This Tex Mex Rice Casserole makes for a delicious one-pan meal your whole family will love! It’s family-friendly, budget-friendly, gluten-free, packed with simple and easily modifiable ingredients! Also perfect for meal prep. Gluten-free nutfree soyfree

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: dinner, Main Course
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • ½ cup of chopped red bell pepper
  • ½ cup chopped green pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3/4 cup of washed and soaked white rice (, I use white basmati rice soaked for 10 mins then drained)
  • 1/4 cup of dried red lentils (or split red lentils)
  • 1 cup cooked black beans or use entire 15 ounce can or 1 1/4 cups cooked
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder blend of choice (less or more to preference)
  • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper flakes or powder
  • ¼ teaspoon each red pepper flakes and black pepper (omit if you want less heat)
  • 1 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 teaspoons hot sauce or use 3 teaspoons for spicier
  • 14 ounce can of diced tomato or use 1 to 1 ½ cups of salsa or tomato pasta sauce of choice
  • ½ teaspoon salt (, less or more based on salt content of the liquid used)
  • 1 3/4 cups water or veggie broth (2 cups if the tomatoes or salsa is less moist)

To top the casserole:

  • ½ cup vegan cheddar cheese or other cheese of choice
  • 2 tablespoons sliced pickled jalapeno
  • Cilantro, (green onion and lemon juice for garnish)
  • tortilla chips for serving

Method

  1. In a 9x11 or similar sized baking dish brush the 1 teaspoon oil on the baking dish then add the onion, bell peppers, cumin, bay leaves and salt. Mix well then drizzle the remaining oil on top and mix lightly again.
  2. Then bake at 400F (205C) for 9-12 minutes or until mixture is starting to get golden.
  3. Remove the dish from the oven then add in the spices and tomatoes and mix in, then add the rest of the ingredients, drained rice and mix really well with the spatula. Cover with foil or parchment or a clean baking dish and put it back to bake for 30-35 minutes.
  4. Remove from the oven, take off the sheet or the foil. Fluff the rice a little bit then top it with cheese, pickled jalapeno and put back in oven for the cheese to melt. You can also add some fresh jalapeño or serrano pepper slices. Broil it for 2-3 minutes until the cheese has melted.
  5. Then take it out of the oven, garnish with cilantro, green onion, lime juice and serve.
  6. Serve as it is or you can serve it with salsa or guacamole and some tortilla chips

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.