Vegan Mexican Rice Bowl (super easy & colorful)

This colorful vegan Mexican rice bowl is filled with fresh flavor and great texture. This easy Mexican rice and beans recipe makes an easy and affordable everyday main dish. Contributed by Toni Okamoto, author of Plant-Based on a Budget.

Toni writes, “When I started writing this book, I knew I wanted it to be as healthful as possible while still delivering heaps of flavor. One of my typical swaps is white rice for brown rice. But, alas, in this recipe, it was just too much of a compromise on the flavor.

The truth is that Mexican rice is much, much tastier with white rice. Brown rice, while wonderful in other dishes, is just a letdown here. So I’m sticking to my white-rice guns in this Mexican Rice Bowl.”

Still, if you’re opposed to eating white rice, you can make this exact recipe using quinoa instead and it’s still really good.

Plant-Based on a Budget is available wherever books are sold

Recipe and photo from Plant-Based on a Budget: Delicious Vegan Recipes for Under $30 a Week, in Less Than 30 Minutes a Meal by Toni Okamoto (BenBella Books) ©2019, reprinted by permission. See more about this book following the recipe box.

Explore more …

• Vegan rice recipes from around the world
• Vegan Burrito Bowls
• Vegan avocado recipes.

Continue to Content

Yield: 2 to 4

Mexican Rice Bowl

Print

This colorful Mexican rice bowl is a feast of flavor, texture, and color.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Rice (or Quinoa) Base

• 1 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil
• ½ cup diced red, white, or yellow onion (about ½ medium onion)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 small cloves)
• 1 cup medium-grain white rice or quinoa
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• ½ to 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water

Bean Topping

• 1 (15-ounce) can black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup chopped lettuce or spinach
• 1 handful chopped tomato

Optional Additions (add any or all in step 3)

• 1 handful chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup corn kernels
• ¼ cup frozen peas and chopped carrots
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin

Optional Toppings:

• 1 avocado, sliced
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium pan with a lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes or until the onion becomes tender and translucent.
2. Add the uncooked rice (or quinoa) and cook until it’s golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the tomato sauce, salt, and water and stir. Stir in any or all of the optional ingredients at this point as well.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover the pan with a lid, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat. Fluff the rice (or quinoa) and serve it topped with the beans, lettuce, and tomato.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 319Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 477mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 9gSugar: 6gProtein: 12g

Nutrition data is always an estimate depending on program used to calculate and exact products used. This is given for informational purposes only and accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

More about Plant-Based on a Budget by Toni Okamoto

Between low-paying jobs, car troubles, student loans, vet bills, and trying to pay down credit card debt, Toni Okamoto spent most of her early adult life living paycheck to paycheck. So when she became a vegan at age 20, she worried: How would she be able to afford that kind of lifestyle change? Then she discovered how to be plant-based on a budget. 

Through her popular website (Plant-Based on a Budget), Toni has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to eat a plant-strong diet while saving money in the process. With Plant-Based on a Budget, going vegan is not only an attainable goal, but the best choice for your well-being, the planet—and your wallet. 

Toni’s guidance doesn’t just help you save money—it helps you save time, too. Every recipe in this book can be ready in around 30 minutes or less. 

Through her imaginative and incredibly customizable recipes, Toni empowers readers to make their own substitutions based on the ingredients they have on hand, reducing food waste in the process.

With a foreword by Michael Greger, MD, Plant-Based on a Budget gives you everything you need to make plant-based eating easy, accessible, and most of all, affordable.