Instant Pot Brown Rice Recipe

Instant Pot Brown Rice is easy to make and comes out perfectly every time! No more guessing games when it comes to making rice!

My instructions and recipe for Instant Pot Jasmine Rice have been pretty popular, and since all rice is not created equally, I thought it would be helpful to show you how to make brown rice in your pressure cooker as well.

Rice is a tricky thing to make (crunchy! sticky! mushy!); and sometimes it’s just so difficult to get the correct consistency.

Or maybe I’m just rice-challenged.

I recently had a fun afternoon with my friends, a group that we very informally call “Cooking Club.” I’ve talked about our “Cooking Club” in the past, but basically it was my way to form (force?) friendships when we moved (back) to this area of the state. I’m happy to say that it worked beautifully and now not only do we sometimes cook together, we’ve also formed great friendships within a group of women who support and lift each other up. We’ve even occasionally let our husbands join in on some of our gatherings. 

There are always SO many laughs. One of our early gatherings was at my friend Renee’s house for an Instant Pot Cooking Club. It was a small group of five of us (we have probably 15 in our group at this point, so we’re usually able to get a good little group together even if not everyone can attend), but there haven’t been many times in my life when I’ve laughed so hard. 

It was kind of a disaster, to be honest. We were all newbies at using our Instant Pots, and we were learning together. I think some of the best moments in life are when things don’t go as planned, and this was no exception.

The chicken we made was still raw in the middle when it came out of the Instant Pot. One of the Instant Pot lids got stuck on the wrong pot. And I mean stuck. It took 20 minutes, a husband and tools to remove the lid. (Lesson: Don’t mix up lids if you have multiple models of Instant Pots). We didn’t plan ahead for the Instant Pot cheesecake so we ate grocery store cheesecake (but it was pretty darn delicious!). 

Renee decided we needed a do-over, and I think she was right. This time we probably had 10 women, and a few kiddos running around, but it still went much smoother. We were each armed with a pressure cooker, a recipe, and ingredients. Many of the recipes were mine (Renee is one of my biggest fans and I love her so much for it — she also tests many of my recipes for me!). 

We made Instant Pot macaroni and cheese (I was testing it out on them – recipe coming!), Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, Instant Pot Boiled Eggs, and my friend Laura adapted my slow cooker chicken and wild rice soup for the Instant Pot and it turned out fantastic. 

Other things on the menu were Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip (not gonna link to that one because it wasn’t great and resulted in a burn notice – no fault of my friend that was making it), Instant Pot rice with cilantro and lime, and Instant Pot Shredded Chicken. Needless to say, we all went home with leftovers! 

Renee was the hostess with the mostess and was left with a pile of dishes…but at least her fridge was full. 

It was most definitely another great day with great friends, and I think we may have even converted a few people that were on the Instant Pot fence. 

About Instant Pot Brown Rice

If you haven’t yet converted over to pressure cooking, rice might be what convinces you. It really does come out perfectly and it’s almost completely hands-off. Brown rice takes a little longer to cook than other varieties of rice, but it’s not any more difficult than any other type. 

Another great thing about rice is that you can make a large batch and freeze the extras. It freezes, thaws, and reheats beautifully, so you can thaw it whenever you need some for a side dish, a stir fry, or just when a craving for rice hits.

Important Tips and Notes:

• Don’t skip the step of rinsing the rice. It keeps it from foaming up or sputtering when you’re releasing the pressure.
• Don’t skimp on the salt. Rice tastes best with plenty of salt. 
• Try using broth instead of water for added flavor! Chicken broth or vegetable broth are both great choices. 

Rice and Stir Fry Recipes – a Match Made in Heaven:

Try this recipe with these tasty stir fry recipes! 

• Easy Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry
• Sweet Chili Chicken Stir-Fry
• Szechuan Chick Stir-Fry from Cooking Light
• 30 Minute Tempeh Stir-Fry from Minimalist Baker