After weeks of experimenting, I got it right. Here is your fail-proof guide for Instant Pot Rice. White rice, brown rice, wild rice, and many more, basically an encyclopedia about cooking rice in a pressure cooker.
If you’ve followed along for a while, you know I’m a huuuuge fan of pressure cooking. My Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe is not only a hit at my house but thousands of others now, too. YAY!
What Is The Best Rice To Water Ratio?
You’ll 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*
What If My Rice Is Too Hard With a 1:1 Ratio?
If your rice is hard or uncooked that doesn’t mean next time it needs more water, that means, next time it needs more TIME. Did you wait for FULL natural pressure release?
Unfortunately, you cannot “save” undercooked rice in the Instant Pot as putting the lid back on and turning the pot back on just leads to the dreaded burn warning. I recommend adding the undercooked rice to a soup or stew maybe 5 minutes before it’s done simmering.
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 (236ml), others are metric (250ml) and the little plastic cup that comes with the Instant Pot is neither (160ml). So do not use different measuring cups to measure rice and water.
Does 1:1 Apply For 1 Cup Just As It Does For 4 Cups?
YES! When making Instant Pot Rice you need 1 cup of water for every cup of rice, regardless of if you cook just 1 cup or 4 cups.
This is different when you cook rice on the stovetop where evaporation happens. The more rice you cook the less water you need when using a regular pot on the stove.
How Many Cups Of Rice Can You Cook In An Instant Pot?
In theory: 2.5 cups in a 3-quart Instant Pot. 5 cups in a 6 quart Instant Pot. 6.5 cups in an 8-quart Instant Pot.
This is US standard measuring cups and raw dry rice.
So the mathematical thought for the theory is the following:
- 1 cup of raw white rice gives on average 3 cups cooked rice.
- Instant Pots should not be filled more than 2/3 of its full capacity at any time. So we have to take the expanded rice into consideration.
- A 6-quart Instant Pot’s capacity is 24 cups and two-thirds of that are 16 cups.
- There should not be more than 16 cups cooked rice in the Instant Pot and since 1 cup raw makes 3 cups cooked we have to divide the 16 by 3. That makes 5.3 cups.
The calculation is only theory though. I have not tried that many cups in my own 6-quart. 4 cups raw dry rice are the maximum I have cooked myself without any issues and with perfect results.
Natural Pressure Release (NPR) vs. Quick Pressure Release (QR)
What’s better? Hands down, no doubt >> natural pressure release. If you cook rice longer so you can do quick pressure release, with the hope to have the rice cooked faster overall, it gets sticky and mushy.
If you want fluffy rice, I encourage you to be patient and wait for natural pressure release. I timed all rice and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the timing. Even the same kind of rice in the same amount has had different natural pressure release times.
What Is The Rice Button For?
The rice button was designed only for white rice (regular long-grain, Jasmine, or Basmati rice). It works fine with those types of rice. The shorter high-pressure cooking times with natural pressure release work better though in my opinion.
Also, the Rice Button does not work for any other type of rice but white rice.
Do I Have To Rinse Rice Before Cooking?
Opinions vary widely and there seems to be no right or wrong answer. It’s all up to personal preference. However, thankfully it is irrelevant for the cooking times presented.
Both rinsed and dry rice work with my cooking times and method. Nothing has to be adjusted or changed either way. Just make sure you drain your rice well in a fine mesh strainer if you rinse it. Then use 1:1 ratio.
Instant Pot Rice Cooking Times
Now let’s get to the individual kinds of rice:
White Rice
I’ve tried both Basmati and Jasmin and both cook in the exact same time, 3 minutes high pressure + NPR. The thicker regular long-grain white rice cooks better with 4 minutes high pressure + NPR.
Brown Rice
I’ve experimented with Basmati brown rice and with short grain brown rice and the Basmati cooked faster than the short grain. From all my experiments it seems like the thicker the individual grains, the longer they need. With the exception of wild rice, that one needs long regardless of being a skinny dude. 22 minutes high pressure + NPR for the thin Basmati and 24 minutes for the thick short grain.
Wild Rice
Some people swear the grain HAS to burst open, others swear, it’s best when “just about to burst” and others like it completely unburst. Guess what, you can achieve any consistency you like when you cook Instant Pot Wild Rice. Here are the times for whole unbroken wild rice: 28 minutes (unburst), 30 minutes (some burst some unburst), 32 minutes (burst).
Red Rice and Black Rice
Red rice and black rice is pretty thick and needs quite some time to break down so give it tiiime. It’s round and thick and it takes quite a bit for it to absorb all the water. It’s like a new towel that needs time to get soaking wet ;) 30 minutes high pressure + NPR.
Sushi Rice
I was actually pretty sure this would take just as long as regular white rice but surprise surprise. It’s not as sticky if you cook it or only 3 minutes and this is the only rice you really want to be sticky, right? So increasing the cooking time actually made it stickier and better to work with for sushi. Cooke it 5 minutes on high pressure + NPR.
Wild Rice Blend
Soooo, this one is the trickiest because it has several different kinds of rice that individually cook in different times. I found it cooks best in an in-between time. The wild rice in the mix will be completely unburst but the brown rice won’t be all mushy. Usually, that’ll be 28 minutes high-pressure + NPR. Of course, it will depend widely on what grains exactly are in your blend.
How to Reheat Rice in the Instant Pot
So, I’ve seen a couple of people recommend adding water or oil and stir it in the inner pot and pretty much making a mess, haha.
Um, not my favorite method.
I like things simple. I basically want the same convenience as a microwave but without the waves.
I store my leftover rice in a heat-proof glass container and then place the trivet in the Instant Pot, add a cup of water and place the rice uncovered on the trivet. Put the lid on, knob to sealing and press steam for 5 minutes. Quick pressure release, done!
So here you have it. The longest post in the history of Green Healthy Cooking.
Burn Warning Trouble Shooting
The wicked burn warning, it’s the Instant Pot user’s nemesis! For starters, some Instant Pots are a lot more temperamental than others. You most likely did nothing wrong, however, you are dealing with what we could compare with a toddler with a temper tantrum.
If your Instant Pot is generally one to scream “burn” easily and quickly I recommend you stay close in the beginning phase while it gets the water boiling and trying to get to pressure. When the pot is trying to push up the safety pin but seems to not be able to, that’s the critical moment. Push down on the handle of the lid a little to help it get to pressure.
If the pot tries and tries to get to pressure but can’t too much water evaporates through the valve and thus leaves too little inside the pot and the rice starts to burn.
If even with a little push on the lid, it cannot get to pressure, the sealing ring might not be positioned properly inside the lid. You will have to abort the mission and start over, making sure the sealing ring is still in great condition and placed correctly.
If the Instant Pot was able to pressure cook for most of the time and only showed the burn warning at the end of the cooking time, then just unplug it and wait for natural pressure release. Often times it still manages to cook the rice and just a tiny corner got burnt.
Instant Pot Rice
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice - (Basmati white, Jasmin white, Basmati brown, short-grain brown, red, black, wild, wild blend, sushi)
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into the Instant Pot. You can double, triple or quadruple all ingredients in same amounts.
- Make sure sealing ring is placed properly in lid, add lid, turn shut and turn knob to sealing position.
- Cook on high pressure for the number of minutes instructed below depending on the type of rice:White Rice (Basmati or Jasmin): 3 minutesWhite Sushi Rice: 5 minutesBrown Rice (Basmati): 22 minutesShort Grain Brown Rice: 24 minutesRed Rice: 30 minutesWild Rice Blend: 28 minutesWild Rice: 30 minutesBlack Pearl Rice: 30 minutes
- Natural Pressure Release until pin drops. Takes on average 9-12 minutes (max. 18 minutes for 1 cup and max 30 mins for 4 cups).
- Remove all rice from pot immediately to avoid it sticking to the bottom. If needing to keep warm, leave rice in pot after natural pressure release without opening the lid to avoid steam being released and drying out the rice > making it stick to the bottom.
Notes
- I use a US standard cup. 236ml in volume.
- I, personally, do NOT rinse or wash my rice.
- Cooking time stays the same no matter how many cups you cook.
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Ara Cortejo says
THANK YOU for this! This was so needed.
Quick question – I usually like to mix brown & white rice. I use short grain brown rice and jasmine white rice (1 cup each).
Do you recommend just going with the 24 mins high pressure so the brown rice cooks fully? Will that overcook my white rice?
Lorena says
Hi Ara, yes it will most likely overcook the white rice but there is no other option. The brown rice won’t cook through in less than 24 minutes. When you usually cook them on the stovetop you mix them together, too? Does that work? You can always make white rice first, then brown rice and then mix them both together. I’m sure the texture will be muuuuuch better.
Marie says
I buy quick ( not instant ) brown rice at Aldi’s. It cooks for the same time as white rice.
Lorena says
That’s great info. Thank you for sharing Marie!
Sharon Doubt says
What a helpful post. Thank you so much for sharing.
Stephanie says
I feel silly asking this but do you leave the “keep warm” feature on or off?
Lorena says
Please don’t feel silly!! All questions are relevant. You’re not the only one who asked. I should have specified. I leave the keep warm on. I basically don’t touch the pot until the pin drops.
cjottawa says
Wow!
After much struggling to get sushi-rice cooked to the correct consistency, your advice nailed it! I added *slightly* more water – 2.25 cups of water to 2-cups rice.
Turned out light, fluffy, perfectly sticky, neither al-dente nor “mush” as I’ve had happen.
Thank you so much for doing all the experimentation and write-up!
Lorena says
You are very welcome!! :) I’m so happy you found it useful!
Marie says
Hi Lorena,
Do you use a dry ingredients measuring cup for the rice and a liquid measuring cup for the water or do you use the dry measuring cup for both?
Lorena says
Hi Marie, it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s the same volume. You can also use a coffee cup or a washed out yogurt container. You just have to use the same volume of rice as you do of water. So fill up your yogurt container twice with rice and twice with water. The standard measuring cups and the glass jugs with measuring lines are for the exact same volume. You can use either for both rice and water as they measure the same volume.
Robert Snelgrove says
Our Basmati is always sticky no matter what ratio or time we try? I think it is impossible to get grain-separated rice in the IP!
Lorena says
Have you tried my method? Do you add the rice in dry (not washed as some people suggest) and then opened the post and immediately stirred and removed the rice? My Basmati is grain-separated every time.
Laura says
If I want to cook 4 cups of white rice should I adjust the cooking time to longer than 3 minutes?
Lorena says
No Laura. The cooking time stays the same no matter if you cook 1 cup, or 8 cups.
Maddie Ruffa says
Lorena – have you tested higher cup numbers? This has worked perfectly for me with 1 -2 cups, but I had a major sticky rice event with 4 cups… (referring to basmati here). Just curious. Natural release time ups the cooking time presumably w/ higher volume… am I wrong? Has this been your experience?
Lorena says
Hi Maddie, I’ve tried with up to 4 cups (never more) and have had the same results. I’ve actually had times where I cooked only 1 cup and then forgot about it and the natural pressure release had been finished an hour ago and the rice sitting there in the keep warm function and the rice was still perfect. You can definitely try and add less water though. How long did your pot take to NPR? I guess with 4 cups this COULD have an effect? I can’t tell though. I’m so sorry your rice was sticky :( This recipe has worked for pretty much everybody so far. So sad to hear about the first not so perfect result.
Maddie Ruffa says
It definitely took longer to NPR – ..30ish minutes I think! Still love it for 1-2 cups…just skittish to try 4 cups again. Maybe I wasnt exact enough with my water … hahaha… I will have to try again someday.
Dee says
So this recipe is amazing. It turned out perfect the first time! Not slimy, no extra liquid, just perfectly textured rice.
I look forward to using this to meal prep. Thank you so much!
Sammy says
Thank you so much Lorena, for putting this together! You are very scientific in your approach. I love it!
I have a 6QT instant pot which is quite large for 1 cup of rice. I was thinking of using PiP to cook the rice, but that usually means you have to add a cup of water to the main pot before I put the smaller pot inside. Do you think I should also add a cup to the pot that will contain the rice as well? Or is that too much water that will be in the pot (though some of it will be steam)?
Lorena says
Hey Sammy, I’ve never tried the PiP method BUT from a pure logic standpoint of view I would add a cup of water to the Instant Pot Pot, then the trivet, and then 1 cup rice to small pot + 1 cup water also to small pot and then place the pot uncovered onto the trivet. The water at the bottom I think is necessary to not get a burn warning of a too hot pot touching a dry hot surface and the cup of water in the small pot is for the rice to absorb it all. The steam created by the water in the bottom shouldn’t necessarily all land in the small pot. I would assume it mostly drizzles down again on the sides of the pot? I’m not 100% sure though. You could also cover the small pot with a loosely fitted sheet of aluminum foil to avoid condensation dripping into it? Again, I haven’t tried this method so I can’t guarantee it’ll work. I have however successfully cooked 1 cup of rice with my regular method described here in the post in a 6qt. My Instant Pot gets to pressure with that little volume just fine.
CIndy says
I thought the same thing about a small amount. I cooked short brown rice and the time was PERFECT!
Thank you!!
Jackie L. says
Best white rice I’ve ever made. EVER. Thank you!
Lorena says
YAAAAAAYYYY!!!
Zak says
Hello! Thanks so much for doing this page. I wanted to comment on what you said about not needing to rinse rice. I don’t know if you were also referring to brown rice, but I have been working with a brown rice farmer for years and washing isn’t one of the steps that is taken during processing.
Lorena says
Hi Zak, that’s very interesting to hear. Thank you for your input. I never wash any kind of rice nor quinoa or any other grain but this recipe also works with washed rice from what I can read in many comments. If you feel more comfortable washing it, go ahead, it will still work :)
Greta says
You are doing god’s work outchea. Thank you so much for doing this, so we don’t have to.
Lorena says
Thank YOU for coming back and commenting. It means the world to me!!
Ace M says
Do you rinse your rise before using?
I just got some jade pearl rice, have you tried cooking that?
When cooking the rice with frozen vegetables approximately how much water should i put in extra to cook everything with the rice?
I keep everything in the instapot and typically just use the warming function to reheat it and for the most part it comes out fine, on occasion depending on which dish i cooked the rice will become hard :(
Lorena says
Hey Ace, I never rinse the rice. All commercially sold rice in the Western world has already been washed and washing it more time just rinses away important nutrients. In terms of veggies, no need to add any more water. I do recommend using fresh hard vegetables though as opposed to frozen because the frozen veggies are already cooked and pressure cooking them on top just makes them extremely mushy. Use cut up raw carrots, bell pepper, celery etc and just place on top of the rice and it’ll be perfect :)
Sally says
I am always sceptical of these types of “wonder shortcut” things, but you really did do your research–thank you for the guidelines and tips. I have never cooked rice in my pressure cooker because it was too hard (I thought). Today I cooked a huge pot of wild rice and put half in the freezer (on your recommendation, too). So thrilled to find someone who knows their stuff and is happy to share. Thanks!
Lorena says
Thank you so so much for your lovely comment Sally! I’m so happy you found my guide useful :)
Michael says
Wow – wonderful research and advice! I’m at 7,200 feet (in Santa Fe, NM), and just tried white sushi rice at 5 min high pressure (i.e., no adjustment for altitude). Came out great (16 min natural release). Although another minute of cooking (20% longer) might have yielded stickier rice, the rice I got was cooked through.
Lorena says
Awesome! I’m so happy you found my guide useful and always feel free to adjust to your liking. Thanks for commenting so others can learn, too :)