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 delicios meal ready in around 45 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.
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 through the week or to freeze in individual portions for later.
See my YouTube video recipe below:
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.
- Switch up the proteins to your liking. If you are wanting to keep this recipe lower in fat choose proteins like lean ground turkey, lean beef, or diced chicken breasts. If you follow THM the low-fat version is an “E” recipe. If you do not mind extra fat ( or a THM Crossover) you can use a higher fat protein like regular ground beef or dices chicken thighs.
- 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.
- Needing a vegan or vegetarian option: use water or vegetable broth instead of beef or chicken stock and sub additional beans for the proteins.
- 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.
Instant Pot Taco Rice || Low Fat, Gluten Free, THM "E"
A budget-friendly meal of brown rice with all the delicious flavors of those found in tacos. Tender rice with black beans and lean ground turkey that will cook up wonderfully in the Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups of water or chicken stock
- 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
- 1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 lb lean turkey or ground beef, browned
Instructions
- Add the water and rice to your Instant Pot.
- 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.
- Press the Manual Button on the Instant Pot and adjust the time up to 20 minutes.
- 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.
- Once the Instant pot finishes the 20 minutes use the quick release method to release all the steam.
- After opening the lid carefully give the rice a big stir to mix things up.
- Lastly, add the cooked protein into the pot and combine, or if you prefer you can add portions of the protein on top of the bowls as you serve the Taco Rice.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1 cupAmount Per Serving Calories 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.
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!
Hi. I’m excited to try this. I would like to add riced cauliflower. How would you recommend incorporating this? Thanks
I haven’t tried it yet with cauliflower rice, I’m sorry. But I’ll try to test it some time to see how it does and how it would need to be adjusted.
I look forward to seeing how’s yours turned out with that type of rice.
Hello,
Thanks for your website and recipes.
I am wondering why you wouldn’t cook the meat on the sauté setting on the IP and then though everything else in and cook it.
Hi Barbara. That’s a great thought. You can totally do the meat that way. I just don’t because my family for some reason doesn’t like the texture of ground beef or ground turkey in the Instant Pot. So that’s why I do it that way, but it would work great that way if you want to try do it that way. I appreciate you so much for checking out my site and recipe. I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try!
I wonder if doing this in my rice cooker would work. It sure looks yummy!
It might Susan. I’ve never used a rice cooker so not sure how they work.
Made this for a quick lunch today. My kiddos loved it and so did I! Thank you for sharing
Oh yay, so glad you and your family enjoyed it. We had this last night actually and used the leftovers in stuffed bell peppers for tonights dinner. 🙂
Made this today! Yummy! Have some to freeze, how do you recommend reheating it?
I usually reheat ours slowly in the oven or on the stove top. I do add a little bit of salsa to it so that it doesn’t dry out more when I’m reheating it. But you can do the same in the microwave also. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
To make this vegan the, would you add one more can of beans to up the protein?
Another can of beans would definitely give you more protein and help keep you full longer.
I am always looking for more ways to use my instant pot. This looks awesome and so easy. But I want to use quinoa in place of the rice. Do you think I would need to adjust the liquid and/or cooking time? If so, what amount of water/broth would you recommend and what cooking time? Thanks
This is a great question Priscila. I think it would need to be adjusted for sure as well as the cooking time lowered I think since the rice takes longer to cook. I’m not sure exactly though on measurements just because I haven’t tried it yet with quinoa and I would hate to give you the wrong information.
Could you add raw, seasoned, cut up chicken breast to this recipe before cooking?
Yes, that should work well!
Would it be ok to use a crock pot? If so any suggestion on times?
Hi Lee, I haven not made it in the crock pot yet so I wouldn’t be able to say exactly how it would turn out or how long to cook it. I am sorry, but you may use Google to see how to use the crock pot for brown rice. I know that with the instant pot it takes a lot less liquid so that is also something I am not sure about. I am sorry I couldn’t be of more help on this.
That looks delish!! Making it tonight! Blessings