How to Cook White Rice in the Instant Pot
on Feb 18, 2020, Updated Jun 28, 2024
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Cooking white rice in the Instant Pot is super easy and fast so you have fluffy, moist rice in no time for any meal you want!
This simple, step by step tutorial will show you just how simple cooking white rice can be, and you won’t ever be stuck with dry or crunchy rice again!
This simple white rice recipe in the Instant Pot, you’re going to bypass any weird or funky rice making issues you’ve come across before (and I know from experience that there are a lot of ways to accidentally mess up rice… I’ve been a victim to all of them!).
So wave dry, cakey, overly sticky, crunchy, or undercooked rice buh-bye when you cook it this way in the Instant Pot. White rice is a perfect side to go with meat and veggies, or you can use it alongside this Chicken Burritos Recipe or this Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry. However you take your rice, this will be your new go-to for cooking it to perfection every. single. time. Sound like a dream? It sorta is… Enjoy this easy, quick, fool-proof rice recipe!
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe:
- Easy, SO easy!
- Throw it and go recipe
- The rice can go with any meal you want!
Ingredients:
- Instant Pot
- Oil– Can be Canola, Vegetable, Avocado, even Coconut! Whatever you have on hand or prefer
- Rice
- Water
See recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
Frequently Asked Questions:
This recipe works for all kind of white rice! I’ve had success using long grain, short grain, jasmine, and basmati rice.
Yes! This recipe below is NOT the recipe for brown rice, however. For brown rice, use 1 and 1/4 cups water per cup of rice, cook for 24 minutes at high pressure, and then let it natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Do the oil the same; any rice needs a layer of oil before cooking.
I actually don’t use the rice button because it doesn’t cook the rice at high pressure. Instead, use the pressure cook button and cook the rice for 4 minutes before letting it rest for 18 minutes while it does a natural pressure release.
Rice will stick to the Instant Pot if you don’t spread a layer of oil, (canola, vegetable, avocado, coconut) on the bottom of the pot before adding the rice and water.
It’s often recommended to rinse rice in a colander to remove debris and the surface starch which can sometimes cause the rice to stick together as it cooks. Honestly, if you’re short on time it won’t make a huge difference. Sometimes I wash it, sometimes I don’t and it turns out good either way!
Rice can get mushy when the grains split and become too saturated. Rinsing the rice prior to cooking will help keep it from getting too mushy. Another problem is using too much water when cooking. So, be sure to use a 1:1 water to white rice ratio and nothing more!
With this method you should not have watery rice. But, if there’s still water in the pot then you can always bake the rice in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees F in a baking dish covered with foil to remove the excess water.
More Rice Recipes to Consider:
Dinner Ideas
One-Pot Sausage, Rice, and Peas Dinner
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Rice Recipes
Mango Sticky Rice
From Scratch Recipes
Mushroom Risotto
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
How to cook white rice in the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 teaspoons oil, (such as canola, vegetable oil, or avocado oil)
- 1 cup rice
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Remove the metal Instant Pot insert for the instant pot cooking section. You’ll use it like you are working with a mixing bowl.
- Add the oil to the bowl of your instant pot and use a pastry brush or something similar to fully coat the bottom of the Instant Pot insert, and 1 inch up each side, with oil. The goal is to just cover it completely, so use enough oil to do that.
- Add the rice to the Instant Pot insert and shake the insert just a little so that the rice spreads all across the bottom of the pot (and is not just in a pile in the center).
- Add the water the the Instant Pot insert, and shake the insert just a little so that the rice spreads evenly along the bottom of the pot. (Sometimes when you add the water, it’ll wash a hole in the rice, so by shaking it the rice will cover the bottom of the pot again.)
- Place the insert back into the cooking portion of the Instant Pot, place the lid on, push the valve to “sealing.”
- Press the “pressure cook” button and set the cook time for 4 minutes. It should be on high pressure. (Sometimes using the rice button will not be the high pressure option, so I don’t use the rice button.)
- Let the Instant Pot come to pressure and start the cook time.
- Once the cook time has gone by, let it rest for 18 minutes at natural pressure release (on mine, it’ll starts counting up the minutes since the cook time has ended, so I just wait for it to get to 18).
- Once the 18 minute natural pressure release has gone by, you can flip the valve so that any remaining pressure is released.
- Remove the lid carefully, fluff with a fork, and serve.
Notes
- This has worked for all kinds of white rices for me — long grain, short grain, jasmine, basmati — it works well for them all.
- This is NOT the recipe for brown rice. For brown rice, I use 1 and 1/4 cups water per cup of rice, cook for 24 minutes at high pressure, and then let it natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Do the oil the same; any rice needs a layer of oil before cooking.
- The oil prevents the rice from sticking, so don’t skip this step; it will stick without it.
