Instant Pot Spanish Rice
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This Instant Pot Spanish Rice is incredibly flavorful and ready in just 25 minutes! It’s made using broth, tomato sauce, and spices and is the perfect side dish to any meal.
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by USA Rice and The Feedfeed (links). As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that help run this site!
Instant Pot Spanish rice is the ultimate side dish to any meal. While you can absolutely eat it as-is, it’s really delicious alongside these tofu enchiladas or in this taco salad.
As with all of my USA Rice recipes, this Spanish rice was made with U.S.-grown rice because of its flavor and texture. I used long grain white rice, which works perfectly for this recipe.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s a super flavorful side dish and an exciting way to eat rice
- It can be made in the Instant Pot OR over the stovetop
Ingredient notes:
Rice – the recipe was tested using U.S.-grown long grain white rice, so that’s what I recommend using
Oil – I like using olive oil or avocado oil to coat the bottom of the Instant Pot, which will prevent the rice from sticking to it
Broth – vegetable or chicken
Tomato sauce – I definitely recommend using canned tomato sauce, and going for a brand that has some other flavors in their sauce, like garlic and/or onion
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Rinse the rice. Rinsing rice removes the starch from it and only takes a few seconds. Simply pour the rice into a mesh sieve or strainer and run water over it for 10 seconds or so.
Step 2: Add oil, butter, rice, and garlic to the Instant Pot. Adding oil to the bottom will prevent the rice from sticking, but the butter helps to add a nice flavor to the whole dish. So, add butter, along with the rice and garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Step 3: Add all other ingredients. Pour everything EXCEPT the cilantro into the pot, then close the lid and make sure the knob on top is set to “seal”.
Step 4: Pressure cook for 4 minutes.
Step 5: Natural release for 10 minutes. Then, remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. You might notice the tomato sauce sitting on top, and that’s ok! Simply stir and fluff the rice until everything is combined. Last, stir in the chopped cilantro.
FAQs and Tips
Substitutions:
- Butter: if you want to omit the butter, simply add a total of 3 tbsp of oil instead
- Broth: you can use vegetable or chicken–whatever you have on hand
Can I use jarred sauce?
I wouldn’t. Most canned sauces use very simple ingredients, which is what we want, and many jarred sauces have spices like oregano and basil, which we want to avoid since this is Spanish rice and not an Italian dish.
How should I store this, and how long will it last?
Store rice in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. It’ll last for up to a week, though it tastes best if consumed within 48 hours.
Related recipes
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Instant Pot Spanish Rice
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups broth, vegetable or chicken
- 1 1/4 cup canned tomato sauce
- 3 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Instructions
instant pot:
- Pour rice into a mesh sieve and rinse for 30 seconds or until the water is no longer cloudy.
- Press "sauté" on your Instant Pot and set it for 3 minutes (it will take about a minute to warm up). Add the butter; once it starts melting, add the oil, rice and garlic and sauté continuously for the remaining time. Then, turn your Instant Pot off.
- Add chili powder, cumin, salt, broth, and tomato sauce and give mixture a gentle stir, making sure the rice is completely covered with the broth (if you need to, use a spoon to press it down). Place lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the knob on top is set in the "seal" position. Pressure cook rice for 4 minutes, then naturally release for 10 minutes before manually releasing the rest of the pressure and removing the lid.
- Fluff rice with a fork and stir in the cilantro.
stove top:
- Pour rice into a mesh sieve and rinse for 10 seconds.
- Add oil and butter to a large dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Once melted, add the rice and garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Then, add chili powder, cumin, salt, broth, and tomato sauce and stir. Increase heat to high and bring rice to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and place a lid on the pot. Simmer for 12-14 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the liquid.
- Remove the lid, fluff rice with a fork and stir in the cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
I was looking for an easy Spanish rice recipe using the instant pot, this is it! The only thing I did different was sauté an onion in with the rice and garlic. It was so simple and delicious, I will never go back to the boxed stuff again.
I’m so glad this was a hit!
Followed instructions to a tee and rice came out mushy and there was too much tomato sauce leftover at the end. Too wet for Spanish rice!
Hi! Yes, there will be SOME tomato sauce at the top of the rice once it’s done cooking, but as soon as you mix everything together everything should be good and the rice shouldn’t be wet.
The saute feature automatically sets the timer to 30 minutes. How do you adjust to get 3 minutes?
You should be able to press the up and down arrows to adjust the time.
turn it off after 3 minutes
Easy and delicious! Thank you!
Easy recipe to follow. However, I double the recipe and followed it exactly. But the rice wasn’t cooked through and there was way too much tomato sauce. Maybe the recipe for double the rice doesn’t require double the tomato sauce? Mine looked nothing like the picture. Unfortunately, was a flop for me.
Very good! Very simple.
Simple, quick and delicious!! A great addition to our dinner tonight!
Can I use the rice setting on my insta pot?
Barbi
That should work!
This is a keeper. My mother in law taught me how to cook many Hispanic dishes but I just never got the hang of Spanish rice. I had to double the recipe because there’s 4 grown men in this house. There will be no leftovers. Instead of cooking it for 4 minutes I used the rice setting on my instant pot after sautéing the rice and garlic. It came out perfect. Just like Mom’s.
I’m so glad this was a hit!
Can you make this with brown calrose rice? How long to cook?
I haven’t tested this with brown rice, but brown rice typically takes longer to cook than white rice. I’d try pressure cooking it for closer to 20 minutes, and I’d use long grain brown rice.
Delicious
Thanks Brenda!
Can you double this recipe in a 6 quart?
Yes, but I think the cook time will still be the same.
Definitely not same cook time for doubling. I’ve added two more minutes of cook time 3 times now which has taken I’ve 30 minutes total and it’s still not cooked.
Hi Erica, I need to double it too. Did you the correct time for it? Thank you!