Mexican Black Bean Rice with Spicy Sausage. Vegan. Gluten-Free.

In today’s post, I’m sharing a recipe for a savoury rice dish that’s simple to prepare, budget-friendly and ready in just 35 minutes. It’s been a big hit with my family and I hope you enjoy it too!

The inspiration for this dish was a picture that caught my eye in last month’s Vegan Life magazine for Arroz Con No-Pollo (a veganized version of the traditional chicken rice dish).

I was going to make the dish as per the instructions, though substitute sausage for tempeh as my family aren’t keen on it.

As I started making it, however, I soon found myself in my ‘creative zone’ and was happy to go with the flow and see what materialised. I ended up a fair way from the original recipe, having switched at least half of the ingredients and adding a Mexican spice blend but I was pleased with the final result, and even more so when it received great feedback from the family.

I guess there are people that follow recipes to the letter, and others that use recipes as a source of inspiration to create their own dishes. Clearly, I fall into the latter category. How about you?

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This tasty Mexican dish makes a great weeknight meal. It’s easy to prepare and budget-friendly too.

Serves: 4-5
Hands-on time: 20 minutes    Ready in: 35 minutes

Ingredients
300g / 1½ cups brown rice, rinsed
750ml / 3 cups water
1 TBSP olive oil
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 sweet romano or red bell pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp chilli powder, or to taste (use mild chilli for children, or omit altogether)
400g / 14oz can organic chopped tomatoes
400g / 14oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp unrefined sugar
½ tsp salt
6 vegan sausages, sliced* (use gluten-free sausages, if needed. I used Linda McCartney Chorizo & Pepper Sausages, which happen to be gluten-free)

Suggested accompaniments
Salad leaves
Slices of avocado
Vegan mayonnaise (I used Follow Your Heart Organic Vegenaise)
A sprinkle of shelled hemp seeds

Method

1. Cook the rice (see Note 2 below)

2. In a large, deep-sided frying pan (skillet), gently heat the oil. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes.

3. Add the garlic, red pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano and chilli powder to the pan. Stir through and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes, black beans, sugar, salt and sausage slices. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and gently simmer for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

5. When the rice is cooked, add it to the Mexican vegetable mix and stir through until fully combined.

6. We love to serve this dish with side helpings of baby salad leaves, avocado and mayonnaise. Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 24 hours. As with any rice dish, make sure that the rice is chilled within an hour of cooking. Re-heat the rice by stir-frying in a non-stick frying pan (skillet) until warmed through.

Tips

*If the sausages are frozen, you don’t need to fully defrost them before adding them to the dish, just enough to be able to slice through them.

** My preferred way to cook brown rice is using the absorption method. Here’s how I do it: Place the rinsed rice in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan along with the water (e.g. 1½ cups rice & 3 cups water). Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for a further 20 minutes. When air pockets have appeared in the rice, it’s ready. Remove from the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes, covered with the lid.

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If you make this recipe or it inspires you to create your own version, I’d love to hear about it! Tag me on social media and your posts will make their way to me – Facebook: @BitoftheGoodStuff  Twitter & Instagram: @GoodStuffSharon

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15 thoughts on “Mexican Black Bean Rice with Spicy Sausage. Vegan. Gluten-Free.

    1. Ooh I like the idea of using mash instead of rice for a change. Maybe sweet potato mash for its vibrant colour and extra goodness? Thanks for the tip. I’ll definitely have to give this a try 🙂 xx

  1. What a fab rice dish, and so easy too. I’ve been making lots of chorizo sossies recently.. just can’t get enough of them, so this is a great excuse to make more. Not that I need an excuse, of course! Ha ha! xx

    1. Making home-made chorizo sausages is high on my to do list for 2018. I’ve ordered 3 bags of vital wheat gluten so I’ll be rolling up my sleeves soon and getting stuck in. I saw your ‘World’s Best Vegan Sausage’ recipe that you posted last year. It looks amazing! To make it chorizo style, is it just a case of adjusting the seasoning?

    1. I love the fact that more gluten free vegan sausages are becoming available. It makes dishes like this much more accessible. If you try the Mexican rice, I hope you enjoy it! Be sure to report back xx

    1. Black beans and rice are the perfect combo aren’t they? I remember having the most amazing BB & R dish in Cuba many years ago. The black beans were quite soupy and had so much flavour. I must try and re-create it one day!

  2. This looks so delicious thanks for sharing.
    It’s definitely getting easier being vegan, there are so many more options in the shops. I’ve only been vegan for the last couple of months so haven’t tried vegan sausages yet, look forward to trying them.
    I like my food spicy so would add some dried chillies.

  3. This is not just a recipe, this is an entire beautiful feast!! You have no idea how good this looks to me right now, especially the rice😍 Absolutely delicious!

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