Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf. How to cook your favourite brown rice pilaf in the instant pot. A delicious gluten free, weight watchers and vegan instant pot brown rice pilaf that is loaded with seasonal vegetables and flavoured brown rice.

Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf
I remember back in 2000, when I couldnโt cook and had cravings for rice, I would cook it from a packet.
I thought rice looked way too difficult to make and what if it wasnโt cooked right or if the rice was too dry because it had been starved of water?
I grabbed one of those golden vegetable rice packs and tried cooking it in the microwave.
It was a total failure.
I couldnโt even cook rice from a packet.
Looking back, I know now that it was not enough liquid and that my microwave was more powerful than the one mentioned on the back in the instructions.
Did you know that rice being starved of liquid and timings being wrong, is the reason why so many people fail when they try to cook instant pot brown rice!
You need that formula that works.
You need the instant pot brown rice cooking times and brown rice to liquid ratio to be spot on.
Get those right and you will be a pro at making instant pot brown rice and will be able to go from instant pot brown rice to making flavoursome dishes such as this instant pot brown rice pilaf that I am showing you how to make today.

What Is Pilaf?
You might not have heard of a pilaf. In fact, it wasnโt until about 3 years ago when I was getting into using the instant pot, that I first heard of a pilaf.
Probably because it is not popular in Europe and instead as Europeans, we would think of it as golden vegetable rice.
A pilaf by definition:
- Sautรฉed vegetables
- Indian spices
- Grains such as brown rice
- Yummy flavoursome broth
Many pilafs that you will try, will be very different because we all have different broths, different Indian spices, different vegetables and different types of rice.
The instant pot brown rice pilaf that we are making for you today is a vegan version, whilst many include chicken.
Weโre also including turmeric in our vegan pilaf to give it that wonderful bright colour of India.
Instant Pot Vegetable Rice
Another way of thinking of an instant pot pilaf is thinking of it as an Indian instant pot vegetable rice.
The instant pot brown rice is well seasoned, and this gives it a wonderful flavour and makes your brown rice very tasty.
You can then serve it with one of your many favourite Indian main dishes. Such as our slow cooker butter chicken or our instant pot vegetable curry.
Though I love to enjoy an instant pot pilaf as a main dish and have it for lunch on days when I want lunch in a hurry.

Instant Pot Brown Rice 1 Cup
In our recipe today for a brown rice pilaf we are using just 1 cup of brown rice. The reason is that I didnโt have any more left!
I was determined to cook as many different instant pot brown rice recipes as I could from the generous bag of organic brown rice I received.
I was cooking every instant pot brown rice dish with 2 cups of rice but panicking that I still wanted to cook many more I halved it to 1 cup.
This was great for experimenting as I learnt that the cook time didnโt change whether you did 1 cup of brown rice or 2 cups.
Just remember:
- 1 Cup = 1.25 cups liquid
- 2 Cups = 2.5 cups liquid
- 3 Cups = 3.75 cups liquid
Just stick to the ratio of 1 cup of brown rice to 1.25 cups of liquid and your brown rice in the instant pot will be perfect every time.
This is also great to know if you want to double up your instant pot brown rice recipe and donโt want to be worrying about what this will mean to the rest of the ingredients.
How To Cook Brown Rice Pilaf In Instant Pot?

Cooking instant pot brown rice pilaf is EASY. You can start off by sautรฉing your vegetables, then add in other ingredients, add the lid and come back to a perfect vegetable brown rice.
Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf Instructions:
- Sautรฉ vegetables with extra virgin olive oil.
- Add vegetable broth, drained brown rice and seasoning.
- Stir, pressure cook, fluff with a fork and serve.
Yes. It is that SIMPLE. No annoying cooking stages that take forever or over or undercooked brown rice.

Instant Pot Brown Rice Using Rice Button
Many people assume that to make brown rice in the instant pot that you need to use the rice button.
This is not true.
That is because instant pot brown rice recipes require high pressure and the instant pot rice button is set to 12 minutes on low pressure.
How Long To Cook Brown Rice In Instant Pot?
The cooking time for brown rice pilaf in the instant pot is JUST 17 minutes. Slightly less than the 18 minutes that we use in many of our instant pot brown rice recipes because you have a lot of vegetables and the rice quantity is not that high.
You also need to plan for 5 minutes natural pressure release after the 17 minute cook time.
Also, think of time for the instant pot to go to pressure and the sautรฉ of the vegetables that you do before placing the lid on the instant pot.
Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf #1 Tip
In many instant pot brown rice recipes and other similar instant pot grains that you pressure cook, there is a lot of talk about greasing your instant pot first.
That you add a small layer of coconut oil to the bottom and sides of the instant pot so that it is easy to clean once you have served up your brown rice.
BUT when you make an instant pot brown rice pilaf this is NOT necessary. This is because the vegetable sautรฉ, before you add the brown rice will leave a natural greasing of the instant pot.
So never clean out the instant pot between the sautรฉ and the adding the rice.

Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets:
Instant Pot Brown Rice & Veggies Recipe Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Brown Rice
- 1.25 Cups Vegetable Stock
- ยฝ Celery Stick
- 2 Medium Carrots
- 1 Medium Leek
- 400 g Mixed Peppers
- 2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Garam Masala
- 2 Tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp Coriander
- 1 Tsp Cumin
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Peel, clean and dice your vegetables. Load them into the instant pot pressure cooker along with extra virgin olive oil. Turn on sautรฉ.
- Sautรฉ your vegetables for 2-3 minutes or until they are slightly crispy.
- Add in seasonings and stock and mix well.
- Cancel sautรฉ.
- Rinse and drain your brown rice, load into the instant pot and stir.
- Place the lid on the instant pot, set the valve to sealing and cook for 17 minutes on manual pressure cook.
- Complete 5 minutes of natural pressure release before releasing the rest of the pressure.
- Fluff up the pilaf with a fork and serve.
Notes

Nutrition
Canโt make it now? Then pin it for later!

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I use cilantro as garnish too! And combining bell peppers and brown riceโฆ..um โฆyes!
Samantha this pilaf sounds totally delicious! I love the addition of the peppers! And that brown riceโฆYUM!
Thanks Samantha! I love your instant pot brown rice and can’t wait to try your pilaf.