One pot vegetarian chilli and rice bake

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Cheesy vegetarian chilli and rice bake in a white baking tray, shot from above

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.

Cheesy vegetarian chilli and rice bake shot from above, with a spoon taking a scoop

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!

A portion of cheesy vegetarian chilli and rice bake on a plate with salad

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.

A portion of cheesy vegetarian chilli and rice bake on a plate with salad, shot from above

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.

A portion of vegetarian chilli and rice bake on a plate with salad

One pot vegetarian chilli and rice bake

This vegetarian chilli and rice bake is all cooked up in one big baking dish – no pre-cooking required! Just mix all the raw ingredients, and bake.

If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!

4.77 from 21 votes
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories:
Author: Becca Heyes

Ingredients

  • 400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
  • 400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 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 (~ 2/3 cup) uncooked long-grain white rice
  • 400 g tinned tomatoes (~ 1 1/3 cups)
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp cayenne chilli pepper
  • Generous pinch black pepper
  • 150 ml (generous 1/2 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

If you have particularly hearty appetites, this dish will only serve 4!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
One pot vegetarian chilli and rice bake
Amount Per Serving (0 g)
Calories 0
% Daily Value*
Fat 0g0%
Saturated Fat 0g0%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 0mg0%
Potassium 0mg0%
Carbohydrates 0g0%
Fiber 0g0%
Sugar 0g0%
Protein 0g0%
Vitamin A 0IU0%
Vitamin C 0mg0%
Calcium 0mg0%
Iron 0mg0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.

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Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/6 of the recipe, not including any garnish or extras.

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38 Comments

  1. My vegetarian adult son loved this recipe, as did two others, we absolutely loved it too. Thank you for all your great recipes.

  2. 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 !!5 stars

  3. 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 ;)4 stars

  4. 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.5 stars

  5. 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.

  6. 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.4 stars

  7. 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.3 stars

  8. 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 :-)5 stars

  9. 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!5 stars

    1. 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