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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!
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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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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This is absolutely the best Mexican Rice I have made and believe me I have tried A LOT of Mexican rice recipes. I have been searching for years to find a recipe that tastes just like my abuela’s version and this one is actually BETTER (shhh don’t tell her though)!!!! Thank you SO SO SO much! My abuela would be proud!
Heidi, thanks so much for the great compliment. I’m glad you found the recipe!
Can brown rice be substituted?
Yes! Add 1/4 cup more water and cook on high pressure for 22 minutes, with 10 minute natural release.
I’m getting married soon and a local restaurant is doing most of the food. We are having street tacos, roasted corn on the Cobb and I’m to make the refried beans and rice. I’m planning on using your recipe, I’d like to get them made up before hand, have you ever frozen this recipe and than reheated?
I haven’t, but it should be fine! Add some water to the top of the rice before covering and reheating to allow it to steam again.
Hello, is there a way to leave out the boullion cube? Would it greatly affect the taste? Thanks !
That’s fine, but I would use chicken broth instead of water, if you leave it out. Enjoy!
I have always struggled making Mexican rice. The flavor is always good but it’s either undercooked or mushy. This recipe came out perfect!!!! My husband is from Mexico City and says it’s very authentic. Thank you..thank you..thank you..for sharing your recipe!!!
Thanks for the great compliment! I’m so happy you both liked it!
Can I use tomato paste instead of the bullion cubes?
I would just use chicken broth instead of water, if you leave out the bullion.
I followed the recipe exactly and it came out so good! Thank you:)
Very easy to make and quite tasty!
If I want to triple the recipe, do I triple the time?
No, the cook time stays the same, the instant pot will just take longer to come to pressure the fuller it is.
What does come to pressure mean. I dont see anything about waiting for it to come to pressure in the recipe?
Once you set your IP timer, it will not start counting down until the pot builds up enough pressure to cook what is inside (this usually takes 5-15 minutes, depending on the volume of food inside. Once it is there, you will finally see the number you set on the timer begin to count down. When the timer gets to 0, the pot will beep, meaning time is up. Anything after that “beep” is when the pot begins to naturally release pressure/steam. That’s when you wait for 10 minutes before manually releasing the remaining pressure and opening the lid. Hope that helps.
I made this exactly according to the recipe, it was delicious and will be our go-to Mexican rice going forward. Thanks!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Lisa.