Instant Pot Spanish Rice - Real Life Dinner

Authentic, delicious Spanish Rice made easily in the Instant Pot. We love Mexican inspired dinners at our house and this Spanish Rice is a constant staple we all love! If you haven’t tried making Instant Pot Spanish Rice give this recipe a try. You will love how easy it is!

We eat so much Spanish Rice at our house. With two giant boys and three other hungry kids I’m always trying to add some kind of cheap-filler to our meals. That way, the big boys can fill one of their hollow legs with the inexpensive part of the meal. This Spanish Rice is so simple and super cost effective to make. It has very simple ingredients that can actually be adapted if necessary.

For example: The recipe calls for chopped yellow onion but in a pinch dehydrated onion or even onion powder will work great as a substitute. Also, the recipe calls for tomato sauce, but in a pinch I have used salsa and it has worked great. You can also use crushed tomatoes. Leaving out onion or tomato sauce all together would not yield such an authentic Spanish Rice. Basically, you are going for flavor and texture but…you can get there a few different ways.

I also have posts for how to make Spanish Rice on the stove-top or in the oven. It’s quickest to use the stove-top or Instant Pot, but when I am making a big meal and have most of my stove-top filled or I just want to be able to put something in the oven and forget about it, the oven option is awesome and turns out great. I use that method a lot!

We really do love Mexican food, I might even dare say it’s our families favorite cuisine. When we have people over for dinner we almost always serve some kind of Mexican themed meal. Here are some of our favorite recipes:

Our Favorite Mexican Dinner Recipes:

Spanish Rice goes perfectly with any of those recipes. It is so simple to make I have some step by step pictures below to show you how to make it.

HOw To Make Spanish rice In the INstant Pot

Throw everything in, set it for 4 minutes on high pressure, let it sit for 10 minutes before you release the pressure and then you are good to go.

Two things to note:

In the picture you can see butter…that can be subbed for oil.
If you prefer you can turn the Instant Pot to saute and add the rice, onion and butter first. You saute it for a couple minutes and then add the chicken broth and tomato sauce. It gives it a little bit more authentic flavor, but for me, it doesn’t make a big enough difference for me to take the time, unless I’m just really in the mood to saute something.

Frequently asked questions:

HOw many People can this Recipe feed?

This recipe will feed between 6 and 8 people.

Can I Make it ahead of time?

I don’t suggest making this one ahead of time…technically you can, but the oven-baked version works better for making ahead of time.

Can I leave out the onions?

I mentioned above that this recipe is really forgiving. I would suggest using onion powder in place of the actual onion, unless there is an allergy or something. The onion flavor really does make a difference.

Instant Pot Spanish Rice

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

25 mins

Authentic and delicious Spanish Style you can easily make in the Instant Pot to be a quick and tasty side dish to your Mexican inspired favorites.

Author: Maria

Recipe type: Spanish Rice

Cuisine: Mexican

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

2½ cups long grain rice
3 cups chicken broth (I use water and chicken bullion)
½ cup tomato sauce *see notes above in post for substitutions
¼ cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional...sometimes I just add onion and it's still delicious)
⅓ cup butter or canola oil or vegetable oil.

Instructions

Place rice, butter, onion, garlic, tomato sauce and chicken broth in the instant pot. Stir well.
Put the lid on, seal it and set it for 4 minutes at high pressure.
When the Instant Pot is done cooking, let it sit for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure.
Fluff the rice and serve.