Bring a taste of Mexico to your dinner table with this quick and easy one-pan spicy Mexican rice and beans recipe. Made with white rice, tomato passata, kidney beans, sweet corn, red peppers and the delicious flavours of smoked chilli paste, cumin and coriander, this vegan and naturally gluten-free recipe is ready in just 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
How can I spice up white rice?
Make spicy Mexican rice and beans!
We eat a silly amount of rice in our house. Ever since I started cycle training, I am hungry, and I need fuel. I need the kind of carbohydrates that get where I want them to get, and fast, and white rice is perfect for that. It’s easy to digest, which means I can scoff a plate of this spicy Mexican rice for lunch and then smash out a 64-mile ride without bonking.
White rice on it’s own can get a bit… boring though, so here’s a recipe for you to spice it up a bit.
Spicy Mexican rice and beans (aka Spanish rice) was something I was introduced to by those ready-made microwaveable rice sachets you can get from the supermarket.
I wish I had an authentic ‘trip to Mexico (or Spain)’ story to share with you, but no, I discovered this deliciousness simply by being lazy. Well, laziness combined with the fact that my car was in the garage and I couldn’t get to the supermarket to buy the Mexican rice I was craving one day a few years ago.
Inspired by this recipe, tweaked over the years, I’ve created my own spicy Mexican rice and beans recipe. I don’t know how authentic my recipe is, given that I’ve never been to Mexico, but I do like the intense flavours of this dish.
The key ingredient for this recipe is the smoked Mexican chilli paste. Feel free to use half the quantity I’ve used if you prefer a more mild dish, but I like the smoky fire the chilli paste imparts. Alternatively, you can cool it down at the table with a dollop of soured cream or yoghurt on the side.
This recipe serves six people as a side or four as a main. Leftovers freeze very well too; simply defrost and reheat in a saucepan with a splash of water. You can jazz it up even more by adding in a couple of handfuls of chopped seasonal greens towards the end of cooking too.
That’s it. That was the pre-recipe blurb no one reads.
(Did you actually read that? If so, let me know in the comments!).
Ingredients you’ll need…
- Long grain white rice – use basmati or your favourite long-grain white rice for this recipe.
- Passata – the rice is cooked in sieved tomatoes, which infuses a delicious tomato flavour into every grain of rice.
- Vegetable stock – stock made from a good quality stock cube or stockpot will do.
- Kidney beans – tinned is fine; simply rinse them off before adding.
- Sweetcorn – again, tinned is fine or use frozen.
- Carrot – here, I prefer fresh as it has a better texture. Dice it into 5 mm pieces.
- Red pepper – adds an extra serving of fresh vegetables.
- Brown onion – this gets cooked with the carrot and some garlic at the start of the recipe for some extra flavour.
- Garlic – because every good savoury recipe has garlic in it, right?
- Cumin & coriander seeds – left whole, these are toasted in the pan along with the onions for maximum flavour.
- Smoked paprika – adds a rich, smokey flavour to the rice dish.
- Smoked Mexican chilli paste – that extra fiery smokiness that makes this dish awesome.
- Tomato puree – for an extra tomato flavour boost.
- Vegetable oil – to saute the carrots, onion and garlic.
- Smoked sea salt – to taste.
- Freshly ground black pepper – to taste.
- Fresh coriander – to garnish.
- Fresh chillies – finely sliced to garnish.
How to make spicy Mexican rice and beans
- Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-based saute pan and saute the garlic, onions and carrots for two minutes.
- Add the rice, cumin and coriander seeds and saute until the rice begins to toast and turn golden.
- Stir in the smoked Mexican chilli paste, tomato puree, passata and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil.
- Add the beans, red pepper, corn and peas.
- Pop the lid on and cook for 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Remove the pan from the heat and leave it to sit for ten minutes. Fluff and serve garnished with fresh coriander leaves and finely sliced chilli peppers.
Is there a difference between Mexican rice and Spanish rice?
No, not really. Although the terms are used interchangeably as they pretty much contain the same ingredients. However, Spanish rice might include saffron instead of cumin, and the texture of Spanish rice is a bit firmer, while Mexican rice is soft and melts in the mouth.
What’s the best rice for spicy Mexican rice?
Use your favourite long-grain white rice for this recipe, such as basmati, as it cooks quickly and fluffs up at the end without the stickiness you get from shorter grained rice.
What to serve with this spicy Mexican rice and beans recipe
I like to serve my spicy Mexican rice and beans recipe with some grilled meat – our local butchers do some rather fantastic seasoned pork loins that just take a few minutes to cook. Perfect for a simple midweek meal.
What would you serve with your spicy Mexican rice and beans? Let me know in the comments!
Spicy Mexican Rice and Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 100 grams carrot peeled and diced
- 300 grams basmati rice
- 225 ml passata rustica
- 400 ml vegetable stock (I use a Knorr Stock Pot)
- 1 tsp smoked Mexican chilli paste or 1 tsp chilli powder, to taste
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tsp whole cumin seeds toasted and ground
- 1 tsp whole coriander seeds toasted and ground
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 400 grams tinned kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 200 grams sweetcorn drained
- 100 grams red pepper diced
- 80 grams frozen peas
- smoked sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- fresh coriander leaves to garnish
- fresh red chilli finely sliced, to garnish
Affiliate Links
This recipe card may contain affiliate ingredient and equipment links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat sunflower oil in a large, heavy-based saute pan over a medium-high heat.
- Saute the garlic, onions and carrots for two minutes.
- Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and rice and saute for five minutes, stirring frequently, until the rice is toasted and golden.
- Add the paprika, tomato puree, smoked Mexican chilli paste, passata and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Add the sweetcorn, red peppers, kidney beans and frozen peas. Stir until combined and then pop the lid on and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the rice is cooked.
- Remove from the heat and leave to sit for 10 minutes with the lid on, then fluff and serve garnished with fresh coriander leaves and finely sliced red and green chillies.
Video
Nutrition
Environmental Information
Pin this recipe for later
Other recipes you might like
Mexican Sweet Potato and Puy Lentil Mole
A Mexican style mole is a chilli made with sweet potatoes, carrots, puy lentils and a rich sauce deepened with chocolate.
Shakshuka Boats | Tomato & Red Pepper Baked Eggs in Tortilla Cups
These Shakshuka Boats are pretty quick to make – the sauce takes no more than ten minutes, assembly of the boats is very quick and the eggs take just 5-8 minutes under a medium grill.
Pulled Jackfruit in a Homemade Rich Smoky Barbecue Sauce
This pulled jackfruit is a vegan take on pulled pork. It’s rich, smoky and likely to fool all but a pork connoisseur. The recipe includes a healthy and delicious homemade barbecue sauce.
Chocolate Roast Beef
If you want to know how to make roast beef, give it a try with this easy and oh-so-good roast beef recipe: Perfect Roast Beef with Chocolate. This recipe uses a spicy roast beef seasoning with a secret ingredient, cocoa powder, for maximum flavour.
ActiFry Chicken Thighs & other quick recipe ideas for when you're tired!
Actifry Chicken Thighs with a coating of paprika and onion granules - good simple food!
A Simple Creamy Seafood Chowder Recipe
»
My husband and kids love rice and we’re often stuck eating boring recipes. I can’t wait to try this one, it looks so flavorful and healthy. Thank you!
This looks so delicious! I love that it’s an easy quick recipe and it will give me leftovers to make a breakfast taco the next day 🙂
These rice and beans were so good! I love the flavor the chile paste and whole cumin seeds added. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
This looks sooo tasty! Love that it’s ready in 30 minutes. I’m going to make this for breakfast burritos!!
Yum! Can I put this in a burrito?
I think that would be a rather fabulous use for this recipe! 🙂
Really very tasty dish, made it twice now and it’s definitely one I’ll keep coming back to! Thank you.
Wow this recipe looks amazingly delicious and I would love to try making it one day 🙂
I make something quite similar to this but, your recipe sounds really good. Definitely going to try x
Wow this looks so delicious and I love how your can freeze it for later. This will be a great addition to my Taco Tuesday Nights!
My kids are just getting into Mexican food so will have to try this with them
This looks fantastic and so flavoursome! We love Mexican rice in our house and my 6 year old daughter would have it with every meal if she could so the idea of making a batch and freezing some will be music to her ears! Thanks for sharing.
This looks beautiful I love Mexican food Bet this would be tasty in a burrito
Homemade is always better than shop bought!!! Love the look of the rice especially the Mexican slant. i’s great you can freeze it too!
I love mexican so I am sure this would go very well in our house. I never think to freeze rice products so I am glad this can be frozen for meals another day
My husband likes mexican rice. I would totally love to cook this for him. Thanks for sharing this!
Such a delicious and purse friendly meal – rice and beans is so tasty and so affordable too. I’m definitely going to be making this soon
I am a huge fan of spicy rice so this looks really tasty x
Ooh a vegan Mexican dish? Now that is what I call a delicious and quick and easy dish to make. Rice and beans is one of the most simple but effective dishes and I love the Mexican twist!
This looks amazing! I need to get my meal plan game back on form.
OK I most definitely need to try this – we are people who love rice as a side and making our own from scratch sounds 100% better than buying it.
This is EXACTLY what I had in mind to make this week. What a weird coincidence that I came across this. I’m trying to cut my spending which means no more lunch time burritos – I bet this rice tastes insane in a burrito with some saucey tofu. Bookmarked to come back later! Thanks.
This looks amazing, I am actually doing some batch cooking today and I am adding this to the list! Got my mouth watering, I love packet rices for work lunches but there is nothing like making your own.
I must admit I adore Uncle Bens Mexican rice, but you have inspired me to create my own now Elizabeth
I love making Mexican rice. It’s a great budget way to bulk out things like burritos and tacos.
I’m definitely making this for the freezer – what a great idea. I’m not driving right now either so know all about store cupboard recipes. Hope you get some wheels soon.
Glad to see you’re making the most of being carless. I appreciate the freezing tips!
Such a flavorful rice dish! I love using basmati rice too! It adds such fragrance to any rice dish..
This sounds amazing! I love that you used basmati rice, what a great idea. I’m def going to try this 🙂