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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 :).
My pressure cooker does not have the saute feature. Do you think I could saute in a pan on the stove-top and then pour the ingredients into the pressure cooker, add the rice and remaining ingredients, and then select “Rice”? (Here are the options on my pressure cooker: Tendon, Soup, Congee, Rice, Chicken, Meat, Fish, Cake, Warm, Optional Time.)
Hi Victoria, I haven’t tested that way but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Hi, Natasha! It worked! I sautéed the beef, onion, and carrots in a pan over the stove. Then, I poured them into the pressure cooker, added the rice and remaining ingredients, selected the “Rice” option, and increased the time to 20 minutes. By the way, I used long-grain brown rice because I couldn’t find any short-grain. In the end, it turned out perfectly delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review Victoria!
Hey I had a question. I want to double this recipe, do I need to double the water too?
Hi Sofiya, 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. Do you have a 6qt cooker? I have an 8qt one. Will it be too much of a pot for this dish or should I double the ingredients?
Hi Dana, yes we have the 6 Qt. I have a link to it in the recipe above. I have not tested this in an 8 qt to advise although one of our readers wrote a great review doubling this in an 8 qt pot. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha, I have made your chicken plov stovetop version and we love it! Would beef broth work instead of the water for more flavor or is there a reason you use water instead?
Hello Staci, that should work too. I haven’t personally tried it but please share here and let us know if you liked it if you do an experiment.
One of the best Instant Pot recipes that I’ve tried; absolutely delicious. Next time, I’ll add a little more meat and carrots. I opted to add 2 teaspoons of minced garlic to the meat as it browned, instead of using whole cloves, because we’re not huge garlic fans. I was glad that I found the short-grained brown rice; it took some searching.
The recipe makes a lot of rice. Do you have any guidance on adjusting the liquid and cooking time if I reduce the raw rice to 2 cups?
Hi Jed, I haven’t tested it with just two cups. It should still work since it is a small adjustment. Without trying I wouldn’t have the exact water measurement but it would be less. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
In retrospect, it would be easier to stick with your recipe and freeze the leftovers. The rice and meat freeze well. The carrots will get mushy, but no big problem.
Hi I’m wanting to make this tomorrow and all I could find is long grain brown rice.not sure on how much liquid and cooking time.
Hi Carla, I haven’t tested with long grain brown rice, but they should be fairly close. You might cook on high pressure an extra minute with long grain rice.
I don’t know if you still read the comments on the recipe. It’s dated quite a while back. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this. Even though I’d never eaten it before I found this recipe, it is my new comfort food. After I google searched to find the recipe and put the lid on the pot I clicked to see your stovetop recipe. I noticed you included bay leaf in the stovetop version. I quickly looked thinking I must have left it out of the pot I was cooking. However, when I looked at this recipe for the pressure cooker, and it wasn’t there. Is there a reason for that?
There was no specific reason, just reducing the number of ingredients needed without sacrificing flavor.
Hi Natasha! I wanted to try this w white rice , how many minutes would u recommend to cook for ??
Hi Inna, I haven’t had great results with white rice – the beef doesn’t get cooked well enough or the rice ends up over-cooked for the meat to be tender, this is why I used brown rice.
I am making this tonight. Searched high and low for short grain brown rice with no luck. So I will be using regular brown rice, not instant of course. I’m sure it will be fine if it stands up to the cooking time. I will rate the recipe after tonight!
I hope you love this recipe Becky!
It was wonderful. Both my husband and I loved it! I made an Ukrainian dish?! Kinda proud of myself, but you made it so easy. Thank you.
Hi Becky! I’m so inspired reading your review. Thank you!
We also had your marinated tomatoes. I will leave a review for that on its own page. But let me just say……that marinade is UH mazing. You are so kind to respond to all these comments.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
This looks delicious!
Can I use buckwheat instead of rice?
Hi Sveta, buckwheat in the instant pot at those timings would turn to mush. We do have a wonderful buckwheat plov recipe here.
This recipe is amazing Natasha !!!! I made it and it came out perfect !!!! My kids and I loved it!!!!!
Hi Jennifer, That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
I made this several times and it is very good. The meat is very tender and the rice very flavorful.
That’s so awesome Emma! Thank you for sharing that with me!
I grew up eating Plof and was always intimidated to make it, but this recipe is so simple and really amazing. Tastes exactly like my grandmother used to make
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love when our recipes bring back memories of loved ones. Thank you for the wonderful review!
I did it with basmati and brown rice and it was more flavourful with brown rice will definitely with make again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I absolutely love this recipe! I do have one issue though. Due to digestive issues, I can no longer eat brown rice (it’s a serious tragedy) and I was wondering if there’s a way I can make this with white rice instead. Would arborio rice work since it’s a short grain too? Please help me continue to eat this amazing dish!!
Hi Susan, 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.
Hi! I used arborio but only cooked my rice for 12 minutes and it turned out great!
Thank you for sharing that with us!
Natasha, thank you so much for the plov recipe! It turned out amazing! It was very easy to cook and I spent much less time comparing with traditional method. And in the end plov was so rich in flavor! Большое спасибо!
Aww that’s the best Olga! I’m so happy you enjoyed this!
can you use long grain brown rice as well?
Hi Kathy, I haven’t tested this with long grain brown rice so keep in mind if you are substituting that long grain requires a little less water and also may cook slightly faster than short grain. It may work with pork.
Tried the PLOV. Very tasty! Here is the question…if I doubled the batch do I change the cooking time or the same 30 minutes?
Hi Tanya, 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!
I double this every time I make it and never adjust the cooking time.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Susan!
Thanks for the recipe. Didn’t try it yet but planning to. I like plot with eggplant. Do you think it would work if I add eggplant to it?
Thanks!
Hi Hena, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work! If you experiment please let me know how you like the recipe!
This looks delicious. I am eager to see what other recipes you develop for the Instant Pot. I love your blog and your recipes. Your Olivye potato salad is my husband’s very favorite.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing that with me Clysta!
Hi I don’t have an Instant pot how else would you recommend to cook?
Hi Courtney, a non instant pot version would have a different method and recipe. Check out our classic beef plov recipe here.
I made this as directed and it was so delicious!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
So I made this recipe just now, followed all instructions to the T, the rice still seemed a bit water and not fully cooked? I usually don’t use brown rice is it suppose to me more chewy ,almost like a soft crunch?
Hi Stacey, brown rice is a little more chewy than white rice. I suggest checking to make sure it is the same kind of brown rice (different sized grains take varying amounts of water and cooking time), also be sure to keep all proportions the same and let it naturally depressurize for 10 minutes at the end of the cooking cycle which definitely helps for the rice to finish cooking, absorb some of the liquid and soften. I hope that helps!
Great recipe! Can I use brown basmati rice in this recipe?
Hi Jenny, Basmati brown rice will cook slightly faster than short grain brown rice. My guess is that it will be done with 25 minutes on high pressure rather than 30 minutes.
Thank you for sharing this, it sounds fabulous! I would like to do this with stewing lamb tonight, all I have is long grain rice on hand. Do you think because the stewing lamb is smaller cut I can shorten the time to the rices needs?
Hi Michelle, I haven’t tried 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. So to answer that it should take less time.
Just made this and it’s delicious! I doubled the recipe (I saw that you posted a comment about it and copied it; 5 cups rice & 5 cups water). I used white basmati rice and cooked for 23 min. Next time I’ll do 20 for firmer rice. I also used baby carrots bc my husband loves huge chunky carrots. I didn’t have coriander seasoning so I went without and it’s still delicious! Can’t wait to have dinner!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review