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Green Chile Rice with Black Beans

Black beans are not usually added to this popular Mexican rice dish, but their addition makes it into a one-pot meal. Use whatever beans you have on hand, or leave them out if you want to serve this as a side dish.

By Del Sroufe,

Ingredients

  • 1 poblano chile pepper, seeded and diced small
  • One 4-ounce can mild green chiles
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
  • ½ cup spinach
  • 4 cups Vegetable Stock, or low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1½ cups medium-grain brown rice
  • 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced small
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
  • 2 cups cooked black beans, or one 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Add the poblano pepper, green chiles, cilantro, and spinach to a blender and puree. Add some of the Vegetable stock, as needed, to achieve a smooth consistency. Add the mixture to a medium saucepan with the remaining vegetable stock. Add the brown rice and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, covered, until the rice is tender, 45 to 50 minutes.
  • Place the onion in a large saucepan and sauté over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes. Add water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time to keep the onion from sticking to the pan. Add the cumin, jalapeño pepper, and black beans and cook for 5 minutes longer. Fold in the cooked rice and lime zest. Season with salt.

Comments (18)

(5 from 10 votes)

Recipe Rating

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Mercia Bailey

Loved this! I've been thinking about it since! Just sent hubby to the store to buy a poblano to make it again for lunch. Living in New Mexico for the last few years and incorporating these great flavors, we loved it. We cheated and used precooked rice and frozen chopped onions to save time. Hubby made it in a large skillet and it turned out great. I've tried to make it in the IP on the rice setting with rice that was not pre-cooked, but it wasn't done. Had to had more time. Will have to experiment with the Instant Pot more...

Sandy

So good! A great side dish or main.

Patrice

I’ll be sticking to my delish cilantro rice that had no flavor and the lime zest was too much I had to throw it away so disappointing:(

Barb

Loved this recipe!

Sammy

Can we try rice and beans in a different way?? This is a bit boring and expected. As an excellent staple for vegan living it would be great to change up the ingredients! It’s good but we need variety!

zoom

Nothing stopping you!

Trish

Decent. Needed something else which I couldn’t figure out what. It still made a nice, healthy meal though. Will make it again and play around with herbs and spices.

Marie Zeal

We enjoyed this meal! I didn't have the poblano or lime, but I used some small sweet peppers and lemon. Unique flavor, even though it needed salt and pepper (for my taste). My husband asked me to please make it again! Luckily, I doubled the recipe this time!

Meredith

This was so so good!!! My teen girls and hubby loved it! (And I have some seriously picky eaters!) The only changes I made were swapping out the rice for Farro and I put the jalapeños on the side for those of us that are spice challenged. Otherwise I followed the recipe to a T. I did add some avocado on mine for extra goodness though!

Hannah

Loved this recipe! I was out of long-grain brown rice, so used short-grain. It is delicious and filling. I have been eating it leftover all week, topped with salsa, green olives and avocado. I will definitely be making again in the future.

Terry

It needs more seasoning or maybe less rice? If I made again, I would only use 1 cup rice. Maybe add some additional taco type seasoning in addition to the 1 tsp cumin.

Clara J.

Starting on this journey today. Husband and I are commiting to two days a week and hope to progress from there. How long will this keep in the refrigerator? This looks like a good packed lunch for me this week. Excited for this.

Karen Hansberger

Experts would probably say 3 days, but I’d keep eating it for 5-7 haha

molly wieber

Really good - and smells incredible while it's cooking! It reminds me of a traditional Costa Rican dish (Caribbean rice and beans). The big difference is that the Costa Rican version uses coconut milk. I love coconut milk, and I keep my fats very low, so a little splurge happens from time to time...

Janet Macdonald

Good recipe? How can I make it in the Instant Pot?

Rich Shipley

I think you would just toss it all into the pot and set it for the rice setting. You could do the same on the stovetop, just like cooking rice. I always cook rice on the stovetop. My trick is to simmer it covered for half of the time called for... like 25 minutes rather than 50. After 25 minutes, I leave the lid on and turn the heat off for another 25 minutes. Perfect rice every time with no sticking or burning.

ian h.

What a quick and easy recipe. I love recipes like this that use items I often already have on hand in my pantry.

Sharon

I love this dish. I added a couple tomatillos and a SMALL handful of black olives. The family liked it as well. Thank you chef!

About the Author

Headshot of Def Sroufe

About the Author

Del Sroufe

Chef Del Sroufe is co-owner and executive chef of Wellness Forum Foods, a whole-food, plant-based meal delivery and catering service in Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook and Better Than Vegan. Del teaches cooking classes and helps people transition to a healthy plant-based diet.
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