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Instant Pot Mexican Beef and Rice is an easy recipe with ground beef, rice, black beans, salsa and cheese. An easy dinner for busy weeknights made in the pressure cooker!
You can never have too many easy Instant Pot recipes in your weekly dinner rotation. And this cheesy Instant Pot ground beef and rice recipe is so easy that it practically cooks by itself!
This is the kind of easy recipe that is perfect for busy weeknights or whenever you don’t have much time or energy to cook. I have lots of those days!
A Budget Friendly Ground Beef Recipe
What I love about this pressure cooker Mexican beef and rice recipe is it makes a lot of food, and it’s also very budget friendly. So, it’s a great recipe for meal prep.
Save the leftovers for another day, or use the beef and rice as filling for burritos, burrito bowls or baked burritos. You can freeze the burritos for later, and they reheat easily, especially if you use your Instant Pot air fryer!
With this one pot method, you’re basically making taco meat, and adding rice and beans. It’s like Instant Pot Taco Pasta, only it’s made with rice.
So instead of cooking the meat and everything separately, it’s all done together — a HUGE timesaver for an easy weeknight dinner!
Ingredients
You only need a handful of ingredients for this easy Instant Pot beef and rice recipe. You can get them in your grocery store or online.
- Ground beef — I use lean ground beef
- Seasonings — salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin, ground black pepper, chili powder, dried onions ( you can sub taco seasoning )
- Can black beans — drained and rinsed
- Jasmine rice — dry uncooked rice
- Beef broth — or water or chicken broth
- Tomato salsa — or a can of diced tomatoes
- Shredded cheddar cheese — or Mexican blend cheese
How to Make Mexican Ground Beef and Rice in the Instant Pot
First, saute the ground beef using the saute function, season it, and add your black beans.
I use my own seasoning blend here, but you can definitely use your favorite taco seasoning packet if you want.
Next, add a cup of rinsed jasmine rice, then, add a cup of beef broth or water, if you prefer. Make sure the rice is covered with liquid.
Do NOT stir the ground beef and rice together. You can mix the meat mixture after pressure cooking. This will prevent the burn notice.
I add my favorite chunky tomato salsa over the rice. It adds a bit of a kick, but you can use a can of diced tomatoes for milder flavor.
This is basically the same full-proof method for cooking white rice in the Instant Pot — works every time!
I use the same cooking method for Instant Pot Chicken and Rice and Instant Pot Kielbasa and Rice. Try one of those for an easy meal next time!
Cook Time
Next, pressure cook the beef and rice for 4 minutes on high pressure, and allow a 10 minute natural release.
After the 10 minute natural pressure release, move the valve to venting position for a quick release of the remaining pressure.
Stir in some shredded cheese, and watch it get all melty and ooey gooey. This taco rice is definitely comfort food, friends!
Serve Instant Pot cheesy ground beef and rice in bowls, and add your favorite taco toppings like sour cream, chopped green onions, lettuce and tomatoes.
Or, use the cheesy beef and rice as a filling for burritos.
How to Store
Store leftover ground beef and rice in an airtight container in your refrigerator. It should keep for up to 4 days.
Reheat leftovers of this delicious one pot meal in your microwave.
You can freeze this cheesy hamburger and rice casserole for up to 3 months for best taste.
Variations
There are a few ways to change up this Instant Pot ground beef recipe.
You can use ground turkey or ground chicken or ground pork or ground sausage instead of hamburger meat.
For regular long grain rice or basmati rice, keep the same cooking time. If you want to use brown rice, cook the meat mixture for 22 minutes and do a 10 minutes pressure release.
Instant Pot Mexican Beef and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onions
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 15-ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup uncooked rinsed jasmine rice
- 1 cup beef broth or water
- 1 16-ounce chunky tomato salsa or 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend or Colby jack
Instructions
- Hit SAUTE on the Instant Pot, and when it reads Hot, add the ground beef, dried onions, sea salt, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, pepper, chili powder. Break meat up with spatula, and cook until no longer pink. Make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot. If it is, use water or broth to deglaze pot
- Stir in the black beans, then hit CANCEL
- Pour the jasmine rice over the beans, then add the beef broth, and pat down to make sure rice is covered
- Add the salsa (do not stir), then place the lid on the pot, and make sure valve is on Sealing position
- Hit PRESSURE COOK for 4 minutes. Pot will take a few minutes to reach pressure, then cook.
- When pot beeps, allow a 10 minute natural release, then quick release remaining pressure
- Carefully remove lid, then stir together. Stir in cheese, and add more if you want. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you enjoy this hearty meal as much as my whole family does. This easy weeknight dinner is definitely comfort food!
If you do try this easy dinner recipe, please leave a star rating and comment.
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We loved the flavor of this but we have a problem of the rice not being cooked all the way. Any suggestions? I used 1.5 cups instead, too.
Did you add more liquid? There may not have been enough liquid if more rice was added. Was it brown rice?
Tried this tonight…it was amazing! The only thing I added in addition is a half jar if queso when I added the cheese at the end. Made it extra creamy! Such a yummy dish! Thank Roy for sharing!
For*
This was really easy and good! The only thing is one cup of broth didn’t even come close to covering the rice, so I added one more. Do you know why that might have happened?
Hmm. I’m not sure what happened, but the rice isn’t always deeply submerged. I usually press it down with a spatula so that it’s mostly covered with liquid, then add the salsa on top.
This is a new favorite in our weeknight rotation. Made it last night and it was a big hit!
If you like Tex-Mex as I do you’ll love this so yummy.
Thanks for sharing
Trying this tonight. Do you drain and rinse your beans?
Yes, always. I’ll add that step to the instructions. 🙂
Gonna try this without tomatos tonight and substituting with refried beans! Let’s see how it goes!
Soooo yum!!! Thank you for sharing. It’s quick, easy and absolutely delicious
So glad you liked it, Hannah.Thanks for the wonderful review!
If you do not use the spices, how much taco seasoning do you suggest?
I would use the packet of taco seasoning if that’s what you have.
This recipe is really good! It reminds me and my husband of a place we use to go to years ago called the Burrito Shop. They had the best burritos. Thanks for a really good instant pot recipe.
You just made my day, Chris! Thank you so much!