Ok, so it’s not sexy. 😉
Not among the cheesecakes and roasts and other Instant Pot and pressure cooker drool-worthy dishes you’re seeing on your Pinterest feed. Right?
It is, however, the #1 question I get about pressure cooking…
“How do I make soaked rice (or insert another grain) in my Instant Pot/pressure cooker?”
Ah… there’s the rub.
None of the charts in recipe books or manuals give cooking times for soaked grains. (At least not that I’ve seen.)
You might have tried to do it yourself, being a good student of traditional cooking, but then ended up with absolute mush that no one would eat. Then you gave up. Right?
It happened to me, too. I was so discouraged I stopped working on it for a couple months.
Yet, I do believe it’s important to keep up with soaking our grains.
Not only is the cooking time reduced even more, as you’ll see in a bit, but the texture is way better. This is in addition to the health benefits of soaking/fermenting of grains, which can include starch reduction and neutralization of anti-nutrients like phytic acid.
So I decided I better figure it out. Plus, our eleventh (!!!) class at Traditional Cooking School (included with membership) is Pressure Cooking. Which means I definitely better have it figured out… for you!
And here you go…
Perfect Soaked Rice {Instant Pot or any pressure cooker}
Ingredients
- Instant Pot or any pressure cooker
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker manual or the book Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass
- rice your favorite variety*
- pure water
- raw apple cider vinegar lemon juice, or other acid
- additional pure water or broth for cooking
- sea salt
Instructions
Step 1: Soak the Rice
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Get out your Instant Pot or pressure cooker manual (or the book Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass) and get the correct rice to water ratio for your particular variety of rice.
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Note: You are looking for the grain:water ratio for cooking, but will use it for soaking. I have noticed that the amounts recommended for most (if not all) pressure cooked grains is less than what we use for normal cooking. This is important. Less water is needed to achieve perfect grains when pressure cooking. This will come in handy later.
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Combine the correct amounts of rice and (warm) water in your Instant Pot stainless steel insert or pressure cooking pot.
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Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, raw apple cider vinegar, or other acid per cup of water.
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Leave it to soak for 7 to 8 hours or overnight.
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My example: I am cooking brown basmati rice. The manual's ratio is 1 cup of this rice to 1-1/2 cups water. I intend to cook 3 cups of dry rice, so I combine it with 4-1/2 cups of water and 4-1/2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar in the Instant Pot insert.
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Make sense? Ok, let's move on to Step 2.
Step 2: Drain the Rice
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Get out a fine mesh strainer and put it inside a big bowl or another pot.
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Pour the soaked rice mixture through it, so the rice is caught in the strainer and the soaking water is caught in the bowl/pot.
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Measure the soaking water, so you know how much is left. Once you know the amount, you can discard it (water some plants or your compost pile).
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Put the rice back in the Instant Pot insert or pressure cooker pot.
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Replace the same amount of soaking water that you just discarded — in the form of more fresh water or broth. (Broth makes yummy rice!)
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Optional: Add some sea salt for additional flavor. How much depends on the amount of rice you're cooking. 1 teaspoon of sea salt is good for 3 to 4 cups of dry rice.
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My example: it's a bit different each time, but normally just shy of 4 cups of water is what I catch after soaking — so that's how much I replace in the form of fresh water or broth. And I just add a few pinches of sea salt that I don't really measure.
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That was easy. Now Step 3…
Step 3: Pressure Cook the Rice
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Now you need to figure out how long to cook. Since your rice is soaked, the cooking times in your manual or reference are too long. Don't worry; it's easy to figure out how long to cook instead!
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Get out your Instant Pot or pressure cooker manual (or the book Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass) and look up the cooking time for your particular variety of rice.
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In your head, halve this time to get your adjusted cooking time for soaked grains. (If the time is a range, you can halve the lower amount or pick a mid-range of it to halve.)
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Now pressure cook your rice using that halved amount of cooking time on HIGH pressure.
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When the pressure cooking cycle is over, ideally let the pressure cooker de-pressurize naturally (about 20 to 30 minutes), or use the quick pressure release function.
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Serve and enjoy!
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My example: the Instant Pot manual says 22 to 28 minutes for cooking my brown rice, so I took 24 (about the middle of that range) and halved that to get 12 minutes cooking time.
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Now it's time to evaluate your results!
Step 4: Evaluate the Rice
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Although the previous 3 steps should get you to perfect soaked grains — or pretty close! — it might be a tad bit off. That's ok, because you're nearly there so it's just small tweaks from here on out.
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If it's not quite right… it's time to ask some questions.
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How did your rice turn out?
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A little chewy? Next time, add a minute or so more pressure cooking time. And perhaps a bit more liquid.
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A little wet? Next time, increase the cooking time a bit. You might also consider reducing the cooking liquid just a bit, but try not to do this unless you can't get it right otherwise.
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Remember to take notes as you try different things so you remember what worked when and can duplicate your great results!
Recipe Notes
- The example rice here is brown basmati.
Now that you have Instant Pot rice conquered, you should try thick & creamy Instant Pot Rice Pudding.
What About Other Grains?
You can use this formula for other grains. It works really well for quinoa, in particular. We love quinoa!
Want More Information On Pressure Cooking?
- Getting Started with Pressure Cooking
- Pressure Cooking eCourse at Traditional Cooking School
- the Instant Pot — my favorite pressure cooker that will be featured in the Pressure Cooking eCourse (though you can use any pressure cooker)
Have made perfect soaked rice in the pressure cooker? What tips or methods would you add?
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Sorry, you lost me at step one. If you triple the rice, wouldn’t you also triple the water?
Sorry again. Long day….
Hi, Wardee! Lurve everything you do with your blog, podcasts, etc.. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Quick question regarding the soaking procedure you’ve provided to us, above. Did you use the Instant Pot Measuring Cup (the 180ml plastic cup) to measure your rice and water OR did you use a regular measuring cup?
NOTE: Just got my Instant Pot (IP-DUO60-ENW)! Have steamed some potatoes so far. Awesome results. Just finished my soaking cycle with my brown rice blend (brown rice, quinoa, wild rice, red rice & black rice) using a grain to water ratio of an average of the Brown Rice, Wild Rice and Quinoa grain to water ratios from the Instant Pot Manual which came out to be 1:1.5 (when rounded). So it was the exact grain to water ratio you used. I soaked three cups of my rice blend for 8 hours following your instructions, above. However, I used the Instant Pot Measuring Cup to measure out my three cups of rice blend and the 4.5 cups of soaking water. When done, I had a little less than 4 Instant Pot Measuring Cups of soaking water left so I’m now going to cook the rice in my lurvely Instant Pot with 4 Instant Pot Measuring Cups of fresh water, the sea salt and just a bit of coconut oil. I’ll let you know how it turns out!!!
Big hugs & blessings! 🙂 <3
P.S. I cooked my soaked rice blend in my beautiful new Instant Pot for 12 minutes using the Natural Release method (it took a total of 30 minutes for the Natural Release Process to finish). RESULTS: Perfectly cooked rice blend!!!! Just perfect! Amazing. Happy Camper over here!!! YAY!!! Thanks, Wardee!!! My second Instant Pot mission was a huge success!!!
Hi Patti,
Wonderful that it was a success! Wardee used a regular 1-cup measuring cup and 1-cup liquid measuring cups for measuring.
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
Thanks, Millie. I’ll try using my standard measuring cups next time, too, and see if my results are the same. I’m sure they will be. 🙂
you can use any cup as long as you use it for both the rice and the liquid. the ratio is whats important. not the amount.
so if you used a teacup and put 3 teacups of rice in then you would need 1 1/2 x 3 teacups of liquid (4 1/2 teacups)
grains and beans are great that way.
Thanks, Millie! 🙂
Thanks so much, Helene!
I share your enthusiasm for the idea that everyone on the planet, and especially those of us in countries where so much processed and prepared food is eaten, should instead whenever possible consume natural, organic, whole foods grown locally in season.
It is clear that you have spent considerable time on this recipe, working through and spelling out the details and process for preparing and cooking the rice. However, this is by no means a quick and easy dish. It has more steps than necessary and anything that has to be soaked overnight does not lend itself to a meal that can–or must–be prepared in a hurry.
I believe that many people, like me, have purchased an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker in order to streamline, speed up and reduce their cooking chores. With rinsing the rice in water instead of soaking it overnight it is possible to take basmati rice from box or bag to serving plate in a total of about 15-16 minutes (1 minute to rinse rice; 1-2 minutes to add rice, water and salt to pot; 3 minutes to cook; 10 minutes for natural pressure release followed immediately by quick pressure release; and serve the rice). Some experimentation may be necessary because actual cooking times may vary a bit depending on factors such as elevation and how moist or dry you would like the rice to be when done.
Cultural footnote: Millions upon millions of Indians and Pakistanis and Chinese use pressure cookers to prepare rice, and none of my many cookbooks–or on-line recipes–calls for soaking rice overnight, though most do call for rinsing rice until the water runs clear and then soaking the rice for about 30 minutes before putting it into the pressure cooker. Cooking times will of course change if the rice is soaked rather than rinsed, but rinsing by itself leads to a very tasty final product.
Traditional methods absolutely can be good, but for many of us it is necessary to balance the traditional with the many demands on our time.
Keep up the good work.
Soaking makes it easier to digest. Many cultures across the globe have lost specifics of traditional food prep and many out there are still teaching these ways.
If this recipe is too complicated for you and the busy people you are worried about, it isn’t for you. Move along. But there are other people that appreciate it and actually use these methods so this recipe is for them. We all have different views and needs.
I’m a bit older and concerned about digestion and autoimmune triggers. SO many people are getting autoimmune related diseases. I believe its related to the foods we eat and the ways we prepare them. I think soaking is a good investment in our health. It just takes a tad bit of preplanning.
If I may say, this seems way more complicated than it needs to be … I have been soaking and cooking rice for years, as not soaking messes up my digestion. I found a very simple way to do so (based on the advice of a friend of Asian decent). I add one cup of rice to a pint jar and add 1-2 teaspoons of salt (I use Real Salt) – more is okay. Then I fill the jar with filtered water, add a lid, and shake lightly to mix. I typically soak for at least 4-6 hours, but overnight is ideal. When ready to cook, I add 2 cups of filtered water to a saucepan with a dash of salt and bring to a boil. While waiting for the boil, I rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer. When the water boils, I add the rinsed rice to the pot and reduce the heat to low. I then cook the rice for 45 minutes (or according to the package directions), and it’s always perfect. Never had the need for a rice cooker or instant pot. No digestion issues for me with this method, and the rice always cooks perfectly. The salt soaking does not add salt to the rice – just helps with the breaking down of the non-digestibles.
Very interesting. I’m trying to help my digestion also. Thanks for the tip. I do like the idea of using the instant pot, that way I don’t have to tend to the rice on the stove.
Many have problems and have to have grains presoaked for 1-2 days, as it removes the lectins that cause damage. While the salt is going to break down some of the non digestible’s, it isn’t going to remove the lectins that come out with longer soaking methods. These lectins also interfere with digesting the nutrients of the food. The method listed here isn’t really complex, it just requires thinking ahead.
Just bought a package of brown rice medley from TJ. Ingredients say “ parboiled brown rice”. Will that affect soaking or cooking time? Thanks Wardee.
Hi Coleen,
It’s likely parboiled rice will be too mushy if soaked.
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
Hi there, I live in another country and have not found any brown rice to this point… We have baldo, basmati, and some other varieties but all white. Can I still soak it and it be fairly healthy? Or is white rice pointless to soak?
Hi Abbey,
We have not used baldo but I do use and soak basmati rice.
Soaking improves texture on any rice, but it’s not necessary for nutrition with white rice because the phytic acid that was in the bran has been removed.
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
Hi Abbey, My family lived in southeast Asia for 10 years and we also could not find brown rice, until someone told me that I would need to go to the mill and ask them to take the rice out of the machine before the final polish. So I went to the local mill, and voila! Brown rice! They thought I was absolutely crazy, of course, but I got my brown rice. I would buy large bags (50#) at a time and share with my friends to make it worth their trouble to take it out of the machine early.
I did it a few times and it worked wonderfully. The best rice ever!! 🙂
But this time, I set it to start cooking in an hour and then keep warm. Well, when I came back home and oped the lid, the rice was mushy and it was still full of water. Is it possible that the keep warm function keeps the water in or… anyone can help me on that one? Thank you. 🙂
Hi Jenny,
Could it not have come to pressure properly? Maybe a malfunction with the seal? Wardee uses this feature often and she’s not had it setting in water. The only thing she can think is it didn’t have the pressure cooking time. It only was on Keep Warm. Maybe try it again, when you are home and can monitor it?
Hope this helps!
~ Millie, TCS Customer Success Team
Keep warm is a function it does automatically when cooking is finished, you do not need to set it, and if you do you are selecting it to do just that function.
Thanks!! 🙂
Hi! I have a question about other grains, like oatmeal which are advised to be soaked while heated to 90-100 degrees, for 12-24 hours…(more like fermentation) – wondering if you’ve used the IP for that?
Hi Ira,
We’ve never made oatmeal that way before but the Yogurt Less setting would be the right temperature range to use.
These are the ranges (Per the Instant Pot website)
96.8-109.4 – yogurt normal
86-93.2 – yogurt less
Yogurt less looks like it would work. 🙂
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
Could you approximate how much water one cup of brown rice would soak up after 8 hours soaking? Before thinking to look this up I just filled the pot with water and cup of rice so now I’m not sure how much to add after draining! I know beans can suck up as much as 1.25 -1.5 cups from the ratio of 1 cup beans to 2 cups water.
Hi Denise,
That is hard to say but in Wardee’s example above she used 3 cups of rice and 4 1/2 cups of water to soak.
After soaking she had just shy of 4 cups of water. So her 3 cups of rice soaked up a little more than 1/2 cup of water.
You’re 1 cup of rice probably soaked up a little less than 3 tablespoon of water.
Hope this help! ~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
I just realized that the little measuring cup that comes with the IP is not actually an 8 oz cup. When you are referring to cups in your measurements here are you meaning 8 oz cup or are you using the little 160 ml cup that comes with the Instant Pot?
I’m going to soak 1 cup of rice in 1.5 cup water and see how that works out.
Hi, AtlantaJJ,
Wardee uses an 8 oz measuring cup and not the Instant Pot cup.
~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team
I am so intrigued by the thought of soaking grains! I already have a crock pot, a rice cooker, and of course, pots and pans…Do I need to buy a pressure cooker or instant pot or is there a way to use what I already have???
I just replaced my old National rice cooker with an Instant Pot because in my research I found that most rice cookers us an aluminum inner pot that is coated with Teflon which could expose you and your family to toxic chemicals. The old cooker was still working great but the inner pot was scratched and dinged. eek. I got spoiled by the rice cooker, being able to just setting and forget it until it beeped.
I also recently discovered that I should be soaking my brown and black rice for health and digestive reasons. I tell my son that I have to be my own EPA and FDA now-a-days.
I cooked rice in the Instant Pot twice with a bit of olive oil to help prevent sticking and I found that the 1:1 ratio suggested in the IP instruction book worked great for me. The other suggested ratio left my rice a bit wet.
Thank you for this awesome post!
Hi Monica,
If you have a stainless steel pot you can soak and cook rice in that. No need to buy anything new. You can even use your ceramic slow cooker pot for soaking.
You want to avoid aluminum and Teflon. 🙂
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
It’s my understanding, from more than one source, that all rice is arsenic contaminated, with Basmatti being less so. Soaking over night followed by two or three rinses the next day will remove most if not all this contamination. If this is true, do we really want to be dumping this rice soaked water on our compost?
Hi Craig,
Personally I would not dispose of any soaking water in my compost.
~Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
I have a recipe that cooks white rice in three minutes with a slow release of 10 mins and its perfect! So I guess after soaking this would be 90 seconds?? Seems really short but here goes. Cooking rice in a pressure cooker for over 20 mins seems like over-cooking. I have a recipe for brown rice and it says 15 mins so halving it to 7.5 doesn’t seem long.
Hi, Jay,
If following Wardee’s instructions she is referring to halving your pressure cooker’s manual instructions. I am not sure of that particular recipe but it would be interesting if it worked. Let us know how it turns out!
~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team
Would this soaking and fermenting method work for white rice?
Hi, Allen,
Soaking improves texture on any rice, but it’s not necessary for nutrition with white rice because the phytic acid that was in the bran has been removed.
~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team