My Plant-Based Family

Eating Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet recipes, On a Budget.

Blog

Instant Pot Mexican Casserole

by 83 Comments

This is the cheat code for easy, vegan, oil-free, and gluten-free Instant Pot Mexican Casserole! Use dry beans without soaking or cooking ahead of time. With the Instant Pot, you can achieve the same slow-cooked flavors and textures of a traditional casserole in a fraction of the time. No need to babysit the stove or wait hours for your meal to be ready.

Additionally, this vegan Mexican casserole is a fantastic way to pack in a variety of nutrient-rich ingredients. From protein-packed beans, every bite is bursting with goodness. The bold and zesty flavors work great as a main dish or side dish.

The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole will amaze your family and impress your guests! This should be your go to plant-based recipe for your Instant Pot.

If you’ve tried my Crock Pot version or the Stove or Oven version, you know that this flavor combination is really good and really easy. Some people don’t like the texture of the rice when cooked in the Crock Pot. The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole comes out perfect every time; if you have a pressure cooker I challenge you to make this!

The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole will amaze your family and impress your guests! This should be your go to plant-based recipe for your Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Mexican Casserole

If your family is just starting to try plant-based living, this recipe is for you! You can enjoy it in a bowl topped with your favorite ingredients, wrapped in a tortilla, or with chips.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups uncooked brown rice
  • 1 cup uncooked dry beans (if you have trouble with beans not cooking enough, try soaking them first)
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 6 oz can of tomato paste (or 1 8 oz can tomato sauce with slightly less water)
  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt (optional)

Instructions

Step 1 – Add Ingredients

Dump all of the ingredients into your pressure cooker and stir once or twice.

Step 2 – Pressure Cook

Close the lid and cook on manual for 28 minutes.

Step 3 – Release Pressure

Once done, allow the pressure to come down and open carefully. If you are in a hurry you can do a quick release.

Step 4 – Serve

This meal can be eaten alone or served with tortillas or chips and salsa. It travels well making it perfect for lunch boxes.

This photo shows what it looks like right out of the pressure cooker! It’s quite a bit darker than the Crock Pot and Stove Top versions.

The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole will amaze your family and impress your guests! This should be your go to plant-based recipe for your Instant Pot.

A Note on Using Dry Beans

I’ve had feedback from some that their black beans are not soft enough after cooking. Most people do not have a problem. If this is the case for you, make sure you are using beans that are not old. Beans that have been in your pantry for a year will take longer to cook than fresh beans. (This is why I stopped buying giant bags of beans in bulk.)

The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole will amaze your family and impress your guests! This should be your go to plant-based recipe for your Instant Pot.

Also, hard water could make the beans cook more slowly. If your beans could be older or if you have hard water, I recommend soaking the beans in warm water before cooking.

If using beans other than black beans make sure you are cooking this long enough. The rice takes 28 minutes to cook but some beans may take longer. Consult the Instant Pot cooking guides and cook it as long as necessary.

The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole will amaze your family and impress your guests! This should be your go to plant-based recipe for your Instant Pot.

Customization Ideas for Mexican Casserole

Feel free to customize this vegan Mexican casserole with your favorite vegetables or beans. You can add diced zucchini, shredded carrots, or even cooked sweet potatoes for extra flavor and nutrients.

If you prefer a spicier dish, add a diced jalapeño or a pinch of red pepper flakes to the mix.

Experiment with different seasoning blends to suit your taste preferences. Smoked paprika, chipotle powder, or taco seasoning can add depth and complexity to the flavor profile.

For added richness, you can stir in a dollop of vegan cream cheese or cashew cream before serving.

More Plant-Based Instant Pot Recipes

If you love your Instant Pot as much as I do, here are some other great recipes to try. They save me so much time!

You might also find this information helpful on How to Clean an Instant Pot.

Yield: 6 Servings

Instant Pot Mexican Casserole

The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole will amaze your family and impress your guests! This should be your go to plant-based recipe for your Instant Pot.
5.0 Stars (1 Review)

The Instant Pot Mexican Casserole will amaze your family and impress your guests! This should be your go to plant-based recipe for your Instant Pot.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups uncooked brown rice
  • 1 cup uncooked dry beans
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 6 oz can of tomato paste (or 1 8 oz can tomato sauce with slightly less water)
  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt (optional)

Instructions

  1. Dump all of the ingredients into your pressure cooker and stir once or twice.
  2. Close the lid and cook on manual for 28 minutes.
  3. Once done, allow the pressure to come down and open carefully. If you are in a hurry you can do a quick release.

Notes

  • This meal can be eaten alone or served with tortillas or chips and salsa. It travels well and we often take it in our lunches.
  • If your beans are older than one year, soak them before cooking.

Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

© Holly Yzquierdo

Choose Your Own Adventure Meal Plan

by 1 Comment

When I was in elementary school in the 80s the Choose Your Own Adventure books were all the rage. If you are unfamiliar with these books I’ll explain. You would read to a certain point then it would say something like “If you want to fight the snow monster turn to page 75, if you want to disappear into the secret passage turn to page 87.”

I loved those books.

Today’s meal plan will be kind of like that. I’ll recommend a type of food and you can find your own recipe but I’ll offer some suggestions.

Plant Based Meal Plan

Choose Your Own Dinner

Veggie Pizza

Check out this Best Vegan Pizza Roundup by Meghan at Rootiful. For a quick solution try my One-Pot Pizza Pasta.

A Quinoa Recipe

Choose from Tacos, Salads, Wraps, Stir-Frys or even Breakfast!

Soup and Salad

I’ve got a great Salad Pinterest Board featuring some of my favorite bloggers. Pair one of those with one of my delicious soups.

Mexican Food

Choose one of my recipes or my Mexican Food Pinterest Board.

Kids Choice

If you have kids let them choose dinner. It may be the biggest adventure of all. If you don’t have kids enjoy a night out.

Now come back here and let me know what you choose for dinner! 

Strawberry Lemonade

by 5 Comments

I love short cuts in the kitchen. If there is an easier way of doing things I want to know.

My kids have been asking for “Lemon Juice” which is their way of asking for lemonade. We never buy the store-bought stuff. Last week a kid in our neighborhood was selling lemons door to door and I bought three; I appreciate a boy trying to earn a little cash. A lot of our neighbors have citrus trees but we don’t.

We have a Blendtec. Why not just peel the lemons and blend away? This probably wouldn’t work with an inexpensive blender, but if you have a Blendtec or a Vitamix you’re in business.

I’ll give a quick note, this recipe has a lot of room for variation. Start slowly adding a little at a time because lemons are different sizes, have differing amounts of juice and varying levels of tartness.

Strawberry Lemonade

Lazy Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients

  • 1-3 lemons (I used one giant lemon) peeled with seeds removed
  • 1 cup of strawberries with stems/leaves removed
  • water
  • sugar or other sweetener

Do

  1. Put lemons, strawberries, 2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of sugar in your Blendtec.
  2. Blend until everything is liquefied.
  3. Add another 2 cups or water and 1/4 cup of sugar (if desired) and blend. Repeat this step until your lemonade has the perfect sweet/sour mix.

I used 6 total cups of water and 3/4 cup of sugar for the whole pitcher. My starting lemon was the size of a grapefruit.

This is so easy I call it Lazy Strawberry Lemonade but you could leave out the strawberries and just have Lazy Lemonade.

Yield: 6 Servings

Strawberry Lemonade

Strawberry Lemonade
5.0 Stars (1 Review)

This is so easy I call it Lazy Strawberry Lemonade!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1-3 lemons (I used one giant lemon) peeled with seeds removed
  • 1 cup of strawberries with stems/leaves removed
  • water
  • sugar or other sweetener

Instructions

  1. Put lemons, strawberries, 2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of sugar in your Blendtec.
  2. Blend until everything is liquefied.
  3. Add another 2 cups or water and 1/4 cup of sugar (if desired) and blend. Repeat this step until your lemonade has the perfect sweet/sour mix.

Notes

This recipe has a lot of room for variation. Start slowly adding a little at a time because lemons are different sizes, have differing amounts of juice and varying levels of tartness.

Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

© Heather Mayes

A little bit of Winter and Spring Meal Plan

by Leave a Comment

You may be living in a cold place but this week will be in the 90s so this meal plan will straddle the seasons and have a variety  foods for warm and cold weather, hence the little bit of Winter and Spring Meal Plan. Our week seems fairly uneventful too, which is always good for cooking. I’m sure that will change but I can embrace it for now.

Winter Spring meal Plan

 

 

Winter and Spring Meal Plan

Breakfast and Lunch

I will definitely make my latest recipe, Triple Berry Porridge this week. Don’t get hung up on the name, it’s basically oatmeal, I just added a few more grains and called it porridge. It is fantastic!

Lunches will be sandwiches, baked potatoes, maybe a veggie soup and any other leftovers we end up with.

I may also make some dip to go with my veggies, I’m thinking Roasted Red Pepper Dip but I may try something else.

Dinner

Lentil Tacos (here is the Instant Pot version) with Mexican Rice

Potato Kale Soup

Veggie Fried Rice but I’ll add a lot more veggie like mushrooms, more carrots, more onions, greens, peppers, etc.

Green Chili, Cilantro and Lime Soup

If I need something else it will be a Soup or a casserole.

So let’s here it! Are you still in winter or leaning into spring?

Triple Berry Porridge

by 1 Comment

I use my Instant Pot all of the time for dinner but I wanted to use it for breakfast too. I’ve been trying to work a little more variety into our diets because for the last few months we’ve been eating the same things over and over. It’s all things we like but I know eventually we will get tired of it. The last time I was a Costco I found an organic quinoa, amaranth, millet blend and I really wanted to incorporate it into our meal plan.

Triple Berry Porridge

Breakfast was the perfect option! If you don’t have the quinoa, amaranth, millet blend you could use equal amounts of any grain with a similar outcome although cooking times may be affected. All of the grains I used were gluten-free.

Triple Berry Porridge gluten-free and vegan

Triple Berry Porridge

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Steel Cut Oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free)
  • 1/2 cup Quinoa Amaranth Millet Blend (I used Organic Quinoa Ancient Blend)
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 cups frozen organic berries (we buy a three berry blend at Costco)
  • Plant-milk as desired
  • Maple syrup, optional
  • Chia or hemp seeds, optional

Do

  1. Dump the oats, quinoa blend, water and berries into the Instant Pot.
  2. Close the lid and press Manual then use the arrows to select 10 minutes.
  3. Once cooked (and it beeps) press cancel or unplug and allow the pressure to release naturally.
  4. After the natural release, carefully open the lid and give it a good stir.
  5. Add plant-milk until you porridge reaches your preferred consistency. I like it thick but my sons like it thinned.
  6. Spoon the porridge into bowls and add optional ingredients like maple syrup, seeds and more berries.

You don’t have to have an Instant Pot to make this. You can cook it in a Crock Pot in about 7-8 hours or on the stove 20 to 30 minutes. Both will require more liquid.

This page contains affiliate links.

Meal Plan Monday: A Little Late

by Leave a Comment

I’m a little late with this week’s meal plan. I hope you don’t mind.

I had such a busy and great weekend that I was half way through my work day today when I realized I didn’t write or schedule the meal plan.

On Saturday I drove an hour to visit the lovely Mandi from Nosh and Nurture and a few of her friends. We baked a lot of gluten-free cookies!

We also had some house guests this weekend so it was louder than normal but really fun. We even managed to get our grocery shopping done this weekend!

produce

This is just part of our haul. We’ve got celery, peppers, limes, lemons, onions, mushrooms, honey dew melons, strawberries, black berries, kale, broccoli, black beans, lettuce and more!

Our week will just as busy as the weekend so we will be keeping meals simple. I’m only planning to cook 2-3 times and eat leftovers the rest of the time. I’ve been eating a lot of WOW Butter and Jelly Sandwiches lately.  This weekend our house guests really thought they were eating peanut butter, and didn’t believe it was peanut free.

A Plant-Based Vegan Meal Plan

Breakfast

Cereal, baked sweet potatoes, toasts and other leftovers.

Lunch

Mostly leftovers with the previously mentioned WOW Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. Most of the time I just do WOW Butter and apple slices in my sandwich and skip the jelly.

Dinner

Pasta with the Stuffed Mushroom filling. I’ll save time and just mix it all together instead of filling the mushrooms. It’s perfectly delicious and just a bit easier that way. We’ll have some raw veggies on the side.

Mexican Casserole was requested by my husband. Have you made this yet? It’s truly his favorite and makes great leftovers.

Veggie Pad Thai because it is my favorite thing right now! I can’t get enough and I eat more than I should. Double of the recipes and it will go farther.

If those meals don’t get me through the week I’ll supplement with Bean Burritos using Unfried Black Beans (from the freezer), Cilantro Lime Quinoa or Rice, and Pico de Gallo or maybe Roasted Salsa.

I’ll probably make a few baked potatoes to have on hand as well. I like to have the ready. I’ll slice them into wedges for my boys lunches or pour beans over it for a quick lunch.

What are you eating this week?

This post contains affiliate links.