Made entirely in the instant pot in minutes and a close replica of restaurant-style Mexican rice, this instant pot Mexican rice is perfectly fluffy and packed with flavor!
One of the most staple Mexican side dishes is taking a trip to the instant pot today! Just in time for Cinco de Mayo if you’re planning on cooking for a fiesta at home this year.
Trust me, every household needs this staple in its side dish arsenal! I can’t even count all the incredible Mexican dishes this rice enhances but just trust that the number is a lot.
And I’ve been making this rice pretty much nonstop the past few weeks making it JUST perfect because if we’re going to do homemade Mexican rice we’re going to do it right.
The instant pot is cutting a lot of the busy work out since it’s all done in one pot with minimal monitoring required. That’s a side dish every can hop on board with.
This Mexican Rice Features…
- A light and fluffy texture
- Tons of flavor from fresh tomato, jalapeno, and spices
- Made completely in the instant pot in minutes
Making the Mexican Rice
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Tomatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Yellow onion
- Jalapeno
- Garlic
- Cumin
- Rice
- Chicken broth
- Cilantro
Choosing Your Rice
I recommend using a long-grain white rice for this dish. My favorite brand to use is Mahatma, but any long-grain white rice will work.
Tips for Perfect Mexican Rice
- Use fresh roma tomatoes – for close to authentic Mexican rice, you will always want to use firm fresh roma tomatoes.
- Blend tomatoes – you can use a blender or a food processor for this part.
- Sauté onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin – this is the flavor base to the Mexican rice.
- Toast the rice – toasting the rice will enhance its flavor.
- Cook rice on low pressure 12 minutes – 12 minutes on low pressure and 3 minutes to naturally release pressure will cook the rice perfectly.
- Fluff rice with a fork – using a fork will prevent the rice from becoming mushy.
Stovetop Instructions
You can easily convert this recipe to a stovetop version if you don’t own an instant pot!
- Follow steps 2 and 3 in the recipe card for sautéing onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from pan, add the rice, and toast.
- Increase chicken broth to 3 cups and follow step 4 for adding sauteed vegetables, broth, and pureed tomatoes to rice in pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer 10-15 minutes on low until liquid is evaporated and rice is fluffy.
Serving Suggestions
This Mexican rice is great served alongside many Mexican dishes. Try it served alongside your favorite tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, fajitas, in a burrito, or the base to a burrito bowl.
I swear it’s the homemade tomato puree that makes all the difference flavor-wise in this Mexican rice! It cooks up so perfectly fluffy and every bite is just singing with bold, zippy flavors.
The only question is, what are you serving this goodness alongside? Or are you in my club of just eating a bowl of it straight?
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
More side dishes for Cinco de Mayo!
Instant Pot Mexican Rice
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Ingredients
- 1/2 lb fresh roma tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 medium)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 small jalapeno, minced
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1-1/2 cups long-grain white rice
- 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Minced fresh cilantro for topping
Instructions
- Place tomatoes in a blender and blend on high until tomatoes are completely smooth. Set aside for a moment.
- Heat a 4-quart instant pot using the BROWN/SAUTE function. Once instant pot is hot, add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat bottom. Add onion and jalapeno and sauté 3-5 minutes until onions are lightly browned. Add garlic and cumin and sauté 1 additional minute until fragrant. Remove onion mixture from instant pot.
- Keep instant pot on BROWN/SAUTE function. Add remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to pot and swirl to coat bottom. Add rice to pot and sauté 3-5 minutes until rice is lightly toasted.
- Pour blended tomato sauce, chicken broth, and onion mixture over rice and bring to a low simmer. Once simmering, season rice with salt and pepper to taste then turn off BROWN/SAUTE function.
- Secure lid on instant pot and close vent. Cook rice on low pressure 12 minutes then allow to release pressure naturally for 3 minutes.
- Release any remaining pressure from instant pot and remove lid. Fluff rice with a fork and season with additional salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve Mexican rice with cilantro on top and enjoy!
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