Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf with Chicken Sausage–a quick, easy and healthy meal of seasoned brown rice with carrots, peas and chicken sausage.
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Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf with Chicken Sausage
I’ve always been a fan of rice pilaf but don’t really use white rice in my cooking much. I decided to see how rice pilaf would taste with brown rice instead of white. I thought it turned out really nicely! The ground turmeric gave the rice a nice yellow color and you really couldn’t even tell that it was brown rice.
I love making rice in my Instant Pot. Especially brown rice. Before I had my Instant Pot I never could cook the perfect brown rice on the stove. It was always crunchy or unevenly cooked. Now I get it perfect every time. If you’d like to see how to cook plain brown rice in the Instant Pot I show you how here. Plus it’s a totally hands off method which I’m completely a fan of!
I stirred in frozen vegetables at the end and they gave the rice some color and interest. If you’re not a fan of peas and carrots you can leave them out. Or you could stir in broccoli, asparagus or some other vegetables that you prefer.
I used chicken sausage links that I bought at Smith’s (Kroger). They were the Simple Truth brand and it was spinach gruyere chicken sausage. YUM! I’ve heard from many people that the chicken sausage at Costco is amazing as well. What do you use and love?
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What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf with Chicken Sausage I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf with Chicken Sausage
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
A quick, easy and healthy meal of seasoned brown rice with carrots, peas and chicken sausage.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup brown rice (see note)
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric (optional)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 (12 oz) package pre-cooked chicken sausage links (see note)
- 2 cups frozen peas and carrots (optional)
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute mode. Chop up your onion. When the display on the pot says HOT add in the butter and swirl it around until it is melted. Add in the onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Add in the brown rice and stir to coat the rice with the butter. Stir for about 1 minute.
- Add in the broth, salt, turmeric and garlic powder. Stir. Lay the sausage links on top of the rice. Turn off the saute setting.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook time to 22 minutes on high pressure. Once the time is up let the pot sit there for 5-10 minutes (display will read L0:05) and then move the valve to venting.
- Open up the pot and carefully remove the sausage and place on a cutting board. Stir in the frozen peas and carrots. Put the lid back on and let the heat in the pot cook the vegetables for 5 minutes . Slice the sausage into quarter inch pieces and then stir them back into the rice.
- Scoop onto plates and serve. I served mine with roasted broccoli.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I used long grain brown rice. You can probably use other types of rice for this recipe but I have not tried them myself. If you want to use other types of rice then use the rice chart to determine how long to cook and the ratio of rice to broth. 
This recipe is GLUTEN-FREE! Just check the chicken broth to be sure it does not contain gluten.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Category: Sausage
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 407
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 954 mg
- Fat: 17 g
- Carbohydrates: 46 g
- Protein: 22 g
Keywords: rice, instant pot recipe
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Just made this using some apple bourbon chicken sausages; I might increase the cook time just a bit next time (the rice is a bit firm but otherwise just fine), but it’s otherwise delicious! I’m trying to eat healthier, and this will be a great way to get me eating more brown rice.
★★★★★
Those sausages sound great!
Always fun to try new recipes. This one was very easy.
It was a bit bland but that could be because I added diced carrots and green beans during pressure cooking and because I used plain ole chicken apple sausage (Aidells). I ended up adding salt and pepper after it was done.
The sausages, being essentially boiled weren’t to my liking but I saved them by sautéing them (after slicing) for a few minutes in olive oil.
★★★
Well, glad you made it work for you in the end!
Great recipe, great flavor, but I did have to microwave it for about another minute because I did not find that the residual heat was enough for the frozen veggies. However, my second helping was just fine after about another five minutes or so on the keep warm setting.
Good to know! Thanks for sharing your experience.
First time I tried rice in the slow cooker and this recipe worked perfectly. Top recipe with my family.
★★★★★
So glad you liked it! 😊
HI Karen
This recipe was AMAZING with no adjustments made. For the chicken sausage I bought Aidell’s Chicken sausage with bacon and pineapple. The peas and carrots were Wegman’s brand (we’re lucky enough to have a Wegman’s here in Richmond VA. The carrots are sliced julienne style in short strips instead of cubes which I like much better.
This was a spectacular dish.
I’m guessing that not all Instant Pots are the same in terms of heat. I’ve found that brown rice needs 23-24 min to cook properly in mine. Also, when putting the peas and carrots in and immediately putting the lid back on for around 5 or 6 min, it didn’t heat up the peas and carrots. I had to turn on the saute feature to warm everything up properly. But the flavor was incredible and a keeper!!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Dave! Wish I had a Wegman’s!
If you have an 8 quart pot are times or amounts different?
You’ll need more water (at least 1 1/2 to 2 cups) for the 8 quart pot.
We love this dish! Our only complaint is there aren’t many leftovers. I’d love to double the recipe but I’m not sure with an IP how the timing would work – do you cook for the same amount of time?
Thanks!
★★★★★
Yes same time!
I accidentally used chicken sausage that wasn’t pre cooked. How much time to add? I’m aware this probably will not be answered right away but thought I’d ask anyway. Thanks.
You’re good, keep the same cooking time it should be fine.
I love this recipe as well as 100’s others! Quick, easy and so satisfying! I love my InstantPot because of you. All my friends follow you too. Thanks for all you do! You’re appreciated
How nice!!! Thank you for taking the time to write this 🙂 It means so much!
It was delicious – thank you! It’s on our regular rotation.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Caroline!
You should probably say that in the recipe !!!!
Question- instant pot novice here
Still trying to understand set times etc
So the cooking times for all rices is very little compared to the set 22 minutes on this recipe
How does that work? Doesn’t that over cook the rice ?
Also how if any -does the different sizes of IP matter in recipes?
Brown rice takes a lot longer to cook than white rice. Brown rice takes 22 minutes to cook.
It under cook’s it actually.i just used this recipe.and had to cook it more.
Cooked or raw sausage?
cooked
You should say that in the recipe !!!!
★★
I believe she means “cooked” in reference to they are like kielbasa or hot dogs, not loose like hamburger or breakfast sausage.
Yes thank you that is what I meant.
Yummy! I’m excited to try it this week! Any suggestions for using fresh carrots instead of frozen? If I add them with the rice will they be mushy?
I would cut them into fairly large chunks and add them in at the beginning. They’ll probably be super soft but if you’re okay with that then that would be easiest.
Am I reading the instructions for cooking white rice correctly? 8 minutes for short grain and 3 minutes for long grain?
Yes that’s right. Short grain rice is shorter and thicker so it takes more time to cook. Long grain rice is thinner so it cooks quicker.
One quick question? Did you have to rinse the brown rice as you do white rice. I’m trying this tonight. Looks amazingly delicious.
Nope! I don’t rinse the rice 🙂