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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Made this with 1 lb ground Turkey added and my husband loved it! There were no leftovers. Super easy, super flavorful, plus he got zucchini for dinner, in which he does not like, go me! Also put on a dollop of sour cream on top, which added to the flavor. Will definitely be in the dinner rotation.
To help the stainless steel cookware peeps, because rice is horrible to get off the bottom of a pan, just let that pot get really hot first. Even before you add the oil. Then, after adding the oil, let THAT get hot. You should see a vapor coming off the pan. Then add your food. That’s how they used to do ‘non-stick’ by knowing how that specific metal reacts to food. 😀
This was awesome. Thanks, again! I’ve tried four of your one pot meals now and a couple of your others and they were all very good and super simple!
Really, all you have to do to remove cooked on rice is put hot water in the cooled pan with a bit of good dish wash liquid (I use Dawn) and let it soak for a while and it comes right off.
This is true, as well. You can skip that step on stainless steel, however, if you just let it get hot first. 😀 Rice isn’t that hard to get off. Pasta is way worse. Works for both. 😀
I made this for dinner tonight, Chungha. It was absolutely delicious!! My husband loved it, too. It made enough that we have leftovers for another night :). Thank you for posting these wonderful one pot dinners. I can’t wait to make more.
I’ve gotten SUPER into the one pot meals as well, how can you not?! They’re just so easy and so stinkin’ good! Love this version!
I love how colorful your dishes are! This one pot casserole looks really yummy =)
I am obsessed with mexican food.. never made a mexican casserole before! Thanks for the recipe and idea.. I definitely need to try it!
These pictures made me hungry! I love that this is a one pot meal. Such easy clean up and the Mexican flavors are right up my alley! Yum!
Made this tonight-it was awesome! I made it with brown rice-just added more water-about 2 cups instead of 1 1/2. Worked out fine. I also added black beans at the very end. Next time I am going to play with more veggies!!
this sounds so good I am going to make it have made lots of your dishes they are amazing thank you
One-pot recipes are basically culinary sorcery and I love them to bits.
Love easy one pot dishes, especially with Mexican flavors!
Looks great, but I have a question: Brown rice requires a much longer cooking time than white, so it seems the vegetables would be way overcooked. Can the rice be cooked separately then added, or is the starch created in the cooking process essential to the finished dish? BTW, enjoy your web site, especially asian-influenced recipes.
Yes, Polly, using brown rice will take about 35-40 minutes. You can certainly cook the brown rice separately but the beauty of this dish is that this is a one pot meal. And no, the vegetables are not “way overcooked”. But I recommend using the methods that work for you and your family preferences.
Could ground beef be added to this, you think? How would you do that?
Yes, ground beef can be added in the very first step. From there, you can add in your veggies. Hope that helps!
This looks amazing! Pinned it, love your recipes!
I’m a bit obsessed with one pot meals, too. And you have the best recipes for one pot meal! Pinned!
You are absolutely amazing! I hope that you are seriously considering coming out with your own cookbook because it would be my number one favorite!
This is like the fourth recipe that you posted the same week as I try my own version. It’s starting to get creepy. The only major difference I see is that I put the rice in with the veggies, before the liquid is added to the pot, like you would in a risotto. I may try it your way however and see if there is any textural differences. Thanks for sharing!!
Considering I have a dishwasher who’s definition of “clean” is questionable, I really need to get up on these on pot dinners. You are the queen of them, and this is no exception. Bring on alll the Mexican Rice! Pinned!
Sounds good. I will brown the rice in a bit of oil first for a couple of minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients. Yum-o.
Mmm this looks like a taco risotto, I’d definitely be up for that – so many delicious flavours 😀 x