If you don’t have a pressure cooker, trust me, buy one. I know slow cookers are all the rage right now, but pressure cookers do what a slow cooker can do in minutes, instead of hours.
I’ve made Spanish Rice in my slow cooker many times. First browning the ground beef and vegetables on the stove and transferring them to the pot. What a waste of time. This recipe is 21 minutes from start to TABLE! Seriously! And it’s so much better than its slow cooker version.
Slow cookers make the ingredients mushy and gummy in my opinion. In the pressure cooker, this rice is cooked but not overdone, the vegetables still have some crispness to them, and the flavor is infused throughout the dish.
- 2 Tbl Olive Oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ green bell pepper, seeded, cored, and diced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 cups long grain white rice (uncooked)
- 29 oz tomato sauce
- 1-1/2 c water
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheese - Mexican or Cheddar
- 4 oz black olives
- Heat the olive oil in an electric pressure cooker on the browning setting. Add onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes.
- Add the ground beef. Break the beef up while you brown it. Cook until nearly cooked through.If necessary, drain of extra oil (I use very lean ground beef so it's not necessary) - total browning time about 9-10 minutes.
- Add rice and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tomato sauce, water, salt, and pepper. Seal and set on High Pressure for 6 minutes.
- Use the quick-release method (move to release steam and hold until fully released). Unlock and remove the cover. Check the rice. Not done enough for you? Put it back on High Pressure for 2 minutes.
- Spoon into serving dish and top with shredded cheese and black olives. Can be refrigerated or frozen at this point for another night or serve warm.
- To reheat: From thawed state, 350 oven for 30-45 minutes or until heated through (depends on depth of rice - deeper = more time, shallow = less). To heat from frozen - 350 for 1 hr 15 minutes or until heated through (or leave in refrigerator overnight to thaw and cook as above).
Have you tried pressure cooking? What’s holding you back?
I have tried this recipe twice, each time in a different Instant Pot, and I can’t get it to come to pressure so it begins scorching on the bottom. I’ve tried adding double the water…right now I’m on my second round of adding two additional minutes and more water since without coming to pressure, the rice isn’t done. I end up having to let it simmer to finish cooking the rice. Any suggestions or has anyone else experienced this?
I’m sorry that you’re having problems with the recipe. Have you tried using a natural release? But I’m curious, why isn’t your pot coming to pressure?
Thank you for your recipe! Since I had “banished” all white rice from our home(a personal issue), I had to use our long grain brown rice. Before adding the rice to the pressure cooker, I roasted the rice in a cast iron skillet. I then added it to the other ingredients and cooked it for 23 minutes and it turned out great!
Thank you so much for your recipe!
Judy H.
Colorado
I’m kind of new to pressure cooking. This recipe looks delicious and I’d love to makie it. I was wondering what I would need to change, if anything, if I were to omit the ground beef and just use this as a side dish? I have an electric p. cooker. thank you in advance!
The rice takes the same amount of time, just skip browning the ground beef. Good luck!
Beautiful photo! Really makes me want to try this one. Ground Beef is listed in the instructions, but I did not see it in the ingredient list. Do you use 1 lb.? Also, I have never used an electric pressure cooker. How do they differ from a stove top pressure cooker? I am assuming this recipe could be made in a regular, stove top pressure cooker? Thanks!
Oops! Yes, 1 lb ground beef 🙂 And yes, it could be made in a traditional pressure cooker, the timing might be a little different. Thanks for letting me know about the omission!
Hi Connie. Sorry I am so late to the SITS Tribe party. I never got my email until last night. That rice looks soooo amazing. I would never have thought of it as a pressure cooker recipe. Now I feel like going to the kitchen and making some. Yummy.
I love Spanish Rice! This looks amazing! Pinning for later 🙂
It’s delicious and not dry like many crockpot recipes are.