Pressure cooker Mexican rice is a great side dish made in your Crockpot Express, Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot. Tender Spanish rice everyone will love with dinner.
If you haven’t tried pressure cooker Mexican rice yet it is easy to throw together as an Instant Pot recipe and full of flavor. You don’t have to have this brand though, any electric pressure cooker will work. (affiliate links present)
Ninja Foodi Mexican Rice
It’s on our list of easy Ninja Foodi recipes too. It doesn’t really matter what brand of machine you have. We have a Crockpot Express as well and that works too. You are going to use the high pressure function and those all have that function to use. Most have the rice button too which automatically sets to 12 minutes.
Serve it with air fryer flautas or with chicken on the side. Any way you serve it up it’s just wonderful.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
When it comes to great Mexican food you don’t always have to go to a restaurant to get it. It’s actually kind of fun to learn to make things on your own like the Instant Pot refried beans we made recently too.
How to make restaurant style Mexican rice in Instant Pot
We make Instant Pot white rice all the time! BUT it is sure nice to mix things up a bit. This one offers a wallop of flavor with the same grains used than the “normal” bowl at the Chinese restaurant. Served with shredded beef or tacos it is a must in our house not just on Tuesdays.
Instant Pot Mexican Rice Recipe Ingredients
- Long grain white rice
- I haven’t made this with brown rice yet
- Tomato sauce
- Chicken broth
- Or water but broth has a lot more flavor
- Onion and garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
- Cumin
Optional add ins would be 1/2 cup of diced onion and a can of diced chiles are great as well. Like I said, if you don t have an Instant Pot you can use any brand. We have a Mealthy we use too. Many times we use a few to make an entire meal.
Is there a difference between Spanish rice and Mexican rice?
Not really. The only main difference is that Spanish rice typically uses saffron vs. cumin which is added here. Main ingredients are basically the same. Of course everyone has their own tweaks they make and you’re free to call this whatever you’d like. 😉
Is Mexican rice healthy?
Yes!! It is a healthy low-fat side dish for sure. Added to our list of cheap Instant Pot recipes it costs very little too. You can adjust the heat as you like making it hot if that is a must for you or keep it mild as directed below.
How long does it take to cook pressure cooker Mexican rice?
7 minutes with a 10 minute natural release. The reason why I love making it this way is that it is totally hands off. All you need to do is pay attention to the beep once it is done. Then watch the timing on the screen as it needs some time for a natural release to fluff up. On the stove you’d need to gently stir a few times so it doesn’t burn but just cook long enough for rice to be tender.
Use the onions, tomato sauce and broth instead of water to make it have a lot of flavor. If you make Instant Pot Charro Beans you could fold some of these in at the end too.
What can you add to pressure cooker rice to make it taste better?
- Add all ingredients except onions and rice
- Stir together well, then add onions and stir again
- Sprinkle in uncooked rice and submerge into liquid, do not stir
- Close lid and steam valve to sealed position
- Set to high pressure cook for 7 minutes
- short cooking time I know
- Allow to naturally release steam for 10 minutes when done
- Lift lid and fluff rice with a fork
- Serve with Instant Pot Mexican pizza
Can you double a pressure cooker recipe?
I prefer to make 2 batches, I think it comes out better. Would only work in an 8 quart pot. Remember to never fill past 3/4 full max mark on inside of pot. Some things are ok, like taco meat but this can get mushy if it doesn’t have enough room to really get fluffy.
Now if you wanted to make spicy mexican rice you could do that. The best bet is to add red pepper flakes in at the beginning with the liquids so it can dissolve and really permeate the grains. Beware that a little goes a really long way with this. Start small like 1/8 tsp and see what you think of that. Add more next time if it is not.
What goes good with Spanish rice?
Done in just about 15 minutes it’s perfect way faster than making it on the stove top and popular for pot lucks or pairing with Instant Pot tacos!
- Of course we love steaming tamales in Instant Pot.
- Instant Pot Mexican chicken and rice is a great duo.
- You can alter our pressure cooker chicken taco bowls to include this rice instead of white rice.
Then if you’re looking for more, our pressure cooker Mexican casserole is great too. Something new is in town!!
Pressure Cooker Mexican Rice
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 c white rice, uncooked
- 1 c tomato sauce
- 2 1/4 c chicken broth
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 onion , diced, optional
Instructions
- Add all ingredients other than your onions and rice and stir. Add onions and stir. Then sprinkle uncooked rice on the top and gently submerge into the liquid. Do not stir or you may receive the burn message.
- Close the pressure cooker lid and set the valve to sealing, then select the pressure cook setting to high for 7 minutes.
- Allow to naturally release steam for 10 minutes when done, then release pressure valve and lift lid.
- Use a fork to fluff rice, stir and serve. Turn pot off. Best if served immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was so good and sooo easy. Perfect to start while you’re preparing the main disb
This is one my of go-to’s for my kids. They LOVE it!
yeah
Made it! Always looking for a Mexican rice recipe and found it! Had to tweak it because I had only brown rice, and no sauce. So…. I used brown rice and increased cook time to 25 minutes, substituted 1 cup Rotel with tomatoes and chiles and omitted the onion. Delicious!
I’m normally not a fan of using the Insta pot, but I was in a pinch for a quick dinner. This was so easy and turned out really tasty. Definitely keeping this recipe in the rotation!
The Mexican restaurant here doesnt use any form of tomato in their rice. So I have always considered that Mexican rice and the one with tomato Spanish rice. Either way, its all good!
How can I make this in a crockpot I don’t have an instant pot?
This turned out amazing!!!!! Made it at work for taco Thursday. Perfect!
Yay for the win!
@Nicole, DID YOU MAKE THAN 2 CUPS AT A TIME? WHAT TIME LIMIT ON TO FOODI i WANT TOMAKE 10 CUPS AT A TIME
Finally! No “burn” message. Love this recipe. Followed it exactly as written. Came out perfect!
I dont see the measurements for this recipe?
Recipe card is at the bottom with everything you need
So I made this and doubled it in my 8qt pot and kept getting a burn warning. Do you have any tips for this?
This sounds great! Only thing I would do differently is to sauté the rice and onion to brown it before adding everything else and pressure cooking.