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!
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.
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).
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.
Can I substitute brown rice?
Yes! To substitute brown rice, add ¼ cup additional water and cook on high pressure for 22-24 minutes (22 for low elevations, 24 for higher). Once the timer beeps allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before removing the lid and fluffing with a fork.
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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Recipe
Instant Pot Authentic Mexican Rice
Equipment
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
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Drain well.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add oil to the bottom of the pot.
- Add rice and saute, stirring often, until lightly golden, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, onion, tomato sauce, salt, tomato bullion and carrots and stir to combine.
- Add water and stir well, making sure the bullion 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).
- 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.
Notes
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.Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
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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.
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
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!
My family and I loved this rice!!! I accidentally forgot to wash it and used chicken broth instead of the bouillon/water. I didn’t have any of the tomato bouillon so it was lighter in color. We loved it so much I am not sure that I even want to mess with trying the original way.
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.
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.
I will never buy boxed again! This was amazing!!
Thanks Eileen! I’m really glad you liked it.
What if I don’t want to use any veggies, does this change the recipe?
No, you can leave them out with no other changes 🙂
Can I use the rice setting on my IP? That works great for plain rice.
Sure 🙂
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?
Yes, substitute chicken bouillon cubes.