Do I Have To Wash My Rice Before Cooking
Well, no. But it is highly recommended for two reasons. First, you have no idea where that rice has been. Its traveled long and far, so even if just for good measure, we should probably wash it to get it clean. The second reason is to remove the surface starch stuck to your ice. Let this surface starch stick around and your rice will turn out clumpy, gummy, and not so perfect.
Results & Rice Texture
So what makes Instant Pot rice good? Well, it will definitely give you a different type of texture. The results of Instant Pot rice have more distinct rice grains than a rice cookerthis was made even more significant because I used short-grain rice, which is known for its stickier consistency.
Its different and not necessarily better or worse, depending on what you like or expect. You can perhaps keep tinkering with the time and water to rice ratios to dial it in, but this is one that I prefer. But I found that even adding ¼ cup more water takes the grains from distinct to something mushier.
To Rinse Or Not Rinse
There are many reasons to rinse your rise from rinsing off the extra starches, and dirt that may be mixed with the rice. Some feel you need to rinse your rice to remove impurities and arsenic. Regardless of the reasons Ive always been taught to wash the ingredients I put in my mouth and rice is no different.
To wash or rinse rice I place rice in a bowl and add cool water. I swish the water around in the rice and then pour off the water. I will do this a number of times until the water runs clear. Its a really simple step that I feel is important.
However, feel free to make the choice yourself and throwing the rice right into the pot. The recipe still works very well.
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How To Cook Instant Pot Rice Step
1. For perfect rice, you need to wash. Use a measuring cup to measure your rice and transfer to a large bowl . Rinse rice under cold running water and gently use your hand to fold the rice over itself from one end of the pot to the other. Drain the rice using a fine-mesh strainer. Continue rinsing and draining until the water runs nearly clear. Drain thoroughly.
2. Transfer the washed rice to the inner pot of your Instant Pot and cover with a 1:1 ratio of rice to liquid . Secure the lid on top of your Instant Pot and turn the steam valve to the sealing position.
3. Cook the rice on manual high pressure for 3 minutes. After the timer is complete, natural release for 10 minutes before switching to quick release .
4. Carefully open and remove the lid. Gently fluff rice with a fork or rice paddle.
5. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and serve immediately with your favorite stir fry, roasted veggies, or store leftovers for later use.
Storing Instant Pot Rice
This recipe will make about 2 servings of Spanish rice. So if you are serving it for a family dinner, you might want to double or triple the recipe.
Then if you have any leftovers, you can store the rice in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
And if you want to keep it for longer, you can store it in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months! When you are ready to eat it, just thaw the rice in the fridge overnight.
For the best way to reheat your Mexican rice, put it in a pan on the stovetop for a few minutes until warm.
And to reheat the rice quickly, put it in the microwave for a few seconds.
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A Quick Recap Of Key Cooking Stages
As we discussed in this post, there are three key phases to cooking in the Instant Pot. Once you add all ingredients and liquids, secure and lock the lid and choose your setting and time, the following things happen:
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Can You Cook 1 Cup Of Rice In The Instant Pot
If youre using the inner pot of your Instant Pot then you should use a minimum of 1 cups worth of rice. If you plan on cooking less than that then a pot in pot method would work better.
Cooking 1 cup of rice in the Instant Pot is completely doable and easy. Your Instant Pot will cook it at a nice low temperature and give you a great yield of cooked rice.
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Minimum Amounts Of Rice
One last rule of thumb to keep in mind is that youll need to cook at least 1 1/2 cups of rice in a 6-quart pressure cooker to get nice, even results. This is because the bottom of the pot isnt perfectly flat, but slightly concave. If you use less rice, the grains in the middle of the pot will not cook as evenly, since they wont be submerged in the water as much as the rice on the sides of the pot.
On the flip side, dont overfill your pressure cooker with too much rice, either! It should be half full or less when youre cooking any grains, beans, pastas, or other foods that can tend to foam up. I find that I get the best results when I cook between 1 1/2 and 3 cups of rice at a time.
- TIP! By the way, you can always make extra rice and freeze the extra. Here’s how to do that.
Those are my best tips for cooking rice! Of course, you can also just follow the basic recipe below. Either way, enjoy!
Do I Have To Use Water
Yes and no. The ratio calls for 1:1 water-to-rice, and while rice requires a water-based liquid to cook properly, you can absolutely play around with flavor by using different liquids in place of plain water.
Substitute some or all of the water you use for another liquid, such as chicken, beef, or vegetable stock. You can even try mixing half coconut milk and half water .
For an extra dose of yummy, try stirring in a little bit of lime juice, mirin, soy sauce, chopped cilantro or green onions, or other flavor boosters just before you serve.
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How To Use The Rice Button On The Instant Pot
The rice button on the Instant Pot cooks at low pressure for 12 minutes. You can use this setting for cooking white rice, but for brown rice youll want to manually cook it at high pressure for 22 minutes instead.
I personally prefer to use the method below, cooking the rice for 4 minutes at high pressure, but you can use either method with great results.
Should I Use The Rice Button On My Instant Pot
The Instant Pots rice button is best used for white rice, as it is specifically calibrated to weigh white rice and water and cook the rice accordingly. This is ideal for weeknights when you truly want to set and forget your rice, but not great for cooking different varieties of rice on the fly.
Luckily, you can use your Instant Pots manual pressure function to cook white, brown, or wild rice on high pressure in just a few minutes. Heres how to do it.
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How To Cook Perfect Long Grain Rice In An Instant Pot
Rice is an amazing accompaniment to many different kinds of meals. Unfortunately, though, cooking rice properly can be time consuming and difficult. The good news? You can cook Perfect Long Grain Rice in an Instant Pot. Thats right. Rice in an Instant Pot.
White rice can be extremely fussy, even for the most seasoned of cooks. Finding that right balance between fluffy and over cooked can seem somewhat impossible. Enter the Instant Pot. This recipe guarantees that you will always have perfectly cooked, fluffy rice ready to serve as a side with your favorite recipes. Perfect long grain rice in an instant pot is the perfect accompaniment to your family meals.
In fact, if you want to change up the flavors of your rice, you can go ahead and add any herbs and spices you like to this recipe. Simply match the herbs and spices to the main dish you are cooking and in no time, you will have an amazing and delicious side dish for any meal.
Best Cooking Time For Instant Pot Rice
The amount of water will remain the same. Different kinds of rice, however, take different amounts of time to cook under pressure. Wild rice and brown rice will require more time than white rice, for instance. Any variety can be cooked at either high or low pressure it comes out a little fluffier at low pressure, and a little chewier at high pressure.
Although you can cook any variety of rice on the automatic rice setting, brown rice works better on either a manual setting, or a setting thats specifically designed for whole grains, such as the Multigrain setting on the Instant Pot.
Here are my preferred cooking times for rice in the pressure cooker:
- Brown rice: 20 minutes on high pressure for firm rice, or 22 minutes for softer grains
- White rice: 15 minutes on low pressure for firm rice, or 17 minutes for softer grains
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Figuring Out The Recipe
The machine: I used the Ultra version of the Instant Pot, but its likely the same in their most popular Duo model, and even other brands of electric pressure cookers.
The rice: I used a medium grain white rice
Measuring tools: I used only the scoop that came with the Instant Pot. When I say scoop anywhere in this post, this is what it refers to. This scoop is actually the same size as the one that came with my dedicated rice cooker.
How many tests did this take? I honestly dont even remember how many, so that will tell you Ive had manyfailures adjustments. After cooking rice in many different ways , I thought figuring out how to make rice in an Instant Pot was going to be a breeze.
Id like to think that eating rice for my entire life had made me somewhat of a rice connoisseur . Either way, I discovered theres a very fine line between mushy rice and properly cooked rice.
One aspect of the Instant Pot that I didnt take into account was the addition of pressure. Similar to using rice cookers or even cooking rice on the stovetop, you cant really just open it to check progress. This meant I had to wait out the entire cooking process to see the resultsthis meant any adjustments had to be on future batches if the recipe was going to be something easy to replicate by others .
What If My Rice Is Too Mushy
You most likely used too much water. 1:1 water to rice ratio is essential for all rice types.
Use the exact same container to measure both rice and water. Some cups are standard American , others are metric and the little plastic cup that comes with the Instant Pot is neither . So do not use different measuring cups to measure rice and water.
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How To Cook Rice In The Instant Pot
Cooking white and brown rice in Instant Pot is pretty much the same, except for the cooking time. Brown rice requires significantly longer time, but everything else is the same.
- Step 1. Rinse and drain the rice well.
- Step 2. Add 2 cups of cold water, olive oil, and salt.
- Step 3. Close the pot and set the pot to Manual/Pressure Cook for 5 minutes for white rice, and 15 minutes for brown rice. Let the pressure cooker release the pressure naturally for 10-15 minutes.
- Step 4. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve!
My Rice Is Sticking To The Bottom
Did you do a quick release or a natural release? One of the reasons rice will stick to the bottom is because you have to let the pressure go down slowly instead of abruptly. You want to do a natural release for at least 10-minutes.
Was your keep warm button on? The heat from the keep warm function can continue to cook the rice during your natural release. Be sure to turn off your keep warm function to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom. You want fluffy rice particles, not clumpy, sticky rice.
At the end of the day, finding the perfect rice times will depend on the type of rice you use, the location you live and the amount of water you add to the rice. Dont be scared to experiment and you can get the perfect pressure cooker rice every time you cook it! Enjoy!
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Exactly How Long Should I Cook My Rice
Altitude, or where you live, can play a big role on how long you should cook your rice. So, if the recipe you find doesnt quite work the way it did for someone else, it may be due to your geography and where you live. Its good to make the rice just as you like it, write it down and stick to those cooking times the next time youre making rice in the Instant Pot.
If you found the rice to be dry or you got a burn notice whilst cooking your Instant Pot rice, then try taking a couple minutes off your cooking time. If you open your pressure cooker and find that there is water that has not been absorbed by the rice, you will want to cook it a minute or 2 longer.
Additionally, if you are cooking a large amount of rice, you may want to add another minute or 2 to the time. We have cooked rice at both 5 and 7 minutes and it tastes great at both cooking times.
To Salt Or Not To Salt
Whether or not you salt your rice is totally your personal preference. I know some people who cant stand unsalted rice, and others who cant imagine why anyone would ever salt it!
If you use salt, you HAVE to try Redmond Real Salt. I know, its just salt, but trust me: it makes a difference! I talk about it so much that Redmond Real Salt actually worked with me to give you 15% off with my code IPCOOKING. Simply add a quarter teaspoon to the rice and water before sealing your Instant Pot.
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Why You Need To Rinse Rice:
- Starch: Rinsing your rice before cooking will help get rid of the extra starch which is found on Rice. This extra starch when cooked causes the rice to become sticky and gloopy. Rinsing will take off that extra starch and insure nice fluffy individual grains of rice.
- Impurities: No method of preparing rice for the store shelf is perfect. Rinsing your rice will also help get rid of any impurities, such as dirt, left over pesticides and help sanitize your rice making for a healthy meal.
What Is The Best Rice To Water Ratio
Youll be surprised but it is always and for ALL sorts 1:1. Yes, you read that right.
Instant Pot Rice calls for a 1:1 rice to water ratio
You wonder why on the stove different ratios are called for. Well, the secret to rice cooking is that the darker or wilder the rice the longer it needs to cook and the longer something needs to cook, the more water evaporates during the process.
This leads us to the conclusion, that different kinds of rice do not necessarily need different kinds of amounts of water to cook but rather more water to evaporate.
Since the Instant Pot gives a tight seal and high pressure, no water evaporates at all.
So yes, brown rice and even wild rice need the exact same amount of water as white rice in an evaporation-proof environment. *mind-blown*
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How Long Does Rice Take In The Instant Pot
- 5 minutes for white rice, followed by 10 minutes NPR.
- 15 minutes for brown rice, followed by 15 minutes NPR.
NPR stands for Natural Pressure Release, which means simply let the Instant Pot sit untouched after the cooking time is up. On the display, if it reads L00:10, it means its been 10 minutes NPR. Then you turn the valve to venting to release the remaining pressure before opening the lid.
Its important to let pressure cooker release pressure naturally for the specified time, because its still part of the cooking time.
