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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Sow says
Hi iam using instant pot 8qt pressure cooker 7in 1
As iam using pot in pot method cooking white rice using rice option but rice is undercooked I tried once again still there is some moist in my rice
Lorena says
Hi Sow, I do not recommend the rice button for any kind of rice with any method. I recommend you try my method. For pot in pot you simply add 2 cups water to your inner pot, then the trivet, then the pot you’ll cook your rice in, 1 cup rice, 1 cup water and then seal your pot and set to 3 minutes on high pressure and let pressure release naturally until the safety pin drops on it’s own (will probably take about 15 minutes).
Sandy says
What a great article. I thank you for your time you devote to this. Like everything,there are so many different choices of rice now! So I copied it all down and I do mostly pip because it’s handy. You have lots of patience to answer over and over. Bless you😍😍
Lorena says
Thank you so much for your lovely comment Sandy!!!
Leslie says
has anyone made Tru roots sprouted rice and quinoa blend from Costco.?
more wondering about time then anything.
Lorena says
I haven’t tried it because at our Costco in Canada they only sell the one with regular grain mix not sprouted but I just read online on the stove top it takes 15-20 minutes so I would try again 1:1 ratio and 5 minutes HP + full NPR. No guarantee here, as I haven’t tested but that’s what I would do.
Robertjm says
I’m confused about something. I’m planning on making a Turkey and Rice soup today. Several recipes I’ve seen on the web say to cook for ten minutes, yet your cooking time for short grain brown rice says 22 minutes. Even Instant Pot’s cheat sheet says 22 minutes.
Is there something different when cooking in soup stock vs just making rice?
Lorena says
Robert, I’d be very surprised if “brown rice” cooks in 10 minutes. Are you sure those recipes refer to brown rice? Not instant or any of those things?
Timaree says
You mention basmati and jasmine but what about regular long grain white rice or a medium grain white rice?
I just made rice in my daughter’s Instant Pot the other day and thought it came out very gummy. I will try doing the full natural release you talk about and see if it helps.
Lorena says
If you use more than 1 cup water per cup rice it will absolutely turn out gummy because it’s basically over-soaked in water. Always use the manual button and the minutes stated in this blog post + full natural pressure release. Regular long grain white rice probably takes a minute longer than basmati or jasmin because the grain is a little thicker. I would try 4 minutes high + NPR
Allison Dickerson says
I am about to try this out with short grain brown rice in Pueblo, CO- 4,600 ft. Bookmarked it for the future- so excited to have this full list! Thank you! I will be back to review if the altitude makes a big difference. ;)
Lorena says
Awesome!! Yes pleeeeease come back and let me know if you had to adjust at 4,600. I’d love to know.
Maylin says
Great information. I am a new IP user and would like some clarification on the rice recipe below please. Does it mean that manually I would set it for 3 mins. at high pressure? 3 mins. doesn’t seem like a lot of time to cook rice. Thanks!
1:1 rice to water ratio
3 minutes high pressure
Natural Pressure Release (11-18 minutes)
Lorena says
The thing is, the pot takes about 5-ish minutes to get to pressure and then another 10-ish minutes to naturally release pressure so you’re rice is actually cooking much longer than the 3 minutes you set it to. You add rice and water, you press the “manual” button (or newer models changed the name of that button to “pressure cook”) you set it to high pressure 3 minutes and then you walk away for at least 15 minutes and you open the pot once the safety pin dropped all on it’s own without you doing anything to the pot.
Maylin says
Thanks so much, can’t wait to try it. Sounds like easy peasy.
Adrian says
I come back to this guide time and time again, tried so far with short grain brown rice and wild rice. Perfect results at sea level! Thanks for this post, now I just need to print out a little chart to keep in the kitchen.
I saw you’re already aware from other comments, but it might be helpful to add to your post about doing pot-in-pot. If you don’t want to make a full cup of rice (or whatever the minimum liquid requirement is for your IP), it’s convenient to use the pot-in-pot method. I regularly make 1/3 cup of rice in a small metal pot that fits on top of the trivet in my IP and put 1 cup of water in the pot itself. Works like a charm, your times are perfect.
Living alone I usually only make 1/4-1/3 cup of rice at a time with dinner. I also have a steamer basket so I’ll put the rice on, prep some veggies and place them in the steamer basket, and as soon as the rice is done I take it out in its little pot and swap the steamer basket in (I don’t bother adding more water to the IP) and within a couple minutes it comes back up to pressure! No need to clean the pot between and saves the heat-up time and I have perfect rice and veggies as side dishes while I pan sear some salmon on the stove.
Lorena says
This is brilliant Adrian!! Yes, I’ve finally experimented with the PiP method and I love it!! Check out my Lentils and Rice post where I use the PiP method and cook rice and lentils at the same time. Works like a charm.
Carlie says
I cooked brown rice (not sure the grain length b/c I have long thrown the bag away, but its probably short). It was undercooked. This was my first dish that I have cooked with my pressure cooker. I cooked it on high pressure for 24 minutes with a natural pressure release. I wonder if its b/c I live at around 4500-4600ft altitude. I read on another blog that for every 1000ft after 2000ft, you need to add 5% cooking time. So I guess maybe I needed to add 10% cooking time (which would be about 2-3 minutes. I will try that out next time.
Carlie says
what altitude are you cooking at? Thanks!
Lorena says
Sea Level.
Lorena says
Yes, exactly Carlie. For every 1,000 5%. Please try with 27 minutes + full natural pressure release.
Carlie says
So tried this again. I cooked for 28 minutes and then NPR. that time ended up being about 30-40 minutes because we weren’t ready to eat yet. But I think it turned out well. I did more than 1:1 ratio though. I think I did 2.5 cups of brown rice with about 3 cups of water.
Dirk Beaulieu says
Have to say this didn’t work with wild rice- put it in for 30 minutes natural release and it was nowhere near done. Added a slight amount of water and set for 9 minutes more. Just checked after pressure relief and 10 minutes instead of 9 would work.
Lorena says
Hi Dirk, I’m so sorry to hear it didn’t work for you. I’m really intrigued. I’ve tested this so many times. Have you tried white rice at 3 minutes and it was done? Or have you only tried wild rice with my method so far?
Kate says
Thank you for the thorough post! I couldn’t read thru all the comments but I’m sitting here wondering why you do not use the ‘rice’ setting. Is it much different?
Lorena says
Hi Kate, yes, it’s totally different. The rice button is only for white rice and with the 1:1 ratio it leaves the rice crunchy and not cooked through so you have to add more water and then it becomes rather soggy. Not my favorite :)
Christine says
Hi! 2 questions-
Is the cook time the same for 3 cups of rice vs 1 cup? So 3 mins for white rice regardless of how many cups?
Also, when it’s 3 cups of the pin doesn’t show pressure has naturally released by 18 mins do I still release and open or wait until the pin comes up. Cleary I’m making this now, 3 cups of white rice :)
Lorena says
Hi Christine, yes, the time is the same for 3 cups as for 1 and in terms o natural pressure release, the more volume is in the pot, the longer it needs to release pressure. I would leave it along until the pin drops on its own. If it didn’t drop within 40 minutes though you can be sure it’s just stuck.
Jeannie says
I’m disabled and use my instant pot a lot. I’m in the mood for stir fry and will cook to eat for 2 days. If I brown chicken chunks lightly and add chicken and frozen veggies to the rice with some stir fry sauce can I do this and still cook 3 minutes for Jasmine rice and same amount of broth/water? Not worried about the veggies. I like them soft.
Lorena says
Yes Jeannie, if you cut the chicken in chunks the 3 minutes will be enough. Just make sure you remove the chicken from the pot before adding the rice and broth/water and then place the chicken back on top and veggies, too. Chicken and veggies will cook without being submerged in water but the rice won’t. Make sure the rice is submerged.
Lori Mann says
If you use the Instant Pot rice option button it defaults to 12 minutes and you can’t change it.
Are you setting it manually not using the Rice button?
Lorena says
Exactly. I use “Manual” (“Pressure Cook” in newer models).
Janet says
I have some pink rice. Have you tried that?
Janet
Lorena says
Oh, no. I’ve never heard about pink rice. Sorry.