, ,

Mexican Beef and Rice Bowls (Instant Pot)

Katie Wells Avatar

Reading Time: 3 minutes

This post contains affiliate links.

Read my affiliate policy.

Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Mexican Beef and Rice Bowls (Instant Pot)

New fast and filling meal ideas are always welcome in my kitchen! These beef and rice bowls are a healthy and delicious take on tacos and I can make them start to finish in 30 minutes.

Instant Pot Mexican Beef and Rice Bowls

I love that I can use my Instant Pot to quickly cook this whole meal in one pot (the fewer dishes the better!). While the beef and rice are cooking I chop any toppings that we’re going to use. Like my Chipotle-style burrito bowls, this is one of those fun meals that is easy for each person to customize for their tastes. I put a scoop of the meat and rice mixture in each bowl and let each kid top it the way they like.

For toppings, we like cilantro, avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, raw onion, or fresh tomato.

Are Rice and Beans Healthy?

These beef and rice bowls do contain two ingredients that I don’t use too often: rice and beans. Perhaps you will remember some of my previous posts that discuss the health issues of rice and beans.

I sub cauliflower rice in many of my recipes (such as this vegetable fried rice), but we do occasionally eat white rice as well. This is one of those recipes that I like rice in. Variety is the spice of life!

As for the beans, to each their own. When my autoimmune disorder was acting up, I couldn’t eat beans but now occasionally do. If you can tolerate beans, they can be a great source of nutrients and fiber as long as they’re fully cooked.

The Amazing Versatility of Leftovers

When you’re all about eating a real food diet, leftovers become one of your most valued commodities. Making use of leftover food saves so much time and money, so I’m always coming up with ways to repurpose last night’s dinner.

We eat a lot of egg scrambles and frittatas for breakfast and salads for lunch. We use the leftovers wrapped in lettuce leaves for tacos or made into a Mexican soup.

Cooking note: If you don’t have an Instant Pot, this recipe can be made in a skillet on the stove with just slight differences. Similar to this recipe, just simmer the salsa, broth, and rice in a covered skillet with the browned beef until the rice is tender.

New Thought: Take the Instant Pot Camping?

My whole family loves to camp (and I love the health benefits we get from it). Lately, I’ve been considering taking my Instant Pot camping with us this summer when we camp in a campground with electricity. It would be really handy to come back from a long afternoon at the beach or in the woods and be able to throw dinner together quickly. I plan to combine all the ingredients before leaving home and just dump them in the Instant Pot what it’s time to cook. I’ll let you know how it works out!

Has anyone else out there tried camp cooking with their Instant Pot? I’d love to hear about what you did.

Mexican Beef & Rice Bowls Recipe

A fast and filling meal of ground beef, rice, salsa, and black beans topped with your favorite taco toppings.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Calories 349kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

6 people

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Turn Instant Pot on the saute setting.
  • Heat oil in the bottom of Instant Pot and add beef, onion, chili powder, salt, and cumin.
  • Cook, stirring regularly, until meat is browned.
  • Stir in the broth, salsa, and rice.
  • Close the lid and set to sealing.
  • Select manual and set timer for 8 minutes.
  • After 8 minutes, manually release pressure by carefully switching the lid to “venting” instead of sealed.
  • Add black beans and stir to combine.
  • Serve with desired toppings.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Mexican Beef & Rice Bowls Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 349 Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 47mg16%
Sodium 1354mg59%
Potassium 871mg25%
Carbohydrates 45g15%
Fiber 7g29%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 26g52%
Vitamin A 550IU11%
Vitamin C 5mg6%
Calcium 77mg8%
Iron 4.2mg23%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Top with your favorite taco toppings such as shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, avocado, or sour cream.

What are your favorite one-pot Instant Pot meals? Please share below!

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

12 responses to “Mexican Beef and Rice Bowls (Instant Pot)”

  1. Tamara Mac Ginty Avatar
    Tamara Mac Ginty

    I have a pressure cooker and a slow cooker and don’t want to purchase another expensive piece of cooking equipment. When using the instapot in a recipe it would be very much appreciated to have a note of how to prepare if you don’t have an instapot, which most people don’t have. I know they are becoming popular but in a community of 100 people, I only know 2 people who have an instapot and they don’t actually use them.

  2. Karen Mitchell Avatar
    Karen Mitchell

    My family and I go to our state Homeschool conference every year, and stay at the hosting resort hotel. We always take our Instant Pot and make a meat entree the first day for lunch (taco lettuce cups), then eat as leftovers for dinner and lunch the next day. I try to use beef rather than chicken, as we aren’t crazy about IP chicken texture. Since the IP has a saute feature, I might try the Pakistani Kima with our left over beef for dinner, then add to cooked rice for a stir-fry for lunch. Our family treat is to eat dinner out the second night.

    1. Madeleine Loewen Avatar
      Madeleine Loewen

      Everytime I make this I get a burn notice. I thought it was because I used a larger model Instant Pot. But even in the regular sized one I have the same issue. I’ve even doubled the broth, and still I get the burn notice. Anyone else? What can I do to stop it?

  3. Marla Brannock Avatar
    Marla Brannock

    I use my IP camping all the time. It’s a huge help when it’s just me. I’m about to adapt this receipe to a piece of beef that I had left over. With yellow rice which is a bit lower in carbs. I’ll let you know.

  4. Jeanne Avatar
    Jeanne

    I’m just wondering if number 7 and 8 need to be switched in order to cook the black beans.

  5. Connie Avatar
    Connie

    5 stars
    Awesome! Only change I made was to increase the chili powder to 2 tsp , we like the extra boost of flavor. My husband who isn’t always so thrilled with being a guinea pig for new recipes loved this !!!

  6. Leah Avatar

    would it be all the same timing in a pressure cooker? Thanks! Going to try this out tomorrow evening.

  7. Angie Avatar

    Hi Katie!

    Do you think short-grain brown rice would work in this?

    Thanks,
    Angie 🙂

  8. Kari Avatar

    Do you prefer the white because of arsenic concerns in the brown?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating