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Instant Pot Mexican Rice

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This Instant Pot Mexican Rice recipe is my favorite side-dish for any Mexican food we eat! I perfected this recipe while living in Mexico– it’s completely authentic– and I’ve adapted it to cook perfectly in the Instant Pot! The end result is Mexican rice that is so perfect, easy and delicious I may never go back to the stove-top version!

Cooked Mexican rice with peas and carrots, inside an instant pot, served with a wooden spoon.

If you’re a follower of TBFS you may already know that I’m a crazy huge fan of Mexican food. I have soooo many delicious Mexican recipes on my site–probably more than any other type of cuisine–because I LOVE it!

My husband and I lived in Puebla, Mexico for a few months when we were first married. I learned to make several authentic recipes while we lived there, but this Authentic Mexican rice is the one I use the very most. (You can check out some photos from our time there, and the story, here).

I’ve adapted my recipe to make Instant Pot Mexican Rice, and it turns out PERFECT. I love the way the instant pot cooks rice. You don’t have to worry about mushy or gloopy rice. It’s fluffy and tender, and exactly how rice should be!

Mexican rice is made of long-grain white rice, tomato, onion and garlic. In Mexico it is also often cooked with diced peas and carrots.

The chef who taught me to make Mexican rice used Tomato bullion cubes for extra great flavor, and to get that perfect orange color that you’re looking for. They should be easy to find at your local grocery store, in the Mexican food aisle.

You could even buy the granules instead of cubes (use 2 teaspoons). I buy tomato boullion at Walmart, in the Mexican food aisle or you can find them on Amazon.

How to make Mexican Rice in the Instant Pot:

Rinse the rice under water until the water runs clear. Drain well.

Turn instant pot to the saute setting. Add oil and rice and stir often, until the rice starts to get slightly golden.

Add tomato sauce, minced garlic, onion, tomato boullion and diced carrots.

Process photos for making authentic mexican rice in the instant pot, including add the rice and toasting it and then adding tomato sauce, tomato bullion cubes, onion, garlic and carrots.

Stir well. Add water and stir, making sure the boullion cubes are dissolved.

Turn instant pot off. Secure lid and turn valve to sealed position.

Turn on to Manual or High Pressure, and cook for 3-4 minutes (3 minutes for tender to the bite, or 4 minutes for softer rice).

Ingredients for Mexican rice inside an instant pot with a wooden spoon, and another photo of an instant pot with the cooked rice and frozen peas added on top.

When timer beeps, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes.

Remove lid and add peas. Gently fluff the rice with a fork (don’t stir it).

Place IP lid over the bowl and allow rice to rest for a few more minutes before serving.

Instant Pot Mexican Rice in a clear mixing bowl with a serving spoon and a green cloth on the side.

 

Don’t own an Instant Pot? No Problem!

If you don’t own an instant pot yet, you can make Authentic Mexican Rice on the stovetop with this recipe.

 

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4.69 from 16 votes
Cooked Mexican rice inside an instant pot, served with a wooden spoon.
Instant Pot Authentic Mexican Rice
Print Recipe
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
13 mins
Total Time
23 mins
 

This Instant Pot Mexican Rice recipe is my favorite side-dish for any Mexican food we eat! I perfected this recipe while living in Mexico-- it's completely authentic-- and I've adapted it to cook perfectly in the Instant Pot! 

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Instant Pot rice, Mexican Food
Unit: cup, medium, teaspoon
Servings: 6
Calories: 323 kcal
Author: Lauren Allen
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
  • 1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic , minced
  • 1/4 medium onion , finely diced
  • 1/4 cup tomato sauce , or 2 pureed tomatoes
  • 2 tomato bouillon cubes ,finely chopped*, or 2 teaspoons granulated
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 carrot , diced
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/3 cup frozen peas
Instructions
  1. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Drain well.


  2. Turn Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add oil to the bottom of the pot.

  3. Add rice and saute, stirring often, until lightly golden, about 5 minutes.

  4. Add garlic, onion, tomato sauce, salt, tomato bullion and carrots and stir to combine.

  5. Add water and stir well, making sure the bullion cubes are dissolved.


  6. Turn instant pot off. Secure lid and turn valve to sealed position.

  7. Turn on to Manual or High Pressure, and cook for 3-4 minutes (3 minutes for tender to the bite, or 4 minutes for softer rice).


  8. When timer beeps, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes.

  9. Remove lid and add peas. Gently fluff the rice with a fork (don't stir it).

  10. Place IP lid over the bowl and allow rice to rest for a few more minutes before serving.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

*Tomato bouillon cubes or granules can be found in the Mexican food at your local grocery store. You could substitute chicken broth, but the rice wont have the same rich color.

Don't own an Instant Pot? No Problem!

If you don’t own an instant pot yet, you can make Authentic Mexican Rice on the stovetop with this recipe.

 

Find my tips (and step-by-step photos) for cooking perfect mexican rice, above in the post.

 

Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

 

This post contains affiliate links. I love sharing my favorite products and cooking tools with you all!

 

This Instant Pot Mexican Rice recipe is my favorite side-dish for any Mexican food we eat! I perfected this recipe while living in Mexico-- it's completely authentic-- and I've adapted it to cook perfectly in the Instant Pot! #instantpot #mexicanrice #authentic #easy #best #homemade #mexican
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Instant Pot· Mexican· Sides
54 Comments

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Comments

  1. Amie says

    April 30, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    This is so exciting… what about the serranos used in the previous traditional recipe?

    Reply
  2. Laura says

    May 11, 2018 at 9:54 am

    I cannot wait to try this. Thanks for posting. Have you tried to double or triple the recipe with similar results? We love to make extras for leftovers.

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      May 11, 2018 at 10:09 am

      I haven’t but I’m sure it would work great! Hope you get to try it soon 🙂

      Reply
    • natassha says

      August 18, 2018 at 3:47 pm

      I made this recipe doubled, the texture was great, the only thing I’d change is a half teaspoon less of the tomato boullion base as the rice cane out a little to red for my liking, otherwise I’d give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5

      Reply
    • Rebecca says

      August 21, 2018 at 5:00 pm

      Do you think I can add chicken? If so should I add extra water

      Reply
      • Lauren Allen says

        August 22, 2018 at 7:24 pm

        Definitely! I would add 1/4 cup extra water, and cut the chicken into small pieces so that it cooks faster and will be done with the rice.

        Reply
  3. Tara says

    May 14, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    Best Mexican rice I’ve ever made and it was soooooo EASY! Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Kecia says

    May 17, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    Can tomato paste be used for the bouillon?

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      May 28, 2018 at 12:04 pm

      That would work, but the flavor would be different. The tomato bullion cubes flavored with chicken boullion.

      Reply
  5. Ellyn Fenton says

    June 17, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    As a swim instructor I’m pretty busy during the summer months. My instant pot is my new best friend. Can’t wait to try this one, thanks Lauren.

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      June 17, 2018 at 8:37 pm

      Thanks to the best swim instructor! My kids miss you already and we can’t wait to work with you again 🙂 Hope you enjoy the IP rice!

      Reply
      • Ellyn Fenton says

        June 24, 2018 at 9:18 pm

        Quick and easy recipe. Made with grilled pork roast, delish.

        Reply
  6. Jim S says

    June 28, 2018 at 10:56 pm

    I have been meaning to give this one a try for quite a while… tonight was the night, and wow… amazing! The taste was spot on… this is going right up there with my favorite Instant Pot dishes.

    But I do have a couple of critiques…

    We followed the recipe to a T, but received several BURN notices while it was cooking…maybe from not enough oil initially?

    The end product appears to be a bit ‘wet’ and the rice has a look of a jellied rice as opposed to a fried rice.

    Even though the taste was one of the best rice dishes ive ever eaten at home, the visual appeal was not there at all and it definitely didnt look anything like the photos. I am thinking it was because we had to vent pressure multiple times during the cooking phase, but I am not sure… also, several people have told me to ignore ‘wash rice’ instructions… i think i may heed that advice next time too.

    Reply
  7. Nina says

    July 1, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    I used the right ratios of all of the ingredients and I got the “Burn” screen on my IP. I then realized that your recipe has equal amounts of water and rice. Usually the ratio is more? I added more water and that seemed to work. Is that a typo? And is there a reason why the Serrano peppers aren’t included in the IP version?

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      August 14, 2018 at 11:29 am

      Hi Nina,
      The ratio for white rice in the IP is 1:1. I didn’t add the Serrano peppers because they would get pressure cooked. I worry that they would really change the flavor of the rice. In the saucepan version they just steam on top of the rice.

      Reply
  8. Letha says

    July 2, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    Perfect Spanish Rice in the Instant Pot! We loved it. Nice and light, not sticky and tomatoey like most recipes. Very authentic. The only change I made was lard in place of veg oil, and added 1 tsp. Chili powder. Yum!

    Reply
    • Nate says

      February 15, 2019 at 7:30 pm

      Spot on with the lard, I’m planning to do the same.

      Reply
  9. Natalie says

    July 8, 2018 at 11:58 am

    If you doubled the recipe, would you recommend doubling the time it cooks for? Or same amount of time in the instant pot? Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      July 8, 2018 at 12:02 pm

      The same amount of time 🙂 Enjoy!

      Reply
  10. Becky says

    July 21, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    I give this 5 stars! Rice came out perfectly at 4 minutes- followed recipe exactly. Very authentic- oops I had one change I had fresh shelled peas from my farmers market so I added with
    all other ingredients texture was perfect!
    Thanks so much will be my go to recipe!

    Reply
  11. Gail says

    July 26, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    I’d like to use brown long grain rice. Would the cooking time be longer or the same? If longer how many minutes? It looks delicious!

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      July 27, 2018 at 10:18 am

      Yes, add a little extra water and cook for 22 minutes 🙂

      Reply
      • Violet says

        December 26, 2018 at 1:10 pm

        When you say 22 minutes, that’s the 4 minutes plus the time to depressurize?

        Reply
        • Lauren Allen says

          December 28, 2018 at 9:13 am

          Sorry, no. For BROWN rice you set the instant pot timer for 22 minutes, (that’s not including time to come to pressure, or natural pressure release of 10 minutes). for WHITE rice you only need to set the timer for 3-4 minutes. Hope that helps to clarify.

          Reply
  12. Amy F says

    July 28, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    I just made this tonight and it is FANTASTIC! I did double the amount of garlic, used some lard in place of oil, and added a few strands of saffron. I also put the onions and garlic in when the rice was almost done toasting. I’m from Phoenix, and we know our Mexican food here! This is an AUTHENTIC recipe you shared, thank you!

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      July 29, 2018 at 9:20 pm

      Thanks Amy, what a great compliment! I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂

      Reply
  13. Jeana Paulson says

    August 7, 2018 at 9:03 am

    I tried this recipe and it was delicious. It came out light and fluffy which I had never been able to achieve before. I couldn’t find the tomato bouillon at first so used tomato paste instead. The second time I made it I added a bag of frozen corn and used chicken broth instead of water. It was out of this world good! Thanks for helping me get the perfect rice!

    Reply
  14. Jan says

    August 13, 2018 at 7:59 am

    Why is there such a difference in the amount of water in the instant pot recipe? It seems like it wouldn’t be enough and it’s a lot less than the regular recipe. Can’t wait to try it.

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      August 13, 2018 at 10:31 am

      The instant pot pressure cooks, so it cooks the rice differently than the stove top. Instant pot only requires a 1:1 rice/water ratio for cooking white rice, where the stovetop requires a 1:2 rice/water ratio.

      Reply
  15. Maggie Unzueta says

    August 14, 2018 at 8:56 pm

    Great food photos. It looks so good.

    Reply
  16. Angela Anderson says

    October 6, 2018 at 10:55 pm

    Hi. Any advice on a MSG free substitute for the tomato bouillon? Can I just use organic chicken bouillon? Or chicken broth in place of the water? 🙂

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      October 8, 2018 at 4:24 pm

      Yes, you can just use chicken broth instead–the flavor will be the same, it just wont have the same rich color. 🙂

      Reply
  17. Uma says

    November 3, 2018 at 11:30 pm

    I tried this today for some family visiting from Europe and they loved it. Changes – added some mushrooms along with the carrots and a few pinches of saffron. delish!

    Reply
  18. Jack says

    December 4, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    1 1/2 rice cups or regular measuring cups?

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      December 14, 2018 at 12:54 pm

      1 and 1/2 cups with a regular measuring cup.

      Reply
  19. Chelsea says

    December 6, 2018 at 11:09 am

    Can you add cubed potatos to this? Would they get mushy in the instantpot?

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      December 13, 2018 at 8:23 pm

      I’m not sure–I’ve never tried that 🙂

      Reply
  20. Tara says

    December 11, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    I couldn’t find the tomato bullion at my grocery store. What can I substitute instead? My kids are looking forward to this tonigh

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      December 11, 2018 at 1:36 pm

      Chicken bullion or just use chicken broth instead of water. You just wont get the same color 🙂

      Reply
  21. Jeremy says

    December 26, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    If I don’t have access to the tomato bouillon could I use chicken bouillon cubes and extra tomato sauce or what would you suggest?

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      December 28, 2018 at 9:07 am

      Yes, substitute chicken bouillon cubes.

      Reply
  22. Ann says

    January 11, 2019 at 9:59 pm

    Can I use the rice setting on my IP? That works great for plain rice.

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      January 12, 2019 at 12:41 pm

      Sure 🙂

      Reply
  23. Clarissa Booker says

    January 13, 2019 at 11:22 am

    What if I don’t want to use any veggies, does this change the recipe?

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      January 13, 2019 at 7:55 pm

      No, you can leave them out with no other changes 🙂

      Reply
  24. Eileen says

    January 16, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    I will never buy boxed again! This was amazing!!

    Reply
    • Lauren Allen says

      January 17, 2019 at 11:34 am

      Thanks Eileen! I’m really glad you liked it.

      Reply
  25. Neal says

    January 28, 2019 at 3:50 pm

    Just perfect! I have been looking for a long time for an easy but delicious Mexican rice recipe. I followed your recipe and it came out awesome. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  26. Em says

    January 30, 2019 at 4:59 pm

    This recipe turned out amazing. It was so easy. I didn’t have onion so I added some onion powder and I skipped the peas. It tastes just like rice you get at a Mexican restaurant. I will definitely keep using this recipe.

    Reply
  27. Wendy Flatt says

    February 4, 2019 at 12:50 pm

    Made this last night and LOVED it. I might use a tiny bit less oil next time, and I added about 1/4 c. more water than was called for since I used tomato paste instead of tomato sauce. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!

    Reply
  28. Carol says

    February 4, 2019 at 5:59 pm

    This was really good.I will make it again.I cut oil in half used 2
    cups frzn
    mixed veggies, used veg broth that I had and 2 veggie bullion cubes, went 4 min and only 7 for natural release. Yummy and vegan

    Reply
  29. Dawn says

    February 7, 2019 at 9:53 am

    This is the tastiest thing I’ve made in the Instant Pot so far! But I did get a “burn” notice at the very end of cooking and there was a thin layer of burnt rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. I opened the pot right away with QR when I saw “burn” and rice seemed on the wet side still, but soft and tasty.
    Any suggestions on what may have gone wrong? I’ve heard tomato products sometimes cause the burning and read suggestions to not stir but then the bullion wouldn’t be dissolved so that’s not a solution. It was really good and I’d like to make it often but need to figure out how to avoid the burning.

    Reply
  30. jerry hanson says

    February 10, 2019 at 8:18 am

    Next time I will add some heat. Could just add some sriracha chili sauce to each plate or serving.

    Reply
  31. Sue says

    February 10, 2019 at 8:02 pm

    This was one of the first recipes I saved when I got my Instant Pot after Christmas! I finally made it tonight for dinner! It was so good! The changes I made were using frozen corn vs peas. I also added some cumin, pepper and smoked paprika when finished. Next time, I will add these in the beginning. Thank you for the great recipe!

    Reply

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Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of 3 and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos. Read More
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