Mexican Rice and Beans is the easiest meal ever. This Mexican inspired classic is flavorful combination of ingredients and is a powerhouse of protein, fiber, and deliciousness. This recipe is filled with bell peppers, black beans, corn, and lime. It’s so good!
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Why this Mexican Rice and Beans Recipe is a Keeper
This lime juice Mexican rice dish is such a flavorful and delicious side dish.
- 30 Minute Meal: This delicious meal will be ready in a quick 30 minutes.
- Easy Ingredients: All of the ingredients are super easy to find in store, or maybe even around your kitchen.
- Family Friendly: Everyone will be begging for seconds!
- Adaptable: Feel free to add other ingredients to this recipe such as fresh cilantro, oregano, paprika or ground cumin.
- Easy Clean Up: This delicious recipe is one-pot, making for an easy clean up.
- Makes Great Leftovers: These leftovers are so good wrapped in a burrito!
If you’re looking for more Mexican inspired recipes, try these Steak Quesadillas, Mexican Burger and Tex Mexican Casserole with Ground Beef.
Is Mexican Rice and Beans the Same as Spanish Rice?
Mexican rice and beans is not quite the same as Spanish rice. Spanish rice is usually made with rice, tomato, garlic and a few other ingredients. However, If you wanted to make Spanish rice and beans, it would be delicious!
Ingredient Notes for Mexican Rice with Black Beans
You’ll need just a few easy ingredients that you might already have on hand.
- Long Grain Rice: Long grain rice is the best for this recipe.
- Black Beans: Black beans are perfect for this meal. Make sure you drain and rinse them before using.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Variations and Substitutions for the Best Rice and Beans
- Pinto Beans: Instead of black beans, feel free to use pinto beans or kidney beans.
- Basmati Rice: There are so many different kinds of rice, such as basmati rice, that you can use in this recipe. Rice and beans is one of the most versatile recipes.
Special Equipment Needed for One-Pot Vegan Spanish Rice and Beans
- Rice Cooker: As a short cut, you can use a rice maker for this vegan mexican dish!
Pro Tip
Rinse your rice if you have time. It’ll make it more fluffy and help the grains remain more separate.
How to Make Mexican-Inspired Beans and Rice
This vegan recipe comes together in just 3 simple steps.
These are the basic steps for making Mexican Rice and Beans. Refer to the full, printable recipe card below for detailed instructions.
1. Cook Onions and Peppers
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and peppers cook until tender and translucent.
2. Add Other Veggies and Add the Rice
Add the garlic and continue to cook for about a minute. Add rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Then, add in diced tomatoes and chilies, black beans, sweet corn, cumin, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally.
3. Cook Rice
Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer with a lid and reduce the heat to low, so the flavor simmers together. Simmer until the rice is done. When the rice is cooked, remove from heat, fluff with fork and stir in lime zest and juice.
One Pot White Rice and Beans Recipe FAQs
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Rice and beans will keep for up to 4 days.
I like to reheat in individual portions in the microwave.
Absolutely! Switch the chicken broth and butter for some of your favorite plant based alternatives.
Maybe. If you’d like to try, I’d recommend storing in a freezer bag.
Expert Tips for Making This Mexican Rice Recipe
- This Recipe Can be Doubled: If you love Mexican food, double this recipe to feed a crowd. Simply increase the ingredients proportionately!
- Vegetable Broth: To make this vegetarian friendly, substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth or vegetable stock in the flavorful rice.
- Different Vegetables: Try using green onions, jalapeños or carrots.
- Make Ahead: Make this bean dish as meal prep for the week.
What to Serve with this easy Mexican rice recipe
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Mexican Rice and Beans
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Ingredients
- 1 cup Uncooked long grain rice
- 2 cups Chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- 1 Onion, diced
- 1 Bell pepper, diced
- 2-3 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 10 ounce can Tomatoes with green chilies, Diced
- 1 15 ounce can Black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 ounce can Sweet corn kernels, drained and rinsed
- ¼ teaspoon Salt and pepper
- 1 Lime, juice and zest to garnish
Instructions
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat melt butter
- Add onions and peppers cook until tender and translucent
- Stir in garlic and continue to cook for about a minute or until fragrant
- Add rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly
- Add in diced tomatoes and chilies, black beans, corn, cumin, salt and pepper to the rice mixture.
- Stir in broth and bring to a boil.
- Cover with a lid and reduce heat to low, cook for 15 to 20 minutes
- Fluff with fork and stir lime zest and juice
Christina’s Notes
- This Recipe Can be Doubled: Double this recipe to feed a crowd. Simply increase the ingredients proportionately!
- Vegetable Broth: To make this vegetarian friendly, substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth or vegetable stock.
- Different Vegetables: Try using green onions, jalapeños or carrots.
- Make Ahead: Make this bean dish as meal prep for the week.
- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided are estimates. It is recommended that you verify this information with your own trusted resource.
We love honest feedback, but to keep reviews helpful for everyone, we reserve the right to remove star ratings if it is clear the recipe has not been made, if the comment does not provide meaningful input, or if significant substitutions or alterations were made. Please note that ratings should reflect the original recipe as written to avoid confusing other readers.
This recipe is my personal adaption of an ethnic-inspired recipe. It is not intended to be an authentic recipe. I’ve recreated this recipe because I enjoy the flavors and I want to encourage my readers to expand their tastes and try new flavor combinations. The recipe, ingredients, and processes may have been adapted to make the recipe accessible to the average American. I have provided links to authentic versions of the recipe in the post above. I encourage you to visit these pages and learn more about the traditional version(s) of this recipe.
I think it’s great, easy, healthy and would pair well with any dish considered southwest or Mexican cuisine. Almost anyone who loves to cook puts their own little spin or add.
This recipe is NOT Mexican. I’m not sure where you got this recipe, but itis not Mexican, and you shouldn’t label it as such.
Thank you for the feedback. As I stated in the post this is an “inspired” recipe that has been adapted to suit my tastes and access to ingredients. I very rarely ever claim for anything to be authentic unless it comes from one of my family members representing my personal ethnicity.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!