Here’s how to make Instant Pot white rice! Your pressure cooker can double as a rice cooker: it’s a hands-off way to cook this whole grain.
Alex and I were originally Instant Pot skeptics. What convinced us to try one was when we learned it could cook so many things: including rice! We could get rid of our rice cooker and just use a pressure cooker instead! Now, we often use our Instant Pot white rice and brown rice methods! While it takes about the same amount of time as stovetop white rice, it’s totally hands off! We use this method quite a bit and it always comes out with fluffy rice…every time.
How to make Instant Pot white rice
The main advantage of making Instant Pot white rice is that it’s a totally hands off method. It takes about the same time as rice on the stovetop, but there’s something about the “set it and forget it” method that’s so much easier! We love not having to have another pan on the stovetop, especially if we’re making something like a curry or stir fry. We can easily concentrate on making the main meal, without having to worry about the rice.
Here’s how to make Instant Pot white rice:
- Place 2 cups white rice and 2 cups water in a pressure cooker.
- Pressure cook on High for 8 minutes.
- Natural release for 10 minutes. Open the Instant Pot and season with kosher salt to taste.
And that’s it! It’s an easy method that Alex and I have memorized so that we can whip up rice as a side dish. See below for the full recipe!
How to reheat rice
This Instant Pot white rice recipe uses 2 cups of dry rice, which makes 6 cups of cooked white rice. If this is too much for you to consume at one sitting, you can store leftovers refrigerated or frozen.
You may have noticed that when you refrigerate rice, it gets very dry. Here’s a trick for how to reheat rice so that it’s perfectly moist:
- Place the cold rice in a saucepan on the stovetop.
- Add a small splash of water.
- Heat the rice until it’s warmed through: the water will steam and absorb into the rice.
What Instant Pot / pressure cooker do you recommend?
An Instant Pot is a programmable electric pressure cooker. The concept is to cook foods at high pressure, which cuts down on cooking time and makes for even cooking. There are lots of variations between each brand of pressure cooker, so it’s possible the timing in this recipe could vary based on the type that you have. The pressure cooker we use is this 6 quart Instant Pot. We’ve used it for a year and it works great! We’d highly recommend it.
This Instant Pot white rice recipe is…
Vegan, vegetarian, plant-based, and gluten-free.
Print
Instant Pot White Rice Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
Here’s how to make Instant Pot white rice! Your pressure cooker can double as a rice cooker: it’s a hands-off way to cook this whole grain.
Ingredients
- 2 cups white long grain rice (American long grain, basmati, or jasmine)*
- 2 cups water
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Rinse the rice. Then add the rice and water to the Instant Pot and stir. Lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Place the pressure release handle (vent) in the “Sealing” position.
- Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes: Press the Pressure Cook button, making sure the “High Pressure” setting is selected, and set the time. Note that it takes about 5 minutes for the pot to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it starts cooking. (During cooking, avoid touching the metal part of the lid.)
- Natural release for 10 minutes: After the Instant Pot beeps, set a timer and wait for 10 minutes to let the Instant Pot naturally release pressure. Then vent any remaining steam by moving the vent to “Venting”, covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when releasing steam. (The pressure indicator in the lid may drop on its own during this time, meaning that there is no remaining steam in the pot.)
- Open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. Stir in kosher salt to taste. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. (Note: When reheating leftovers, it’s helpful to add a tiny bit of water and then reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave — adding the water helps to rehydrate the rice so it’s not dry!)
Notes
*A note on quantities: we’ve found cooking 2 cups rice works the most reliably in our Instant Pot. If you’re making a recipe that only calls for 1 cup rice, you can freeze the leftovers and reheat. 1 cup of dry rice makes about 3 cups cooked.
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Plant Based
Keywords: White Rice in Instant Pot, Instant Pot White Rice, White Rice in Pressure Cooker, Pressure Cooker White Rice
Looking for Instant Pot recipes?
Outside of this white rice in Instant Pot recipe, we have many other Instant Pot recipes! From components like dried beans, lentils, and hard boiled eggs, to Instant Pot wild rice soup, here are some of our favorite pressure cooker recipes:
- Basics: Sweet Potatoes | Refried Beans | Lentils | Chickpeas | Lentils and Rice| Quinoa | Hard Boiled Eggs
- Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Creamy Instant Pot Pasta
- Vegan Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Thai Style Sweet Potatoes
- Chickpea Couscous Bowls
- Instant Pot Tacos
- The Best Loaded Vegan Nachos
- Apple Cinnamon Pressure Cooker Steel Cut Oats
- Granola Instant Pot Apple Crisp
- Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup
- Instant Pot Stuffed Acorn Squash with Pecans
- All our Instant Pot recipes!
Last updated: January 2020
Time is too long for white rice: produced very mushy rice. The chart with the appliance is more appropriate: 4 min with quick release. My go to method is 2 min with 5 min natural release.
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