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This Instant Pot Rice recipe is a healthier, juicier and flavor packed rice pilaf called plov. It all comes together in 1 pot (the instant pot!) and you won’t believe how quick and easy this is.
Traditionally, beef plov is made with white rice, but we used a brown rice which was perfect for the instant pot because it doesn’t get mushy while the beef becomes melt-in-your mouth tender. Brown rice is also way healthier and your hungry people may not even realize it is brown rice. It works so well in this recipe!
P.S. We’ve included our Amazon affiliate links below for the tools we used to make this recipe.
Watch How to Make Instant Pot Rice Beef Plov:
My husband gave me this Instant Pot for Christmas and I am already completely smitten with it! If you own an instant pot, chances are you are obsessed with it also. Let me know about your favorite instant pot recipes in a comment below. I’m so excited to put this amazing little pot to work!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Rice Beef Plov:
2 1/2 cups short grain brown rice (500 grams), rinsed and drained*
1 lb beef chuck or beef stew meat, cut into 3/4″ pieces
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced
3 large carrots, thickly julienned
3 cups (720 ml) very warm water
1 Tbsp salt (we used fine sea salt)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 whole head garlic, unpeeled, cut in half crosswise.
1 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley to garnish – optional
*TIPS FOR SUCCESS: We used organic short grain brown rice (I buy the “Lundberg” brand bag sold in Costco). DO NOT USE quick cooking rice, parboiled or white rice – these would all need modifications in timing and water. Use a standard measuring cup or a kitchen scale to measure the rice (not the measuring cup that comes with your instant pot).
If you don’t own an instant pot yet, you can still make beef plov on the stovetop with this recipe and check out the creative grain we used in this newer version – wildly delicious!!
⬇Print-Friendly Instant Pot Rice (Beef Plov):
Instant Pot Rice (Beef Plov)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups short grain brown rice, 500 grams, rinsed and drained*
- 1 lb beef chuck or beef stew meat, cut into 3/4" pieces**
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 large carrots, thickly julienned
- 3 cups 720 ml very warm water
- 1 Tbsp salt, we used fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 whole head garlic, unpeeled, cut in half crosswise.
Instructions
- Rinse and drain rice and set aside. Set Instant pot to sauté on high heat (push sauté twice to switch to high heat) and add 4 Tbsp olive oil. Once oil is hot (but not smoking), add beef in a single layer and sauté until lightly browned (5 min), stirring occasionally.
- Add 4 Tbsp butter and chopped onion and stir 3 minutes until softened.
- Add julienned carrots along with all seasonings (1 Tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp coriander) and sauté 5 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally.
- Spread rice evenly over the top (do not stir). Push garlic halves cut-side-down, halfway into the rice. Pour very warm (or hot) water directly over the garlic cloves so you don't disturb the rice. Use the back of a wooden spoon to poke 5-7 holes through the rice to the bottom of the pot (this helps disburse flavor).
- Cover and cook on high pressure 30 min (I used the "Multigrain" setting). Let instant pot rest and naturally depressurize 10 min before switching to the venting position to release steam. Make sure the steam is fully released and the pressure valve has floated down before opening the pot.
- Remove garlic and set aside. Stir rice well to combine ingredients. We squeeze the garlic cloves back into the pot because they are melt-in-your mouth delicious.
Notes
**The meat will brown easier if you leave it at room temperature 30 minutes before starting to cook it.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This instant pot plov also reheats really well on a skillet the next day so leftovers are a great thing!
Have you gotten on the instant pot wagon? It was actually this recipe that made me fall in love with my Instant pot (ahem 2 hours instead of 15 hours? YES!!!).
What is your favorite recipe to cook in the Instant Pot? I am always looking for new ideas. Thanks in advance my friends. I always love hearing from you :).
Hello Natasha! Can this recipe be doubled? If yes, does anything changes? I want to do for a party but don’t want to risk it with doubling the recipe.
Hi Yelena! I haven’t doubled this personally, but I would keep the time the same if doubling. One of my readers doubled it and reported the following: “I did do 2 lb of beef and doubled all seasonings. I also did 5cups of rice and 5 cups of water. Fit to a T in the 6QT. Came out perfectly fine.” I hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you very much. Another quick question, does the time stays the same if the Insta pot bigger?
Hi Yelena, I haven’t tested that in another size, I think that would be the case but advise checking your manual for comparison
Can sprouted short grain brown rice be used?
Hi Avey, I don’t have any experience with using sprouted rice in this recipe so can’t make any recommendations. If you experiment, I’d love to know how it turned out!
Can this be done with NO SALT and still be ok?
Low salt diet…….
Hi Dan, I haven’t tried this recipe without salt. It does enhance the flavors quite a bit. If you try it without or experiment please let me know how you like that!
I know this is a beef meal but was thinking about leaner version. How bought chicken thighs?
Hi Cathy! I think that should work! The only thing you would have to change honestly is the meat and possible how long to braise it. We have a similar recipe for just chicken that you can use as a guide here. Hope this helps.
I made this recipe tonight for dinner and my husband and I both loved it. Great job.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Dana!
We don’t eat beef, so I subbed boneless skinless chicken breasts and used chicken stock instead of water and used less salt. Added broccoli florets at the end for extra veggies. Great lunch for work. Do you hate when we change your recipes?
Hi Diane!! I’m happy you can make that your own with what you like and what you have on hand! I love seeing how our readers customize these!
The beef Plov was amazing. We love mushrooms so added chopped mushrooms while sautéing. Turned out perfect! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Tracy!
This plov turned out so delicious! I can’t believe how easy it is to make. The whole family (including my kiddos) enjoyed it. Thank you, Natasha!
Wow! That’s so great! Sounds like you found a new family favorite! Thank you for sharing your awesome review with me!
If you need to use white short grain rice would you change the amount of water or time?
Hi Angela, white rice is not ideal because it would become overcooked by the time the beef was tender. 30 minutes in the pressure cooker is much beyond the recommending pressure cooking time for white rice which is why brown rice works so well. It cooks perfectly when the meat is tender. Several of our readers have tried it with rice and had to cut the time don significantly. If you experiment I would love to know how you like that
I only have long grain brown rice. Is that ok or should I use short grain white?
If long grain is ok do I need to adjust anything?
Hoping to make this tonight.
Thanks!
Hi Angela, I haven’t this plov with long grain but keep in mind if you are substituting that long grain requires a little less water and also may cook slightly faster than short grain rice.
I cooked this tonight with thin cut steak chopped into small strips.
I reduced the pressure to low and kept it at 30 mins.
Heaven!!!! I don’t like onion texture so added onion granules.
That’s so great, Hanna! Thank you for that awesome review!
My husband just got me a Ninja Foodi pressure cooker and of course, I had to try this recipe. I’m so in love with my pressure cooker and this recipe! I will probably add some bay leaves next time to kick up the flavor a notch, but this recipe is definitely a keeper! Natasha, can you please come up with more instant pot recipes?!?
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Irina! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Natasha,
Can I use shredded carrots (the kind they sell in a bag already shredded) instead of julienned? And how much?
Hi Irina, you could use the pre-shredded store-bought carrots. I would say about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded carrot.
Hey Natasha! I’ve made this recipe and it’s ABSOLUTELY delicious, but I recently found a video of “Instant Pot Russian Garlicky Beef and Rice” and I thought of this recipe. So I came to see if the recipe was similar and it turns out that the Youtube channel copied this EXACT recipe and is taking credit for it. I’m not sure if they got permission, but the channel is called Chop Secrets and I just wanted to let you know. That being said, I absolutely love all your recipes and I’m totally gonna make your recent chocolate mousse for Valentine’s Day 🙂
I’m so glad you loved the recipe!! Thank you so much for letting me know. Unfortunately they did not get permission or credit our page for the recipe – it is really difficult to enforce this type of recipe use unless they stole actual footage from our blog or channel or photos. Thanks again for the heads up! Hope you have a lovely Valentines day!!
Hi Natasha, I made this recipe yesterday, and my kids, my husband and I absolutely loved it. Can you please post more instant pot recipes!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Hi. Thanks for this great recipe !
Can this be done on a stove instead of using instant pot? Thanks xx
Hi Maria! it would need some modification for the stovetop. I would recommend checking out our stovetop plov recipes. We have our classic beef one and another one with buckwheat (my personal favorite).
I just made this and we really enjoyed it. I will make it again! So tasty and we love the texture! the only thing I would like to see added is that using the multigrain setting adds at least 30 mins of waiting time so if you are expecting a 30 min supper, it’s more like an hour.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Penny!
Hi Natasha! I loved this recipe and now making it again, but I need to make it for more people this time. If I make a double portion of this recipe in the pressure cooker do you think it will work out well?
Hi Lilia! I haven’t doubled this personally, but I would keep the time the same if doubling. One of my readers doubled it and reported the following: “I did do 2 lb of beef and doubled all seasonings. I also did 5cups of rice and 5 cups of water. Fit to a T in the 6QT. Came out perfectly fine.” I hope that helps! 🙂
Hi Natasha
Is there a way to make this recipe in a regular pressure cooker?
Thanks!
Hi Olya, yes this should work great in a standard pressure cooker.
Used Better Than Bullion beef base mixed with the water. Came out great. Doubled the dry spices. Great recipe. Thank you.
You’re so welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed that!