This easy one pot vegan southwest rice is ready in just 30 minutes! Flavorful with easy cleanup is always a win for a new favorite meal!
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Anytime you are able to make dinner in a one pot dish, you know you’re going to love it. And this one pot vegan southwest rice is no different.
You will be amazed at how much flavorful you are able to get in under 30 minutes and it will surprise you how much of a hit this simple dish can be for everyone.
This dish pairs perfectly with our homemade vegan tortillas.
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Why You’ll Love This Dish
- Simple – Cooking is the longest part of this dish, which means you just have to wait but the dish itself is very simple.
- Easy Clean up – This is made in one pot so it’s super easy to clean up the recipe when finished making.
- Allergy-Friendly – This base of this dish is completely Top 9 allergen free. The optional vegan cashew queso can be swapped with our vegan nacho cheese which is top 8 allergen free.
🥘Recipe Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
- Cashews – If you are making the recommend cashew queso for this recipe, you will want to use raw cashews. These are cashews that have been cooked, but not roasted or salted. Raw cashews have a neutral base without adding additional flavor.
- Sweet Potatoes – we are using orange sweet potatoes for this recipe and leaving the skin on is optional for this dish. It’s best to cut the potatoes in small bite sized pieces so that is cooks faster.
- Brown Rice – this whole grain is the perfect option for this dish. We do recommend pre-cooked day old rice for this recipe, similar to how you’d make fried rice.
- Salsa Verde – this translates to green salsa and the main ingredient is typically tomatillos (small green tomatoes) versus traditional salsa made with red tomatoes
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Cashews – If you cannot have cashews or they are too expensive, we recommend making our vegan nacho cheese which uses beans as the base
- Sweet Potatoes – purple sweet potatoes or white/yellow potatoes could also be used in this dish
- Brown Rice – white rice or other grains like wild rice or quinoa, or even something like lentils could be used in this dish as well
- Black Beans – other beans like pinto or kidney could be used
- Salsa Verde – traditional salsa could be subbed in here
- Spices – if you are looking for a quick sub out for the spices, you could do a taco seasoning mix
- Other Vegetables or Additions – other things to add could be spinach or kale, mushrooms, tofu, chickpeas, and more
Step by Step Instructions for vegan southwest rice:
Step 1. If making, add all the ingredients for the cashew queso into a high speed blender.
Step 2. Blend until creamy and smooth, scraping down the sides if needed for your blender.
Step 3. Add cubed sweet potatoes and saute them until starting to soften. You’ll want some browning on some of the sides.
Step 4. Add in the remaining ingredients – cooked rice, salsa, beans, spices and then stir together.
Step 5. Let cook until heated through.
Recipe FAQs:
Instead of the cashew queso, make our vegan nacho cheese and this recipe will be Top 9 Allergen Free.
Yes. Once cooled completely, you can store in an air tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Yes. Use a large skillet to cook this recipe.
Yes, you can make and freeze this recipe ahead of time.
Other Vegan Rice Recipes to Consider:
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One Pot Vegan Southwest Rice
Ingredients
For the cashew queso (optional)*
- 2 cups raw cashews (not roasted)
- ¾ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ -2 cups unsweetened dairy free milk
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 1 Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano if you can find it)
For the Rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed small
- 3 tbsp water
- 3 cups cooked brown rice
- ½ cup salsa verde
- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 oz can diced green chilis (mild for lower spice or hot for spicier)
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepepr
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
- 1 zest and juice of 1 lime
- 2-3 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Pour all ingredients for cashew queso into a high powered blender. Blend for 5 minutes or until a thickened, creamy, well-combined sauce.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil. When hot, add in sweet potatoes and stir to coat. Season with salt to taste. Sauté for 6-8 minutes. Add water into the skillet, then cover and let steam until for about 4 – 6 minutes or until fork tender. Cook time may very pending the size of the diced potatoes.
- Add in remaining ingredients to the skillet. Stir it all together making sure everything is completely combined. Add in ¼-1/2 cup of the cheese sauce and let the mixture heat through, stirring occasionally (about 3-5 minutes). Serve topped with additional cheese sauce, avocado, plant sour cream and more!
Great taste. Quick and easy to make
So glad you enjoyed!
so, I’ve never used nutritional yeast for anything but I made this dinner tonight and my meat eating husband (he hasn’t eaten meat in a month though 😁) loved it!! the “cheese” sauce is amazing! He was eating it with a spoon! I also added a zucchini and some fresh spinach. The whole dinner was so good! Thank you for these amazing recipes!!
That’s wonderful!
Would the queso freeze ok?
Yes it will!