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I’m still pretty new to my Instant Pot, but I am already loving it more than I expected I would. One thing I am loving about my Instant Pot is the SAUTE feature. I can brown my meat, cook my onions, and soften my peppers in the same place I simmer my chili. It makes for very delicious food, and less dishes.
I’ve mainly been using my Instant Pot for main dishes and a few soups, but I wanted to mix it up and try out a side dish. I had heard rice was pretty simple, but I had no idea how fast this would come together!
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our Instant Pot lemon rice pilaf, you will need the following ingredients:
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
I have the Instant Pot Duo Pressure Cooker. It’s basically 6 appliances in 1 – pressure cooker, rice cooker, saute, steamer, slow cooker and warmer.
How to Make Our Instant Pot Lemon Rice Pilaf Recipe
- Using the sauté feature on your Instant Pot, melt your butter and sauté garlic and chopped onion in the butter until the garlic begins to turn a golden brown and onions become translucent (about 5 minutes).
- Add rice and continue stirring until rice is coated in butter and begins to turn clear.
- Add chicken broth, lemon juice, and salt, and stir it until mixed.
- Place your lid on and set it to sealing.
- Use your “rice” setting, or set it manually, for 12 minutes.
- Let it release naturally for 10 minutes after your 12 minutes is up.
- After 10 minutes, do a quick release (there shouldn’t be much steam left).
- Stir in your fresh parsley, and top with more lemon juice as desired.
Recipe Notes
- We recommend rinsing your rice before cooking. Just rinsing in cold water in a bowl for a few minutes works great.
- Freeze dried garlic is great for this recipe and rehydrates really fast in the butter! Fresh works as well, but if you’re looking to avoid a smelly garlic kitchen, we use our freeze dried garlic almost every single day!
- Make sure your butter heats up before you add your rice and garlic. This will keep your rice from starting to cook in the butter, and just saute it a little before cooking in the broth.
- We like cooking our rice in the butter and lemon juice for a great flavor. Fresh lemon juice tastes the best and you can use the zest to top your rice afterwards.
- We like to add our lemon juice before we add our chicken broth and give it a good stir to make sure every piece of rice is really coated in lemon. I’m not sure if this makes a huge difference, but so far we have loved it!
- You’ll need at least one cup of liquid for each one cup of rice, but this recipe can easily be doubled. Just make sure to double your liquid.
- Make sure your valve is set to “sealing’ before you set your timer, otherwise your Instant Pot won’t pressurize and your rice won’t cook (speaking from experience!)
Enjoy More Delicious Rice Side Dishes
Need the perfect compliment to your main dish? You’ll want to try these delicious side dishes. Browse our comprehensive collection of simple side dish recipes.
- Easy Mexican Salsa Rice
- Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
- Instant Pot Rice Pilaf
- Instant Pot White Rice
- Spanish Cauliflower Rice
Instant Pot Lemon Rice Pilaf Recipe
This Instant Pot lemon rice pilaf can be made in less than 20 minutes and is an ideal side dish or base for bowls.
Serving peopl
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 cups long grain rice
- 1 ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Using the sauté feature on your Instant Pot, melt your butter and sauté garlic and chopped onion in the butter until the garlic begins to turn a golden brown and onions become translucent (about 5 minutes).
- Add rice and continue stirring until rice is coated in butter and begins to turn clear.
- Add chicken broth, lemon juice, and salt, and stir it until mixed.
- Place your lid on and set it to sealing.
- Use your "rice" setting, or set it manually, for 12 minutes.
- Let it release naturally for 10 minutes after your 12 minutes is up.
- After 10 minutes, do a quick release (there shouldn't be much steam left).
- Stir in your fresh parsley, and top with more lemon juice as desired.
Notes
- We recommend rinsing your rice before cooking. Just rinsing in cold water in a bowl for a few minutes works great.
- Freeze dried garlic is great for this recipe and rehydrates really fast in the butter! Fresh works as well, but if you’re looking to avoid a smelly garlic kitchen, we use our freeze dried garlic almost every single day!
- Make sure your butter heats up before you add your rice and garlic. This will keep your rice from starting to cook in the butter, and just saute it a little before cooking in the broth.
- We like cooking our rice in the butter and lemon juice for a great flavor. Fresh lemon juice tastes the best and you can use the zest to top your rice afterwards.
- We like to add our lemon juice before we add our chicken broth and give it a good stir to make sure every piece of rice is really coated in lemon. I’m not sure if this makes a huge difference, but so far we have loved it!
- You’ll need at least one cup of liquid for each one cup of rice, but this recipe can easily be doubled. Just make sure to double your liquid.
- Make sure your valve is set to “sealing’ before you set your timer, otherwise your Instant Pot won’t pressurize and your rice won’t cook (speaking from experience!)
Nutrition
Calories: 270 kcal · Carbohydrates: 52 g · Protein: 5 g · Fat: 4 g · Saturated Fat: 3 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 10 mg · Sodium: 676 mg · Potassium: 159 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 1 g · Vitamin A: 119 IU · Vitamin C: 10 mg · Calcium: 27 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Hi! I’m new to using an InstantPot. I followed your recipe exactly and my rice ended up wet and mushy. Any recommendations for a solution? The flavor of your recipe is great!
I made this last night and it was delicious. We used it to make Gyro bowls which my husband has now declared his favorite dinner. Just one note that this is not a 20 minute recipe as stated at the top of the post. The cook time alone comes to 27 mins plus the little bit of prep and time to come to pressure, so plan accordingly.
Hello! I make your lemon rice 1-2 times per week. We love it and I usually double the recipe. How would I do the same recipe but with brown rice? Thank you.
You didn’t specify using low or high pressure on manual. It should be noted that the rice setting is low pressure for 12 minutes, but using high pressure should only be 4 to 5 minutes. Since I got my instant pot years ago, I always used it for rice 😀
Delicious! I’ll be making this again and again!
Amazing- in love with this pilaf. Made last night to go with broiled fish and veggies. A keeper! Didn’t have chicken stock so subbed a bit of better than boullion beef- can’t wait to try it as written!
Always my go to! I share it with everyone and it’s a crowd favorite.
Are the amounts off in this recipe? One cup of liquid to two cups of rice?