Vegetarian chilli and rice is one of my favourite dinners. It's hearty and filling, but can also feel summery if you lighten it up with a nice big salad. It's sooo delicious - I think I could eat Mexican food every single day without getting bored. And it's actually pretty healthy too, with lots of veggies and protein-rich beans (just don't think too hard about all that cheese and sour cream you stick on top...).
To make my old favourite even easier to prepare, I thought I'd make an oven-baked version. This vegetarian chilli and rice bake is all done in one big baking dish, and the rice is cooked right in with the chilli - no pre-cooking required! Just mix together the raw ingredients, and bake. Bish bash bosh.
This recipe is a great pantry dish, too. You know those days when you haven't been shopping in a week, and the fridge is nearly bare? Or when you've just got back from holiday, and haven't managed to make it down to the shops yet? This vegetarian chilli and rice bake is perfect.
You don't need a well-stocked fridge, just a few basic vegetables (and to be honest, you could easily just chuck in some frozen veg instead if you needed to), and pretty much everything else can come straight from the kitchen cupboard. Tins of beans, sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes, rice - chuck it all in, and give it a good stir. Feel free to adjust the spices depending on what you have in the cupboard and how hot you like your chilli!
Of course, no chilli is complete without a good handful of cheese on top. And what's the only thing better than melty cheese? Crispy cheese! You can cook your chilli and rice bake for as long as you need to get your cheese just as crispy as you like it.
This vegetarian chilli and rice bake is a meal all in one, but if you're feeling a bit fancy, some garnish and a few tasty bits on the side are always welcome. Fresh coriander (cilantro), some slices of avocado or some guacamole, a big dollop of sour cream... all perfect for bringing Mexican food to life!
The recipe serve 6, so my husband and I will be eating this for the next couple of nights... but I can't say I mind one bit.
📖 Printable Recipe
One pot vegetarian chilli and rice bake
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 ¼ cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 ¼ cups, when drained)
- 200 g tin sweetcorn, drained (160g, or ~ 1 cup, when drained)
- 1 bell pepper, diced (I used red)
- 5 medium mushrooms, diced fairly small
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 150 g (~ ⅔ cup) uncooked long-grain white rice
- 400 g tinned tomatoes (~ 1 ⅓ cups)
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon cayenne chilli pepper
- Generous pinch black pepper
- 150 ml (generous ½ cup) vegetable stock
- 100 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 cup when grated)
- To serve: fresh coriander (cilantro), avocado, salad, sour cream, etc. (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
- Add the first 13 ingredients (black beans through vegetable stock) to a large baking dish, and mix thoroughly. Remember the rice will expand as it cooks, so make sure the mixture doesn't completely fill the dish at this stage.
- Cover the dish with foil, and bake for around an hour, or until the rice is almost entirely cooked.
- Remove the foil, and add the grated cheese. Bake again for a further 15 minutes, or until the cheese has crisped up to your liking. Serve with fresh coriander (cilantro), and your choice of extras (avocado, sour cream, etc.).
Notes
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.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for ⅙ of the recipe, not including any garnish or extras.
Love vegetarian Tex-Mex recipes? Here are 40+ more to choose from!
Anita says
Great weekday dinner.
(Hubby has sliced beef under his)
Srores well and delicious cold for lunch the next day.
Simple to set up - leave and enjoy.
We use up any sad vegetables in the fridge - not tried the cheese on top yet !!
Becca Heyes says
Thanks Anita, glad you liked it! :)
Mali Nikoline says
I just made this, really good! I adjusted a bit, used premade Taco Spice mix, lots of mushroom since I didnt have Bell pepper. Turned out great in my cute little Le Creuset, little on the liquid side in a regular baking dish, but I expect that was due to the 8 mushrooms ;)
Becca Heyes says
Thanks Mali, glad you were able to make it your own! :)
Stuart says
Great recipe, had this one bookmarked for a while, only just got round to trying it yesterday, it's definitely a keeper, really easy to make too. Will be making your curried version of this next for sure. Keep up the good work, some excellent ideas on here, one of my new favourite veggie recipe sites, thanks for sharing.
Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says
Thanks so much Stuart! Glad you enjoyed it, hope you enjoy the curry one too :)
Amy Engelhardtt says
I love your vegetarian Tex-Mex recipes even though I am a meat eater. The only problem I have ins I only cook for me myself and I (aka only one person-me). So, as such, could your recipes be frozen? Just curious.
Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says
Thank you :) It depends on the recipe! I would have thought this one would freeze ok, it might just be slightly drier second time round, but add a good dollop of sour cream on the side and you should be fine :)
Debbie says
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes and easy to follow website.
I'm a meat eater, but we have vegetarian friends coming to stay, so I'm busily researching veggie dishes and meal plans for vegetarian / meat eaters eating together.
Your web site has really helped me with helpful information and great recipes. Any additional hints and tips greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says
You're welcome! This might help you too! :) https://www.easycheesyvegetarian.com/vegetarians-and-meat-eaters/
CruznV says
I have a request and I'm sure it is a frustration for others too. Could you please, include the exact baking dish size you use in your recipes. Size of dish makes all the difference in how well a baked recipe turns out. So please start to put baking dish size in your recipes. Preferably in inches, but centimeters would work too or if using a loaf or round casserole baking dish specify quart or litre size. Other than that frustration, I enjoy many of your vegan recipes or your other recipes I veganize.
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Apologies, this one measures around 11 x 9 inches. The vast majority of my recipes do contain the dish size, I just obviously forgot this time - there's an awful lot to remember when writing a blog post ;)
Tara says
I made this recipe tonight and absolutely loved it, thank you! I've been working my way through your recipes for the last couple of months and love everything, your recipes are a guaranteed winner in my house :-)
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Thanks so much Tara, you've made my day :)
Marubi says
As some other comments mentioned I will also scale up the spice a little bot next time, and there will most assuredly be a next time because this is genious! So incredibly easy and the perfect rice-to-sauce-to-veggie ratio! And of course the cheese on the top, just making it perfect :) thank you for the recipe!
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Thanks Marubi! I always figure it's better to make my recipes a little less spicy so people can add more if they want to - better than making them too spicy so they have to be thrown away! :) So glad you enjoyed this :D