Instant Pot Long Grain White Rice

Rice cooks up perfectly in the Instant Pot if you know a couple of simple things, like the amount of time and the amount of water to use. This recipe is for plain, basic long grain white rice, not basmati or jasmine rices.

How To Cook Long Grain White Rice In The Instant Pot

It of course didn’t work to cook long grain rice the same as jasmine or basmati. Those recipes have you rinse the rice, and then use the same amount of liquid as rice, and pressure cook for 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural release. My rice was not cooked through. I was actually using it in a filling that had a sauce, so I added the sauce to the pot and simmered it all until the rice was done.

But, the next day I was back to my Instant Pot determined to get it right so that this wouldn’t happen to me again, or to anyone else searching for how to cook plain long grain white rice in the Instant Pot.

The first step of my research was to look at my Instant Pot Paella recipe, which starts with cooking rice in the Instant Pot with canned diced tomatoes and stock. I know that that recipe works well because I used to make it all the time. I therefore estimated how much liquid the tomatoes probably contribute to the pot and added that to the amount of stock to get the correct water ratio. Then I decided to just go with the time specified for that recipe too.

The rice turned out perfectly! It was fully cooked , but each grain still had its own integrity and held together so that it didn’t turn to mush when fluffed with a fork. So, how do you get perfect long grain white rice from your Instant Pot? Here is the perfect Instant Pot rice recipe!

How To Rinse Rice For The Instant Pot

So, first, you need to rinse your rice before putting it into the Instant Pot. This coats each grain in some water, which prevents it from clumping and from causing a burn notice in your Instant Pot, so don’t skip this.

To rinse rice, measure it into a fine mesh strainer or colander with holes smaller than rice. Rinse it under the tap in your sink until all of the rice has been touched by water. Then shake it downwards so most of the water leaves the rice. Then put the rice into the Instant Pot.

How Much Salt To Use When Making Rice

Add 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of salt for each cup of uncooked rice. If you’re using plain water, then I’d say head closer to the 1 teaspoon. If you’re using any kind of broth or flavorings, you can probably stay around 1/2 teaspoon.

How Much Water To Use When Making Instant Pot Long Grain Rice

Now for the water. You’re going to use 1.3 times more water than you have rice. A lot of recipes have you use the same amount of water as rice, and I tell you, less water just doesn’t work. At least not in my Instant Pot. My model of Instant Pot is the 8 quart Duo over here, by the way.

So, what does that mean? If you’ve measured 1 cup of uncooked plain long grain rice into your sieve and rinsed it and then put it into your Instant Pot, you’re going to add 1 and 1/3 cups of water. If you’ve started with 1 and 1/2 cups of rice, you’ll use 2 cups of water. If you start with 2 cups of water, you’ll use 2 and 2/3 cups of water.

Stir the rinsed rice, salt, and water in the Instant Pot. Now you’re ready to cook it.

How Long To Cook Long Grain Rice In The Instant Pot

The perfect amount of time to pressure cook plain long grain white rice is 6 minutes with a quick release. So, you’ll set your Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 6 minutes. Then put the lid on and switch the valve to Sealing.

At that point, the Instant Pot will start heating up and it will come to pressure. Once it’s at pressure, the pressure button will pop up. That is when the 6 minute timer will start.

As soon as the timer ends and the Instant Pot display reads 0:00, move the valve to Venting, being careful to avoid being hit by steam. Wait until all of the steam has released and the button has dropped down. It is now safe to remove the lid. Go ahead and do so (but see “Keeping Rice Warm” below). Then fluff the fork with a rice and serve.

How To Keep Rice Warm In The Instant Pot

If you don’t need the rice immediately, don’t remove the lid after the quick release is over. Leave the Instant Pot on the Keep Warm setting and your rice will stay perfect for as long as an hour. Yes, really. It’s amazing.

If you have opened your Instant Pot though, fluff the rice with a fork. Then you can absolutely put the lid back and and keep the Instant Pot on the Keep Warm setting for up to an hour, and it will stay warm that way too.

I was pretty frustrated on that day when my rice didn’t turn out. I hope that by detailing my experience and letting you know specifically how to cook plain old white long grain rice in the Instant Pot you won’t run into the same problem that I had. Now you can have perfect rice as a side dish or as the start of a great entrée.