Kheer or Payasam is an Indian favorite dessert for special occasions. It is basically rice pudding made with rice and milk infused with saffron, cardamom and assorted dried fruits. This Kheer made in the instant pot is a game changer. The best thing about this, no stirring and it is ready in less than 40 mins!
Traditionally making kheer meant keeping milk and rice on the stove for 2 hours and stirring it frequently until the milk thickens and becomes creamy. With the Porridge setting in instant pot, the same thing happens, but you just dump all the ingredients and go your happy way to enjoy yourself!
As Diwali is approaching, I have been wanting to make some desserts that we can share with family and friends. Food, or rather desserts are integral part of Indian Diwali celebrations. You visit friends or have them over. But really, everywhere you go, you will find a table full of snacks and desserts laid out for you to enjoy. Oh, I love Diwali (how can a foodie not? 😉
This is going to be my dessert addition to Diwali potluck’s this year – Instant Pot Kheer.
How to make Kheer in Instant Pot?
This rice pudding is super easy with just adding all ingredients to the instant pot and setting it on porridge mode. The instant pot does it’s magic and perfect aromatic rice kheer is ready for you in 30 mins. If you have not tried kheer in instant pot yet, you just have to!
I hope you enjoy this easy and delicious Instant Pot Indian Dessert – Rice Pudding. Do share how it turned out!
Here are some other dessert made in the instant pot that you might enjoy:
- Sabudana Kheer – This gluten-free Sabudana pudding is made with tapioca pearls and milk in the instant pot.
- Seviyan Kheer – Also called Vermicelli Kheer or Semiyan Payasam, this delicious dessert can be made in the instant pot in less than 25 minutes.
- Carrot Pudding – Carrot Kheer is made with carrots, milk, cashews and dates, with the added aroma of cardamom & saffron. A delicious & satisfying desert, with no added sugar.
- Coconut Almond Laddoo – A quick sweet recipe that can be made in just 20 minutes for any occasion.
Rice Pudding / Kheer – Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 5 cups Milk, whole
- 1/2 cup White Rice , preferably small or medium grain, rinsed
- 1/2 cup Sugar , (adjust to taste), see notes
- 1/4 cup Roasted Mixed Nuts, chopped or sliced (cashews, almonds, walnut, pistachios) (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Raisins, (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Cardamom powder (Elaichi), (optional)
- 1/8 teaspoon Saffron (Kesar), (optional)
Instructions
- Sanitize the instant pot steel insert, lid and sealing ring thoroughly. If you have an extra sealing ring for sweet foods, use it.
- Add all the ingredients in the instant pot steel insert. Close lid with vent in sealing position. (Based on your preference, you can add sugar, nuts and raisins after pressure cooking too)
- Set instant pot to PORRIDGE mode for 20 minutes on high pressure. When instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Open Instant Pot and mix well. Rice pudding is ready. Serve warm or chilled.
- If needed, to get the desired consistency, cook on SAUTE mode for 2-3 mins. Or add more milk, mix and let it boil for a minute.
Video
Notes
- Try to boil 1/2 cup water in the instant pot on sauté mode, then add other ingredients. Make sure the water is already steaming before adding other ingredients.
- After opening the pot, take the instant pot steel insert out of the pot so the bottom layer does not overcook or stick to the pot.
- Add cinnamon powder and vanilla essence to get a different flavor.
- You can use brown sugar instead of white sugar, based on your preference.
Nutrition
Check out the collection of 10 Instant Pot Indian Desserts from the best blogs here.
I made this recipe this evening to the letter. Although it was delicious, I was left with at least 3 cups of liquid (which was so good I was inclined to just drink it lol). Up front, 5 cups of milk seemed like a lot for 1/2 c. rice. Where did I go wrong? I’m going to try another batch with the extra milk.
Hi Susanna – Glad to hear you enjoyed the kheer. Just want to confirm you used 1/2 cup of raw rice in the kheer. Usually the rice soaks up all the liquid and thickens, so much liquid should not be left.
Made this in my multi function pressure cooker, Used high pressure low setting as I don’t have porridge setting for 10 minutes and OMG it turned out exactly how I like to eat it…not too thick not to watery. Definitely will make weekly! My boys loved it. I used a combo of erythritol and stevia to keep sugar down. I also added a bit of rose water as I normally do when I make kheer. Also, the milk didn’t stick at all or boil over or anything Yay! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
Hi Farzana – So happy to hear you enjoyed the kheer. Thank you for sharing back your review!
This is my all time fav recipe. I have made this kheer so many times and each time I got wonderful feedback & compliments. So very delighted to find this easy peasy kheer recipe. Saves so much of time & effort !!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe to us 🙂
Hi Vandana – So glad to hear you have been enjoying the kheer. Thank you for sharing back your review!
Have you tried this recipe with Oat milk?
Hi Geetali – I have not tried with oat milk, however some readers have tried with almond milk and loved it. So I believe it will work well with oat milk too. Would love to hear if you do try it!
I got the burn warning! I did the porridge setting for 20 minutes on high pressure. Haven’t opened the pot yet, don’t want the milk splashing everywhere. I am so bummed!
Hi Madina – Sorry that you got the burn warning. You did the right thing not releasing the pressure, and letting it release naturally. Next time, try the method in notes which can help to avoid sticking.
I have made this recipe countless times .. always come out perfect!! This time I doubled the recipe in 6 quart and it worked great!!
Hi Sara – Glad to hear you enjoyed the kheer!
MY rice completely dissolved. No texture left 🙁 is this a thing or did I ruin it? I like the rice texture. Also I used coconut/almond silk because I’m allergic to milk. It tastes great but mushy!
Hi Sherri – The rice go get well cooked, but there is slight texture in the kheer. If you like them more holding their shape, then you can cook for just 10 minutes next time. Glad you enjoyed the taste.
Made it first time. loved it
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Wish i had read the bit about the boiling water as my kneer stuck to the base, and was tough to remove!
Perhaps you can make it part of the recipe, as others too have mentioned that the kheer stuck to the base.
Thanks
Hi Pretty – Happy to hear you enjoyed the kheer. I will rework the recipe to include the details. Thank you for sharing your feedback!
Thank you Meeta for the easy and wonderful recipe. I have the 3quart one. I probably didn’t read your posting in entirety but thankfully the milk didn’t boil over and the kheer came out quite well.
Hi Ravi – Glad to hear the Kheer came out well 😊. Thank you for sharing back your experience!
I wish I could do a half-star up.. but there we go. I tried this last night and, with the 1/2 cup water in saute mode, in an 8 quart IP, I had success. I made it with 1% milk because that’s generally what we keep in the house. It was a little loose for my liking even after the second ‘saute’ to reduce. The recipe doesn’t specify which type of saute. For reducing, the IP manual suggests low, but I feel this may be incorrect for this recipe. It was still ding-dang tasty though, and I’d do it again. I will likely “play around” and reduce the amount of milk by a half cup or so to see what the outcome is
Thank you for sharing back your feedback. I use the saute(normal) setting, unless specified otherwise in the recipe. I think the whole milk helps to give the right thick consistency. This rice pudding also thickens as it cools and is refrigerated. Hope you enjoy it again!
I made it in 3Qt with porridge option for 10 mins as I already did pressure cooker option for 2 mins 2 times with release air but took out the lid quickly and it was filled little above half. After Porridge option I added more milk n put it on sauté mode for 10 mins n adjusted sugar. Stirred on and off . This is the first time ever kheer was done without spilling and sticking too much on bottom. I added very little water and read the recipe after pressure cook for 2 times. Thanks for the tips.
Hi Sarika – So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing your experience. 🙂
Hi Sarika – Glad to hear the kheer worked out well.
Came out sooo good. So easy and so nice.. I put in instant pot and came back after an hour. There was milk outside vent and in the condensation catcher. Didn’t touch it until npr. But taste was divine
Hi Shruthi – Glad to hear you enjoyed it. As there was milk in the condensation catcher, I would say do a little less quantity next time, just to be sure it does not froth and come out.