Instant Pot Cheesy Enchilada Rice–brown rice is pressure cooked with enchilada sauce and spices in minutes and then topped with sharp cheddar, diced avocado and a wedge of lime.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot Cheesy Enchilada Rice
Today is National Cheese Day and I thought I’d celebrate by making this Instant Pot Cheesy Enchilada Rice. It’s sort of like bean and cheese enchiladas in rice form. This flavorful rice makes a perfect side dish to grilled chicken or it works well paired with a rotisserie chicken. I was having a hard time getting the pictures taken for this recipe because I kept sneaking bites of it. It is so perfect when topped with guacamole or sliced avocado or a dollop of sour cream.
More Cheesy Recipes
Since today is National Cheese Day I’ve teamed up with some food blogger friends to bring you all the cheesy goodness. Here are some of their recipes:
- Cheddar Broccoli Soup from Ashlee Marie
- Cheesy Garlic Bread from Life Made Simple
- Stuffed Cheese Buns from The Baker Upstairs
- Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese Sandwiches from Kara’s Creations
- Fromage Fort (Cheese Spread) from Foodie with Family
- One Pan Ham & Cheese Tortellini from Yellow Bliss Road
- Cheese Blintz with Fresh Strawberries from Real Mom Kitchen
- Cheesy Pesto Bread from Gather For Bread
And here are more cheesy Instant Pot recipes:
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese with Green Chiles
- Instant Pot Parmesan Risotto
- Instant Pot Southwest Corn and Bacon Dip from Center Cut Cook
- Pressure Cooker Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice from Barns and Noodles
- Pressure Cooker Cheesy Potatoes Au Gratin from Pressure Cooking Today
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
For this Instant Pot Cheesy Enchilada Rice recipe I used I used this Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker. It’s 6 quarts, so the same size as most slow cookers. It cost me around $80 on Amazon.
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Instant Pot Cheesy Enchilada Rice
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Prep Time: 10 minutes -
Cook Time: 32 minutes
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Total Time: 42 minutes
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Yield: 8 servings -
Method: Instant Pot
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Brown rice is pressure cooked with enchilada sauce and spices in minutes and then topped with sharp cheddar, diced avocado and a wedge of lime.
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain brown rice
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 (15 oz) can enchilada sauce
- 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1-2 cups sharp grated cheddar (depending on how cheesy you want it)
- 1 avocado diced
- Sour cream
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- Cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Add rice, water, enchilada sauce, black beans, cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder to the Instant Pot. Cover and turn valve to “sealing.” Press the manual button and set timer to 22 minutes. When timer beeps let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then move the valve to “venting.”
- Remove the lid and stir in the lime juice and cheddar. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve rice topped with diced avocado, sour cream, lime wedge and cilantro.
Notes
I used my Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker. It’s 6 quarts, so the same size as most slow cookers.
Click here for the slow cooker version of this recipe
Nutrition
- Calories: 265
- Sodium: 312 mg
- Fat: 7.1 grams
- Carbohydrates: 40.8 grams
- Fiber: 2.8 grams
- Protein: 8.7 grams
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Can I add cooked, lean ground beef?
yes I think that would be great!
I have a big family so I doubled the recipe added crushed tomatoes and some browned chorizo. And even my pickiest loves it!!
NICE!
This sounds delicious! Can I add thawed chicken breast? Would it change the cook time?
Keep the cooking time the same and add in the chicken breasts. Just lay them on top. I bet it will come out perfect! Will you come back and let me know?
I have the instant pot mini (3 qt). Will this recipe fit?
Yes, I think it should work just fine.
Easy, quick and delicious – a fast food run averted! I added a can of drained corn before cooking and some riced cauliflower after, so I did not have to prepare a salad or side veggie. I will use brown rice next time.
Nice! I like the way you think.
Could I put this in the pot and set the timer to cook it later? Would the rice be ok?
It would probably be okay for a couple of hours but I couldn’t do it longer than that.
Very tasty!
★★★★★
I saw the note above about the white rice change, which is what I want to do but also, would there be a change if I subbed out the black beans for pinto? And also when doing just one cup of white rice does there serving size change and the cooking time?
No changes for the pinto beans, Kelli! For the white rice use 3 cups water and 1 cup white rice. Pressure cook for 8 minutes and do a natural release for 10 minutes.
Thank you so much, I just finished it.. yes it’s 9:45pm here in southern California but it was amazing, I made the pinto beans from scratch earlier to and could not be happier with both. Thanks so much, my lunch tomorrow is going to be amazing.
★★★★★
Oh good!
Have you done it with quinoa? I’m wondering if I would need to adjust the time?!?
Hi Jennifer, I haven’t tried it with quinoa yet but that sounds amazing. You would need to rinse the quinoa first. Then add 2 cups of quinoa and 3 cups of water instead of the ratios in the recipe. Add in the other ingredients as stated. Then cook for only 1 minute. Let the pressure release for 10 minutes naturally before moving the valve to venting. Let me know how it goes!
quinoa version, is 1 minute right?
Yes!
If I wanted to add 2 frozen chicken breasts to this, do you think I’d have to increase the cooking time? Or add more liquid?
no and no. Same cooking time and no more liquid is necessary.
Would it change anything if you used long grain white rice instead of brown?
Yes, use 3 cups water and 1 cup white rice. Pressure cook for 8 minutes and do a natural release for 10 minutes.
Do you layer the ingredients in the Pot or mix them?
Add the ingredients to the pot and then give it a quick stir.
This looks delicious! I’d love to try this but cut the recipe in half. How would that affect the amount of water used and the cook time?
Just cut all the ingredients in half including the rice and water. The cooking time should remain the same!
This was phenomenal!!! We will be making it again and adding mushrooms!!! Made a burrito for the small human and she loved it! We skipped the burrito & loved it! THANK YOU!!!!
★★★★★
So happy you loved it!
I’m new to Instant Pots and mine does not have a manual button. Which mode would select to cook this?
does it have a pressure cook button? If so, that’s the button you push.
Could this be doubled and fit in the 6qt. Instant Pot?
Yes!
Any way this could be made with dry black beans instead of canned? New IP user
I think so. This is how I would do it. Don’t add in the enchilada sauce at the beginning because that will prevent the dry beans from getting soft. Add rinsed black beans with extra water. I’m not totally sure how much water the beans will need. Probably 1 1/2 cups for 1/2 cup dried beans. Cook for the 22 minutes. This should be enough time to get them soft. After it’s done cooking add in the enchilada sauce and follow the recipe as written.
Love this and the variations you could make with it. Nothing like a one-pot recipe to transform something more involved like enchiladas. Yum xx
I would like to make this, but with some ground chicken (frozen) and with white rice.
Any suggestions?
I’m a new IP user
You’d cut down the cooking time because white rice definitely doesn’t need 22 minutes to cook. I think it only needs around 10 minutes.
Made this tonight, but used white rice instead of brown. Tasted great, but rice was cooked unevenly. Wondering if it would’ve cooked better just using the rice setting instead of manual? I did manual high pressure for 12min. Still had some crunchy rice so added some water and did 4min longer. Still had some crunchy rice, but by then it was starting to stick to the bottom and get mushy in other spots. Maybe next time I’ll try the rice setting since it tasted fabulous!
hmmm. I’m not sure! Rice is tricky sometimes. Did you try again? How did it go?
Once I started the ingredients in my Instapot, I also sautéed 2 1bs of hamburger with chopped onions and fresh garlic. I added this to the instapot when it was finished cooking along with the cheese. It made a wonderful dinner. Since I didn’t have enchilada sauce on hand I made my own with fajita seasoning that I did have by adding it to taste with 15 oz of water. Yummmmmm.
Marily, that sounds fantastic!
Looks like a great meal. Thanks for including my recipe in your roundup.
Looks delish! Did you use high pressure?
yes!
This looks so delicious, especially topped with the avocado! I need to bust out my Instant Pot!
★★★★★
Looks good for a meat-less meal, which we try to do at least once a week. One question, what type of brown rice did you use? Instant or regular?
I used regular long grain brown rice!
This looks really good, but I need the slow cooker version of this recipe. The link you provided is for a similar recipe but not the same one and this particular version looks better to me.
★★★★
Yes you’re right. Sue, I just updated the slow cooker version with two recipes. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post to see the version that you want! https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/crockpot-cheesy-enchilada-rice/
What type of brown rice do you use?
I used uncooked long grain brown rice.