If you are looking for a fast and tasty meal for your family that you can make from things in your pantry or a new recipe that will not break your budget?

Then my Instant Pot Taco Rice recipe is the perfect fit for you. It’s a delicious meal ready in around 50 minutes!

Easy and Frugal!

The one thing I need most in my recipes these days, along with yumminess, of course, is simplicity.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am a foodie, and so are my boys, so we enjoy fancy and over the top food like many of you do.

So there are definitely times when my recipes take extra time and multiple steps to achieve that foodie level. But let’s face it shall we, who has time to make those dishes every day?

Even food bloggers, with our love of recipe creation, need a break from tons of cooking.  I often find myself seeking out easy recipes to make and serve my family throughout the week. Along with an easy process I need them to be good for my family.

I guess some may say that I am a little greedy because I want tasty healthy food, but I don’t always want to spend a lot of time making it.

Orthodox Christains Fast Friendly

We are Orthodox Christains that have fasting rules on certain days of the week and throughtout some special times of the year like our Nativity Fast that surrounds the time of the birth of our Lord (Christmas) and again for the time leading up to our Pashca (Orthodox Easter).

For our fellow Orthodox readers,this recipe is one we enjoy often during those times because it is free from oils, animal products, and any diary.

It is a great recipe to fill up hundry children and family members on a budget during our times of fasting. I love to double this recipes so that we have leftover to enjoy throughout the week.

You can definately swap out the brown rice for white if that is all you have just know that it will cook much faster in the Instant Pot than the brown rice will so check your manual for cooking instructions if you use a different rice.

Also keep in mind that the white recipe needs less liquid so be sure to adust that also. Flavor this dish up to your tastes and you have a wonderly delcious fasting meal.

When it is not fasting times I use only one can of beans and through in some animal protein to fill up my bunch, so it s a very versitile recipe.

Frugal and Fast!

Along with blogging here and fumbling my way around YouTube, I am a full time working momma that homeschools my son. So like many of you,  our days are just plain hectic and exhausting, which leaves me very little room for making dinners that take longer than an hour.

I love cooking and creating recipes in the kitchen, but thankfully for those days when I work 8 hours and then homeschool,  my Instant Pot Taco Rice is a great compromise. It is a recipe that is both fast and delicious.

Also for those of us that like to keep our grocery budgets in check on this healthy eating plan this meal is frugal and it stretches easily.

This recipe as written below makes a large batch and can make many freezer portions for smaller families like mine or feed a larger family easily.

I think this Instant Pot Taco Rice freezes very well, but if you don’t need freezer meals and you don’t have a lot of mouths to feed, then I suggest you cut the recipe in half.

We are a family of three and I like making the large batch of this Taco Rice for our lunches throughout the week or to freeze in individual portions for later.

Tips and Swaps when Making Instant Pot Taco Rice:

• When preparing the rice sub in chicken or beef stock for the water for extra flavoring in this recipe.
• If you do not have all the individual seasonings called for in this recipe then use your favorite taco (or even a chili seasoning) packet for a great and easy way to flavor this dish. 
• If you don’t need this to be meatless or vegan, you can add meats like lean ground turkey, lean beef, or diced chicken breasts.  
• For times when you only have pantry items available and may be running low on meats just add in another can of beans to get extra protein. 
• If not needing a vegan or vegetarian option: use beef or chicken stock instead of the veggie stock and leave out some beans. 
• For extra spice and a kick of flavor try things like: subbing diced canned jalapeno peppers for the green chilis and just a can of Rotel in the place of the diced tomatoes. 

Continue to Content

Yield: 6-8

Instant Pot Taco Rice

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

A budget-friendly meal of brown rice with all the delicious flavors of those found in tacos. Tender rice with black beans and spices that will cook up wonderfully in the Instant Pot.

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Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups of water or veggie broth
• 4 cups of dry brown rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 (7 oz) can of mild diced chilis
• 1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes, not drained
• 2 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder

Instructions

1. Add the water and rice to your Instant Pot.
2. Next, add in all the other ingredients and stir well until all are combined. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the steam valve to seal.
3. Press the Manual Button on the Instant Pot and adjust the time up to 25 minutes.
4. While the Taco Rice is cooking in the Instant Pot, prepare your lean ground protein by cooking it in a skillet on the stove until fully cooked. Feel free to season your protein to your liking.
5. Once the Instant pot finishes the 25 minutes use the quick release method to release all the steam.
6. After opening the lid carefully give the rice a big stir to mix things up.
7. Lastly, if you are not doing this vegan option, you could add in cooked protein to bulk it up more.,
8. I like to serve this rice in bowls topped with lettuce, tomatoes, a squeeze or two of lime, and some salsa verde.

Notes

We eat this meal a lot during our Orthodox Fasting times so we keep it vegan, but feel free to swap out one can of the black beans with a pound of cooked ground beef or turkey and use beef stock instead of veggies broth.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1 cup
Amount Per ServingCalories 382Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 88mgSodium 842mgCarbohydrates 37gFiber 5gSugar 3gProtein 30g

I am not a nutritionist. If you have strict dietary needs I always recommend using an online nutrition calculator to calculate your totals using your exact brands you're using in this recipe as values may vary per brand.

Keri Bucci

I am a southern girl through and through that loves to laugh, cook, read and spend time with family. My passions outside of home schooling my son are ministering to those in need and creating art in the kitchen! Every day is an adventure in our little house and I wouldn’t trade it or the chance to share here with you for anything!