Instant Pot Santa Fe Beans and Rice–brown rice, kidney beans and black beans are simmered with salsa, corn and seasonings in your electric pressure cooker. The beans and rice are topped with garlic lime sour cream and grated cheddar cheese. You can serve this as a meatless meal or add in chicken for some extra protein. We love this easy and healthy, family friendly meal.
Get the SLOW COOKER santa fe beans and rice version of the recipe here
Instant Pot Santa Fe Beans and Rice
I just love meals like this. I threw beans, rice and chicken into the Instant Pot and walked away. I came back to the pot and shredded up the chicken and served the beans and rice with my newly found love, garlic lime sour cream (recipe below). It was a perfect easy meal that is healthy and budget friendly too! I actually loved the leftovers just as much or more than the original night when we ate this dish. This dinner is a winner at my house!
Some notes about ingredients:
Chicken–you can make this meal completely meatless, however if you want you can add in chicken. I added a few boneless skinless chicken thighs on top of the rice and beans and they cooked perfectly. I shredded them up and stirred everything together. You can also use chicken breasts too. It’s up to you on what you prefer.
Corn–because it’s what I had on hand I used a can of corn. I rinsed and drained it first. If you prefer you can use frozen corn too. If you want you can leave out the corn altogether.
Cheddar–initially I was going to stir a couple cups of cheddar cheese into the rice and beans but I decided that it didn’t need it. If you want to make it a cheesy masterpiece then you can stir a couple cups of grated cheddar into the rice and beans after they are cooked. Otherwise you can serve with just a tablespoon of grated cheese on top of each plate.
Rice–we eat brown rice most of the time at our house. However, this recipe could probably work with white rice. Just use 1 1/2 cups of rinsed white rice and 2 3/4 cups of water. If you are using short grain white rice then cook for 8 minutes. If you are using long grain white rice then you only need to cook for 3 minutes. If you want chicken with the white rice, I don’t think it will cook in time as a large chicken breast or thigh. You’ll have to use thawed chicken that is cut up into pieces.
More meatless Instant Pot recipes…
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Santa Fe Beans and Rice I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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Instant Pot Santa Fe Beans and Rice
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes plus 10 minute natural pressure release
- Total Time: 8 minute
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Brown rice, kidney beans and black beans are simmered with salsa, corn and seasonings in your electric pressure cooker. Serve with garlic lime sour cream and grated cheddar cheese on top. Serve as a meatless meal or add in chicken for some extra protein. We love this easy and healthy, family friendly meal.
Ingredients
For the beans and rice:
- 1 1/2 cups long grain brown rice
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15 oz) can corn, rinsed and drained
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup picante sauce (I used mild)
- 2 Tbsp taco seasoning (I make my own homemade taco seasoning)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Optional: 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- Grated cheddar, for serving
For the garlic lime sour cream:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
- Add the rice and water into the pot. Then layer the kidney beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, picante sauce, taco seasoning, salt and pepper on top. Don’t stir.
- If desired, place chicken on top of mixture.
- Cover and secure the lid. Make sure valve is on sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 20 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 10 minutes. Move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Cut up chicken and then stir it back in to the pot.
- Make the garlic lime sour cream by stirring together sour cream, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, kosher salt and garlic cloves.
- Serve rice and beans with a dollop of the sour cream on top. Sprinkle with grated cheddar, if desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
Get the SLOW COOKER santa fe beans and rice version of the recipe here
I have also tried this recipe with pearl barley instead of brown rice. We really liked the chewiness and texture of the barley. Use 1 1/2 cups pearl barley and 2 1/2 cups water and cook for 25 minutes.
- Category: Meatless
- Method: Instant Pot
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe (no chicken/no sour cream)
- Calories: 302
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 655 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 61 g
- Protein: 11 g
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I have made this so many times according to the recipe and it always turns out perfect! Has anyone tried it with quinoa instead of rice yet though? Looking to up the overall nutritional content 🙂
Quinoa uses a 1 minute pressure cook time with a 5-10 minute natural pressure release. and I use 1 cup quinoa to 1.5 cups of liquid ratio.
For us, we kept with the burn notice too. So if we do it again we full the ingredients upside down to the recipe. We had to add 1 1/2 c of chicken broth and that helped. We did it with chicken and felt it was bland. But we didn’t make the sauce. So, we are going to try it in burritos to freeze for another day.
I had to substitute some ingredients based on what I had in the pantry and I normally would therfore not leavr a review since I couldn’t follow the recipe but I am to show how versatile this recipe is. I had black and pinto beans. No salsa or tomato sauce so I used a can of mild Rotel tomatoes and V-8 original juice. It was all really good and the rice was cooked perfectly. I served it as a side so I didn’t use chicken but loved that beans and rice make a complete protein and that beans are a great superfood. A great tasty and healthy recipe.
★★★★★
I really love the idea of V8! Good plan for next time I make this.
Sorry I have to write. On this recipe. I have bought the Air Fryer Lid and it came today. I am so over whelm with it. Did not expect all the pieces that came with it. Wish you would film on how to use it. I am looking at your recipes that I could try it.
Thank you.
Ann
Just to clarify — do you rinse brown rice?
I do not. However some people do. It’s up to you.
We enjoy this recipe so much that I want to make it for our family reunion this Saturday.
Will it fit in my 6 qt instant pot if I double the recipe? I know it will cook in the same amount of time.
Thank you!
★★★★★
Yes I think it will fit!
Funny story – I love WW (Smart Ones) Santa Fe Rice and Beans but wanted to make my own in the IP, so I did a Google search. I giggled when your site came up – because of COURSE you’d already created this recipe. It is fabulous and the sour cream topping was the icing on the cake (or the rice and beans in this case)! Such an easy dinner – my only substitution was Pinto Beans in place of the Kidney Beans because it’s what I had on hand. I added the chicken since it was our dinner and my husband thinks he’s not eaten if there’s not some sort of meat involved. He loved it and I have enough for my work lunches for the remainder of the week.
Thanks again, Karen!
★★★★★
You’re welcome Brenda!!
Hey just tried this in my instant pot after my local grocery store had sold out of its santa fe frozen dinners that were on sale and I had been hoping for having this week for lunch at work. Glad to say this hit the spot exactly! the garlic lime crema I was initially sceptical of since it was rather watery for me but it really took this dish to the next level! Not only can I now have my beloved santa fe rice and beans for work lunch, it reheats faster and I could even afford to add a little diced avocado on the top!
A suggestion- another option for added protein could be chorizo sausage- and if someone wants to keep it veggie only I know Trader Joes has a really great soy-rizo that could be a great addition!
★★★★★
Thanks for the tip about the chorizo! I’d like to try that! And thanks for the 5 stars!
This is great I have made a few times I use 2 1/2 cups of water otherwise burn notice I also did pinto kidney and black beans This is just a great meal
Thanks for the tip on the water. That may helps others as well!
If using quick cook brown rice how long for cook time?
Hi Laura, I haven’t tried minute rice but this is from their website: Use equal amounts of rice and liquid. Stir. Use the “manual” setting with High Pressure. Set timer for 5 minutes. When cooking time has elapsed, use the “Quick Release” to vent all the steam. Remove lid and fluff rice. Serve.
Delicious! Perfect for a meatless Monday 😃
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Lisa!
By far the best rice and bean recipe I’ve ever had! The sour cream is delicious. My husband even liked it and he was not looking forward to it!
★★★★★
I love it when that happens, Sarah!
I love my InstantPot but every time I make this recipe I get the dredded BURN notice!!! Why
★★★
Try this…turn the saute mode on and boil the water. Then sprinkle in the rice and layer in the rest of the ingredients. Turn off saute. Then pressure cook as stated in recipe. That might help with not getting the burn notice.
Is 1 3/4 cups of water correct for Brown rice?
Should be super close. I usually use a 1 to 1.25 ratio. So it would be 1.875 cups of water. You could increase it by a Tablespoon or two to be sure.
The Garlic Lime sour cream is the bomb-diggity of stuff to top mexican dishes with …… thank you so much for this!
★★★★★
I love it too Debbie!!!
I’m a little confused we only use jazmine rice. How much fluid and how much rice would I use? I’m also using raw chicken breads
with jasmine rice use a 1 to 1 ratio and rinse the rice first. It cooks very quickly too. So cut the chicken up into tenderloin size and place on top. Then pressure cook for 4 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/what-is-natural-pressure-release-and-quick-release/
Can I use sausage instead of chicken? I’m wondering if 20 minutes would be too long of cooking time for the sausage.
Sure you could do that! It should hold up just fine.
I love this recipe so much! We make it all the time – it’s so easy and quick and I’m obsessed with the sour cream sauce. I usually add a fresh jalapeno to the sauce and blend the sauce together with my Nutribullet. I never add grated cheese, but I have added a pound of ground turkey before and it worked very well. I just thawed a bit of it that was in my freezer for a little over 3 months, and it still tastes great.
★★★★★
The sauce is so good!!! I agree with you!
Can this be made in a 3 qt instant pot?
It does sound good!
Thank you
yes it can
This was the perfect, “I don’t know what to make for dinner”. Trying to do more vegetarian these days so made it without the chicken. So simple but so good. Everyone in my family loved it. I used pinto beans instead of kidney beans. We added avocado.
★★★★★
Yum I love the addition of avocado. It’s my favorite.
Make this before and it was amazing. Used regular brown rice.
Last shopping trip purchased quick cook brown rice by mistake. Would hate to waste it…can this be used in place of the regular brown rice and if so what adjustments would need to be made?
Have made many of your recipes and have never been disappointed!
Thanks!
★★★★★
I have not tried minute brown rice in the Instant Pot yet. But from the Minute Rice website is says, “Brown Rice: Use equal amounts of rice and liquid. Stir. Use the “manual” setting with High Pressure. Set timer for 5 minutes. When cooking time has elapsed, use the “Quick Release” to vent all the steam. Remove lid and fluff rice. Serve.” Hope this helps!
This was tonight’s dinner. It turned out really well. We did the vegetarian version. I usually use dried beans when making beans and rice. I did use the canned beans (and frozen corn) and it came was really great….Thanks so much for adding the taco seasoning ingredients. I just added a bit of the ones I had on hand.
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it Kathy!
My husband and I like our rice slightly on the softer side – would it be fine to add 5 minutes to the pressure cook time in order to cook the rice a bit longer?
Sure that is totally fine!
This was the best easy dinner I have made in my Instant Pot. Next time I think I will omit the chicken because it would have been just as delicious without it. I even forgot to add the shredded cheese and it was still delicious. I will surely be making this again and sharing the recipe. Thank you.
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing your great experience Laurie!
HELP!! Every time I make this I get “Burn”
alert on my I instant pot. I follow the directions
to the letter. What am I doing wrong??
I’m not sure but next time I would try 2 1/4 cups of water. That should help a bit!
Me too.
I think there may be a heat element temperature difference between various instant pot models. I’m using the instant pot duo plus and have more than 1 recipe “burn”. I am able to recover some recipes and others have to get tossed.
★★★
We go through a lot of beans at our house so I make my own beans from dried. About how many cups of each would I add for this recipe? Thanks.
2/3 cup of dried beans is equal to a can of beans.
It’s 1.5 cups of cooked beans in a 15 oz can.
Love this recipe. Thank you for posting it. Lots of flavor and very filling.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Peter!
Hi Karen!
I want to make this tomorrow and use white long grain rice and I know you only cook for 3 minutes but do you still natural release for 10?
Thanks for all the fabulous recipes!!😊
yes 10 minute NPR
Thanks!
I am a little confused. If I use white rice do I only cook this recipe for three minutes?
Yes, that’s what I would do.
If I double recipe and have an 8qrt would time be doubled? I also will be adding chicken do I I just add raw non frozen chicken breast in with the rest?
no need to double the time. keep the time the same. raw chicken will work well.
I just got a Crockpot brand Pressure Cooker/Slow Cooker. I haven’t used it yet. My husband works away so I always send meals with him so he won’t eat junk! (smile).
I am going to try this recipe this weekend. He’s not a huge fan of brown rice. Can I used long grain white rice? My goal is to use it more for me when I am home alone in the evenings. My diet has consisted of Triscuit, Cheese and Apples for too long. Looking forward to printing other recipes on here to try!
Yes you can. However you won’t be able to add chicken to it because it won’t cook at the same rate. The white rice only needs a 3 minute cooking time.
I love my crock pot instacooker. It works just like an Instapot and can double as a crock pot. Plus, it was cheaper. You’re the first person I’ve come across who has one too. Can’t wait to try this recipe in there.
Definitely don’t use basmati rice for this, it absorbs the fluid too quickly and burns….
★
My picky husband and I LOVED this one! I did add chicken, but would be good without it too. I love finding recipes where you can cook the rice and other stuff at the same time. This is so easy to make and so incredibly flavorful! Basically a dump and go recipe. The sour cream can easily be made during the NR time. This is definitely going on our favorites list! Leftovers were good too. Thank you, Karen!
★★★★★
I am so happy that you and your husband enjoyed this Peggy! I am constantly looking for recipes that can be cooked all in one pot. I love them too!
Hi I am new to the world of pressure cooking and your website have been soooo helpful! I have an instant pot that doesn’t have a manual button would I just set it for 20 minutes on low or high pressure?
Hi Nicki, does yours have a pressure cook button instead? Just use that. On high pressure.
Karen, I love the way you present your recipes. For example, if you want you can leave out an ingredient, or add something else. That is basically the way I cook and treat any recipe. You make it so easy the way you express it. The recipes you provide are very inspiring to me, and way more useful than most I find. I have been using my Instant Pot for four years or so. I am glad I found you.
Thanks so much Roy!!!
I am an Instant Pot newbie and I made this last night and it was delicious!! My family loved it!! Will definitely be making this again and again!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
NICE!!! Welcome to the Instant Pot world 🙂
I tried to make this with my instant pot ultra. Kept getting the burn error. Could never get it to come to pressure after multiple tries.
I’m so sorry! That is so frustrating. I’m not sure why the burn message since there is plenty of liquid in this recipe.
I was also getting the burn message. I let it go (had already popped the pin) and it finally went to the timer. I have been having a lot of issues with the burn lately. Any ideas why anyone?
Next time try adding in the water and then the other ingredients but don’t stir. Just kind of layer them. I’ve had luck with that method.
I live alone and I love my Crock-Pot; I want food that has layers of flavor and is healthy, freezes well it for busy days when I get home late and don’t want to cook. Your Sante Fe Beans and Rice was an instant hit. What separated this recipe from so many others was the picante sauce I used and the garlic lime sour cream. I had heard of the Pace Picante Sauce but hadn’t tried it. I, too, used the mild but wanted a little extra kick so I gave it a tiny pinch of cayenne.
I am studying theology and in my last year. Our class meets at 6:00 p.m. so someone brings soup or chili, another salad, and someone else brings bread and butter. I am going to make this recipe for my next class. They are going to love it.
Thanks so much for sharing! I am glad you liked this recipe. I want to know what your class thinks of it 🙂
great
★★★★★
Glad you liked it, Dan!
Made this tonight with frozen chicken tenderloins. I put about 7-8 on top of the rice mixture and they turned out beautiful! (I used brown jasmine rice and it was perfectly cooked too,). It was so good and the best part since I’m on Weight Watchers using the Simply Filling plan, it was a total zero point meal! Made a ton so I have several lunches for the week and put a few in the freezer. Thanks for a yummy recipe!
Oh that’s awesome. This will be a perfect lunch!
Another could-easily-be-meatless-therefore-perfect-for-a-Friday-in-Lent recipe. Thanks, Karen! I don’t have enough of these.
I did think of Lent when I was writing this today! I’m so glad it is useful to you 🙂
Made this for dinner. Just finished what might be my first serving. Simply scrumptious! And it was my 1st time using my Instant Pot. And I didn’t even blow up my kitchen. So win-win!
★★★★★
NICE!!!!
I would like to see this recipe made with dry beans.
Me too! I need to play with it and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Have you figured out how to do it with dry beans?? I was looking for a recipe like this but with dry beans that I need for tonight.
I haven’t tried it yet with dried beans! I really need to. What did you end up making?
Hi Karen!
I’ve found if you soak the beans first, (between 12-24 hours) it all cooks together just fine, at least with kidney beans. My family and I loved this meal, so healthy and easy!
★★★★★