One Pot Baked Fajita Rice
As you may know, I adore all things Tex-Mex. It’s hard to go wrong with plenty of veggies, black beans (the GOAT of all legumes), rice, gooey cheese, and a bit of tasty spice to bring everything to life. And this baked fajita rice has all of the above!
Best of all, it’s super easy to make, because everything cooks at the same time in a big baking dish (got to love a one pot meal). Just mix everything together – including raw veggies and uncooked rice! – and come back half an hour later to find your dinner has cooked itself. If that isn’t appealing, I don’t know what is.

All of my favourite vegetarian Tex-Mex recipes are easy to adapt, because you can usually swap in different vegetables if you like, and adjust the spice level to your preferences. Plus, you can top your meal with whatever you like – I served my baked rice with a couple of good dollops of sour cream and guacamole.

⭐️ What Makes it Fajita Rice?
I’ve called this baked rice ‘fajita rice’, because it’s reminiscent of my favourite vegetarian fajitas, and it uses my favourite fajita veggies – peppers and red onion. Some mushrooms would also be great in this!
I also added some black beans for extra vegetarian protein, and swapped the tortilla that you’d usually use to wrap up your fajitas for some rice instead. If you’re bored of your usual fajitas, this is a great way to mix things up a bit!

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🥗 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

- rice – any long grain white rice will be fine. I used basmati rice.
- black beans (canned)
- fajita-style vegetables – I used peppers and red onion. Mushrooms would also work really well, or whatever else you usually like to serve in vegetarian fajitas.
- canned tomatoes
- vegetable stock – I used a stock cube (plus water), but you could use the equivalent amount of liquid stock if you prefer.
- spices – I used smoked paprika, chilli powder and ground cumin, which is my favourite combination for Tex-Mex recipes (you can find all three in my homemade enchilada sauce recipe too!).
- grated cheese – I used mozzarella as I find it melts really nicely.

Becca’s Top Tip
I love serving this baked rice with some extra toppings, like sour cream, guacamole, some chopped cilantro or spring onions, or sliced avocado. So remember to buy whatever toppings you’d like as well!
📹 Recipe Video

🖨️ Printable Instructions

One Pot Baked Fajita Rice
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1 red onion, sliced or diced
- 2 bell peppers, sliced or diced (I used red and orange)
- 300 g (~ 10 1/2 oz / ~ 1 1/2 cups) long grain white rice (I used basmati rice)
- 400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin (~ 1 1/3 cups) chopped tomatoes
- 500 ml (~ 2 cups) vegetable stock (I used a crumbled stock cube and water)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 150 g (~ 1 1/2 cups) grated mozzarella cheese
- To serve: sour cream, guacamole, cilantro, etc. (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4 / 350°F). Add the sliced red onion and peppers to a large baking dish – mine measured approximately 11 x 9 inches, and was quite deep. If you don't have a large enough baking dish, you'll need to spread the ingredients across two dishes.
- Add all the other ingredients, apart from the mozzarella cheese.
- Mix well to combine, making sure the rice is submerged in liquid.
- Bake for around 30 minutes, then mix well. The rice should be almost cooked.
- Top with grated mozzarella, and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes, or until the cheese has crisped up to your liking. Serve with guacamole, sour cream, or any other additional toppings, if you like.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
💭 Recipe FAQs
If needed, you can mix all the ingredients in advance, store in the fridge, then bake just before serving.
This baked rice can easily be reheated in the microwave until piping hot. Be aware that rice must be stored in the fridge as soon as it has cooled, for up to 2 days, and reheated thoroughly to avoid food poisoning.
This recipe already contains protein, carbs and vegetables, so it’s a full meal on its own. However, I love to serve it with some guacamole and sour cream on the side, to add interest. A green salad would also be a great side dish for this recipe.
Sure – just swap the mozzarella cheese for your favourite vegan cheese. The rest of the recipe is already vegan.
I’ve used the same sized dish exactly and followed the recipe but after 30 mins the rice and veg are nowhere near done, I’ve now added more stock and put back in oven. Would be grateful for any thoughts as to why it’s gone wrong
The vegetables should definitely be soft enough after 30 minutes in the oven! Rice can vary a bit depending on what kind you’re using, but if it’s not done after 30 minutes, you did the right thing – just a little extra liquid and a bit longer in the oven :)
I always use brown basmati rice. Do I need to adjust the amount of liquid when using brown basmati rice, or increase the cooking time?
Yes brown rice often takes longer to cook and needs a bit more water than white. So I’d add a little extra water and then just monitor it as it cooks. If it starts to dry up just add a splash of water and repeat until the rice is cooked :)
Becca you did it again! Fantastic.
Thanks Wini! :D
Great easy to follow recipe. Made it vegan with dairy free cheese and served it up with sliced avocado and homemade salsa – delicious 😋
Good to hear, thanks Jo!
Quick question, should you cover the dish or leave uncovered?
I left mine uncovered :)
Delicious!
Easy to assemble, and cook.
I used the slow cooked caramelised onions (from the website) that I had previously made and frozen.
I used about 300ml more than the recipe says as we like ours a bit saucy.
I also like that it can be previously assembled and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to cook later.
Thanks Jody! I love the idea of adding the caramelised onions – sounds so yummy! I’ll drop the link here for anyone else who wants to try them – https://www.easycheesyvegetarian.com/slow-cooker-caramelised-onions/
I tried this recipe out today. It was a big hit with everyone. I made two separate dishes, as I used cheese topping on one and left the other without. My vegan companions are not keen on vegan cheese as a substitute. Will definitely make it again.
I have made loads of Becca’s recipes, and love them all.
Sounds great, thanks so much Avril! :)
Made this last night , worked beautifully! So delicious thank you!
Please give air fryer details
I can’t afford to heat a big oven for a meal for just me
Hi Susan, I haven’t tried cooking this one in the air fryer, and the recipe makes such a big batch that I don’t think it would fit in most air fryers. I’d also be wary of baking rice in the air fryer as it needs to be cooked fairly long to cook properly, and I would worry that the heat in an air fryer would be too intense for it. This recipe does make 4 decent portions though so if you’re just cooking for yourself you’d only need to heat the oven up once and you could be fed for a few days :)
Was quite looking forwards to this when it popped into my inbox today.
The fluid to rice ratio seems really off. Been cooking for over an hour now still practically raw rice and fluid now dried up.
Gone in the bin. Waste of money.
Sorry it didn’t work for you Steve! I do find that rice can vary quite a lot depending on what brand you use, or even what country you’re in. For future reference though, you certainly don’t need to put the whole lot in the bin – just add a bit more water?!