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.

An enameled cast iron pot filled with vegan Mexican rice.

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.

Vegan stuffed bell peppers on a baking sheet.

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.

Table of Contents

Ingredients
Instructions
Recipe
Food Safety
Comments

Ingredients

🥕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.

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.

Onions and spices sautéeing in a cast iron skillet.

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.

Peppers, onions, corn, salsa and spices sautéeing in a cast iron skillet.

3. Add diced peppers, corn and salsa. Stir to combine and allow to sauté until just tender.

Peppers, onions, tomato sauce and spices simmering in a cast iron skillet.

4. 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.

🥕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.

A bowl of steamed brown rice and a skillet with sauce and veggies for vegan Mexican rice.

5. 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.

An enameled cast iron pot and a dish filled with vegan Mexican rice.

6. 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."

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

5 from 6 votes

by Connie🥕

Easy Vegan Mexican Rice Recipe 🌶 An easy & delicious healthy plant-based dish made with brown rice, vibrant veggies, peppers & zesty bright flavor! Gluten-free and oil-free option.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Course Dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican, Spanish, Vegan

Servings

Calories 164 kcal

Equipment

Rice cooker or 4 qt (or larger) covered sauce pan
large skillet
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Cutting board
kitchen knife
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

This recipe can be prepared oil-free. Simply omit oil and sauté onions and veggies in water or vegetable broth. Begin by using 2 tablespoon and add more as needed. Stir veggies frequently to prevent them from burning.

Prepare rice according to package directions. While I highly recommend using a rice cooker, you can make rice with a covered saucepan on the stove top. I suggest rinsing rice under cold water prior to cooking, as it removes the surface starch which can make rice gummy. I use a fine mesh strainer to rinse rice.

If you don't have crushed tomatoes, use canned diced or whole tomatoes and pulse them a few times in a blender or food processor.

I like to use a small amount of maple syrup or sugar in tomato-based sauces. The sweetness of the syrup helps cut the acidic flavor of the tomatoes.

Serve with extra salsa or pico de gallo.

🥕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.

I recommend storing cooked rice no more than 2-3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 164kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 3gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 362mgPotassium: 284mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 1112IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg

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.

Easy Vegan Mexican Rice Recipe