Instant Pot Spanish Rice Aka Mexican Rice

Looking for a side dish for tacos or enchiladas? Or a filling for a burrito or burrito bowl? Here’s your solution: Instant Pot Spanish rice! It’s really not Spanish at all but Mexican in heritage, flavored with onion, salsa and smoky adobo sauce. It’s full of flavor and has a vibrant bright red color! Alex and I have a stovetop Spanish rice recipe that we love, so we decided we needed a pressure cooker version too. It’s full of flavor and easy to make with this hands off method! Here’s what to do.

All about Spanish rice (aka Mexican rice)!

Spanish rice is not Spanish at all! It’s Mexican, and sometimes called Mexican rice or arroz rojo (” red rice” in Spanish). It gets its red color from cooking it with tomatoes. Why is it called Spanish rice, then? Well no one knows for sure. One theory is it got the name because the Spanish introduced rice to Mexico when they invaded back in the 1500’s. Whatever the case, it’s darn good and worth adding to your Mexican side dish repertoire!

Spanish rice ingredients

There are lots of variations on how to make Spanish rice. Just like a dish like coleslaw or potato salad, everyone has their own spin on this side dish. Here’s what you’ll need for our spin on this classic recipe:

White onionMedium or long grain white riceSalsaAdobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers (more on this below!)Olive oil, vegetable broth, and kosher salt

How to make Instant Pot Spanish rice (basic steps)

For Instant Pot Spanish rice, you’ll need to use the Saute feature on your Instant Pot. If you’ve never used it, it’s just like sauteing on the stove top. You’ll do this in order to get the best flavor out of the onion. Here are the basic steps (or go right to the recipe below):

Cook the onion on Saute mode for 5 minutes: This brings out the best flavor of the onion. Then add the salsa, adobo sauce, rice and broth. Pressure cook on High for 8 minutes (white rice). Keep in mind it takes about 5 minutes to “preheat” first.Natural release for 10 minutes. Set the timer for 10 minutes and then release the steam in the pot.Stir in ½ cup salsa. Adding some salsa at the end amps the flavors (which the Instant Pot can dull, if you’re not careful).

What’s adobo sauce?

Adobo sauce is a tomato-chili sauce that brings savory, smoky flavor to Mexican dishes. Here’s what you need to know about it:

Chipotles in adobo sauce are available in the Mexican food section in most groceries. The can has both chipotle chiles: smoked and dried jalapeños that are rehydrated and canned, and adobo sauce, a purée of tomato, vinegar, garlic, and other spices.This recipe calls for adobo sauce only, not the peppers! Pull out just 1 teaspoon sauce from the can and leave the peppers inside. Each brand of can has different amounts of adobo sauce, so you’ll have to experiment and find your favorite.Refrigerate or freeze the rest. You can refrigerate the entire can for a few weeks, or place the contents in a sealed container and freeze for a few months. Try it in our Homemade Enchilada Sauce or Vegetarian Tortilla Soup.

Ways to serve Instant Pot Spanish rice

There are lots of ways to serve up this Instant Pot Spanish rice! Alex and I like to use our Instant Pot to cook side dishes because it keeps another pot off the stove and is mainly hands off. The Instant Pot does the work while we cook the main dish. Here are a few meals we’d use this Spanish rice for:

Burrito filling. Try this Instant Pot Spanish rice as a filling for our Vegan Burrito. Or it could work in a Burrito Bowl.With tacos. It makes a meal out of Jackfruit Tacos, Quick Shrimp Tacos, Grilled Shrimp Tacos or 5 Minute Egg Tacos. With enchiladas. It’s perfect for entertaining with our Vegan Enchiladas or Vegetarian Enchiladas. Make into rice and beans. Try Spanish Rice and Beans! Stir in a can of kidney beans and chopped roasted red peppers from a jar, and you’ve got a delicious vegetarian meal.

More Instant Pot rice recipes

We love cooking rice in our Instant Pot, because it’s mostly hands off and comes out perfectly cooked! Here are a few more of our pressure cooker rice methods:

Instant Pot White Rice Perfect white rice in your pressure cooker!Instant Pot Brown Rice Here’s how to cook brown rice: it’s quicker than stovetop. Instant Pot Jasmine Rice Jasmine rice is perfect with Thai-style curries like this Shrimp Curry.