One Pot Mexican Rice Casserole
Good old Mexican comfort food made in a single pan – even the rice gets cooked right in the pot!
It’s no surprise that I’m a bit obsessed with one pot meals. Then there’s my other love affair with Mexican food. So you know that I couldn’t help combining my two loves into the most glorious one pot mexican casserole.
Not only does this come together in a single pot but it’s chockfull of fun veggies – all of which you can customize to your liking. But the more veggies, the better! You can even substitute brown rice to make it even healthier.
When ready to serve, you can eat this right out of the pan or even use it as a dipping base with tortilla chips. We loved it both ways, and the leftovers taste even better the next day!
One Pot Mexican Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- 1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 cup white rice*
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion and bell pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in zucchini and corn until tender and heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in diced tomatoes, rice, chili powder, cumin and 1 1/2 cups water; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until rice is cooked through, about 15-18 minutes.
- Stir in cheese until melted through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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My finicky family loves this dish – so much so that I have to double it whenever I make it.
I add black beans to it for protein and top with avocado.
Just made this. Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out delicious! I will make this again for sure.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! And so easy to make. The only issue I had was that it felt like 1 cup of rice was not enough for 6 people/servings? So I adjusted the amount of rice and kind of just added more tomato sauce and spices.
Great recipe! Made it several times. Kiddos love it!
Only thing is…. I don’t know what the heck kinds rice you use that it only takes 20 min to cook! Haha
Just using regular white rice I always have to leave it Summer for an hour till it’s cooked!
I added 1lb. of lean ground beef and used dried Lintels instead of the Black Beans. A very tasty dish and simple to prep and cook.
This was surprisingly tasty (I usually end up not liking tomato flavored dishes) and so easy to make. I also threw in some chicken bits and a can of kidney beans, because I like meat in my dishes and I try to put in vegetables wherever possible. I used stock instead of water (stock cube dissolved in water), because I had vegetable stock cubes about to expire. Try it, even if you aren’t the biggest tomato sauce/tomato pasta fan, it is very nice. Definitely going in my repertoire of dishes. Oh and do put in the cheese, I tried the final dish without cheese and then with cheese in, and the cheese gives it a really lovely flavour addition. I used just a small handful of pre-shredded cheddar and it did make a real difference.
I loved this recipe and will definitely make it again!! Really quick and tasty and perfect to freeze for meal prep. My only change was I left out the cheese and added a drained can of kidney beans, to make it vegan.
I added turkey meat. This makes a delicious family dinner. I will cook this meal again.
I would love to see an Instant Pot version of this recipe!! Also, it’s delicious. One of my favorite go-to meals in the summer.
Can I cook this in a crock pot, as I work and would love to come home and not have to cook.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This recipe is a keeper! I used honey hananero chicken sausage, jalapeno, carrots. added chicken stock instead of water and kidney beans! Delicious! Super easy to use up produce on hand. 🙂
I found this randomly on pinterest and it worked out flawlessly! I cooked a pound of ground turkey separately with some home made taco seasoning and then added it to the casserole once it was done cooking. A fantastic, filling meal! And only about 350 calories per serving!
Any nutrition information available for this recipe?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
Can this recipe be doubled? I need 8-10 serves for dinner tomorrow.
Thanks so much.
I have found that one pot recipes can be a bit finicky when doubled. But as always, please use your best judgment.
how do i reheat it the next day?
You can reheat via stovetop, oven or microwave – it’s really up to you and what you are most comfortable with.
Sooo yummy!! I made it vegan by using nutritional yeast instead of cheese, also I added some cajun spice and lemon garlic seasoning (only because I didn’t have actual garlic at the time). It worked out perfectly with brown rice! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.
How much nutritional yeast did you add?
This was so good! The best part, it was an easy recipe and no mess! Yumm, a definite keeper! Thank you!
I was wondering, how many cups this recipe makes. Sorry if I missed this somewhere!
Unfortunately, the cup measurement is not available at this time. But this recipe yields about 4-6 servings. Hope that helps!
Made it today and it was Delicious!! No leftovers and everybody loved it.
Grate recipe(:
Made this a few nights ago and it was great! Added ground turkey.