Vegetable Rice Pilaf or Pulao is an easy one pot rice dish mixed with a variety of vegetables and mildly flavored with various spices. We will make this in the Instant Pot. You can also use the same recipe to make it in a traditional pressure cooker. As you can imagine, this is a one pot dish and hence it is super quick and easy. I make this on any day after I come back from work and don't have much time to get dinner on the table.
The best part is that this is not only a quick meal, it is also very nutritious similar to Spinach Rice and Khichdi. We are adding loads of vegetables and you can choose to add veggies of your choice. I added a mix of carrots, green beans, green peas, edamame and corn.
Looking for other easy Instant Pot Indian Recipes? Here are 29 Best Instant Pot Indian Vegetarian Recipes for you to try!
Tips to make Perfect Rice Pilaf in Instant Pot
- I usually don't use the rice mode in the instant pot to make basmati rice. Instead the manual mode works perfectly and also takes less time. But don't forget to give some time, about 10 minutes, before you release the pressure manually (5 minutes NPR).
- Follow the time and do not overcook. I personally prefer each grain of rice perfectly cooked and separated. It should not be mushy.
- In this recipe, I have used frozen vegetables. But you can also use fresh vegetables.
- Add roasted cashews for additional goodness. You can add them before pressure cooking to the rice.
Rice Pilaf with vegetables can be a complete meal for busy evenings similar to my Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani. Serve it with yogurt, which helps to compliment the spice in the pilaf.
Instant Pot Vegetable Rice Pulao
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati Rice (1 cup=250ml) rinsed
- 1 tbsp Ghee or Oil
- 1 Green Chili Pepper (optional)
- ½ cup Onion sliced
- ½ tbsp Ginger minced
- ½ tbsp Garlic minced
- ½ cup Tomato chopped
- 1 Potato medium, cut into small peices
- 2 cups Mixed Vegetables (Carrots, Green Beans, Peas, Corn, Edmame) frozen or fresh
- 1 ¼ cup Water
Spices
- ½ tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- ½ tsp Cayenne or Red Chili powder
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Salt
Whole Spices
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in sauté mode and heat it. Add ghee, whole spices and sauté them for 30 seconds until the cumin seeds change color.
- After they start to splutter, add the green chili, onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes until onion turn transparent.
- Add tomato and spices. Mix well.
- Add potato and mixed vegetables. Mix well.
- Add the rice and water. Mix the rice with the vegetables. If anything is stuck to the bottom of the pot, deglaze it. Close the lid with vent in sealing position.
- Change the instant pot setting to MANUAL or pressure cook mode for 4 minutes at high pressure.
- When the instant pot beeps, do a 10 minute NPR. This means let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the pressure manually.
- Fluff the rice gently. Vegetable Pilaf is ready. Enjoy with homemade yogurt or raita.
- Note: Remove the insert from the instant pot, so the lower layer of rice does not overcook from the hot base.
Video
Notes
- Adding whole spices is optional. You can enjoy this vegetable pilaf even if you don't have all the whole spices in your pantry.
- To reduce spice, skip the cayenne.
- Stovetop Variation: If you don't have an instant pot, you could also prepare this beet pulao in the stovetop pressure cooker. I suggest one whistle for the rice, and let the pressure release naturally.
- Vegan Variation: Use your favorite vegetable oil to make this pilaf.
- This recipe was created in a 6qt Instant Pot DUO60 Multi-use Pressure Cooker.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Check out other Instant Pot Rice recipes you might enjoy:
Hi Meeta
I got my instant pot yesterday night , tried your veg pulao in it , it was awesome 👌
I am 53 year old teacher but rarely cooked as have a full time helper at home .
Thanks a lot Betu , now I am going to try palak paneer next , pulao we’re just too good , my husband is very happy I found your recipes , can you guide me how to roll soft chappatis without oil , I don’t know yet , they get crispy with a world map 🙈🙈
Hello Arvinder - So happy to hear the pulao cooked perfectly. Here is my recipe for roti with all the tips and tricks - https://pipingpotcurry.com/roti-chapati-indian-flatbread/
Do I need to change the timing if I use 2 cups rice ?
Hi Niti - You can double the ingredients in the recipe. The cooking time will remain the same. Hope you enjoy the pulao.
This is my favorite recipe! Quick, easy and delicious. Comes out perfectly every time! Thank you!
Hi - So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
Thanks for this receipe. I used 1 cup of mix vegetables and 1 cup of paneer instead, turned out great!
Hi Priti - So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
What time and water changes would you recommend for brown basmati rice?
Hi Anu - I typically don't recommend this pulao with brown rice as brown rice takes much longer to cook (about 20 minutes), and in that much time, the veggies will turn to a mush. However if you want to try - soak the brown rice in hot water for 3 hours, then use in this recipe. Try rice mode as that cooks for longer (about 12 minutes) on low pressure.
It did came out well as usual as your any recipe.
Used 1.5 cup water and 6 mnt .
Thank you Meeta
Hi Kav - Happy to hear 🙂
/ The recipe so easy to follow it was so good thank you
Hi - So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing it 🙂
Hi Meeta,
How do we scale the recipe? I have tried few recipes for pulao with instant pot and when scaled either turn mushy or end up "BURN" signal in the instant pot.
Thanks
Raji
Hi Raji - I have tried doubling this recipe many times and it has worked well. Please do let me know if you face any issues.
This was delicious! Thank you so much. I'm going to make this regularly. It's a perfect way to use any vegetables in the fridge.
Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Hi Amishi - So good to hear that. Happy Holidays! 🙂
This is a family favorite! Comes out perfect every time, I sometimes do 1/2 coconut milk and 1/2 water for the liquid. Thank you Meeta 🙂
Hi - SO good to hear that. Thank you for sharing your experience 🙂