It's not the most popular Indian rice dish for nothing....Instant Pot Vegetable rice or Vegetable Pulao is an easy one-pot rice dish mixed with a variety of vegetables and flavored with aromatic spices. I am sharing an easy way to cook this delicacy in less than 30 minutes.
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Today, I have an announcement to make along with a recipe for a time-tested, fan-favorite Indian dish prepared in an easy way. The announcement is that I have added a new gadget in my kitchen that could cut my cooking time in half! It's the new Instant Pot! I have been getting requests for recipes that can be prepared with the Instant Pot, for some time and I decided to start with a dish that is quite popular in almost all Indian restaurants. That is Vegetable Rice.
Let's look at finer details of cooking with an instant pot to make a quick, easy, and delicious vegetable rice dish or pulao. This dish is very common in every Indian house. There are a few different methods of preparing pulao or vegetable rice.
I am sharing a simple vegetable rice recipe that goes well with the lunch box as well as a weekday dinner.
To begin with, I soaked basmati rice for nearly 15 minutes and then drained them. I set it for 4 minutes of cook time in manual mode. The recommended ratio of rice and water is 1:1, but I went with a little extra water to make up for the vegetables that I added. That is pretty much the only customization you will need in preparing this recipe.
Ingredients notes

- Vegetables: Use your choice of fresh vegetables like green beans, carrots, peas, and cauliflower. Be sure to cut the green beans to approximately the same size as carrots so they cook evenly.
- Cashew cream or coconut cream: To make cashew cream, soak cashews in warm water for 30 minutes and blend it into a smooth cream. As an alternate, you could also use the top layer of canned coconut milk.
- Spices: Using fresh ground spices adds to the flavor instead of storebought spices.
- Tomato paste or fresh tomatoes: Tomato paste gives a burst of flavor to the vegetable rice, but you could also replace it with fresh tomatoes if you do not have tomato paste.
- Basmati rice: I used extra long basmati rice in this recipe. Feel free to use any type of rice, be sure to adjust the water to rice ratio for that kind of rice.
How to make this recipe

Drizzle the oil into the inner pot. With the saute setting, saute ginger and garlic when the oil is hot, for about a minute with constant stirring. Add onions and continue to cook for one more minute.
Add tomato paste or fresh chopped tomatoes. stir well for 30 seconds.

Add all the spices listed above and continue to stir.

Add chopped carrots, chopped green beans, and stir well for 1-2 minutes and cashew paste or coconut cream and stir well.

Now, add rice and water as listed in the ingredients list and stir well to get an even mix.
Close the lid of the instant pot and turn the steam release handle to a sealing position. Press Pressure cooking and set the time for 4 minutes. When time is up, open the lid using a 10-minute natural release. ( that means you have to keep it warm for 10 mins)
At the end of 10 minutes, open the lid and remove the pot from the cradle.
Why I am getting a Burn sign?
Since you are adding vegetables and lots of spice powders, there is a small chance that the pot will show a "burn" sign at the end of the cooking cycle, but this is not a reason to panic.
All you would have to do is turn it off and wait for the pressure to come down on its own and the lid will release naturally.
Few reasons for burn signs are
- Not enough liquid in Instant Pot.
- Spices that stay under the bottom of the pot.
- Some food such as cream or milk scalds easily in the Instant Pot
So to avoid this add enough liquid and mix well before closing the lid, to avoid burning the pot.
Top tips
- Refrigerate the coconut milk to extract the cream out of it.
- Soak the basmati rice as you prep the vegetables.
- Add roasted cashews for crunchiness and flavor.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with raita for extra taste.
My dish turned out beautifully and I am sure yours will too! With fewer dishes to wash, the instant pot has really made our lives easier.

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📖 Recipe

Instant Pot Vegetable Rice
Equipment
Process Shot
Check above for step-by-step pictures (most of my recipes include pictures)
Ingredients
- 2 Cups basmati rice
- 2 ¼ cups water
- 1 cup green beans
- 2 carrots
- 1 cup chopped red onions
- 1 garlic cloves
- ½ inch ginger
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder - or kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 cloves powdered
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 tablespoon organic tomato paste - or use 1 tomato
- 5-8 tablespoon Cashew paste or coconut cream
Instructions
- Drizzle the oil to the inner pot. With the saute setting, saute ginger and garlic when the oil is hot, for about a minute with constant stirring.
- Add onions and continue to cook for one more minute.
- Add all the spices listed above and continue to stir.
- Add tomato paste, or fresh chopped tomatoes, carrots, green beans and stir well for 1-2 minutes
- Add cashew paste or coconut milk cream and stir well.
- Now, add rice and water as listed in the ingredients list and stir well to get an even mix.
- Close the lid of the instant pot and turn the steam release handle to a sealing position. Press Pressure cooking and set the time for 4 minutes. When time is up, open the lid using 10-minutes natural release. ( that means you have to keep it warm for 10 mins)
- At the end of 10 minutes, open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork and garnish with cilantro.
Video
Notes
- Refrigerate the coconut milk to extract the cream out of it.
- Soak the basmati rice as you prep the vegetables.
- Add roasted cashews for crunchiness and flavor.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with raita for extra taste.
YOUR OWN NOTES
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
Karine says
Taste is good, but the ratio rice and water is wrong. Got the message burn before de 4 minutes cooking. Had to add water about 3 times. I will try it again with 2 cups of rice and if it doesn't work to bad, won't do it again.
Uma Raghupathi says
It will happen if your spice got stuck to the bottom. Please stir well before closing the lid. I made this recipe 10 times or more. So this water ratio is good. Otherwise your rice will be mushy. Thank you 😊
Ellen Bernitt says
So I just printed recipe and forgot to soak rice so please add that to instructions in recipe! I found that even after the four minutes and quick release the vegetables were overcooked! I did have burn message on IP so opened to avoid further burning. Saute seemed too hot and it was difficult to avoid all the herbs sticking in the pot.
Uma Raghupathi says
Hi Ellen. Very sorry to hear that. I got few times burn message, I switched off and let the instant pot to cool. Final result was good. I got few people text saying that “burn”message. Then they off the instant Pot, but their rice was good. Adding spices makes sticky, you should constantly stir, until you add the water. I made this recipe more than 6 times, and never failed. Thank you 🙏🏻
Jayashree says
Love this one Uma, shall give a try. It looks awesome.
Jasmine Briones says
I know what we are making next in our pressure cooker!
Uma Raghupathi says
Great! Love to hear your feedback:) Thank you Jasmine.
Strength and Sunshine says
I need to use my Instant Pot more often!
Uma Raghupathi says
Definitely:)
Linda and Alex @ Veganosity says
This rice looks so flavorful! I really need to buy and instant pot, and I love your hammered copper dish.
Uma Raghupathi says
Thank you Linda:) Even I waited for long time to buy Instant Pot:) Now I am in love with this Pot.
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day says
I love cooking in the Instant Pot! I'm adding this recipe to my list to make!
Uma Raghupathi says
Thank you, Amy! This is very easy and tasty recipe 🙂
Cassidy says
Sounds delicious, a pressure cooker seems like such a convenient way of cooking rice!
Uma Raghupathi says
Thank you Cassidy! Yes it is 🙂
Carol says
Two cloves of...?
Uma Raghupathi says
Hi Carol, It’s spice called cloves. Thank you!