Instant Pot Salmon and Rice (One-Pot Meal)

Instant Pot Salmon and Rice is a quick, weeknight, one-pot meal with Japanese flavors. Rice, shiitake mushrooms, and frozen salmon fillets are the main ingredients, with soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and green onions to flavor.

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• INGREDIENTS
• How to make Instant Pot Salmon Rice
• Substitutions
• Tips and Tricks
• What to serve with Salmon Rice
• Instant Pot Salmon and Rice (One-Pot Meal)
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

I became a pressure cooking fanatic thanks to one-pot meals. Soups, stews, chilis, and beans are all ready to go in an hour or less, thanks to cooking under pressure.

That's why I got excited when I saw this recipe. Salmon and rice in one pot? Could I make it work in my Instant Pot? Turns out, the trick is frozen salmon. It protects the salmon from pressure cooking long enough to cook the rice. And, with that, another one-pot Instant Pot meal was born.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups short grain white rice
• 2½ cups water
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 5 ounces sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 4 (4-ounce) frozen salmon fillets
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Toppings (optional)

• More sliced green onion
• Chili crisp (or sriracha or other Asian hot sauces)
• Furikake rice seasoning (or sesame seeds)
• Japanese Barbecue Sauce (or teriyaki sauce or soy sauce) for drizzling over the rice

How to make Instant Pot Salmon Rice

Rice into the pot

Put the rice, water, 1 tablespoon mirin, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker and stir until combined.

Mushrooms and salmon on top

Spread the shiitake mushrooms on top of the rice in a single layer. Lay the frozen salmon fillets on top of the mushrooms, skin side down, then drizzle the salmon with 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

Pressure cook for 4 minutes with a 10-minute natural release

Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure in the pot.

Skin and shred the salmon, season, and serve

Unlock the lid, tilting it away from you to avoid the hot steam. Carefully remove the salmon from the pot - don't worry if it breaks into pieces - then peel the skin off of the salmon. Put the salmon back into the pot. Break the salmon fillets into flakes with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the thin-sliced green onion and gently stir the salmon and green onion into the rice. Drizzle the tablespoon of toasted sesame oil over the rice and mix it in. Serve, passing the toppings at the table. Enjoy!

Substitutions

Rice: I use short grain because it is traditionally Japanese, but any white rice will do. Jasmine rice, in particular, is another one of my favorites.

Shiitake mushrooms: My local Whole Foods carries sliced Shiitake mushrooms in 5-ounce packages, so that's what I use in this recipe. Sliced white or baby bella mushrooms will also work. If you want to get fancy, use a gourmet mushroom blend.

Mirin: Substitute sake, rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar. (Or skip it).

Toasted sesame oil: This is a common ingredient found in the Asian section of your local grocery store. The key is "toasted"—the oil should be dark brown from the roasted sesame seeds. Toasted sesame oil has a rich, nutty flavor. Don't use "virgin" sesame oil, which is a bland, neutral cooking oil from unroasted sesame seeds.

Fresh salmon: Unfortunately, fresh salmon fillets won't withstand pressure cooking. I'd recommend freezing them before cooking. Or, steam them after cooking: Pressure cook the rice, unlock the lid on the cooker, and lay the fresh salmon fillets on top of the rice. Close the lid and let the salmon steam in the pot. It is done when it will flake apart when pressed with a fork, five to ten minutes.

Tips and Tricks

Frozen salmon for pressure cooking

This is the big tip - use frozen salmon in the pressure cooker. Salmon cooks quickly under pressure. (Too quickly.) Fresh salmon would overcook, but frozen salmon is perfect for this quick-cooking rice recipe.

Simplest Salmon and Rice

If you want the simplest version of this recipe, you can do it with four ingredients: rice, frozen salmon, soy sauce, and minced green onion. The other ingredients add more flavor

What to serve with Salmon Rice

As I mentioned in the ingredients, I love a bunch of different toppings for salmon rice. Drizzle on some Japanese barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, or soy sauce. Add a few splashes of a hot sauce, like sriracha, or a few spoonfuls of chili crisp. Sprinkle on some sliced green onions or minced cilantro.

I'll serve this one-pot meal with a salad and a green vegetable side, like Steam-Sauteed Green Beans, Instant Pot Green Beans, or Pressure Cooker Chinese Kale.

Adapted from: One-Pot Salmon and Shiitake Rice Recipe - Bon Appétit

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