Dress up rice and beans for Cinco de Mayo
Instant Pot Mexican rice with black beans is an amazing one-pot meal that’s perfect for Cinco de Mayo festivities or any occasion. The Mexican rice with black beans is meal in itself and is quite versatile.
For example, you can dress it up with some shredded chicken, include it in a burrito, add it to a quesadilla or lay enchiladas on top before they’re baked.
The Instant Pot Mexican rice with black beans is also a perfect side dish to serve with your favorite Cinco de Mayo entree. It can be made ahead of time and leftovers are just as good the next day.
If you’re wondering, an Instant Pot is a multi-function cooker that combines a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker and yogurt maker in one appliance.
The Instant Pot is perfect for cooking rice. Because the rice is cooked in a pressure sealed environment, the liquid to rice ratio is 1 to 1, meaning that you use less liquid. In addition, the rice is perfectly cooked every time.
This Instant Pot Mexican rice with black beans is my go-to recipe when I’m craving a delicious Mexican style rice. It’s likely to become your go-to recipe as well.
Preparation tips
h You can easily make this delicious dish vegetarian by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth or water.
h I like to use basmati rice in this recipe. However, you can also use longgrain rice.
h The reason that you don’t want to combine the Rotel tomatoes with the other ingredients before cooking is that they will likely burn if they come in contact with the bottom of the Instant Pot.
h If you’re not a fan of black beans, you can easily substitute corn or pinto beans.
h This recipe for Mexican rice with black beans makes excellent leftovers. You can cover and refrigerate the rice for several days. I like to gently reheat it in the microwave so that the rice doesn’t become mushy.
h My Instant Pot is the DUO60 6quart model.
Instant Pot Mexican rice with black beans Equipment
Instant Pot
Serves 6
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup (7-ounces) basmati rice, rinsed until the water turns clear, drained and allowed to dry
1 cup minced onion (about 1 medium onion) 1⁄ cup chopped celery (1 to 2 stalks) 2
1 jalapeño pepper, membrane and seeds removed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3⁄ teaspoon dried oregano 4
3⁄ teaspoon chili powder 4
3⁄ teaspoon ground cumin 4
3⁄ teaspoon Kosher salt 4
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
10-ounce can Rotel Original diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
15.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro or Italian parsley for garnish, optional
Add olive oil to Instant Pot. Select sauté function with normal heat. When oil is hot, add rice. Cook for 4 minutes until lightly browned.
Add onions, celery, jalapeños, garlic, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add chicken broth; stir to deglaze the pan.
Add the drained Rotel tomatoes and green chilies on top of the rice. Do not stir. The reason is that the tomatoes will burn, so leave the Rotel tomatoes on top.
Secure the lid on the Instant Pot; make sure that the steam valve is shut. Select manual, high pressure and 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, allow to depressurize naturally for 2 minutes. Then quick release remaining pressure.
Remove the lid. Add the drained black beans; stir to combine. Return lid to Instant Pot with steam valve open. Allow to sit for 3 additional minutes. Remove the lid and fluff rice with a fork.
If desired, garnish with chopped cilantro or Italian parsley.