Instant Pot Wild Rice Blend is sweet, high in fiber and fluffy. This method of instant pot cuts back the total cooking time by around 20-minutes and yet gives soft, fluffy and mildly nutty wild rice blend ready for your next recipe. Here is my step-by-step instant pot wild rice blend recipe with a cooking video.
What is Wild Rice Blend?
Unlike the plain wild rice, which is aquatic grass, the wild rice blend comprises of five varieties of grains, including two varieties of brown rice, wild rice, red rice, and black rice.
- Wild rice blend often contains a major portion of long-grain brown rice. This light and fluffy rice adds a nice texture and flavor to the cooked instant pot wild rice blend.
- The other short-grain brown rice has a mildly sweet flavor and starchy when cooked. This is the reason for the slightly sticky texture of the cooked wild rice blend.
- This is the major ingredient in the wild rice blend. This aquatic grass seed is full of fiber, has a typical black-brown color, and is chewy in texture.
- The medium-sized red rice in the wild rice blend is very aromatic, red-tinted, and has a nice, fragrant flavor. This rice adds a similar flavor as basmati rice to the wild rice blend.
- The black rice looks sharp but turns soft and purple when it is cooked. This has a mild, nutty flavor.
What is the health benefit of wild rice blend?
Unlike white rice, the wild rice blend had a combination of five grains. Therefore, it has more fiber and a higher percentage of protein, vitamins and minerals.
Wild rice blend is also rich in antioxidants that normal rice. Plus, this is a perfect gluten-free grain perfect for those avoiding wheat.
How to cook wild rice blend in an instant pot?
Instant pot cuts back the cooking time into half. While the stovetop version takes around 60-minutes to cook the wild rice, the instant pot version takes just 28-minutes to cook. Considering the 5-7 minutes of pressure building time and 10-minutes of natural pressure release, the total time for instant pot wild rice blend goes up to 42-45 minutes. But that’s still better than 60-minutes and totally hands-free.
How to use Wild Rice Blend?
The best way to use the wild rice blend is by substituting your rice with this. You can use this with your dal rice or sambar rice, and pair this with your favorite curry. Another amazing way to use this rice blend is in making some amazing pilaf, nuts and grain salads, wild rice and mushroom soups and also to make some burger patties. The chewy texture of this rice adds a nice bite to veggie burger bites.
How To Make Instant Pot Wild Rice Blend?
Ingredients:
- 1-½ cups wild rice blend (washed, rinsed and soaked in water listed below)
- 1-½ cups filtered water
- Salt to taste (optional)
- Butter to serve
Instructions
Pot in Pot Method:
- Take the wild rice in a large bowl and and add water to it. Use your fingers to rub the grains between your fingertips. This process helps release the gunk and dirt stuck to the grains. Throw the murky water and rinse it well with fresh water till the water runs clear.
- Transfer the washed wild rice blend to a pot that fits well inside the inner pot. Add water and let the grains soak in water for 10-minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water to the instant pot inner pot. Now place the pot containing wild rice inside the inner pot and secure the lid.
- Set the Instant pot to manual pressure cook for 30-minutes in the high-pressure mode. If not using PIP method, the total cook time is 28-minutes.
- Once the instant pot beeps, let the instant pot release pressure naturally. It takes around 10-minutes for a natural pressure release. After that, open the lid.
- I prefer to let the rice stand for another 10-minutes. This helps the grains to absorb any broth or water left.
- Use a fork to fluff the rice gently and serve warm with butter or ghee with your favorite sides.
Notes:
Storing options:
I use wild rice blend as a substitute of regular rice. Since I love to meal prep a lot, I store this cooked wild rice by portion size packed in individual containers. The rice stores well in refrigerator for 3-5 days.
No Keep-warm:
As soon as your instant pot beeps, switch off the keep warm setting if not using the PIP method. This helps the wild rice blend not to stick to the inner pot of your instant pot.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Wild Rice Blend
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
- 1-½ cups wild rice blend, washed, rinsed and soaked in water listed below
- 1-½ cups filtered water
- Salt to taste, optional
- Butter to serve
Instructions
- Pot in Pot Method:
- Take the wild rice in a large bowl and and add water to it. Use your fingers to rub the grains between your fingertips. This process helps release the gunk and dirt stuck to the grains. Throw the murky water and rinse it well with fresh water till the water runs clear
- Transfer the washed wild rice blend to a pot that fits well inside the inner pot. Add water and let the grains soak in water for 10-minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water to the instant pot inner pot. Now place the pot containing wild rice inside the inner pot and secure the lid.
- Set the Instant pot to manual pressure cook for 28-‘minutes in the high-pressure mode.
- Once the instant pot beeps, let the instant pot release pressure naturally. It takes around 10-minutes for a natural pressure release. After that, open the lid.
- I prefer to let the rice stand for another 10-minutes. This helps the grains to absorb any broth or water left.
- Use a fork to fluff the rice gently and serve warm with butter or ghee with your favorite sides.
Video
Notes
Storing options:
- I use wild rice blend as a substitute of regular rice.
- Since I love to meal prep a lot, I store this cooked wild rice by portion size packed in individual containers.
- The rice stores well in refrigerator for 3-5 days.
Sophie
Thanks for your detailed instructions. The wild rice blend was perfect and fluffy with the right amount of chewiness. Thanks a lot!
Elle
Does 1-1/2 mean 1 and a half cups?
Sophie
Yes, that’s correct.
Patricia Paterak
What if you don't have filtered water. I have well water, will that work? Or distilled water?