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Learn how to cook the best brown rice in Instant Pot. 28 minutes required without soaking. Super time saver!
The Best Instant Pot Brown Rice
I eat a lot of brown rice and make it at least a couple of times a week. I like the fact that brown rice is very filling, nutritious, and healthy.
Instant Pot vs Rice Cooker
Brown rice takes much longer to cook than white rice. Cooking time for brown rice varies with the rice cooker manufacturer, but is usually 1 to 2 hours. On the other hand, cooking time for white rice is about 1 hour in normal mode.
With Instant Pot, it takes only 28 minutes from rinsing brown rice to eating, with no soaking required. Moreover, Instant Pot cooks rice very well, just like my Japanese rice cooker.
Incidentally, the time required to cook white rice in Instant Pot is 20 minutes (no soaking required).
Pressure Cooking Time for The Best Brown Rice
Set the pressure cooking time to 15 minutes; 8 to 10 minutes will result in slightly undercooked rice.
What is Brown Rice?
Brown rice is
- rice that had the husks removed, and is covered with bran, which has high nutritional value. White rice (refined rice) is made by removing the bran from brown rice.
- a whole grain and one of the top high-fiber foods.
- contains more magnesium, protein, and dietary fiber than white rice.
Ingredients and Ratio
This Instant Pot brown rice recipe uses only brown rice and water. The ratio of brown rice to water is 1:1. This time, I used 1 cup of brown rice (short-medium grain) and 1 cup of water.
- Brown rice: Japanese, U.S.-California, Mexican, etc.
- Water
How To Make Brown Rice In Instant Pot
It takes 28 minutes from rinsing rice to eating.
- Rinse brown rice
- Add the rice and water to Instant Pot
- Set the Instant Pot and cook
Here are the easy steps with pictures.
STEP 1: Rinse Brown Rice
First, rinse the brown rice. Place the brown rice in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse it with water, stirring by hand. Use clean water.
STEP 2: Add the Brown Rice and Water to the Pot
Transfer the rinsed brown rice to the inner pot of Instant Pot, add water, and close the lid of Instant Pot.
STEP 3: Instant Pot Setting and Cooking
Now, set the Instant Pot, and start pressure cooking.
- Pressure: High
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Keep Warm: Off
- Release: allow to naturally release for 5 minutes, then quick release.
- Setting: Turn the dial to Pressure Cook and set Pressure to HIGH. Set cooking time to 15 minutes and set “Keep Warm” to OFF. If Keep Warm is ON, the pot will stay warm for 10 hours unless you cancel it.
- Preheating cycle: Press Start button to begin cooking. You will hear 3 beeps, and the preheating cycle begins. In this recipe, the preheating cycle lasts approximately 7 minutes. The float valve on top of the lid will rise as the cooker heats up.
- Cooking cycle: Once the pressure is ready, you will hear 1 beeping sound and the cooker enters the cooking cycle, which lasts 15 minutes that we have set up.
- Natural Release & Quick Release: When pressure cooking is complete, you will hear 10 beeps. Allow the steam to escape naturally for 5 minutes (Natural Release). After 5 minutes, press the quick release button on the top of the lid to release the steam fully. When the steam is completely released, the float valve will drop down.
Note: my Instant Pot model is the 3 Quart Ultra Mini. The setup procedure may vary slightly on models, so please refer to your user manual on your own.
STEP 4: Brown Rice is Ready
When the steam is completely released, open the lid and fluff rice. The perfect brown rice is ready to serve.
Tips: watery? Depending on the type of rice, the result may be a little watery, in which case, try the following.
- Reduce the amount of water by 10 to 20%.
- Leave the lid of Instant Pot open until the excess water evaporates. Gently fluff the cooked rice with a rice paddle (shamoji) to allow it to evaporate evenly. Depending on the temperature and humidity, it should take 5 to 15 minutes.
How to Serve Cooked Brown Rice
Brown rice can be used in a variety of ways, such as as a side dish to a main dish or as an ingredient in a dish; Japanese Tofu fried rice.
Recipe Tips
- Keep Warm will cause the cooked rice to become dry and hard, and stick to the pot. Therefore, I recommend setting it to off.
- When the rice is cooked and the lid is opened, there are droplets of water running down the surface of the lid. Wipe off the water droplets on the lid and pot, as they will make the rice watery.
- Once the rice is cooked, use a rice paddle to break up the rice. By breaking up rice, excess liquid from rice is released. Do not mash the rice too much.
Storage Method and Expiration Date of Cooked Brown Rice
Like white rice, cooked brown rice should be eaten immediately or stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
It will last up to 1 day in the refrigerator and 1 month in the freezer. Freezing is most desirable.
I highly recommend freezing leftovers immediately to maintain quality. If you reheat rice in the microwave, it will come out like freshly cooked rice.
Is Brown Rice Vegan, WFPB, Gluten-Free?
Brown rice is a whole grain and does not contain gluten, so it’s vegan, WFPB (Whole Food Plant-Based), and gluten-free.
Vegan Rice Recipes
If you try it, feel free to leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo @izumimizokawa on Instagram🍚
Best Instant Pot Brown Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup brown rice
Instructions
- Place the brown rice in a fine mesh strainer, and rinse it with water, stirring by hand.
- Transfer the rinsed brown rice to the inner pot of Instant Pot, add water, and close the lid.
- Set Pressure to HIGH, cooking time to 15 minutes, Keep Warm to OFF. Press Start button to begin cooking. In this recipe, the preheating cycle lasts 7 minutes.
- When cooking is complete, you will hear 10 beeps. Let the steam come out naturally for 5 minutes. Then, press the quick release button to release the steam fully.
*For details on how Instant Pot works, see “How to Make Brown Rice Step 3” in this blog post above. - When the steam is completely released, open the lid. Fluff the cooked brown rice with a rice paddle.
Notes
- Storage: cooked brown rice will keep for up to 4-5 hours at room temperature, 1 day in the refrigerator, and 1 month in the freezer. Best frozen immediately.
- Vegan & WFPB: brown rice is a nutritious whole grain.
- Gluten-free: brown rice does not contain gluten.
- Nutrition information below is an estimate.
Nutrition
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