I recently shared three Budget-Friendly Easy Vegan Instant Pot recipes over on Youtube, and one of them is for Vegan Instant Pot Mexican Rice and Beans.
Why you’ll love this recipe
It’s my version of Mexican Rice and Beans but made vegan and simplified. After you sauté a few aromatics, you’ll dump the remaining ingredients into the Instant Pot and that’s all! It’s a super simple recipe and a great option for meal prep. Plus, like many bean recipes, it’s made with inexpensive, everyday ingredients so it’s also really affordable to make.
Tips for making this recipe
To keep this dish budget-friendly, I use dried beans (instead of canned beans) that I purchase in bulk (along with the brown rice). Since dried beans typically take anywhere from 25-40 minutes to cook in the Instant Pot, I first soak the beans overnight to reduce their cook time. This enables you to cook the beans and the rice (and all the other ingredients) at the same cook time. If you don’t soak the beans, they won’t fully cook through in the 12-minute cook time.
If you forget to soak your beans overnight, you can try this quick soak method.
Oh, and if you want more than 90 incredible vegan Instant Pot recipes, be sure to order my 5-star-rated cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook!
Vegan Instant Pot Mexican Rice and Beans Recipe Video
More Mexican Inspired Recipes
Okay so none of these are authentically Mexican, but they’re all so delicious I don’t think you’ll mind:
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Vegan Instant Pot Mexican Rice and Beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup (165-175g) dried pinto beans, soaked for 8 hours or overnight
- 1 tablespoons olive oil or neutral cooking oil of choice
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 small green bell pepper, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt + more to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 4 cups water
- 1 ½ cups (270g) long-grain brown rice
- 1 (15-ounce) (425g) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) (227g) can tomato sauce
- ½ of a lime, juiced
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions
- Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with plenty of cold water. Soak for 8 hours or overnight, then rinse and drain the beans. Alternatively, use the quick soak method described here.
- Sect the Sauté setting on the Instant Pot and let the pot heat up for a few minutes before adding the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and bell pepper along with a pinch of salt and cook until the onions are translucent, 3-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, tossing frequently to prevent burning.
- Add the spices, salt, and pepper, and stir frequently until very fragrant and the vegetables are well coated with the spices, about 30 seconds.
- Pour in the water to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the soaked and drained beans, along with the brown rice, and stir well.
- Pour the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce on top and gently stir (don’t stir the tomatoes down too much, or they might sink to the bottom and block the Instant Pot’s heat sensor, causing it to burn).
- Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing. Select the Pressure Cook setting at high pressure and set the cook time to 12 minutes.
- Once the 12-minute timer has completed and beeps, allow a natural pressure release for 15 minutes and then carefully switch the Pressure Release knob from Sealing to Venting to release any remaining steam.
- Stir in the lime juice. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper as needed and garnish with the cilantro.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
Unfortunately this recipe didn’t work for me. The beans were still too hard despite pre soaking for 24hs and the rice was absolute mush. Perfect for congee but not for this dish. Will try other recipes though.
Hi Kaitlin- so sorry to hear the recipe didn’t work out for you despite soaking the beans for 1 day! Could the beans have been a bit old by any chance? Older beans take longer to cook. Either way, we’re sorry you had this experience and hope you’re able to enjoy the other RPL recipes!
Hey Nisha!
I want to try making this using broth instead of water (or maybe do a 1:1 ratio of water and broth). If I am not using low sodium broth, how much should I reduce the salt in this recipe by? Thanks in advance!
Hi Sanne, it depends on how much sodium the brand of vegetable broth you’re using contains. If using our preferred brand, Imagine Organic, you would replace the 4 cups of water with 3 cups broth and 1 cup water.
If using a different brand of vegetable broth with less sodium, you may be able to use 4 cups broth. Enjoy the dish!
This was delicious! And it makes such a big batch. I rarely bother with dried beans, but I’m so glad I did. It makes a world of difference compared to canned.
I served it with avocado and a few leaves of romaine to make lettuce wraps for some greens. So satisfying!
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Joline!
We have been trying to make a great Mexican or Spanish rice for a while, remembering how great it was. Maybe we had it before we were vegan, but when I have tried to make it, it is so dry. If we follow your recipe, will it taste like we remember??
Also, are you saying pinto beans will cook up and make the rice creamier or do they remain whole?
Thanks for sharing your recipe. We are most appreciative.