Instant Pot Buttery Basmati Rice uses only a few basic ingredients to create a delicious, fast, and perfectly cooked rice every time.

Instant Pot Buttery Basmati Rice

My mom and dad are pressure-cooking pros. They know how to make a wide variety of dishes using the pressure cooker, and everything always comes out tender, flavorful, and cooked to perfection.

One of those dishes is rice.

My mom has told me glorious stories about the ease of cooking perfectly fluffy rice in the pressure cooker. I love rice and make it often, but it is such a finicky ingredient. It needs such tender, love, and care to come out right. Not too hard, not too soft, but just the right amount of fluffy – it’s like the Goldilocks of cooking. So making it in the pressure cooker without the ability to lift the lid to check on it seemed overly difficult.

Well, this has since changed.

Currently I am on a break from my stovetop pressure cooker. This is not necessarily due to the time I over-filled the pot, causing the safety valve to shoot out, spewing bean juice all over the place. Which is really a story for another day. . . It is more so because since receiving an Instant Pot for Christmas, my focus has changed from the stovetop pressure cooker to trying to master this newfangled electric thingamajig.

It just so happens that rice is one of the first dishes I decided to try. Equipped with my mom’s pointers on the basics of cooking and seasoning rice, and Instant Pot tips from the book Instant Pot Fast & Easy by Urvashi Pitre, cooking rice in my electric pressure cooker has been a success.

For some amazing tips on cooking rice in the Instant Pot, click here.

So I’d like to introduce you to my Instant Pot Buttery Basmati Rice.

This is a basic, but delicious, recipe for a buttery white rice. I used basmati rice because I fell in love with its consistency and nutty flavor at a restaurant and wanted to try it myself. This makes a great side dish for any main course. Plus it is very easy to make and ready super fast.

So let’s get to it!

Making Instant Pot Buttery Basmati Rice

To begin, turn on the sauté option on your Instant Pot. Add in one tablespoon of olive oil.

When hot, add in 1/4 of a diced onion, and 1 diced garlic clove. Stir frequently until soft and fragrant, being careful not to burn the onion or garlic.

Next, turn the sauté option off. Rinse and drain one cup of basmati rice using a strainer. If you prefer, you can also use long-grain white rice.

Add the rice to the Instant Pot as well as 1 1/2 cups of water.

Then, add in 1 teaspoon of salt. Use a fork to gently stir it in. By gently stirring with a fork you’ll avoid breaking up the rice which can cause the rice to come out mushy at the end.

Cut up one tablespoon of cold, salted butter. Sprinkle the pieces of butter all over the top.

Place the lid on the pot and move the valve to sealing. Select pressure cook (or manual) and set the time for 4 minutes.

At the end of the time, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. Then, manually release any remaining pressure.

*If you prefer a rice that is just a bit firmer, decrease the water to 1 1/4 cups and set the time from 4-5 minutes.*

Finally take the lid off and carefully fluff the rice with a fork.

Leftovers and Kid-Friendly Tip

As fast as this is to whip up, I like to have some already made in the fridge. Leftovers keep great for a few days, and I just reheat the rice on the stove or in the microwave. On days when meal times are a little chaotic, I take some leftover rice and mix it with some black beans. My kids absolutely love this!

There is some of this delicious Instant Pot Buttery Basmati Rice cooking up in my kitchen at this very moment. My son and I area waiting patiently so we can dig in.

Let me know if you give it a try. I hope you enjoy!

Looking for more Instant Pot Recipes? Check these out:

Instant Pot Jalapeño Bacon Lentils

Whole30 Instant Pot Savory Shredded Chicken

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My Amazon Picks

Checkout the link to Urvashi Pitre’s cookbook and a link to the Instant Pot I own and love.