppings for rice?

1. Sharp cheddar cheese
2. Sliced avocados
3. Sour cream
4. Diced jalapeños could be offered for some added heat
5. Shredded lettuce and diced meat can create a sort of taco bowl

I would be careful with those because a little goes a long way.

How do you save leftover rice?

I will say that plain versions, like Ninja Foodi white rice, don’t save well at all. BUT this one can be reheated successfully the next day and not dry out. Make sure it is cooled completely first. Just store in airtight containers in the fridge.

When you reheat it you might want to first put a tbsp or so of broth over the top, or fold in some sour cream. We do this with leftover Crockpot enchilada casserole to add moisture into the mix. Just microwave in 30 second increments stirring in between until it is as warm as you’d like it to be. I would add more cheese at the end and melt that too so it’s nice and moist.

More Instant Pot Mexican Recipes You’ll Love

Looking for other pressure cooker recipes similar to this one? I would start with our Instant Pot enchiladas, those are fun. This Instant Pot Mexican casserole has pasta and some of the same items in it you see here.

• There are a bunch of easy ground beef recipes to choose from here.
• Instant Pot Mexican pizza is pretty fun to make. I’d recommend using 1/2 lb. of spicy ground sausage and beef for the rest of the meat.
• This rice goes great with pressure cooker black beans too as healthy side dishes to any meal.
• We love to steam tamales in Instant Pot.

Printable recipe with ingredients and steps to follow is below. You can keep it handy after you’ve made it in your folder of other favorites or just come back. We love “seeing you” so don’t stay away too long. 😉