Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Rice—creamy rice with a punch of flavor from cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. This rice is made quickly in your electric pressure cooker and is a great summer dinner or side dish.
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Rice
What do you do when you have extra basil hanging in your fridge that needs to be used up? Make something with tomatoes of course! Tomatoes and basil are one of my absolute favorite food combinations. If you agree with me then you may like to try my Instant Pot Margherita Pasta, Instant Pot Bruschetta Chicken Pasta or Instant Pot Creamy Basil Tortellini. And this time of year the tomatoes are in season and taste so good!
Instead of mixing my tomatoes and basil with a pasta I decided to branch out and make a rice dish. This is great if you eat gluten free or if you just want a change of pace from pasta. My family eats brown rice but you can adapt the recipe for whatever type of rice your family likes.
I served this as a side dish but you could certainly use it as a main dish. You can add in sliced smoked sausage. Or lay a couple of chicken breasts on top of the rice with a little salt and pepper. If you go with the chicken breasts they will give off a bit of liquid so you may want to decrease the broth amount by a quarter cup. I haven’t tried it myself but if I did that’s what I would do.
Can I use a different type of rice?
I am a fan of brown rice just because it’s a bit more healthy than white rice. But if you want to try another type of rice you can! Just use the time chart below and follow the water (broth) to rice ratios.
You can download this rice cheat sheet and print it off:
Is the Instant Pot a good rice cooker?
I have absolutely LOVED my Instant Pot as a rice cooker. Here’s why:
- I don’t have to bring water to a boil on the stove.
- My water and rice don’t boil over on the stove and leave a mess. It’s a set it and forget it way of cooking rice.
- Brown rice comes out perfect every single time in the Instant Pot. Use a 1 cup rice to 1.25 cup water ratio with a 22 minute pressure cook time on high pressure and a 10 minute natural pressure release. Before my Instant Pot I could never get my brown rice right!
- The rice stays warm until you’re ready to eat it.
- You can cook many types of rice: white, jasmine, basmati, brown, arborio, wild, etc.
- It makes a stir-free risotto!
More Instant Pot Meatless Recipes…
Instant Pot Less Mayo Potato Salad
Instant Pot Cran Apple Rice Pilaf
Instant Pot Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Instant Pot Easy Spaghetti Sauce
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Rice 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.
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Rice
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Creamy rice with a punch of flavor from cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. This rice is made quickly in your electric pressure cooker and is a great summer dinner or side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth or veggie broth
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 cup shredded or grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the onion and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 20 seconds.
- Add in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot. Add in the rice. Then dump the tomato sauce on top without stirring.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the tomatoes, basil and parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Notes
You can try other types of rice with this dish. But you will need to change the rice and broth ratio in addition to the cooking time. Follow the green chart above.
This would be really good with some sliced up smoked sausage or you could add chicken breasts into the pot.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- 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.
Wow this was so yummy! My family loved it! I’m so glad to find healthier brown rice recipes! I will definitely make this again! Especially because it was so easy!
★★★★★
So glad to hear you liked it Lisa. Thanks for the 5 stars!
I LOVE all your recipes! If I tell my family it’s from you, they gobble it up!
Haha! that is so great! Thanks for sharing Linda 😊
I don’t see a green chart for other types of rice
It’s above in the text under the heading that says “Can I Use A Different Type Of Rice?”
Made this for dinner last night. I loved the flavor of it and the chewiness of the brown rice. It’s something we don’t eat often here because it takes so long to cook, but in the IP it was done in no time.
I tried the suggestion of adding chicken on top and reducing the broth by 1/4 cup. Because of the longer cook time than chicken breasts need, I added 3 chicken breast halves fully frozen in a solid block, then sprinkled with salt and pepper. The chicken came out a bit dry and over-cooked, but not inedible. I had thought some of the flavor of the tomato might permeate them, but they were just bland chicken breasts.
I’ll definitely make it again and perhaps try adding frozen bone-in chicken leg quarters since the timing seems better suited for those than for the chicken breasts.
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing your experience. I think the bone in chicken leg quarters would be amazing. I am a fan of bone in chicken!
Do you cook your rice in the instant pot just in the pot, or do you put an extra pot inside? I’ve tried only once to cook rice just in the instant punt itself and it burned. Risotto hasn’t been a problem.
I usually cook it straight in the pot. I find as long as I am cooking enough it doesn’t burn. If I try to only cook 1/2 cup it burns.
Sounds too good but is there another way to make this? I don’t have or know about instantpots
Hi Martha, you could make brown rice on the stove and then stir in the tomato sauce and other ingredients. I haven’t made it this way but I bet it would be okay.
What would the time be for using quinoa instead?
Quinoa is a 1 minute minute cooking time with a 10 minute NPR.
I made this as a side dish. The flavor was good, but the texture was a bit gummy. Would using more water and increasing the cook time correct this issue? If not, do you have a recommendation? Thank you for all the great recipes.
Hmmmm, I am not sure. I would think that less water would be better than more water.
Thanks Karen. Another thing I thought of is to let it sit for 15 minutes vs. 10 minutes. Next time I make it will try this and will let you know if it worked or not.
ok!
Made this again with the following changes: rinsed the brown rice first, let it sit for 15 min. vs. 10 min., and fluffed the rice with a fork instead of stirring it. Stirring rice instead of fluffing with a fork can cause it to be gummy. Also used dried basil in place of fresh, about 3-4 tsp.
★★★★★
Good tip on fluffing with a fork! I hadn’t realized that.
Try washing the rice before you add it to the Instant Pot. By removing some of the starch from the rice, you should not have gummy rice. Good luck.
★★★★★
How many servings are there for each of the different rices in your chart?
If there is 1 cup of water and 1 cup of rice that will make 2 cups of cooked rice. Hope this helps!
What type of tomato sauce would you use this? Just a spaghetti sauce? Thanks!! LOVE your recipes!
I just used a can labeled “tomato sauce.” It is pureed tomato sauce with no seasonings.