Are you team white rice or team brown rice? I love both, but truth is, I don’t make brown rice as often as I would like because it takes a bit longer to cook than white rice. But with instant pot brown rice, I’m team brown rice all the way. It’s fast, healthy, and best of all, it’s nutty and delicious.

Instant pot rice

If you don’t own a rice cooker, cooking rice can be a bit of a chore. But guess what?!? If you own an Instant pot, you already do own a rice cooker. Ever since we got our instant pot, we haven’t ever pulled out our (really nice, tiny) rice cooker because the instant pot does such a great job.

The secret to faster instant pot brown rice

If you want your brown rice faster (doesn’t everyone?!?) the secret is to use really hot water. The instant pot does a lot of things fast but it doesn’t heat up water as fast as a gas stove or even your tap, so we like to use either really hot tap water or boiling water (if you have a gas stove) to give it that little extra boost.

How to cook instant pot brown rice

1. Rinse your rice. You need to rinse brown rice for cooking in the Instant Pot, it’ll make your rice more tender because it has a bit of extra moisture from rinsing. Generally brown rice needs more water than white rice so rinsing it will add a touch more water to the recipe. Place the brown rice in a bowl, lightly soak, and swirl with your hand then drain with a fine mesh strainer.
2. Cook on high pressure. Pop the rice with an equal amount of water into the insert of your Instant Pot. Set your pot to High Pressure for 20 minutes.
3. Quick release. When the Instant Pot is done, immediately carefully press the quick release to vent all the steam and pressure.
4. Fluff and serve. When the steam and pressure has fully escaped, open the lid, fluff up the rice and enjoy!

Rice to Water Ratio

The best rice to water ratio for the instant pot is 1 cup of brown rice: 1 cup of water. That’s it, it’s just a one to one ratio of rice to water. This means that you can use any sort of measuring tool you want, just make sure the water and rice volume is equal.

Should I wash brown rice?

In this case, yes! Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice and generally needs a bit more moisture so rinsing the rice gives it a bit of a head start with hydrating the rice. By rinsing it, you’ll allowing some moisture to go into the kernel of the rice before it even starts cooking in the Instant Pot.

What’s the best brown rice?

We like short grain brown rice because it’s glossy, nutty, and fluffy. This recipe will work for long grain brown rice as well though.

Brown rice vs white rice

While brown rice and white rice have a similar amount of carbs and calories (not as much as you’d think!), brown rice is a whole grain that has more vitamins and dietary minerals in it and has a lower glycemic index. But, I just love it because it tastes nutty and has more heft and chew and makes me feel more full when I eat it.

What to serve with instant pot brown rice

• Mapo tofu
• Oven baked sweet and sour chicken
• Salted egg yolk fried chicken
• Air fryer char siu
• Garlicky mushrooms