Instant Pot Emergency Fried Rice–when you don’t have the time to make fried rice in a wok try this dump everything into the Instant Pot and walk away version! It super simple and makes a great side dish (or main dish).
Instant Pot Emergency Fried Rice
Nothing beats the real deal but if you don’t have the time or the energy to make actual fried rice try this easy Instant Pot version. There’s no need to plan ahead and cook rice the day before. You don’t even have to chop vegetables because we will be using frozen vegetables.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- 1 cup long grain white rice–or you can use converted rice* or jasmine rice
- 1 1/4 cups chicken or beef broth–or you can use water and Better than Bouillon
- 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce–this ensures it won’t be too salty
- 2 tsp rice vinegar–I like the seasoned rice vinegars*
- 1 tsp garlic powder–or granulated garlic
- 1/4 tsp white pepper–or black pepper
- 1 cup cubed ham–or you can use smoked sausage
- 2–3 cups frozen vegetables of your choice–I used a hodgepodge of vegetables I found in my freezer. Some good choices would be peas, carrots, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, lima beans, corn etc.
- 2 eggs (optional)–I used eggs and loved the addition of extra protein
- 1 tsp sesame oil–for that Chinese food flavor
- Green onion, for garnish–or scallions
Instructions
- Add ingredients: Dump the broth, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, garlic powder, pepper, ham and vegetables into the pot in that order and don’t stir.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Scramble eggs: If you’d like scrambled egg in your rice then cook scrambled eggs on the stove and stir them into the pot.
- Stir in the sesame oil.
- Serve and enjoy topped with diced green onions
Notes
- Can I make this with brown rice? With a few changes you can use brown rice for this recipe. Add broth, soy sauce, vinegar, long grain brown rice, garlic powder, pepper and ham into Instant Pot. Pressure cook for 22 minutes with a 10 minutes natural pressure release. Separately cook the frozen vegetables according to package directions and then stir them into the rice after it has pressure cooked. If you add the vegetables into the pot from the beginning they will get mushy and overcooked with the long 22 minute pressure cooking time.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. But you can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart Instant Pot.
- You can double this recipe by doubling the ingredients and keeping the same cooking time. If you try to halve the recipe there won’t be enough liquid to bring the pot to pressure and you’re likely to get the burn error message.
- This recipe can be gluten-free if you use gluten free soy sauce and chicken broth.
- This Instant Pot fried rice tastes best served the day that it is made but you can store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container* for up to 5 days.
More Instant Pot Rice Recipes…
Instant Pot Southern Hoppin’ John
Instant Pot Cheesy Sausage And Rice
Instant Pot Garlic Parmesan Risotto
Instant Pot Stick of Butter Rice
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc. Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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Instant Pot Emergency Fried Rice
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
When you don’t have the time to make fried rice in a wok try this dump everything into the Instant Pot and walk away version! It super simple and makes a great side dish (or main dish).
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups chicken or beef broth
- 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 cup cubed ham
- 2–3 cups frozen vegetables of your choice
- 2 eggs (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Green onion, for garnish
Instructions
- Dump the broth, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, garlic powder, pepper, ham and vegetables into the pot in that order and don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- If you’d like scrambled egg in your rice then cook scrambled eggs on the stove and stir them into the pot.
- Stir in the sesame oil.
- Serve and enjoy topped with diced green onions
- Category: Side
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Does the broth need to be cold when added ? I made this but the bottom burnt
No it doesn’t have to be cold. I’m sorry it burnt! I’m not sure why that happened!
Not enough broth or water,
Also if not enough moisture the warm cycle can burn if left unattended.
All pressure cooks need water but only in small amounts, but if left on to long it’s either going to need more moisture or it will burn. And if it was just stuck on rice you needed to add a little oil. I always use the sauté first with oil and put my veggies along with washed and rinsed rice first to kindred release all those flavors and aroma’s before I seal it up for pressure. Just what I do and hope it helps someone.
★★★★
I had been looking for a good fried rice instant pot recipe for awhile now, and this fit the bill!!
Was very good, I added the cubed ham and peas and carrots and upped the broth to two cups and it came out perfect!
Thanks Karen!
★★★★★
Sounds awesome! I am glad you liked it Harry! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Flavor is pretty good (I added a hint of minced ginger and a little extra soy sauce), but have to deduct heavily for the copius amount of scorched rice at the bottom of the pot. I was actually hoping to just add some mixed egg and sesame oil to the mixture after releasing, but just bailed after seeing the scorch. Given that fried rice is a bachelor chef staple, I was hoping this recipe would offer a diet-friendly alternative to the oil rich skillet/wok versions of fried rice. So, my pot is soaking and I’m wondering where I went wrong.
I note that cooking on the “rice” button the pot uses low pressure and low heat for 8 minutes on one of the setting choices. There are 3 combos you can set. If the veggies soak up liquid needed by the rice, you’re in trouble. When I do this I will do 8-10 minutes at low heat with my favorite Thai Red rice, medium pressure, add veggies and (more water?) cook another 8 min. I like Thai Red rice for its nutty hints. If things aren’t fully cooked to your taste you can always ADD more cooking. You can’t take it away!
★★★★
Did you layer the ingredients and not stir as stated in instruction #1? If so I am not sure what went wrong!
Do you have any recipes that are keto and/or diabetic friendly?
here are my low carb recipes: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/recipes/?fwp_dietary_restrictions=low-carb
Can I use brown rice in place of the white rice?
With a few changes you can use brown rice for this recipe. Add broth, soy sauce, vinegar, long grain brown rice, garlic powder, pepper and ham into Instant Pot. Pressure cook for 22 minutes with a 10 minutes natural pressure release. Separately cook the frozen vegetables according to package directions and then stir them into the rice after it has pressure cooked. If you add the vegetables into the pot from the beginning they will get mushy and overcooked with the long 22 minute pressure cooking time.
If you don’t have fresh or frozen vegetables, can you use dehydrated vegetables? Suggested directions??
★★★★★
I bet that would work although I haven’t tried it myself. You may want to increase the liquid a bit (maybe a quarter cup??) for the vegetables