Instant Pot French Onion Rice—savory, flavorful and cheesy! If you love the flavors of french onion soup you will love this easy Instant Pot casserole recipe.
Instant Pot French Onion Rice
My family all gave this dish 2 thumbs up and the pot was scraped clean. It reminded me of a casserole my grandma used to make. It’s got a lot of the flavors of french onion soup in it–minus the floating piece of bread and the addition of rice.
You’ll love how it only has 6 easy-to-find ingredients and the hardest part is cutting up the onion. This is a great weeknight meal!
What should I serve with Instant Pot french onion rice? We served ours up with sauteed zucchini, squash and cabbage with a bit of lemon pepper. Delish! Other ideas might be a green salad, steamed broccoli or crunchy raw veggies.
Did you know you can make many different types of steamed veggies in the Instant Pot with a zero minute pressure cooking time? It’s the best. Watch this video for more info…
Can I use white rice instead of brown rice? Yes! If you use white rice then change the broth/water amount to 1 ½ cups and only pressure cook for 10 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release.
For other types of rice check the liquid to rice ratio from the green chart and also the cooking times. Increase the rice cooking time by a few minutes. Extra time is needed because the pot is already warmed up from browning the beef and you miss out on some of those coming to pressure minutes.
Try these other recipes too…
Instant Pot French Onion Chicken
Instant Pot French Onion French Dip Sandwiches
Instant Pot French Onion Rice
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 27 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 42 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Savory, flavorful and cheesy! If you love the flavors of french onion soup you will love this easy Instant Pot casserole recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean or extra lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, large dice
- 1 1/4 cups beef broth or water
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice (see notes for white rice adjustments)
- 1 (1 oz) package onion soup mix
- 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese (you can also use Swiss or mozzarella)
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the beef and break it up*. Add in the onion. Brown the beef for about 5 minutes. If there is excess grease drain it off.
- Pour in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot clean. Turn off the Instant Pot. Add in the rice and the onion soup mix. Press the rice down to submerge in the liquid.
- Cover the Instant Pot and set the manual/pressure cook button to 27 minutes on high pressure. Make sure valve is set to sealing. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir and then sprinkle in the cheese and let it melt.
- Scoop onto plates and serve.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. Make in the 3 or 8 quart with no changes.
Can I use white rice instead of brown rice? Yes! If you use white rice then change the broth/water amount to 1 ½ cups and only pressure cook for 10 minutes with the 5 minute natural pressure release.
- Category: Beef
- 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.
Made this today! It was sooo delicious! Lovely beefy oniony flavor! I did get the burn notice using 1 1/2 cups of water for white rice, so I may need to use 2 cups water next time for 1 cup of rice! Thank you for posting this recipe, it’s gonna be a keeper in our house for sure!
Can I use instant brown rice? If so, how long should I set my instant pot ?
Sure: Use equal amounts of rice and liquid. Stir. Use the “manual” setting with High Pressure. Set timer for 5 minutes. When cooking time has elapsed, use the “Quick Release” to vent all the steam. Remove lid and fluff rice. Serve.
I made this tonight, hubby and I LOVED it!! Due to the fact that I didn’t have exactly the ingredients called for I had to make a couple of substitutions. I used Lipton Beefy Onion Soup and smoked Gouda cheese. After reading comments, I increased the cooking time to 35mins and let NPR for 20. It was excellent!! Thank you Karen. I try a lot of your recipes, not yet has one failed or been less than delicioius.
★★★★★
Thanks Cynthia! Sounds like a great version of the recipe!
My goodness this was good! Shockingly, even my two picky toddlers loved it, so I’ll absolutely make it again. I only had jasmine rice, and 6 minutes with 1 1/4 cups of water wasn’t quite enough for the rice. I put the lid on and added about another 1/4 cup of water and left it for a few minutes before stirring in the cheese and that seemed to work.
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Glad the toddlers liked it! That’s always a win!
Made this tonight. My husband and I loved it! Used white rice and smoked gruyere and served over fried cabbage. Thanks so much!
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Sounds like a winner of a dinner!!!
I added 1/4 cup more beef stock, green onions, celery and raw spinach. Cooked as instructed at high pressure for 27 minutes with 10 minute release and found the brown rice a touch jard so cooked for 10 more minutes with 30 minute release, which was a bit overkill but turn out fine. I served it with a dollop of sour cream on top. It was good for a quick and easy meal. I’ll make it again…
Glad you liked it Wyatt!
Could you use wild rice? How would you adjust the liquid and cooking times? Thanks!
wild rice takes a long time to cook (about 25-30 minutes). So I think the chicken would be way overdone by the time the rice is done. If you could find a minute rice type of product that would work better.
thank you! it was delicious
★★★★★
can’t wait to try this. I only have 5 minute white rice, can I use that?
For minute rice here is a guide on cooking times straight from the minute rice website: White Rice: Use equal amounts of rice and liquid. Stir. Use the “Manual” setting with High Pressure. Set timer for 1 minute. When cooking time has elapsed use the “Quick Release” to vent all the steam. Remove lid and fluff rice. Serve.
Can ground turkey be substituted for the beef? And if so are there any modifications needed in the cooking? Thank you!
Yes you can do that and I’d keep everything the same!
Can I use onion powder instead of diced onion? It’s texture issues for my family.
Sure, you could try that. I’d add in 1-2 tsp of it.
Do you know how I could make this using frozen riced cauliflower? My husband is on the keto diet for his diabetes so he can’t have rice. Thank you for any suggestions.
Riced cauliflower would overcook if pressure cooked. I would use only 1 cup of broth. Make the recipe as stated except leave out the rice and only cook for 5 minutes. Then stir in the cauliflower. Use the saute setting to cook through.
HI! I love this recipe and want to make use of my instant pot more. I am on WW (purple) and was able to figure out the point value per serving, but I was wondering what would constitute a serving? If I missed that in the recipe, I apologize. I did see that the whole recipe makes 4 servings in total.
Thank you!!!
It’s just 1/4 of the recipe. It would be about 1 cup.
I cooked this pot in pot and it turned out great. Karen, I would like to send you photos of a fabulous kitchen tool I bought from an Indian supply store. It makes removing pots from PIP cooking so much easier and safer than slings and trivet handles. Is there an email address I can send them to?
Yes! [email protected]
This looks do delicious I’m making it tonight. How did you cook your veggies (cabbage, Zucchini and squash)? That looks like a great combo.
I just put a little olive oil in a pan and saute them. I season with lemon pepper. It is so good and easy!
Can you use Minute Rice in this recipe?
I have never tried minute rice in the Instant Pot so I am not sure how it would turn. When I checked the minute rice website it said you can cook white rice for 1 minute and brown minute rice for 5 minutes. Hope this helps! https://minuterice.com/faqs
Have you tried this with diced chicken?
So curious!
I haven’t! I bet it would be tasty.
Hi. I followed this recipe to the letter. The flavor is there but the rice was quite crunchy. I added more beef broth and added another 8 mins. Waiting 10 min for natural release.
Don’t know why you couldn’t make this on top of stove and add cheese when rice is done and cover and melt cheese be4 serving. This should also work unless ur in a hurry!
Yep you could totally do that!
Do i double the time to cook if I double the ingredients? Wanted to make sure it comes out right.
Nope you keep the same cooking time. Here is an article on how to double recipes in the Instant Pot: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-double-instant-pot-recipes/
Thanks for asking! This was my question, too. We LOVE this recipe, but it doesn’t make enough.
Hi – is there any way to print out your wonderful recipes larger? They come out so small I have difficulty reading them.
I would use the settings on the printer to change the size. I know on mine you can adjust it to 110% or whatever you need.
Hi Karen, I am very interested in getting your cookbook for my granddaughter-in-law for her birthday Sep 12. Last year I got her an instant pot and she loves it, so now I want to get her your cookbook. Do you have any idea when it will be available for purchase, because I’ll have to mail it to her out of town.
Hi Nana, that’s so sweet. It definitely won’t be available by then. More towards Thanksgiving I think…
Thanks Karen, I’ll get her something else for her birthday, and give her your cookbook as one of her Christmas gifts.
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If you did a meatless version do you know what the cook time would be ? Was thinking about maybe adding mushrooms
You could try impossible or beyond meat. I use that in my instant pot for chili recipes, but find i have to cook the ‘meat’ on the stove top and add to the top of the other ingredients or it will get the dreaded ‘burn’ notice.
Hi, it would be the same cooking time because the rice needs that much time to cook through.
Is there a crock pot version of this recipe?
No I didn’t try it yet in the crockpot. But you could definitely try making it on the stove!
Karen, do you have a “DIY” for the onion soup packet? I love the version of Ranch Dressing mix you provided as well as your other seasoning recipes. Thanks!
Hi Linda,
I don’t have one but this one looks good! https://www.spendwithpennies.com/homemade-onion-soup-mix/
To double the recipe would you double the amount of liquid? Would the cooking time stay the same?
Yes you need to double the liquid because the rice needs it to cook through. Keep the same cooking time and here is an article you might like: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-double-instant-pot-recipes/
Is the 27 minutes a typo?
I thought the same, but I think it is 17 pressure cook with a 10 min natural release, to total 27.
If you’re using brown rice, I believe 27 minutes cook time would be correct. then a 10 minute Natural Pressure Release. When using white rice, she has an adjusted time of only 10 minutes cook time and 5 minutes NPR. (and adjust water/broth amounts)
Hi Jenn the 27 minutes is correct. I usually use 22 minutes for the brown rice but because the pot was already hot it came to pressure so quickly that it needed the extra pressure cooking time because it wasn’t getting the coming to pressure cooking time.