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Make your week simpler by whipping up this roasted veggie and Spanish rice meal prep to enjoy every day for lunch. Tossed in a creamy cilantro dressing, it’s an easy meal you’ll want to eat day after day!
save this recipe!Meal prepping is one of those things you grow to love. Growing up, my parents would say, “Pack your lunch!” the night before school, but I couldn’t be bothered to spend time on that! Now, as an adult, my week is in complete disarray if I don’t spend at least a little bit of time prepping for the week ahead!
Mexican recipes often find their way into my meal preps because they are budget friendly with ingredients like rice and beans. But these ingredients are also filling and I take it a step further by bumping up the protein with a Greek yogurt cilantro dressing! Whether you’re new to cooking or a seasoned pro, you’ll love how simple and delicious this Spanish rice and veggie meal prep is!
Reader rating
“Holy crap this came out awesome. Just started learning to cook for myself a few months ago and this is by far the best tasting thing I’ve made so far – never has a first bite felt so satisfying. Thank you for the recipe and easy to follow instructions. And the cilantro dressing… you’re a genius!” —Brian
Here’s what goes into this meal prep
Jump down to the recipe card for exact measurements!
- Spanish Rice: This Spanish rice is ultra-easy to make and full of flavor. (25 minutes to make).
- Roasted Veggies: Roasted sweet potato, bell pepper, and corn will round out our meal prep to keep you full all day. Feel free to throw in whatever veggies you have on hand!
- Kidney Beans: These add protein and fiber to the bowls.
- Avocado: Is there anything better than a perfectly ripe avocado?! Just add it the day of so it doesn’t turn brown.
- Cilantro: This adds freshness and that green color to the sauce.
- Greek Yogurt: I use plain non-fat, but any kind of plain Greek yogurt works well.
- Dressing Basics: To flavor the sauce, we need red wine vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, and black pepper.
Let’s make it
This is an overview of the recipe. Jump to the recipe card for the full printable recipe.
- Make the Spanish Rice: Either homemade or store bought is fine in a pinch.
- Make the Roasted Veggies: Toss them on a sheet tray with oil, salt, and pepper, and bake until soft; then add in the beans.
- Make the Dressing: Blend all the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Assemble: Portion out the rice and veggies into 5 meal prep containers. Store the dressing separately and then just reheat the rice and vegetables for a few minutes before enjoying.
Keep the meal prep going
If you’re on a meal prep train, you might as well prep breakfast and some snacks, too!
- High Protein Freezer Breakfast Burritos: Made all on one sheet tray, this is the easiest way to bulk prep burritos!
- Meal Prep Snack Boxes: Grab these for breakfast or on the go as a snack.
- Homemade Larabars: These take just minutes to prep and can be enjoyed all week and on the go!
Roasted Veggie and Spanish Rice Meal Prep
Ingredients
Fillings
- 1/2 batch Spanish Rice and Beans, click for the recipe
- 1 large sweet potato, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 15-oz can corn, 425 g, drained, can sub your favorite bean
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, 15 mL
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 15-oz can kidney beans, 425 g, drained
- 1 avocado, drizzle with lime juice to prevent browning
Cilantro Dressing
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro, 10 g
- 1/4 cup plain Greet yogurt, 60 g, can sub dairy-free
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 30 mL
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, 30 mL
- 1 tsp honey or maple syrup, 5 mL
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 5 g
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 tsp each smoked paprika, cumin, ground black pepper
Instructions
- Spanish Rice: Prepare 1/2 of a batch of Spanish Rice and Beans (5 minutes hands-on work, 20 minutes cooking).
- Roasted Veggies: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C). Spread diced potato, diced pepper, and drained corn on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes, or until potato is tender. Toss together with kidney beans (or bean of choice).
- Cilantro Dressing: Meanwhile, blend all Dressing ingredients in a blender under smooth. Taste and add more spices as needed.
- Assemble: Portion rice and veggies into 5 meal prep containers. If possible, store Cilantro Dressing in individually sealed containers to keep rice and veggies fresh. When ready to eat, microwave rice and veggies for 2 to 3 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Holy crap this came out awesome. Just started learning to cook for myself a few months ago and this is by far the best tasting thing I’ve made so far – never has a first bite felt so satisfying. Thank you for the recipe and easy to follow instructions. And the cilantro dressing… you’re a genius!
Does this meal freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing this one but I don’t think the rice or beans would reheat well.
Really good recipe! I accidently added red wine instead of red wine vinegar for the dressing and it still tasted good.
Next time I would roast more veggies to make the rice to veggie ratio more even, but overall very yummy!
So happy to hear it, Anita! Enjoy! 😀
I am confused by what a “batch” size is in this recipe. I am meal prepping for 15 servings so does that mean 15 servings of the rice as well?
This makes 5 servings, so to make 15 servings you would just triple this recipe (which would mean making 1.5 batches of the Spanish Rice and Beans). Does that make sense? Happy meal prepping!
Stop what you’re doing and go make this dish right now!!! It was way easier than I expected and has absolutely beautiful fresh flavors and is filling. 100/10 will totally make again sometime soon!!
Ah thanks so much for dropping in with your review, Kelsey! Enjoy! 😀
((disclaimer: I’m a very inexperienced chef!))
I like this recipe! I’ve made it 3 times now over the past year as I cycle through different meal prep recipes. I always add an extra bell pepper (usually yellow for color). If I don’t add another pepper, there’s just too much sweet potato.
Also, I don’t know if I totally understand the cilantro dressing…the first time I made the recipe, I followed it exactly, and it wasn’t exactly to my taste. Maybe something about the mustard and vinegar, I’m not sure. This time, I didn’t have mustard, so I omitted it. I also added a whole jalapeño, most of the seeds removed – I like spicy food, and this added the perfect spicy kick. I also was craving some more greens in this recipe, so I added a handful or two of fresh spinach to the blender this time. And a splash of lemon juice. I think this is my favorite version of the dressing so far!
Overall, this recipe is a great starting point, and can be customized to your liking. Definitely filling, flavorful, satisfying, and besides preparing/chopping the ingredients, it’s so quick & easy!