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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After reading the many burn comments, I used 1.75 cups of water and placed the tomato sauce on top. I was in a hurry so I didn’t bother with carrots and peas this time. It turned out great. Next time I will use less oil, as it seemed a little oilier than I care for.
Be sure your oil is hot before adding rice and even more important, be very certain to completely deglaze bottom of insert after browning rice. I have found even a small amount of starch left behind will cause a burn alarm. Also, my insert was not so new and maybe that was part of the problem. I have a 4 qt instant pot now with a newer insert and it seems to be easier to deglaze. If I am feeding guests and using my big IP, I get a little obsessive and do the first steps, browning rice in my skillet and then transfer to IP. Yes, it means I have to wash an extra pan, but I have found it also gives my rice and if I use the same pan to start softening the onion and garlic, I get more color and flavor. Nothing like cooking with cast iron. And I never get the burn alarm but always perfect rice. I’ll wash a pan for that.
Tried twice to cook this in the Instant Pot and it burned both times. I had to finish cooking it in the microwave and add a lot more water. The overall flavor is very good, though! Don’t know how anyone is able to use the Instant Pot. I tried following the instructions exactly and it burned. Then I tried with a fresh insert (where I hadn’t used the sauté function) and still had the same result.
Made this recipe twice now and both times it burned badly on the bottom. This often happens with tomatoes in the IP. Had to take it out and finish it in a pan on the stove. It tasted good but not worth the hassle/mess. Wondering how others got it to work.
Same with me. I wonder if it’s the type of long-grain rice that’s the problem. I used basmati.
Happened to me as well so I did some research and found that it happens when you stir in the tomato sauce. Recommendations were to add it last and don’t stir. I haven’t tested it yet but will in the next few weeks.
What can I use instead of the bouillon? I can’t find any vegetarian versions. Would a vegetable bouillon with some tomato paste added suffice?
Made my Instant Pot say “burn”.
Hello! Have you added serrano peppers to the Instant Pot recipe like you do for the stovetop version?
Just tried this out today using brown rice and Ms. Allen’s suggestions to use 1/4 more water (so 1.75 cups of water to 1.5 cups brown rice in my case). The end result tastes great (I used 3x serrano peppers cut in half, rested on top of the rice for the ~22 minute cut) but unfortunately it did come out pretty watery. Next time I’ll try just using 1:1 ratio of brown rice to water.
The Mexican rice was great. Used the insta pot and followed the recipe exactly. The rice will be included in all Mexican meals I prepare. Thanks.
This turned out great! I doubled it for our family. I only had 3 tomato bouillon cubes so used a chicken one for the 4th one. I have struggled with Mexican rice for a long time, this was a great recipe for me!