Easy Vegan Mexican Rice Recipe An easy & delicious Southwestern-inspired plant-based dish made with rice, veggies, peppers & zesty bright flavor! GF and oil-free option.
This easy vegan rice recipe is the ideal, inexpensive dish to accompany most any Mexican or Spanish themed meal. No more making Mexican or Spanish rice from a box! With just a few basic ingredients - rice, onions, peppers, corn, tomatoes, salsa & spices - you can have a batch of this perfectly prepared rice ready in as little as 30 minutes.
This recipe is one of those simple go-to's you can count on whenever you need a quick & tasty side dish. I love to serve this Mexican rice with vegan enchiladas, our delicious potato tacos, and jackfruit street tacos or a simple burrito bowl.
Mexican rice makes a tasty stuffing for these vegan stuffed bell peppers filled with this zesty rice and topped with vegan cheese. I like to prepare a batch of vegan Mexican rice to serve with a salad, beans and fresh tortillas. You can also easily turn it into an entree by adding pinto or black beans or vegan burger crumbles.
★★★★★ "I have made this recipe several times and absolutely love it. It's easy and inexpensive to make and filling and delicious." Lynn
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
🥕See the printable recipe card below for quantities & details
Here are ingredients I used in this recipe with suggested substitutions:
- Brown rice - substitute with long grain white rice
- Vegetable broth - substitute with water or water with vegan bouillon
- Yellow onion - substitute with red or white onion or scallions
- Red bell pepper - substitute with any variety bell pepper or use jalapeño
- Corn - fresh, frozen or canned
- Crushed tomatoes - substitute with canned whole tomatoes pulsed in blender
- Chunky salsa - any variety
- Cumin - substitute with coriander or a tiny amount of saffron for a Spanish flavor
- Chili powder - substitute with paprika
- Olive oil - use avocado oil, vegetable oil, or no oil (replace with water)
- Salt & pepper
Variations & Add-ins
🥕Don't have all the right ingredients on hand? No worries! The beauty of this easy vegan Mexican rice recipe is you can add/substitute or delete ingredients & end up with an absolutely delicious dish. Don't be afraid to mix it up a bit if needed.
- Vegan burger crumbles
- Black beans or pinto beans
- Carrots
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Cilantro
- Taco seasoning
Instructions
🥕TIP: If you prepare rice often, a rice cooker will be your best friend in the kitchen. It's so convenient. Press the button and voila! Minutes later you'll have a perfectly steamed pot of rice. No fuss no muss! I've had several rice cookers over the years and this stainless steel rice cooker by Aroma is my favorite.
Step. 1 If you don't have a rice steamer, no worries. You can use a medium-large sauce pan with a lid. Prepare rice according to package ingredients. Use broth for liquid. While rice is steaming, prepare sauce.
Step 2. Pour olive oil in a skillet. Place on stove over medium heat. Add diced onions to skillet. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Add cumin & chili powder to onions.
Step 3. Add peppers and continue cooking until onions begin to sweat and become translucent.
Step 4. Add corn and salsa. Stir to combine and allow to sauté until just tender.
Step 5. Add crushed tomatoes and maple syrup. Stir. Reduce heat to low and allow to thicken while rice is steaming. Stir frequently, don't let it burn. Add salt & pepper to taste.
Step 6. Remove from heat. Once rice is ready, add rice to sauce in skillet or transfer all to a large mixing bowl. Stir rice and sauce until thoroughly combined.
🥕NOTE: I like to add a small amount of maple syrup, agave nectar or sugar to tomato-based sauces. The sweetness helps cut the acidic taste of the tomatoes and makes the sauce even richer in flavor.
Step 7. Once everything is done cooking, simply combine the sauce with the rice and it's ready to serve. Enjoy the rice while it is hot, otherwise place it in the refrigerator to cool. (See FAQ's below for storage and food safety tips).
FAQ's
How to make Mexican rice without oil?
Simply omit the oil and use a few tablespoons of water or broth to sauté the onions and veggies. Keep a close eye on them, stirring frequently to prevent them from sticking to the pan or burning. Add extra liquid as needed.
How to store cooked rice?
This is a really important question, and one that all of us who enjoy rice should know.
Rice can carry spores of the bacterium Bacillus cereus that can make a person sick. Proper handling of cooked rice will prevent food-borne illness.
This article from The University of Wisconsin-Madison offers food-safety recommendations for storing rice, including the following: "If the cooked rice is not properly cooled, then the Bacillus spores can germinate and produce a toxin that can make a person sick. Once cooking is complete, the rice needs to be kept warm or cooled. This means that cooked rice needs to stay out of the Danger Zone"(between 40°F and 140°F).
"For proper cooling, leftover cooked rice should be placed in shallow containers, no more that 3 inches deep, and put directly into the refrigerator for quick cooling. Don't cool it on the counter! Move leftovers to the refrigerator within one hour of preparation. Once cooled, cover the container as you would other leftovers stored in your refrigerator."
Looking for more delicious Southwestern inspired vegan dishes? Try these!
If you love this recipe ★★★★★ please be sure to rate it below! Sharing your experience lets me know that you enjoyed it and will help other readers decide if they should give the recipe a try too. Thanks a bunch!🥕
Recipe
Easy Vegan Mexican Rice Recipe
Equipment
- Rice cooker or 4 qt (or larger) covered sauce pan
- large skillet
- Mesh strainer
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice long grain - uncooked
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil see notes below for oil-free option
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 medium red bell pepper seeded & diced
- ½ cup corn kernels fresh, frozen or canned (drained)
- 3 tablespoon salsa chunky
- 15 oz tomatoes canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Prepare rice according to package ingredients. Use broth for liquid.
- While rice is steaming, prepare sauce.
- Pour 2 tablespoon olive oil in skillet. Place on stove over medium heat.
- Add diced onions to skillet. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Add cumin & chili powder to onions.
- Add diced peppers, corn and salsa. Stir to combine and allow to sauté until just tender.
- Add crushed tomatoes and maple syrup. Stir. Reduce heat to low and allow to thicken while rice is steaming. Stir frequently, don't let it burn.
- Add salt & pepper to taste.
- Remove from heat.
- Once rice is ready, add rice to sauce in skillet or transfer all to a large mixing bowl. Stir rice and sauce until thoroughly combined.
- Enjoy while hot or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve. Rice may be reheated in a microwave-safe dish in microwave or in a saucepan on a stove top over medium-low heat. Be sure to stir frequently so it doesn't burn on the bottom of pan.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
David says
I've made this 4 times in 4 days. Excellent!
First I made it with brown rice.
Then with white rice so it is a set it and forget it.
Then with white potatoes instead of rice.
Today 3:1 sweet potatoes to white potatoes.
I will keep making this. 👍👍👍👍👍
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
David - four times in four days - now that's a vote of approval! The addition of potatoes is such a delish idea! Thanks a bunch for sharing!🥕
Lynn says
I have made this recipe several times and absolutely love it. It’s easy and inexpensive to make and filling and delicious.
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
Lynn - I'm so happy you love this recipe! We've enjoyed for years in our house & it continues to be a favorite. Thanks a bunch for sharing! 💚🥕
Carolyn says
GREAT recipe!! We are going to a taco bar dinner, since we are plant based I wanted to bring something besides beans to put on ours. I have never been a fan of Spanish Rice but that changed today!! Wow what a recipe!
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
Carolyn - you just put a huge smile on my face! So glad you love the recipe & I bet you'll have the tastiest tacos of all! Thanks for sharing!💚🥕
Carolyn says
Let me tell you.. the non vegans went nuts fighting over the last bit!!
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
Fabulous!💚😄
Miranda says
Made this along with fajitas last night, the rice was delicious! Flavorful, good texture with the veggies, would make again 🙂
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
Hi Miranda! So glad you enjoyed the rice with your fajitas. Sounds like a perfect meal to me. Thanks a bunch!💚🥕
Heather says
I made this tonight--easy and delicious! Thanks for a great recipe! Instead of corn and peppers, I added a cup of frozen spinach...flavour and level of spiciness were perfect! I, too, have that stainless steel rice cooker and I love it. Thanks again!
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it Heather! The addition of spinach sounds delish! Isn't that rice cooker just the best? We use ours constantly. Thanks for sharing! 💚🥕
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
An easy & delicious zesty side dish to accompany tacos, enchiladas, fajitas or any Southwestern inspired meal! 🌱🌶