This Fiesta Pork Chops and Rice Bake Recipe is a One-pan dish. I love throwing everything in one big dish and dinner is done!
We have A LOT of chicken breast recipes on our blog, but I wanted to shake it up today and share one of my favorite pork chop dishes: Mexican Pork Chops and Rice.
Ingredient Notes
- Boneless Pork Chops (½ inch thick)
- Salt and Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Chicken Broth
- Tomato Sauce
- Diced Green Chilies
- Taco Seasoning
- Long Grain Rice Uncooked
- Onion
- Green Bell Pepper
- Red Bell Pepper
- Shredded Colby Jack Cheese
How to make Fiesta Pork Chops and Rice:
- Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper and brown pork chops in a skillet on the stove top (this will help to seal in the juices and keep your pork chops moist and flavorful as they bake in the oven).
- Dump the rest of the ingredients into a 9 x 13″ pan: chicken broth, tomato sauce, green chilies, taco seasoning, rice, and onion. Mix all together.
- Lay the pork chops on top of the rice mixture, then top chops with peppers.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes then top with shredded cheese and enjoy!
Storing and Other Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave.
When it comes to choosing the best pork chops for this recipe, I would recommend a boneless pork chop or a bone-in pork chop that is about 1/2″ thick. If your pork chop is thicker than that, you may need to increase the cooking time.
Thin cut pork chops (thinner than 1/2″) will most likely turn out dry; I would recommend cooking for less time if you do use this type of pork chop.
Using a thick boneless pork chop will cook a little faster than a bone-in chop, so if you do use a boneless chop, you may want to decrease the time a little bit.
When it comes to keeping the pork from drying out while baking here’s a tip: the more marbled and fatty your pork chop is, the more tender it will be after cooking.
Other Pork Chop Recipes You’ll Enjoy
- Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops Recipe
- Slow Cooker Pork Chops and Gravy Recipe
- Sheet Pan Baked Pork Chops and Potatoes Recipe
- Perfectly Juicy Grilled Pork Chops Recipe
Fiesta Pork Chops and Rice Bake
Ingredients
- 6 boneless pork chops, (½ inch thick)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1¾ cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces tomato sauce, 1 can
- 4 ounces diced green chilies, 1 can
- 1.25 ounces taco seasoning, 1 packet
- 1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
- ½ onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup shredded colby jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat and brown pork chops (about 2-3 minutes each side, turning once).
- Spray a 9 x 13" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour the chicken broth, tomato sauce, green chilis, taco seasoning, uncooked rice, and onion; mix together until completely incorporated.
- Place the pork chops on top of the rice mixture and top with the green and red peppers.
- Cover with foil and cook for about 50-60 minutes or until the rice is tender (you will want to make sure that you don't over cook the pork chops, so check them around 50 minutes).
- (If the rice needs a little more cooking time, just remove the pork chops for about 10 minutes while the rice cooks longer. Then place pork chops back on top of the rice and add the cheese.)
- Turn oven off and top with cheese.
- Let the cheese melt for a couple of minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
This dish sounds delicious! I wonder if it should be covered with foil while baking…
Oh this is right up my alley! I am pinning this to make for dinner soon!
Janet- thank you so much for reminding me! Yes, cover with foil. 🙂 I changed it in the directions.
Sounds delicious! I bet this woul be good with a base layer of refried beans too!
Looks delish! What is the white stuff under the cheese..? Looks like sour cream but the recipe doesn’t call for it. Or is it just part if the cheese ? Hehe
It is just the colby jack cheese. It’s white and orange. 🙂
Is there a crockpot version ? This looks delicious!
Made this last night for the family, it was AMAZING! Thanks!
This looks so good! If you use brown rice, do you think it would need a longer cooking time? Thanks!
We don’t have a crock pot version of this recipe….yet. 🙂
I would also like to know if there’s a crock pot version! Looks like I could pretty much do the recipe the same and just adjust the cooking time in the crock pot? Any recommendations for how long?
Maybe slightly longer, just keep an eye on your pork.
Just until the pork is cooked through and the rice is fully cooked. Could take a few hours.
I made this the other night with some leftover shredded pork and organic brown rice. Excellent! It did take about twice as long as the recipe states to cook the rice, and I did not use a taco seasoning packet to avoid any yucky stuff and just used my own spices. Will make again :). Thanks!
I made this in the crockpot tonight. I followed the directions except put it in the crockpot. Yeah kinda a fail. I should have just thrown it in the oven.
I made this last night for dinner and my family lived it!! I think I am gonna try with chicken next. Thanks!!
I made this for dinner tonight. The pork was delicious but the rice never did completely cook. I wonder what I did wrong?
What is the white creamy sauce that is on top??
Colby Jack Cheese. It’s orange and white.
We are trying to eat healthier, so I have saved 60 recipes to make. This one is definitely a winner. The rice is a little spicy but my family liked it a lot.
I made this today and it was great. I had to substite mild salsa for the tomato sauce because I didn’t have any. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Made this last night and it was FANTASTIC! My family loved it!!!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was a hit. Everyone eat it and liked it. I also made your quick ambrosia salad it was also great. I made my grocery list this week from only Six Sisters recipes. So far so good. I did add and subtract some things, I left off peppers from pork chops and added sliced avocado and tomatoes. I also added strawberries and pecan to the fruit salad. I will be making it again. I’m thinking the fruit salad for a quick breakfast before my son goes to school in the mornings. Six Sisters is my new addiction.
Thanks Heather! You made our day!!
Cyd (mom of the Six Sisters)
I have never tried one of your recipes that I didn’t love and my entire family which consists of many people. Making the fiesta pork chop and rice bake tonight if it tastes as good as it looks worse so thank you so much for the recipe
I made this dish exactly as written and mine is really watery. It doesn’t look like your picture that looks like all the rice absorbed the liquid. Any suggestions ?
I’d love to try this, but we aren’t using our ovens in Phoenix during the summer heat. Would this work in an electric skillet?
It should work, just be sure that the pork chops and rice are cooked through.
This is my go to recipe for pork chops. I have made this for my hubby and I several times. And it has never failed me. Thank you for sharing.
P.S. love the leftover rice for lunch the next day.
Our rice is still crunchy after an hour of baking… Took the pork chops out and put the rice back in….
Could this be made in the Instant Pot??
Here is our post about converting recipes for the instant pot.
https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/how-to-convert-recipes-into-instant-pot-recipes/
Same! It was very undercooked and the water didn’t get absorbed. We were so disappointed because it would have been so good! The pork was perfectly cooked. I wonder why the rice didn’t cook?
Is instant rice supposed to be used in this recipe? How come nobody replies to questions about the rice being under cooked
We did not have a problem with the rice being undercooked. It says cook for 50-60 minutes or until rice is tender. You could cook it a little longer for the rice. You could remove the pork chops if the rice needed more time. Then place them back on and add the cheese.
This sound delish . But we are going low carb. Can we use cauliflower rice instead of regular rice?
I had the same problem as others. Great taste but cooking times all wrong. Removed 3/4 inch pork chops at 50 min and they were already overdone (175degrees). Had to cook rice for another 25Min to complete cooking/absorb liquid. Will definitely try another recipe but this one needs some work!
This recipe turned out pretty good, though I did use a can of Rotel and some jarred salsa in place of the cans of green chiles and tomato sauce, plus brown rice instead of white rice and a homemade blend in place of store-bought taco seasoning. Needed to cook a little over twice as long (for both the rice and for the pork chops to be cooked fully throughout, though mine did start out partially frozen). Flavor was terrific and it’s definitely a recipe I’d use again (with the changes made included). Served it with a corn & black bean salsa.
We really enjoyed this recipe! Everything about it was great! The pork was tender and rice was fully cooked. I had leftover pasta sauce so I used that instead of tomato sauce.
These were so delicious. The kids said it smelled and tasted like their favorite Mexican food place! My dad was coming over (and he’s diabetic) so I used brown minute rice (1 3/4 c of instant rice and the same 1 3/4 c broth) and did everything else the same and it came out great! Thanks for a great recipe!
I made this tonight for tea.It was delicious x x
This recipe was super tasty. Do you have a trick for using brown rice instead of white? Thought I had it but my brown rice was still kinda crunchy? I did test a spoonful but i must have gotten a good spoonful.
Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice and requires more water.
Nice recipe – I used crush tomatoes, which I feel is a major improvement over a processed sauce. Water instead of stock is fine, if you have adequate seasoning on the pork (and hint: mix salsa or pico de gallo in with the tomatoes).. I have made this family favorite a couple times…and will keep doing so.
I just made these in my electric skillet they cooked up so tender. I will definitely try them again. Delish! Thanks, Note: I used bone in chops, also precooked brown rice, an eletric skillet the only exceptions!
This was very flavorful. I intended to follow the recipe exactly, but forgot to add the cheese. Delicious anyway! I baked for 50 minutes and the rice was perfect-pork could have used a little less time. Next time I’ll check the pork at 45 minutes. I’ll definitely make this again and again….
How can I convert this to an air fryer oven
What type of rice did you use when you had bad results? What type of rice did people use who had success?
This was delicious! Super easy fix for a weeknight! Definitely going to be a staple in our house!
This was really good. I followed the recipe exactly, except I accidentally put the peppers in the rice mixture instead of on top. It was fine. Thanks!
I never leave reviews on recipes but this time I had to. This has been a staple in my house for a couple of years now. One of those recipes that you can tell has been made so many times that the paper is stained and work out. We love to serve it with sour cream and guacamole, yum! Even my three kids love this one. Thanks so much for the great meal!
You just made our whole day!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! We love the Fiesta Pork Chops and we are glad your family likes them too!
I am trying this tonight. However, I plan to use a boxed mix of Spanish Rice (Rice-a-Roni or the like) and precook the rice for a few minutes prior to placing in the oven. Too many times I have used similar recipes and the rice seems to never really get completely done.
I prepared tonight. As a heads up, I precook my rice using a packaged Spanish rice mix. Mixed all other ingredients as recommended in the rice. Also, as one person suggested, I spread refried beans on the bottom of the casserole pan. Otherwise, as written. It was a very good choice for my pork chops.
Do you think you could add diced zucchini to the tomatoes to have some vegetable? Would that change the cooking time at all?
Add in any veggies that will cook during the cooking time. Zucchini sounds amazing!
Can I make this without the rice ?
You can make this without the rice. It might not thicken up quite as nicely. You could try reducing the amount of chicken broth to even that out
Can I use bone-in sirloin pork chops and canned diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce? Will the bake time change?
Yes, you can absolutely use bone-in pork chops. The time change would be minimal, so just make sure to use a meat thermometer and let the pork chops reach 145 degrees F. You can also substitute canned diced tomatoes, however, it will change the texture and flavor of the dish. For a more consistent texture, you could puree them, because they are unseasoned, you would probably want to add in your own seasoning otherwise it may be a little bland.