Rice Usually Fails To Cook In A Few Ways:
- Too watery: this means your rice is under-cooked.
- Hard, chewy, or burnt: this means you didnt add enough water or its overcooked.
- Too mushy and sticky: this means you added way too much water.
So, the water-to-rice ratios and the cooking times are the utmost important factors for making perfectly cooked rice. Every grain is different though.
Want Fluffy Rice Rinse Well
I dont always remember or have time to do this step, but it helps when I do: Rinse the rice in a wire mesh colander under cold water for 30 seconds or so, or until the water runs mostly clear.
Rinsing makes the rice fluffy, and seems to make more of a difference with white rice varieties verses brown the latter is protected by its hull and doesnt tend to have a lot of extra starch clinging to the outside of the grains.
How To Store Long Grain Rice
The best way to serve rice is when made fresh and serve immediately. If you have leftover rice let it cool as fast as possible and store it straight away.
You shouldnt leave cooked rice at room temperature too long as rice can contain bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
You have several options to store rice:
- Refrigerator you can store rice perfectly in the refrigerator and use it the next day. I never leave rice in the fridge longer than a day. Store it in an airtight container or a resealable bag
- Freezer if you want to keep it longer you can store it in the freezer. Put it in an airtight container or freezer-friendly resealable bag. Label it before you store it in the freezer for up to 1 month. Longer is possible but can have an impact on the moisture and taste of the rice
Freeze uncooked rice. You can find stories that you can extend the shelf life of rice by freezing it before cooking.
I have never frozen uncooked rice or put it in the fridge as I do not see the need for it.
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How To Make Perfect Instant Pot White Rice
What is great about the Instant Pot is that it sint just a pressure cooker. Every Instant Pot model also includes a rice cooking function. It also makes it easy to make differing amounts of rice. In the InstaPot, you can often make a smaller amount than you could in most dedicated rice cookers. Simply use a water to rice ration of 1 cup rice to 1 cup of water.
The secret to fluffy rice that does not stick is to rinse it well before cooking. Immerse the rice in water, stir until the water turns milky, and drain. Repeat, and then run under water a bit longer to completely rinse. This removes the excess starch that can cause rice to get sticky.
Another tip is to add about 1 teaspoon of oil to the pot for each cup of rice. This also prevents sticking and reduces foam from the cooking rice. A bit of salt adds flavor. Use the Rice setting for white rice. For brown rice, use the high pressure cooking setting and cook for 22 minutes.
Oxo Good Grips Pressure Cooker Bakeware Sling
Your Instant Pot comes with a metal steam rack and that works perfectly well. Weve just found that its not always easy to get the inner pot out when its time. So you can either create a sling for your pot or, instead of doing that every time, you can get this silicone bakeware sling, which you can reuse over and over again. It lifts your container up off the bottom of the liner and you can totally place it on top of any food that youre cooking on the bottom layer . Note: Its key that the container you use for PIP cooking sits on a rack or on top of other food versus being placed directly in the insert.
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How To Cook Rice In Instant Pot
In this beginner-friendly recipe, we are going to teach you how to cook rice in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. With detailed instructions, step-by-step photos and cooking tips, you will have perfectly cooked rice every time. We will cover how to make dry white rice such as Basmati, Jasmine and regular long-grain and medium-grain, and provide cooking variations for brown rice and wild rice.
Rice is the most widely consumed staple food on the planet, so naturally, it is one of the first Instant Pot recipes one should learn how to make. Another reason is that the pressure cooker is perfect for making fluffy, well-cooked rice quickly and easily.
You will find an easy everyday recipe just below or you can jump to other sections in this post: detailed step-by-step instructions for making uncooked white rice such as Basmati, Jasmine, regular long-grain or medium-grain and variations for making wild rice and brown rice in the Instant Pot.
Keywords: Vegan, Vegetarian, Rice, Grain, Instant Pot, Pressure Cooking, Basmati Rice, Jasmine Rice
Pressure Cook Brown Rice
First, place 1 cup brown rice and 1 cup cold water in Instant Pot.
*Rinsing Rice Pro Tip: If you rinse the brown rice before cooking, be sure to drain well and ensure the water-to-rice ratio is accurate .
With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.
- Pressure Cooking Method: Pressure cook at High Pressure for 15 minutes , and Natural Release for 5 minutes.
Then use Quick Release to release remaining pressure in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.
Open the lid carefully.
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Serving Fried Rice And Fried Rice Variations
Fried rice is great by itself, but you can also serve it with favorite Asian-style dishes. Here are a few to try:
You can also make your Instant Pot Fried rice with various meats or Tofu added such as:
- Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice: Add thinly sliced chicken with the rice when pressure cooking.
- Instant Beef Fried Rice: Add thinly sliced beef to the rice when pressure cooking.
- Instant Pot Shrimp Fried Rice: Add shrimp with the vegetables and sauté until it is cooked through
- Instant Pot Pork Fried Rice: Add thin sliced pork to the pot with with rice when pressure cooking.
- Instant Pot Tofu Fried Rice: Add tofu with the vegetables and sauté until browned.
Here is the recipe!
How To Make It
To make this, I start with 2 cups of brown rice and 2 ½ cups of water, stock or broth.
I then seal my Instant Pot and set the timer for 15 minutes. I then let my Instant Pot release pressure naturally. Youll see that all of the liquid from the water, stock or broth that you added are absorbed into the rice making it tender and delicious.
Youll also notice that I do not add a lot of seasoning to my recipe as it cooks. Heres why. I prefer to leave it unseasoned so that I can season it based on the dish that I am serving it with or including it in. Of course, if you are preparing your rice to serve immediately, seasonings are perfect to include. If you are making batches of it like I like to do, youll most likely prefer for it to be unseasoned as well.
Fluff your rice using a fork and then serve.
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Use A Natural Pressure Release
No matter what kind of rice youre cooking, its a good idea to let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before opening the pot. This allows the moisture to distribute evenly throughout the grains, and helps it unstick from the bottom of the pot, too.
You *can* open the pot with a quick pressure release if you like, but it really does benefit from a little resting time!
Just Add Water Or Broth Or Garlic Or Butter
Just like on the stove, you can cook rice in the pressure cooker with broth or water, use as much salt as you like, and add extra seasonings, a pat of butter, or a little olive oil for extra flavor.
What I Do: I sometimes sauté a little garlic in olive oil before adding my rice and broth, which turns a basic pot of grains into a flavorful side dish! You can also use seasonings such as turmeric and coriander for some Indian-inspired basmati rice, or chili powder for rice to tuck into burritos.
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What About The Rice Button
The Rice button on the Instant Pot high pressure cooks rice for 12 minutes. During the earlier days when I was experimenting, I found this setting cooked rice for too long. The rice came out dry and hard. Although not burnt, the cooked rice stuck stubbornly to the bottom of the inner pot and was really difficult to wash off without a good soaking. So I dont use the Rice button to cook rice. I do use the Rice button to cook peeled split mung bean for making Mashed Mung Bean and for this, it works perfectly.
How To Cook Brown Rice In The Instant Pot
You can cook rice 2 different ways in the Instant Pot. The most straight-forward way is to pour the rice and water directly into the bottom of the stainless steel pot and cook it on its own.
This is the method I use when making a large batch of rice for the week ahead, as part of my meal prep routine. Its nice to have some cooked rice on hand for a quick weeknight stir-fry!
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Tips For The Best Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
This Jasmine rice is super simple but following these tips will make it fluffy and tender every time!
- Always rinse your rice before cooking it in an instant pot! This will remove surface starch, and rinsing it will keep it from getting foamy and messy.If you dont have or cant find Jasmine rice, you can use another long grain white rice in its place, like Basmati rice.
- Dont leave the rice in the instant pot on the warm setting or it will stick to the bottom and possibly burn.
- Use a 1:1 ratio of rice and liquid or your rice will become too mushy.
- You can modify this recipe for 3 cups of rice or 1 cup of rice, depending on how many people you are serving. Just be sure to also adjust your liquid, too.
How Much Water For Instant Pot Rice
You can cook any kind of rice in your pressure cooker, long or short grain, brown or white. No matter what kind of rice Im cooking, I use the same 1:1 ratio of rice to water or broth.
This is probably less water than youre used to using for cooking stovetop rice, and thats because theres very little evaporation when youre using the pressure cooker. This ratio produces fairly firm, separate grainsyou can add a little more water, maybe about 1/4 cup extra, if you like softer rice.
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Instant Pot Bean/chili Setting
The Bean/Chili setting button can be used to cook larger dry legumes such as beans and chickpeas in liquid or to cook chili or another type of stew that uses dry beans. The program settings use High pressure and result in different doneness of beans. When cooking beans, always use NR to release pressure after cooking is done. Below is how to use the Bean/Chili setting on Instant Pot.
- Turn the Instant Pot on, it will say OFF to indicate the Stand-By mode. Add dry beans, liquid and salt to the pot. Secure and lock the lid. Select the Bean/Chili button. The default setting is pre-programmed to set the pot to cook at High pressure for 30 minutes. If you press the button again, you can adjust the mode from Normal to Less or More .
- Less mode 25 minutes at High pressure for a firmer bean texture or to cook black beans, dry lima beans, Navy beans, black-eyed peas, Adzuki, anasazi, dry peas.
- Normal mode 30 minutes at High pressure for a softer bean texture or to cook red kidney beans, white kidney beans , Pinto beans, black-eyed peas .
- More mode 40 minutes at High pressure for a very soft bean texture or to cook harder legumes like chickpeas and soybeans .
COOKING TIPS
Ensure dry beans are completely submerged in water. Dried beans double in volume and weight after soaking or cooking. To avoid overflow, please do not fill the inner pot more than to the ½ mark to allow for expansion.
Note: You can also use the Multigrain setting to cook most beans.
How To Cook Brown Rice In Instant Pot
Unlike white rice, the brown rice has its grain husk intact, which takes longer to cook. Using the Instant Pot to cook brown rice really speeds up the process.
Rinse 1 cup of brown rice once under cold water . Add brown rice to the pot together with 1 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt or the same amount of stock without salt. If cooking 2 cups of rice, add 2.25 cups of water and or stock.
Set to Manual/Pressure Cook for 22 minutes on HIGH with 10 minutes natural pressure release , and then use the quick release. Total time is about 35 minutes.
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Does Wild Rice Need To Be Soaked
Rather than relying on mixed messages, I went with a different approach: I asked my friend Kaare, from Finnskogen Farm. Kaare and his wife Pam have been studying and harvesting wild rice for years and years.
And, not only does Kaare know his wild rice, he also knows nourishing food and Ojibwe culture. He says phytic acid is not an issue in wild rice, and to his knowledge, Native people did not utilize any sort of soaking methods to improve digestibility or reduce phytates.
I can also say, from years of eating it, that consuming unsoaked wild rice has never caused any sort of digestive discomfort or reaction for me or any of my family.
Remember: wild rice is an aquatic grass not a grain like wheat or oats or rye. For this reason, I assume its just fine to eat without soaking first. If anyone has evidence or knowledge to the contrary, please share it with us in the comments!
Instant Pot Rice: Here’s How To Make It
This is how to cook delicious rice in your Instant Pot every time.
The Instant Pot Max.
If you own an Instant Pot, you know they’re super-convenient kitchen gadgets. They not only save time, they also create less mess so clean-up is a snap. You can whip up delicious rice in your Instant Pot, too . The problem is the printed manual and bundled recipe book give only vague instructions. And Instant Pot’s own guide clashes with many rice recipes on its website.
To settle the matter, I tested my hand at batch after batch of Instant Pot rice. This guide lays out what worked for me in simple steps you can try yourself. Soon you’ll be leaning on your new Instant Pot to pull double duty as a speedy rice-maker too.
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Do I Have To Use Natural Release Of The Pressure
Yes, you do.
Waiting for the pressure to drop naturally avoids the problem of rice sticking to the bottom of the inner pot.
If you are in a hurry, we recommend using Natural Release for 10 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure using Quick Release. Just dont touch the steam release until at least 10 minutes have passed. Not if you want perfect rice, anyway.
Pressure Cook Pot In Pot Rice
Add 1 cup cold water and a trivet in the Instant Pot inner pot.
Layer the stainless steel bowl filled with 1 cup Jasmine rice and 1 cup water on the trivet.
Close lid and turn Venting Knob to Sealing position.
Pressure Cooking Method:
- 1 cup of Jasmine Rice: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 7 minutes + 10 minutes Natural Release.
- 2 cups of Jasmine Rice: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 15 minutes + 10 minutes Natural Release.
*Pro Tip: A stainless steel bowl is highly recommended. If you are using a pyrex glass bowl or thicker containers, you will need to increase the pressure cooking time accordingly. It may take a few trial and error to find the perfect cooking time.
Ta da! Heres your deliciously fluffy & fragrant Instant Pot Rice!
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Best Sling: Oxo Good Grips Bakeware Sling
If youre looking for a durable accessory that can be used while baking in the Instant Pot, the OXO Bakeware Sling is a great option. Getting bakeware in and out of the pot without spilling, and getting it out of the hot pot without burning your hands can be a challenge, even if youve got sturdy potholders. This handy sling solves the problem, and also means you dont have to bother with the metal trivet since it lifts the bakeware off the bottom of the pot. Not just for the Instant Pot, this can be used in a pot on the stove, too.
Many Instant Pot users report that when they cook spicy or pungent foods in their Instant Pot, the seal tends to absorb the odor. While there are many methods that can reduce the odor, some of them are time-consuming and may not work for all scents. The answer to that problem is simplejust have one or more extra sealing rings on hand, so one ring can be used when youve added highly flavorful spices to your savory foods and a second can be used for delicately flavored foods and desserts.
An extra ring is handy to keep on hand, even if spicy foods arent an issue, since you never know when the dog might decide the ring is a pull toy. This is a set of two authentic Instant Pot rings in red and blue so you can tell which is for spicy foods without sniffing.
