This Vegan Mexican Rice, also known as Spanish Rice is a gluten free recipe that adds tons of flavor to all of your favorite tacos, burrito bowls, and more! It’s made in just one pot, freezer friendly and ready in about 30 minutes.
This vegan Mexican rice recipe is seriously the best I’ve ever had. It’s so easy to make (one pot!), incredibly flavorful, naturally gluten free, and stores well in both the fridge and freezer.
I love having it with tacos and burrito bowls with my walnut taco meat since it’s an easy way to spice up any dish.
It’s way better than any of the boxed stuff I had as a kid, and you get to be in control of all the ingredients that go into it which is always a plus!
Don’t love cumin? Leave it out or swap it for saffron for a Spanish rice. Love spice? Add in a chopped jalapeño pepper for a little kick. The options are endless with this quick and versatile recipe.
Serve it alongside my salmon tacos or chili lime salmon.
How to make Mexican Rice
Chop the onion very finely and add to a large pot with the olive oil. I love using this vegetable press to get the onion chopped into even and very small pieces. You can also use it for the bell pepper.
Saute on low heat for 3-5 minutes, or until the onion starts to look translucent.
Add in the minced garlic and chopped bell pepper. Saute for an additional 2-3 minutes. If using the jalapeno pepper, add it at this step. If anything starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, add an extra tablespoon of olive oil.
Add in all remaining ingredients aside from the cilantro and stir well.
Bring to a low boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Be sure the heat is low, you don’t want the liquid to absorb too quickly which will cause the rice to be undercooked.
Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, or until all liquid is absorbed. Stir halfway through to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
Turn off the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 more minutes to finish cooking. This will allow the rice to steam and get nice and fluffy.
Fluff with a fork and stir in chopped cilantro. If you don’t like cilantro or think it tastes like soap, feel free to leave it out!
Mexican vs. Spanish Rice
The names Spanish rice and Mexican rice are often used interchagebly, but they’re actually not the same! They have very similar ingredients though. A base of white rice, onion, garlic, spices and tomato.
The main difference is that Mexican rice uses cumin which gives it a deeper red color and Spanish rice uses saffron which gives it a more orange color.
I absolutely love Saffron and therefore Spanish rice, but it is very expensive and I wanted this to be an affordable recipe, so I went the cumin route!
I’m glad I did because the cumin adds a subtle but delicious flavor to the rice and pairs really well with the other ingredients and spices in the recipe.
How to store and freeze
Once prepared, this Mexican rice will store in the fridge for 5 days. Be sure to let it cool completely before transferring to an air tight container.
This vegan Mexican rice is freezer friendly! Allow the rice to cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe bag or container.
It will keep in the freezer for about 1 month. To reheat, add the rice to the stove with a splash of oil and let warm over low heat.
As written this recipe is not super spicy. To increase the spice, add a chopped jalapeño pepper (with seeds for extra spice) to the pot when you add the garlic and bell pepper, or add 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.
The best rice
You can use brown rice in place of the white rice. I only suggest using long grain rice, just be sure to check the back of the package and make the necessary alterations to the amount of liquid used. If using brown rice, you will need to cook it for an additional 10 or so minutes.
You may need to adjust the amount of broth you are using based on your rice. I used long grain white rice, but you can also use white basmati rice or white jasmine rice.
The back of the package of the rice should tell you how much liquid to use based on cups of rice. Take that number and subtract 1/2 cup to account for some of the liquid in the tomato sauce.
For example, long grain white rice calls for 3 cups of liquid for 2 cups of rice. I used 2 1/2 cups of for this recipe, plus 1 cup of tomato sauce.
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One Pot Vegan Mexican Rice
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain white rice
- 1 cup plain tomato sauce
- 1 medium white or yellow onion chopped small
- 6 cloves garlic
- ½ large red bell pepper very finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ½ cups vegetable broth*
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ -1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Juice from 1 lime
- Optional: 1 jalapeno pepper diced
Instructions
- Chop the onion very finely and add to a large pot with the olive oil. I love using this onion press to get the onion chopped into even and very small pieces.
- Saute on low heat for 3-5 minutes, or until the onion starts to look translucent.
- Add in the minced garlic and chopped bell pepper. Saute for an additional 2-3 minutes. If using the jalapeno pepper, add it at this step.
- Add in all remaining ingredients including the tomato sauce but leave aside the cilantro.
- Bring to a low boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Be sure the heat is low, you don’t want the liquid to absorb too quickly which will cause the rice to be undercooked.
- Let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Stir halfway through to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
- Turn off the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 more minutes to finish cooking.
- Fluff with a fork and stir in chopped cilantro.
Jenn says
I just made this recipe and it turned out really well! I just wanted to ask if it is supposed to taste sweet?
Claire Cary says
There’s naturally some sweetness to tomato sauce, but sweetness shouldn’t be a dominant flavor!
Diane says
Wow! Super tasty!
Lisa says
Hello!
This recipe is delicious and I opted for adding the jalapeno. Yum! Is it really 6 servings!? It seems like it yielded 16 servings.
Claire Cary says
Yes, it’s 6! One serving of rice is 1/4-1/3 cup dry, so about 6-8 servings here.
Dee says
Very tasty. I had already cooked the white rice in the instant pot so I water sauted the onions, bell peppers, and garlic (omitted oil). I added the spices and a can of fire roasted tomatoes and cooked a little longer. I added it to the rice. So good
Bonny says
I’m making for important event and very nervous and this recipe doesn’t require you to toast the rice first. Is this right?
Claire Cary says
You can if you want, but it’s not a huge deal!
Adrienne says
Hello!!
What is Weight (grams) per serving please?
Thank you! 🙂
Adrienne
Claire Cary says
Hi Adrienne, I don’t have the weight, but one serving is about 1 cup of cooked rice. Hope that helps!
Adrienne says
Thank you :))
Tenielle says
Absolutely delicious, and so easy to make!! I made it bulk as hubby and I meal prep. Tasted delicious all week.
I added beef mince and a tin of tomatoes.
Thankyou for the yummy recepie🤤
Claire Cary says
Thank you Tenielle! So happy you both enjoyed it 🙂
Alexandria Nunnelley says
I don’t have fresh bell pepper or jalapeño, could I sub canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce or canned chopped green chilis for the fresh ingredients? And I love spice if that makes any difference to your thoughts! Thanks!
Claire Cary says
The recipe should actually be ok if you just leave out the bell pepper and jalapeno. If you like spice, I’d add in about 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste). You can add in chopped chipotle peppers or green chilis, but the flavor won’t be quite the same because chipotle peppers with adobo have a bit more of a smokey flavor. Hope that helps! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Duncan says
My whole family loves this!
DeAnna says
You forgot to add the tomato sauce to the recipe. It’s not on the ingredient list or in the directions.
Claire Cary says
It’s on there! It’s the second ingredient 🙂