One of the reasons to love the instant pot is perfectly cooked brown rice. You don’t need to keep that extra rice cooker anymore and can free the counter space. Even though I love white rice, I try to include more and more brown rice in our diet as it is more nutritious than white rice (well, debatable!). If you are looking for pot-in-pot (PIP) Brown Rice in the instant pot, go here.
Is Brown Rice better than White Rice?
There is a big debate over which rice it better. All rice consists almost entirely of carbs, with small amounts of protein and practically no fat. Brown rice is a whole grain, which means it contains all parts of the grain — including the fibrous bran, the nutritious germ and the carb-rich endosperm. Brown rice has more fiber and antioxidants, as well as a lot more important vitamins and minerals.
White rice has had the bran and germ removed, which are the most nutritious parts of the grain. This leaves white rice with very few essential nutrients, which is why brown rice is usually considered much healthier than white.
On the other hand, brown rice contains the anti-nutrient phytic acid which reduce our body's ability to absorb certain nutrients such as iron and zinc. Brown rice may also contain higher amounts of arsenic, a toxic chemical. However this is only a concern if you eat a lot of rice.
With the above facts, I am not recommending either one is better. You make the choice! I prefer to include both brown and white rice in our diet.
How to cook Brown Rice in Instant Pot?
Cooking rice needs perfection on the amount of water and time. I was never able to get that for brown rice prior to using the instant pot. Sometimes there would be water left, sometime the rice would be undercooked. However now with the instant pot, I can always cook perfect brown rice.
This is a no soak method. Just wash the rice, 22 minutes pressure cook (high pressure) in the instant pot and 10 minutes natural pressure release. Sounds easy…it actually is!
I like to have rice al dente, and separate. I don’t like sticky or mushy rice. Hence I use a 1:1.25 rice to water ratio, which has consistently given me perfect results.
Traditionally cooked basmati rice in a saucepan needs double the water amount than the rice. However in the instant pot, less water is enough to get perfectly cooked rice.
The same method works well to make rice in Ninja Foodi pressure cooker.
Main things to remember for perfect Brown Basmati Rice
- No soaking of rice
- Rice to water ratio – 1:1.25
- Pressure Cook / Manual for 22 minutes (high pressure, vent sealed)
- 10 minute NPR – Manually release the pressure 10 minutes after the instant pot beeps
Enjoy this perfect brown rice with any curry such as Chana Masala, Chicken Curry and Dal Makhani.
Try out the brown rice and let me know how it turned out. If you want to make Brown Rice using the pot-in-pot method (PIP), check out the recipe here.
You can also check out other variations of rice - Basmati white rice, Jeera or Cumin rice or other basics recipes such as Steamed Broccoli and Instant Pot Beets .
📖 Recipe
Brown Basmati Rice Recipe - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Brown Basmati Rice
- 1 ¼ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil (optional)
- ½ teaspoon Salt (optional)
Instructions
- Wash brown rice until the water runs clear.
- Add water and rice to the instant pot insert. If using, add the oil and salt.
- Start the instant pot in manual or pressure cook mode for 22 mins at high pressure with vent in sealing position.
- When the instant pot beeps, do 10 minutes natural pressure release, which means release the pressure manually 10 minutes after the instant pot beeps.
- Fluff the rice with a ladle or fork. Rice is ready to be served with your favorite curry.
Video
Notes
- If you like very soft rice, then increase the amount of water by ¼ cup.
- Cooking time remains the same even if you double or half the recipe.
- This recipe was created in a 6qt Instant Pot DUO60 Multi-use Programmable Pressure Cooker.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Ann-Marie says
I come back to this recipe/technique so regularly that when I type "Brown bas-" it shows up. Thank you so much for this info!
Angie says
Mine came out stuck together like sticky rice and too soft for my liking. Is this because I soaked it overnignt first? I do this to remove some of the arsenic and has always been perfect otherwise stove top. This is the first thing I've tried in my instant pot. Many thanks
Meeta Arora says
Hi Angie - Yes, soaking the rice will change the pressure cooking time. I would suggest to cook for just 15 minutes for soaked brown basmati rice. Would love to hear how that turns out.
A Foods teacher... says
I would also like to know how that went. I have a new instant pot (Home use. We don't teach that at high-school level.) and I like to use brown rice due to added fibre and additional nutrients that remain after cooking (Prolonged heat destroys Vitamins, but not minerals.) but notice that one pot recipes for meat and veg require less cooking time...so using a PIP method for brown rice with 22 minutes of cook time will make the rest of the meal overcooked and radically change texture and nutrition. I would also like to know, after you have soaked the rice (How long was the soak time?), and drained it, what the actual rice to water ratio should be. Will it be the same 1:1? Would 1:1 be too much or just result in a texture similar to if you had used 1:1.2.5?
A Foods teacher... says
Have started experimenting with this. 1 cup of brown basmati rice was soaked in 2 cups water for 14 hours...was supposed to be 12, but did not get home till later, drained it and used 1.25 cups of water (barely covered the rice) in with the rice and 1.5 in the pot liner. Rice came out a tiny bit crunchy on the top after 15 mins at high pressure and 5 mins NR. Rice readily absorbed another quarter cup of hot water from the instant pot.
The rice after soaking had softened considerably compared to the uncooked raw rice. I tried it before putting it in the instant pot. I suspect that whatever water the rice was soaked in, that it did not absorb, that is the amount that needs to be put in with the soaked rice into the PIP pan you are using to cook it properly.
Conclusion...but I still have more experiments to do...that soaking the rice for at least 12 hours and putting it in with enough water, will permit the brown rice to cook faster and at the same rate as the other menu item in the bottom of the pot.
Meeta Arora says
Hello - You are right, if you soak the brown rice for 10-12 hours, it will cook even in 12 minutes in the main pot. I have tried that with my biryani recipe. So 15 minutes for pot-in-pot should work well.
Jen says
Perfect brown basmati rice-thank you!
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi - That's wonderful to hear.
Jason says
This rice came out great. I used homemade chicken stock for the fluid, and 1/4 more stock. It came out really creamy. I like the rice a little soft so I might try 23 min next time but this came out great.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Jason - Glad to hear you enjoyed the brown rice.
Clarity says
Could you please help me to clarify weather this step (excerpt below) means:
When the pot beeps, don't touch anything and let it sit for 10 minutes, and efore putting the valve to "venting" to release the pressure?
OR
when the pot beeps, change the valve to "venting" and leave for 10 minutes?
"When the instant pot beeps, do 10 minutes natural pressure release, which means release the pressure manually 10 minutes after the instant pot beeps."
Clarity says
Oops, "whether" not "weather."
Meeta Arora says
Hi Clarity - Sorry the recipe was not clea. 10 minute Natural pressure release, means you want to release the pressure manually 10 minutes after the instant pot has completed pressure cooking. You do this by turning the valve to venting on the lid of the instant pot.
Typically the instant pot goes in keep warm mode after pressure cooking is completed and the timer displays how much time has passed. So when the display shows 10:00 minutes, you want to release the pressure. Hope that helps!
Debbie B says
I went exactly by your recipe and it was perfect. I even doubled the amount to ensure I had some leftovers. Thanks for posting.
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi Debbie - So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
Maria says
Hi! After doing the 22 mins manual pressure about 4 mins in the steam was coming out like crazy for a long time. So I got nervous and shut it off. Is that normal before the 22 minute countdown?
Jason says
Yes the pressure cooker will release some steam periodically, totally fine.