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.
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 .
Brown Basmati Rice Recipe - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Brown Basmati Rice
- 1 ¼ cup Water
- 1 tbsp Ghee or Oil (optional)
- ½ tsp 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.
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.
This recipe turned out perfect brown rice, just like we like it. Thanks for sharing.
Hi - I am glad to hear that. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
Several other recipes for brown basmati rice in an instant pot say to heat on high pressure for only about 5-6 minutes, yet your time on high pressure is 20 min. Big Difference. Why?
Hi Joan - I wonder if they are using quick cooking or parboiled brown rice. For regular brown rice, I have always needed more cook time. Hope you give it a try.
I cannot believe how perfect this turned out! Mind blown! Thank you!
Hi Pooja - So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing 🙂
I made this exactly as directed. I'm not a rice person, made this to go with red beans and rice. And I have to say, it is great. I can eat it right out of the pot. The ghee and salt make it very tasty.
Hi - So glad to hear that 🙂
I followed the directions exactly as written and the rice came out perfectly! I am going to start using brown rice more often now that I can cook it so easily in the Instant pot.
Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Hi Kerry - So glad to hear that. Thank you for trying my Recipe 🙂
I followed your instructions verbatim with my Crock Pot pressure cooker and the texture of the rice was perfect. I used Aldi's store brand brown basmati rice. Thank you for this!
This article and the replies were SO helpful.
Hi,
I've made this multiple times and its' come out perfect each time! My fruit market only had Jasmine Brown Rice this time. Would this recipe still work?
Thanks
Did you ever get an answer about brown jasmine rice? Or figure it out for yourself? I cant find it anywhere!
The same cooking time would work well for brown jasmine rice too. Hope you enjoy it!
This sounded good for the amount of time it takes to cook, since you wanted the rice firm. And I was glad you told us how you like your rice, so I could make some adjustments, since I wanted it more soft, a little bit closer to sticky rice.
I added 3 minutes to your cooking time, some extra cooking time, and extra pressure release time.
I used two parts water to one part rice (like I always do for pressure cooking)--using 3 cups water to 1.5 cups brown basmati rice. I normally add some extra time to go with the extra water, so this time I cooked it for 25 min. at high pressure, waiting for all pressure to Release Naturally, in a 6 quart IP Duo Plus--with the Keep Warm Function/Keep Warm Light turned off. (For short grain brown rice, I like to use 2:1 water to rice, and 27 min. cooking time, with Natural Release of pressure.)
I try to use brown rice for every dish and every occasion, since all white rice used to be brown rice--no matter how special or gourmet-quality it is--before the brown parts were removed. So I know (if you know where to look) you should be able to find any special kind of rice needed for a specific purpose in a brown, or in a whole-grain version.
My results were very good. Your recipe was 5 stars, getting the results you like, and mine was also 5 stars, since I wanted mine to be softer.
Thanks for the great recipe. I looked it up to see how to cook the new kind of rice I just got.
I wrote earlier that I used Brown Basmati Rice, but it turns out it was actually Brown Jasmine Rice, which I think is similar.
Anyway, it turned out just right.
The 5 lb. bag I got says this:
Dynasty Super Premium Grade
Thai Hom Mali
Jasmine Brown Rice
Non GMO, Gluten Free, Kosher
Product of Thailand