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Easy Instant Pot Basmati Rice

By:

Britni Vigil

12/13/2024

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This Instant Pot basmati rice is easy to make and absolutely delicious! You’ll need just a few ingredients to make this Instant Pot white rice, and it’s guaranteed to become one of your family’s favorite new side dishes!

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Instant Pot Basmati Rice

I’m calling this instant pot basmati rice because we normally have basmati rice on hand and that’s what we use.

But you could totally use jasmine rice or any other long-grain white rice to make this exact same recipe.

Whether you’re making it to enjoy with teriyaki chicken bowls, with a little chicken fricassee on top, or a day later for this ham fried rice, this Instant Pot white rice recipe is the best we’ve ever tried.

So good that my husband constantly has to stop me from sneaking bites when it’s done so that we still have enough to eat for dinner.

And my boys? They eat this in rice balls by the spoonful and ask for it on the regular.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Rice

This recipe only takes a few ingredients, but all of those ingredients are key ingredients in making this Instant Pot basmati rice what it is. If you make any substitutions or omit anything, it’s not going to be the same.

Just warning you ahead of time.

2 cups long-grain white rice – basmati or jasmine works great
2 cups water – if you want to make this coconut rice in the instant pot, you’d switch the water out for coconut milk
1 tsp kosher salt
1 TBS butter or ghee (aka clarified butter)

How to Make Instant Pot White Rice

The best thing about this instant pot basmati rice is that it’s so easy to make. Unlike making rice on the stove, you add everything to the pot, set it, and walk away.

It’s seriously the best.

1 – Rinse the rice.

This is important. I know it adds a few more minutes to the process, but rinsing the rice makes a huge difference in the final result.

Rinse the water in cold water until the water runs clear.

2 – Add the ingredients to the Instant Pot.

Add the damp rice, water, salt, and butter (or ghee) into the Instant Pot.

Ingredients for Instant Pot basmati rice

3 – Cook the rice.

Lock the lid in the place. Also very important, and I should know since I’ve forgotten to do this way too many times.

Oh and make sure the steam valve is set to sealing rather than open. This Instant Pot basmati rice isn’t going to cook if you don’t seal the pot.

Once the lid is in place correctly, press the rice button on the Instant Pot. This will set the Instant Pot to cook for 12 minutes on low pressure.

When the rice is done cooking, press the keep warm/cooking button to turn off the Instant Pot. Don’t release the steam just yet!

Let the Instant Pot release its pressure naturally for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, switch the valve over to vent and let off any final steam that’s remaining in your Instant Pot.

4 – Fluff the rice.

Once all the steam has been released, use a fork to gently fluff the rice and serve warm.

Small and large bowls of Instant Pot basmati rice

What to Eat with Instant Pot Basmati Rice

If you’re reading this post, you probably already have something to eat in mind but just in case you need some ideas outside of the traditional sweet and sour chicken, here are some of our favorite recipes to enjoy with rice!

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Instant Pot Basmati Rice

Prep: 5

Cook: 25

Total: 30

Serves 8

Ingredients

▢ 2 cups long-grain white rice
▢ 2 cups water
▢ 1 tsp kosher salt
▢ 1 TBS butter

Instructions

Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear.
Add the still damp rice to the Instant Pot along with the water, salt, and butter.
Lock the lid into place; set the steam valve to “Sealing”; and press the “RICE” button. The “RICE” function should set the Instant Pot to cook for 12 minutes on Low Pressure.
When the rice is finished cooking, the Instant Pot will automatically switch to “Keep Warm/Cancel.” When this happens, press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button to turn off the Instant Pot and allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, set the steam valve to “Venting” to release any remaining pressure and remove the lid.
Fluff the rice with a fork and serve warm.

Tips & Notes:

This recipe makes approximately 4 cups of cooked rice or eight 1/2 cup servings of rice.

If you would like to make more or less rice, you can modify the measurements as long as you maintain the following ratios:

1 cup rice
1 cup water
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp butter

You can use any cooking liquid you want, such as broth, just keep the amount of liquid equal to the amount of rice.

If you don’t have butter, you can use any cooking fat/oil. Butter is our favorite, but we have also used ghee, coconut oil, avocado oil, and olive oil.