Make my Mexican Rice Recipe (or Arroz a la Mexicana) in your instant pot or pressure cooker in just one easy step! It's very easy to make and it tastes way better than prepackaged Mexican rice!
Why You'll Love This Instant Pot Mexican Rice
- Fast. Have a tasty side dish that pairs well with so many things in under 30 minutes.
- Easy. pour all of the ingredients into the Instant Pot and cook on High Pressure. No fuss or extra steps.
- Vegetarian. A filling dish without the meat.
- Versatile. Customize the dish with any meat or veggies of your choice.
I eat low carb for the most part but I do allow myself some rice quite frequently. I find that even a fourth of a cup satisfies my craving for it, and that keeps me from feeling deprived. Mexican rice is a tricky thing when you order it at a restaurant. Sometimes it's fluffy and not sticky and just perfect. Other times, it's an overly-orange sticky mess.
How To Make Instant Pot Mexican Rice
The first time I made this recipe I got it all wrong, and not only did it burn a bit, but it was a sticky mess. I think I believed adding the vegetables allowed me to reduce the water in the rice, but this was not the case. So despite the vegetables, you add to this rice, treat it as you would any other rice dish, with your usual proportion of rice and water.
- In a blender, blend together Onions, tomato, garlic, cilantro, and jalapeño.
- Turn your Instant Pot to Sauté and when it's hot, add in 1 tbs of oil. Add the rice and sauté for 5 minutes. You want the rice to get translucent.
- Add in the blended vegetables and let them cook with the rice for 2-3 minutes, stirring well to incorporate.
- Pour in water, add cumin, and Goya Sazon. Seal the Instant Pot, set it to Manual HP for 4 minutes, and Allow NPR for 10 minutes.
How Long Does Mexican Rice Last?
For the best results, enjoy any leftover Instant Pot Mexican Rice within 3-4 days of preparing it.
Other Delicious Mexican Recipes
You can beef up this Mexican Rice Recipe (chicken up this dish?) by making Arroz con Pollo instead, by adding a pound of bite-sized chicken into it if you'd like.
If you're looking for more delicious Mexican side dishes, check out my Pressure Cooker Refried Beans! They're so delicious and simple that you'll never want to buy canned refried beans again!
If you're looking for more delicious rice or grain recipes, check out my list of 49+ Instant Pot Rice and Grains Recipes!
So next time you're preparing a side dish for your next Mexican meal, put away the prepackaged, store-bought rice and make this delicious Instant Pot Mexican Rice instead! It tastes SO much better and it's definitely worth the little bit of extra effort!
Ingredients
- 1/2 Onion
- 1 Tomatoes, quartered
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1/4 cup Cilantro
- 1/2 Jalapeño Peppers, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- 1 cup Basmati Rice
- 2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 1 packet Goya sazon with achiote & cilantro, (can omit if you don't have)
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- In a blender, blend together Onions, tomato, garlic, cilantro, and jalapeño.
- Meanwhile turn your Instant Pot to Sauté and when it's hot, add in 1 tbs of oil. Add the rice and sauté for 5 minutes. You want the rice to get translucent.
- Add in the blended vegetables and let them cook with the rice for 2-3 minutes, stirring well to incorporate.
- Pour in water, add cumin, and Goya Sazon. Seal the Instant Pot, set to Manual HP for 4 minutes, Allow NPR for 10 minutes.
- Serve with a tomatillo salsa for a little piquant flavor
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Nutrition
Don't forget to check out my other Best-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!
Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.
Dawn
This looks great! If you double the recipe, should you also double the water to 2 cups? Also, I couldn't find the link to the recipe for the Even Easier Mexican Rice mentioned in the comments.
URVASHI PITRE
I need to delete that link, since I updated this post to be the best recipe and deleted the old, less easy one 🙂 As for doubling the recipe, I find rice does better if the water isn't quite doubled. I'd try 1 3/4 cups of water. Double all else.
Rihanna
Delicious!
The goya spice packet added that red that it was missing, I used a packet vs half. Just easier. Wish I doubled the recipe. It's easy to make, so il just make more. Followed it exactly and it was yummmm!
Lisa
I have an 8qt instant pot and would like to make this in a larger quantity. Is it ok to to triple the recipe?
Juli
The recipe calls for 1/2 of the Goya season. 1/2 of what? Do you have measurements in tbs? Thank you!
Kerry
I watched your video on cooking rice and for basmati, the cook time is 4-5 mins with 10 mins NPR. Why is this recipe different? Thanks for your time!
URVASHI PITRE
To be perfectly honest it’s because Ira an old recipe ???? I should remake it and modify it
Kerry
Hi Urvashi, in your description, you said the ratio of rice to water is 1:1.25 but in the recipe you used 1 cup of rice and added 1 cup of water. Which one should I follow? Thanks.
URVASHI PITRE
There’s a more updated recipe you shod follow and it’s called even easier Mexican rice. Follow that one. I will take this one off the website
Pam Wells
I just got an IP - learning!! We are having a Mexican Fiesta party. Can I double/triple this recipe? How much rice can I make at a time? Thank you!!
Amanda
This was delicious! I used a drained can of tomatoes and it came out perfect. 🙂
Carolyn Dempsey
I've had quite a few things burn to the bottom, and consequently not pressurize, so I made extra sure there was nothing stuck to the pan when I cooked this. But it still burned to the bottom during the manual setting 🙁 so I added more water and scraped the bottom of the liner clean...put it on for 1 more minute and I hope it doesn't taste burnt. Do you have any other suggestions for preventing the burning? Thanks for all your recipes! We especially love the butter chicken.
URVASHI PITRE
Oh no. Did you make it with the updated recipe? I just don't understand it. I posted a video of how not-burned it is when I made it when the updated recipe. I wish I knew what was happening.
SKE
This recipe was pretty good but I needed 3 things:
1. No salt? It was very bland!
2. How much measured Goya Saxon?
3. Where is the new Easiest recipe? I don’t find it. You’re comment says this one was being removed 2 years ago but it’s still here. Thank you.
TwoSleevers
My apologies. I updated the recipe card and in this just now to reflect the easier recipe. The Goya Saxon should be a full packet -- why I didn't include more salt in the recipe. It can be quite salty if used in larger quantities.
URVASHI PITRE
Oh no I don't understand what is going on. Did you follow the updated recipe? I posted a video to show how "not burned" mine was, so not sure what's happening. I used long grain basmati rice. What did you use? Trying to identify the issue.
Virginia
This is not up to the extremely high standards that Urvashi normally keeps to. I've used her basic rice recipe on multiple occasions, and it's always been perfect. This recipe was stuck to the bottom, but there was a LOT of liquid still, and the rice wasn't even done. It came to pressure, counted down, etc. The only thing I can think of is the npr time on this recipe is nil, and in the standard rice recipe, it's 10 minutes. I'm putting it back in to come to pressure for another minute, then letting it sit for 10 and hoping it is edible.