This One-Pot Spicy Vegetable Rice is our go-to favourite mid-week dinner. 30 minutes & one pot is all that is standing between you & a big bowl full of deliciously spiced, flavourful rice studded with sweet, soft veggies.
I have been making this One-Pot Spicy Vegetable Rice for years and years and it is one of our favourite mid week, quick and easy dinners.
Smoked paprika and turmeric are two of my favourite spices and they marry together beautifully in this very flavourful dish. The colours are lovely too with the rich mustardy yellow and the reds, greens and yellows from the veggies.
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The bell peppers become super sweet and the grape tomatoes give bursts of flavour in each bite. We love it served with some spicy Field Roast Sausage!
How to make Spicy Vegetable Rice
Step 1 - Prep and chop the veggies then saute them in a pan.
Step 2 - Add the rice, spices, seasonings and water. Stir well and simmer until the rice is tender.
That's all there is to it. It's such an easy, straightforward meal.
Possible variations
Bell peppers, onions and garlic are essential to the flavour in this recipe but the other vegetables are pretty flexible. Replace them with whatever you have in your fridge or customize to suit your tastes. As long as you use roughly the same quantities all will be good. Even frozen veg works well.
If you have young children or someone who doesn't like spicy food you can easily omit the chili from this recipe to make it 'un-spicy' rice. I do it all the time when we have guests who are a little sensitive to heat.
If you do omit the chili, to keep those that want some heat happy, just put a bottle of great hot sauce on the table so that they can add it to their individual bowls once it's served.
Storage and reheating tips
If you end up with any leftovers they reheat really well in the microwave. It keeps well in the fridge for a day or two. When reheating I add a few drops of water to stop the rice drying out.
Try repurposing it into burritos. One of our favourite ways to use the leftovers!
Hungry for more?
For more vegan rice recipes, check out these great options:
- Oven Baked Garlic Mushroom Rice
- Garlic Mushroom Vegan Risotto
- Teriyaki Instant Pot Rice
- Easy Savoury Rice
- Mushroom Fried Rice
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📖 Recipe
One-Pot Spicy Vegetable Rice
Author:Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
- 1 medium onion , chopped finely
- 3 medium carrots , chopped into small pieces
- 4 cloves garlic , chopped finely
- 2 large bell peppers , cut into large chunks, (red, yellow or orange are best in this)
- 150g | 1 cup frozen peas (or chopped green beans)
- 150g | 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes , or chili flakes, or a small fresh or dried chili chopped
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (you can sub this for chipotle powder)
- 250g | 1 ¼ uncooked long grain rice , white or brown, standard, basmati or jasmine is all fine
- 600mls | 2½ cups water , plus more if needed
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
- Saute the onions until translucent. If you do not wish to use oil then use can dry fry them or use a drop of water instead.
- Add the carrots, garlic and bell peppers and continue cooking for a few minutes.
- Add the rice, tomatoes, peas, spices, seasoning and water.
- Cook until the liquid starts to bubble, give it a real good stir, turn down low, cover with a lid and cook until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, stirring occasionally. If it gets to the stage where the water is absorbed and the rice isn't quite tender, you can boil a kettle and add another ¼ cup or so of water to finish it off.
- Serve immediately.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Graeme says
I've just finished cooking this and I'm eating it now. What an amazing find, and as you've hinted in the other comments so easy to make slight variations and still be good. This will definitely be a staple for me now.
Rosey says
I tried this recipe out tonight and absolutely loved it. It was so easy to prepare and was so full of flavour. I added cumin and mustard seeds for a bit of extra flavour. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Col Ayers says
Great recipe, I was surprised how easy it was to make too!
We added chopped herbs at the end and had it with chicken peri peri - delicious!
Beth says
I omitted the red pepper flakes, used just one red bell pepper because the pepper was huge, and I forgot to add in the frozen peas, but the rice dish was still very tasty.
I used basmati rice and once the lid was on, it took 20 minutes to cook and for the rice to absorb nearly all the water. I stirred occasionally and the rice didn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot!
The recipe is totally delicious as is, but I would love to know if you have any spice/seasoning suggestions for how to change this up flavor-wise. (Maybe even other vegetable combinations). I'm just not good at spice pairings and things like that.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm glad you enjoyed it Beth. With this recipe just about any vegetable goes. I use it as a clear out the fridge type meal. It's perfect for using veggies that are just passed their best. Greens like kale and spinach are particularly good in it, just stir them through 5 minutes before serving because they don't need much cooking. And mushrooms too.
As for spices, you can do a curry version with curry powder instead of turmeric and smoked paprika and maybe throw in some golden raisins or sultanas and a sprinkle of flaked almonds to serve. Cumin works well. A mix of cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, and turmeric would be nice, a bay leaf tucked in there as it cooks would be lovely. There's saffron, thyme and oregano too. It's a really good recipe to make your own!
Hope that helps!
Phillip says
Wow! Nice recipe. THANKS
Lindsay says
Really easy and tasty. We love spicy food and this will be on a regular rotation now.
Marta Lynch says
Unfortunately this was not a hit with my family or myself. Combination of flavors and textures were not appealing despite our love for spicy dishes.
Tim Smith says
Cooked it recently. Fabulous. Was eating leftovers all week. Simple, tasty, perfect.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Tim. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
M.A. says
This has become my favorite Clean-Out-the-Vegetable-Bin-the-Night-Before-Going-to-the-Farmers'-Market recipe! At last, something to do with that handful of sad mushrooms and the last 4 brussels sprouts. Quick, easy, and good, my favorite kind of food.
Melanie McDonald says
I'm glad you are enjoying it! I tend to use this recipe in exactly the same way. So handy for using up odds and ends!
Tamara says
Such a great recipe. We loved it!
Jillian says
This recipe is super easy and very very tasty. I like the fact that Mel's instructions are so easy to follow. Will add this one to my favourites. Definitely recommend for a great meal.
Adam says
Hello,
I apologize if this question is answered somewhere and I missed it. My wife is a vegetarian and loves spicy dishes. I do most of the cooking, so I am always looking for new dishes to try. I'm excited to try this one for her. I didn't see in the recipe about type of rice. When you made this, did you use regular white rice or instant?
Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
Always regular rice in all of my recipes. If you were to use instant rice the water quantities would be off. Any long grain white rice will do, standard or basmati or jasmine, and brown rice is ok too, it will just take a little longer to cook through.
Dan says
Hi, I'm new to cooking fresh (trying to get away from tv dinners). This sounds great but I'm a bit confused about the directions. The directions say use a large pan starting with the onions and adding everything else. But that would have to be a really BIG pan to fit all that. Should it be that you use the pan to cook the veges and at some point everything would go into a pot to cook? What then do you add the rice to? Would it be a pot? I learned to cook rice separately but are you saying that after cooking the onions, carrots and other veges you should add those and the (dry uncooked) rice to a pot with 2.5 cups water and cook the rice with everything else in there with it? Thanks very much!
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes that's what I'm saying. It all gets cooked in one pot together. It doesn't have to be an absolutely huge pot. I use a large sauté pan. You can kind of see it in the pictures.