Sometimes a dump-and-bake casserole is just the thing you need! And this Chipotle Brown Rice Bake is exactly that. There’s no need to pre-cook rice or sauté separately, just use pantry and freezer-friendly ingredients to make this dish!

Of course, I’m still bringing you recipes that are quarantine-friendly, right now! So, two days ago, I asked y’all, “What ingredients in your pantry do you need help with?” Some of the more common responses I saw were brown rice, buckwheat, split peas, millet, and a couple others. Lucky for you, I have a lot of those covered!

For buckwheat I love my PB&J Granola, and for split peas try my unconventional Chocolate protein ice cream! For millet, I have a stuffing recipe, but may need to work on something else in that category. Oh! And I have a pretty unique buckwheat recipe from Vegan Yack Attack on the Go!, that I’ll be sharing in my newsletter soon. So, make sure to subscribe not to miss out!

Now, here’s a breakdown of what’s in this recipe from the pantry and from the freezer, plus some substitution options.

Pantry ingredients:

• Short grain brown rice – can be subbed with many grains, you may need to adjust cooking time, though!
• Canned tomato sauce
• Canned black beans – pinto beans or chickpeas could also work well in this recipe.
• Chili in adobo sauce – if you’re not into spicy, try canned green chiles instead!
• Canned jumbo olives – green olives could also work, or just leave out and adjust salt to taste.
• Vegetable broth/bouillon
• Red onion – yellow onion would work just fine here!
• Ground cumin, dried oregano, and salt!

Freezer ingredients:

• Frozen corn – you can use canned corn and drain it instead (not creamed), if that’s what you have.
• Frozen chopped kale – chopped spinach works just fine, or adding two cups fresh baby spinach.

I’m trying to be as accommodating as possible, especially since we can’t just run to the store! So, hopefully this Chipotle Brown Rice Bake is at the very least a delicious jump-off point for you. Corey, who is a picky eater, was suspicious of it, based on looks. But, once I got him to try some he was into it! (and he usually dislikes brown rice) Personally, I like the slight chew it offers this dish!

As you can see in the pictures, I had some avocado on hand, plus cut green onions from the garden. If you’ve never re-grown green onion from scraps it’s so easy! No garden is necessary, just a jar with water. And the avocado isn’t absolutely essential to enjoying this dish, just a nice bonus.

Continue to Content

Chipotle Brown Rice Bake

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour20 minutes

There's no need to pre-cook rice or sauté separately, just use pantry and freezer-friendly ingredients for this Chipotle Brown Rice Bake!

Print

Ingredients

• 2 cups (390 g) short grain brown rice
• 15-ounce (425 g) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup (135 g) diced red onion
• 1 cup (134 g) frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup (88 g) frozen chopped kale or spinach pieces
• 1/2 cup (60 g) sliced black olives
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced with seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon (14 g) adobo sauce from can, or to taste/spice threshold
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 cups (710 ml) low or no-sodium vegetable broth*, heated to boiling hot
• 15-ounce (425 g) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 large avocado, diced (optional)
• 2 tablespoons (3 g) diced green onion or cilantro (optional)
• Lime wedges, optional*

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4), and spray a 9x13-inch (23x33 cm) baking dish with a light coating of cooking oil.
2. Next, dump rice, black beans, onion, corn, kale, olives, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, cumin, salt, and oregano into the baking dish. Stir together to evenly combine, then add vegetable broth and tomato sauce, stirring again to evenly combine.
3. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Then, take dish out, give it a stir (the rice settles to the bottom otherwise), cover with foil again and bake for 20 more minutes.
4. If the rice looks to be cooked through, remove foil from dish and bake for another 10 minutes. If the rice needs more time, try cooking another 5 to 10 minutes before uncovering.
5. Once the bake is done, take it out of the oven and wait 5 minutes before topping with avocado and green onion, then serving. Squeeze a lime wedge over the top and enjoy!

Notes

*If you do not have low or no-sodium vegetable broth/bouillon on hand, just adjust the salt added to 1/4 teaspoon or to taste.

*If you don't have lime or lemon wedges on hand, try stirring 2-3 teaspoons (10 ml) white vinegar into the ingredients before baking. The acid really helps balance the flavors.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 579Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCarbohydrates: 112gFiber: 17gSugar: 13gProtein: 16g

The nutrition information is calculated by a plug-in, and isn't always accurate. Please calculate your own with the products that you use, as it will be different for everyone.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

I realize that I haven’t asked my readers on here what ingredients they could use help with! If this Chipotle Brown Rice Bake doesn’t check off your list, tell me in the comments what would. Looks like we have a few more weeks of this and I want to be as helpful as I can! <3

This post includes an affiliate link.