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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 :).
amazing recipe. i like the most in this food is the the whole garlic bulb. it is much tasty than a clove.thanks natashas for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Adams!
I thought I had coriander but I did not. Made this without it anyway and it was a big hit. I can’t believe how tender the meat gets in such a short cooking time!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sharon! Thank you for the wonderful review!
My pressure cooker didn’t have a grain setting so I set it on manual high pressure. Hope it turns out well!
Is there any way to sub cauliflower rice with this regular rice?
Hi Courtney, I looked through the comment to see if anyone tried it, it doesn’t look like it. If you experiment with that I would love to know how you like the recipe. Personally, I haven’t experimented with cauliflower in an Instant Pot.
That’s delicious! I tried this recipe and everyone in my family just liked it. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I have just Instant Pot Ultra. Cooked at Pressure Cook (low) for 20 min only and let it rest for 10 min after.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
I followed the directions exactly and it came out FANTASTIC! Thank you for another amazing recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Shannon!
Can I use long grain brown rice for the plov
Hi Vicki, 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 all looks and sounds great, Natasha, but the taste is wrong. It doesn’t taste anything like the real Uzbek plov we make in Russia. You don’t need anything except for Turmeric and a tad bit of Coriander
Hi Victoria, this is our family’s version. I hope you give it a try!
Just made this tonight. Oh my goodness! It was SOOO GOOOD!
I’m so glad you enjoyed that, Sherry!
Hi Natasha.
I’m looking to double the portion. Do you know know if I need to double the water and cooking time?
Hi Allie, 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!
Can I use Jasmine rice for the instant pot plov?
Hi Jessica, Jasmine rice is not ideal for this recipe because it would over cook in the time it takes for the beef to become tender.
It is possible to use jasmine rice, but the process is a bit different. You would cook everything except the rice first. Once that is done add 2 cups or so of rice along with a cup or more of water or beef broth. This is dependent on how much rice you wish to add, and how much liquid is seen within the pot. Set pressure for 3 minutes, and allow to it to release pressure for 10 minutes. I have cooked it this way multiple times with great success. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi KP, I haven’t tested it that way to advise. If you experiment I would love to know how you like that.
Natasha, this is the way I make it everytime. I often double the recipe. If someone is uncertain about how much water or broth to add, they can use the following tried and true method. Make sure the that after adding the rice you then add enough water so that it comes up to your first knuckle. Thanks for such a great recipe!
You’re so welcome and thank you so much also for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha,
Can I make this in a crock pot?
Hi Inna, I haven’t tried this in a crockpot. I think it could work but I haven’t tested it to provide instructions on that. When not using an instant pot, we have a few other pilaf recipes that are staples in our house.
Made this exactly as the recipe and it was delicious. So easy to make. Thanks so much for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed that. Thank you for that great review, April!
Unfortunately ours came out very sticky. We followed the recipe but the rice just glommed together. It still tasted pretty good but the texture was less than.
Hi Holly, did you use a different kind of rice and make sure to release pressure when indicated in the recipe. Rice can overcook quickly if you let it go for too long. It sounds like yours got overcooked.
Great recipe thank you, first time to cook rice in Instant Pot, added few more veggies, family had a filling supper with very little effort from my side.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great feedback.
Made this last night absolutely delicious. Regards the calories per portion how many portions does this make. Thanks
Hi Tricia, This recipe serves 8 as a side dish. If you click “Jump to recipe” at the top of the post, it will take you to our printable recipe where you’ll have the option to change the number of servings. Hover over the “8” highlighted in red and slide it to how many servings you would like to make. I hope that helps!
We love this!! This is a staple in our household. But would love to know if this freezes well?
Hi Bernadette, I haven’t tried freezing this but here is what one of our readers wrote “The rice and meat freeze well. The carrots will get mushy, but no big problem.” I hope that helps.
First recipe my mom and I made using her new instant and it was a hit!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
WOW! Awesome. I followed recipe pretty closely. Used about 1/4 tsp more of each spice, added some crushed red pepper. Used chicken broth that I need to use up for part of the liquid. I could only find Lundberg Sprouted short brown, used the entire 16 oz package. I was a little worried about the rice – liquid ratio but turned out perfect. I used the multigrain setting for 30 minutes. Thanks for a great IP recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Kevin! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Hello Natasha! This recipe looks so delicious wanting to make it tomorrow and to double the recipe but I don’t have an instant pot only a crock pot, how would I be able to make in a crock pot? Will the times change or any ingredients?
Hi Rebecca, I haven’t tried this in a crockpot. I think it could work but I haven’t tested it to provide instructions on that. When not using an instant pot, we have a few other pilaf recipes that are staples in our house.
I made this with 2 cups of long grain brown rice. I added less butter and only 2.5 cups of water. However, the rice came out way too greasy/watery. The flavor was good but texture was off. I don’t know what went wrong!
Hi Christina, it is most likely due to using a different type of rice than what is called for in the recipe. Short grain rice is more starchy and cooks up differently and more creamy than long grain. That is probably why it came out watery and didn’t absorb the liquid properly.
Hi Natasha,
I was only able to find medium grain brown rice. Will that be ok to substitute? Can’t wait to try your
plov.
Thanks!
Hi Anna, I haven’t tested that but here is what one of our readers wrote “I LOVED this recipe! I was a little concerned with putting the garlic in as it stated but oh my God, it worked. I used a medium grain brown rice and it worked great.” I hope that helps.
I made this last night and it turned out pretty good—meat was very tender and the rice had a little bit of crunch to it, which I wasn’t expecting but was OK with it. I just feel like it’s missing it’s plov-ness—if I didn’t know it was supposed to be plov, I would have just thought it’s a nice meat and rice dish. I’m sure I’ll make it again (hubby loves it and added chili garlic sauce to his) and I’ll bump up all the spices to see if I can really get that quintessential plov taste.
Hi Alicia, you can definitely amp up the garlic and seasonings to taste. We found this to be the right balance for everyone (adults and kiddos) to enjoy.
This recipe is so good!! I couldn’t find short grain brown rice. Instead, I bought Uncle Ben’s whole grain brown rice. I believe it’s a parboiled rice. It worked amazingly well and I didn’t change anything else in the recipe.
I’m so glad that worked out well for you. Thank you for sharing!
Sooo yummy is all I can say. So easy to make it too. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Flower!
Natasha, this was so delicious! I don’t live close enough to get Babushka’s plov, but this hit the spot!
I dislike brown rice, so I used white rice and did 15 minutes instead. It came out PERFECT! Even my husband loved it and said it was better than my grandma’s (of course I would never tell her that, hahaha)
Have you ever tried to add in raisins?
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! I haven’t tested that but I bet raisins could work!