My cooking mantra is “simple doesn’t mean boring.” But…I love fancy rice pilaf. A simple rice pilaf, with white rice and chicken broth? It’s boring, and I’d rather just make risotto. But give me a blend of brown and wild rice? Now I’m interested. Add some fancy rice for variety: red rice, black Japonica, sweet rice? You have my full attention.
Then, stir in some dried fruit, nuts, and a little green onion, and you have a side dish that’s worth second helpings.
A pressure cooker is my secret weapon for brown rice. Brown rice takes forever on the stovetop; in my pressure cooker, It is done in about 40 minutes, end to end.
Looking for a holiday-worthy side dish that is easy enough to use on a weeknight? This is the pilaf to make.
Video: Pressure Cooker Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf (1:48)
Video: Pressure Cooker Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf with Cranberries and Almonds [YouTube.com]
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Pressure Cooker Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
Description
Pressure Cooker Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf. Looking for a fancy side dish for your holiday table, but easy enough for a weeknight dinner? Try this rice blend pilaf.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 cups brown rice and wild rice blend
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1½ cups homemade chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 cup water (or more broth)
- ¼ cup sliced green onion (about 2 green onions)
- 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
- More cranberries, green onions, and almonds for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the rice: Melt the butter in the pressure cooker pot over sauté mode (medium heat with a stovetop PC). Stir the rice into the pot to coat it with the melted butter. Add the cranberries, sprinkle with the salt, then stir in the broth and water.
- Pressure cook the rice for 20 minutes with a natural pressure release: Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes in an electric PC or 16 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the extra ingredients and serve: Scoop the rice into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the green onions and almonds, and fluff the rice with a large fork. Sprinkle a few more cranberries, green onions, and almonds on top, and serve.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- For this recipe, the fancier the rice blend, the better, as long as brown rice is the main ingredient. (I look for something like a Wild Blend or Royal Blend.)
- Don’t like cranberries, almonds, or green onions? Substitute golden raisins or currants, pecans or pistachios, and parsley. (Or, just skip them.)
Tools
- 6-quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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Aaron Friedman
I regularly make something very similar, however, I use a mix of brown/wild/red rice and whole wheat orzo. I toast them in oil before adding the liquid and use a 23 minute cook time. I find Better Than Boullion to be perfect for these types of recipes.
Arog0726
Made this recipe as written twice, both times it has turned out perfectly! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Mike Vrobel
You’re welcome!
Diane
Excellent. This time I sautéed onion, garlic, apple, celery and carrot for a bit before cooking the rice. Afterwards I mixed in a baby diced (IP) steamed butternut squash. Roasted veg would add more flavor, but it's August. Your site is my go-to for IP inspiration-thanks for sharing.
Britt
Can I please request a keto recipe for the instant pot? I'm trying to lose my gut and get abs this year
SandyToes
Looks so good. I'm trying to get my husband to embrace nuttier rice, and this might be the one that gets him on board. What are some of your favorite mains to serve this with?
Jane
Looks good. Yield for this recipe says 10 cups...is that accurate? Seems like a lot from 2 cups of rice blend.
Mike Vrobel
You're right - yield is 6 cups of cooked rice. (I did the "dry rice to cooked rice" conversion wrong.) Fixed, and thank you for catching that!