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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I totally confused this with the Mexican rice recipe that was open on my phone and I was like, ok I need carrots and then I opened my tablet when I was in the kitchen thinking, why the hell did I get the carrots, why does this say zucchini hahaha but I love your recipes anyway, thank you for existing!
I had leftover taco meat in the fridge, so I threw it into this as well. Yummy!
i just made this…going to serve with spicy fish tacos tonight. its amazing and so easy..thank you!
Tried and loved this dish a few weeks ago…I am going to make it again tomorrow. May do as some of the others and add a bit of ground chuck.
Instead of water, why not use low sodium broth, or even a blend of water and broth?
Yes, that sounds like a great idea!
Instead of adding cheese at the end, when you serve it slice a banana on it, it tastes really good. P.S. I want to try all your recipes
So love your recipes….everything I’ve tried (which is many) is awesome
good recipe!
I need more proteins so i decided to add lentils, black beans and ground chicken,
cooked the chicken for a few minutes before adding the onions and following the recipe.
I also like mexican dishes that are on the spicier side, so I added a chopped jalapeno pepper,
paprika and pepper flakes.
… oh … so much for the “one pot” idea 🙁 ………:-)
Looks great! Question: What if I just used my usual one cup of Quinoa instead of rice? Would the measurement be okay? I think it would … but wanted to run it by you. I am on a Quinoa kick these days 😉 … I’ve convinced myself its better for me than white rice 🙂
… and yes … I would cook my Quinoa by itself and add it to the mix at the end. Your thoughts????
It should be fine to substitute uncooked quinoa for the rice but you may have to adjust cooking time as needed.
Mmmm,……this looks awefuly close to my Arroz con Pollo.recipe. At the beginning, add cubed chicken breast until browned then add the vegetables, tomatoes and rice…… . Delicious!. I do make your version when I am in my vegetarian mood. Just as delicious.
Hi,
I tried the recipe with ground beef and found the result a little bland. I think doubling up on the chilli and cumin would give it some punch. I had some left overs and mixed some salsa with it which worked well.
Martin, it is best to increase the other ingredients to compensate for the addition of ground beef.
Recipe looks delicious! Could I use quinoa instead of rice?
Yes, absolutely, but you may have to adjust cooking time as needed.
Love these kind of recipes! But I guess I didn’t read the whole thing and put my brown rice on to cook earlier so it would be good to go when I threw this all together. Wish I would’ve seen the magical “one pot” 😉 I’m sure it will be easy and delicious though! Thanks for sharing!
Bummer! That’s the beauty of a one pot meal – no need for the extra cooking. And it’s always helpful to read through a recipe at least twice before cooking. You won’t believe the difference it makes!
Great recipe! I used jasmine also & had no problem. Might have cooked it a few extra minutes. I did not have zuchinni so used black beans in place of it. Didn’t have canned tomatoes either so I used some of my homemade salsa (canned). Very flexible recipe:) We just sprinkled the cheese on top of individual bowls & ate it with chips.
I tried this recipe using jasmine white rice but it didn’t work out =/ What kind of rice do you normally use? Besides that, love your recipes. They all look so doable and delicious!
What a bummer! I used basmati rice but it should have worked with jasmine white rice as well. Did you follow the ingredients/instructions as written?
Mom saw that I had made this for myself and was instantly insanely jealous. Making it for dinner with her tonight. Will have to let you know how she enjoys it. 😀
You can’t argue with one pot. I love Mexican. I like the fact you can eat with or without meat.
Oh yeah easy goes a long long way in my book.
That…was…amazing!!! Wow!! Flavorful and with ingredients we all have. Sooo good!
I am impressed!
Do you think this would freeze well? It looks delicious!!
Unfortunately I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. There were no leftovers to freeze! I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I cannot see any reason this would not freeze well. Put it in zip-lock bags,remove all the air (avoids freezer burn) and saves freezer space.