For years rice was something I just simply hated. Mom only ever made the white stuff which always, ALWAYS was either chewy or gummy and BLAND. So I hated it. Yes I tried adding salt, pepper and even butter to hers but that was just one thing she simply couldn’t master – kinda like me with a true New York cheesecake. I can make absolutely beautiful ones but the taste – nope, not right. Even when I use Mama Fantabulous’ recipe for hers which is heavenly (and she’s from New York as well), I just fail at it every single time. Anyway about 15 years ago or so I made brown rice and OMG it was incredible. I mean so flavorful and just perfect. Now the trick to making amazing flavored rice I’ll share in a bit but after that day I decided to explore more with various types of rice. Anyway I always made my rice on the stove but I found as I started to get into wild grains and so forth that it took upwards of an hour to make. I don’t have time for that! The box says ‘minute’ so it should take a few minutes… not an hour. LOL But then along came my dear friend, the Pressure Cooker!!! I mean why not, right?!
Out came my pressure cooker and in went the first batch…
then the second…
and the third. It was like I was having my own little children’s story when it came to this rice. First it was too hard. Second it was like mush – over cooked. Third time.. NAILED IT!
See the first time I made it I only put it in for 12 minutes. I mean it’s rice and it’s in a pressure cooker. It should cook faster, no? Yeah, even the pressure cooker cannot cook wild grain rice that fast. So the second time I made a batch I put it in for 40 minutes. Um.. nope! Don’t do this. Well okay you can as it’s usable but not as rice.
But the third time… NAILED IT! The rice was tender but not mushy, soft and billowy. Now full transparency here there will be liquid left in the pressure cooker. Remembers pressure cookers need liquid. You never ever want to run it without liquid. It’s not a lot. All I did was drain and it was fine. Actually that leftover liquid was perfect to use with chicken and make a great sauce!
As you can see this rice turned out beautifully and the fact that it was cooked under pressure the flavor from the stock was so much richer and intense. The butter is totally optional but I like that almost silky texture it adds to the rice. But please use stock, not water or even broth. Stock is richer in flavor. This is one of those recipes that I make weekly and a double batch that way we can have rice all week long either as a side dish, as a stuffing/filling or in casseroles.
Now remember my telling you about those first two batches I made – the rock hard version and the mushy version? Well I didn’t pitch those. Heck no! I’m not Oprah rich and can’t afford to waste food. Instead I took the rock hard rice, tossed it in a casserole pan with some chicken, veggies and stock and cooked that into a killer casserole.
And that mushy rice? That stuff is PERFECT in meatballs, veggie patties or even arancini type bites! It’s so soft and tender that it almost adds creaminess to the dish without all that extra fat or calories!
This is a must-make recipe that should be included in your recipe rounds. Experiment too when you make it! Add spices and seasonings to it – Mexican rice perhaps? Curry? Sweet rice? OH yeah!
10-5-17 – UPDATE
All, there will be liquid left in the pressure cooker. In my pressure cooker (see the pictures) you need the 3 cups of liquid. Yes I had to drain off the liquid in the pot when the rice was done. That is mentioned in the recipe. You can try in your pressure cooker 2 1/2 cups of liquid (if you have a different model than the one I used here. I did not use the Instant Pot for this recipe).
PrintPerfect Pressure Cooker Wild Grain Blend Rice
- Yield: 2 cups
Find more fantabulous recipes, tips and tricks at www.thekitchenwhisperer.net. Also, join our TKW Family on Facebook

Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup wild grain blend rice
- 2 1/2–3 cups stock (chicken, beef, vegetable) *See note as this depends on your pressure cooker
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Rinse the rice and drain.
- Place the rice, stock, rice and butter into the pressure cooker.
- Close the lid and lock. If using a Gas Pressure Cooker, place over high heat and once the pressure cooker is up to temperature, reduce the heat to low to maintain a high pressure and set the timer for 30 minutes. If using an Electric Pressure Cooker, set it to high with a timer of 30 minutes.
- When the timer is done, carefully do a quick release to allow the steam to empty out fast.
- Once all of the steam is released, remove the lid, drain off any excess liquid and fluff. Repeat YOU WILL HAVE LIQUID TO DRAIN OFF.
Notes
For the Instant Pot you can reduce the liquid to 2 1/2 cups of stock. But you will have liquid leftover that you will have to strain. This liquid is awesome as a base for chicken and rice soup!
And yes I know I’m repeating myself here but if you looking for the BEST Gas Pressure cooker out there then I HIGHLY recommend the All-Clad PC8! It’s INCREDIBLE!!!
If you’re looking for an Electric Pressure Cooker I recommend one of these 2 as they both are awesome:
Emeril by T-fal CY4000 Nonstick Dishwasher Safe Electric Pressure Cooker
or the Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cooker
What a quick, easy and excellent way to make the wild rice blend! I didn’t have too much excess “rice stock” juice and what I had I used for the next batch! The rice blend was the perfect texture and I did add the butter which made it even better! My final dish turned out GREAT! Thank you so much for answering me right away! I Highly Recommend trying this if you have an instapot or any pressure cooker and you want rice done well With NO scorching… my first batch the conventional way, scorched! Thank you again for an excellent recipe!
★★★★★
Good Afternoon! I was wondering if you could double the recipe? I would love to be able to make a double batch so that I can share meals with my family members. Thank you in advance… I have an instapot and am still learning. As I am getting ready to make a single batch right now, I’ll come back and tell you about it! Thank you!
Hi Allison,
I’ve not tried doubling it. You could try but the most important thing to look at is how big your instant pot is. You never want to go above the max fill line. Also, there will be liquid left over; that’s normal. I save that for soups and stocks.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Could you substitute with plain wild rice instead of the rice you used?
No as it’s completely different rice which requires a different amount of liquid and cooking time.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
30 minutes, 2.5 cups water…mush. using it for stuffed meatballs in the future. Not sure how to proceed.
Hmmm that’s odd as I’ve never had that happen. For wild grain rice blend (note that’s different than wild grain rice), 30 minutes is perfect. You’ll have extra liquid as mentioned in the post but anything less than 30 minutes and you’ll get a hard wild grain rice blend.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Hi Lori, love your blog and recipes. I made this recipe this evening and it came out great. Rice was tender and moist. I did use 1/4 cup more rice and I had no liquid to drain!! There are only two of us now and I have a huge bowl of leftover rice so I’d like to half the recipe next time do you think I should half the rice, liquid and cook time?? Thanks for your help and your blog. Judy
Hi Judy!
Thank you so much for the kind words!!! That means so much to me! You can half the recipe but the cook time will remain the same. The reason you had no extra liquid is because you used more rice.
Remember this recipe is for a wild rice blend. Using that type of rice you should have extra liquid leftover.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Flavor was great. Still have an issue with rice being rubbery and firm. Did not start timer until pressure was up. Used 2-2/3 cup water. Had water was completely gone and a thick layer or burnt rice remained.
★★★★
Hi Bryan,
What type of pressure cooker are you using? I make this quite frequently with both a gas pressure cooker and my Instant Pot that has a built-in timer. I always have water leftover and the rice is always tender and fluffy.
It sounds like you’re using perhaps a pressure cooker that has a faulty seal as that would contribute to you losing water and it being firm.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
This is the best way I have found to cook wild grain rice. It makes total sense about the leftover liquid and I LOVE that you give us ideas on how to reuse it! It’s awesome when making soup or pressure cooking chicken! It just adds so much flavor.
Thank you for another killer recipe Lori!
★★★★★
Can you add mushrooms
I don’t see why not. I know when I make roast I’ll add mushrooms to it and pressure cook them.
Best Kitchen Wishes!