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Instant Pot Wild Rice is a delicious and simple side dish that compliments any meal. It also makes a great base for a ‘bowl’ meal. Perfectly cooked every time in your pressure cooker!

white bowl of cooked wild rice garnished with a sprig of thyme

Wild rice has a wonderful nutty flavor with a lovely chewy texture. It’s delicious on its own, but I also love to serve it with Orange Chicken, or Mongolian beef. It’s a great to stuff your chicken or cornish hens with.

The reason I love cooking it in the Instant Pot is that the texture is perfect every time, the flavor is better, and it’s completely hands-off.

Note that it doesn’t necessarily take less time in the pressure cooker, but you don’t have to babysit it, just start it and let it go.

Things to know about wild rice

Is wild rice actually rice? So this seems like a weird question, but it gets asked often. Word must be getting out.

Wild rice is an aquatic grass, not a grain, though it’s referred to as rice because it looks and cooks like all other types of rice.

Health Benefits: It’s low in calories and high in nutrients. It’s a good source of plant-based protein and has manganese, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin B-6.

A half cup has about 100 calories, 21 grams of carbs and 4 grams of protein. Brown rice has 112 calories, and about half the protein.

So here’s how eating Wild Rice can help you:

high in antioxidants
Grain free
reduces inflammation
helps with weight loss
strengthen’s bones
Boosts energy
helps with digestion
good for your heart
immune building
builds muscle

jar of uncooked dry wild rice next to vegetable broth and the instant pot

Important Cooking Tips

TIP NUMBER ONE: Always rinse the rice very well, with cold water, in a colander or fine mesh sieve. This rinses away any dust or debris as well as the surface starch which can cause the rice to clump when cooking.

TIP NUMBER TWO: For cooking in the instant pot, use equal parts rice and water. When you cook it on the stove top, it’s usually 2:1 water to rice, but much of that steam evaporates and that doesn’t happen in the instant pot. It all absorbs into the rice. Too much water will result in mush.

TIP NUMBER THREE: Add thin liquid to the instant pot FIRST, before the rice. Thin liquid equals water or broth. I highly recommend vegetable broth or bone broth for ultimate flavor and nutrition. After adding the wild rice, stir well.

cooked wild rice in an electric pressure cooker.

Cooking Times

In case you’d like to try other varieties of rice, here are the cooking times:

White (or basmati white) 4-8 minutes
brown rice (long or short grain) 22-28 minutes
Jasmine 3-5 minutes

Always let the pressure release naturally and completely.

Perfect Pairings

Try this recipe alongside these to complete your meal.

More Great Side Dishes

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