This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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 :).
Hi Natasha! Thank you so much for this wonderful, flavorful and delicious recipe. My meat eating family ate it up right away! Unfortunately, I don’t eat red meat so couldn’t enjoy it with them. Could you possibly advise me how to adapt this exact recipe for chicken?
Hi Irina, 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.
Hi Natasha,
Can I substitute brown rice for barley?
Hi Kate, I haven’t tried pearl barley, but according to this chart from Cook’s Illustrated, the pressure cooking time is very similar to brown rice so possibly it might work. Sorry I can’t give you a more concrete answer.
Natasha thank you. It was very good. I just add salt
So glad you enjoyed that, Olga!
Will I be able to make a double portion of plov in a 8 quart instant cooker all at once ?
Hi Polina, Although I haven’t tried doubling it myself one of our readers stated this recipe fit a 3 quart pot with “no room to spare” If you try it let us know how it worked out. 🙂
I so wanted to love this because it looks so good but it tasted very sweet to me and I couldn’t eat it. Was it the carrots or the garlic or both? Or the spices? Maybe it’s just me?
A lot of the vegetables in this dish do have natural sugars but it shouldn’t taste sweet.
This was the first recipe I did in the instant pot, loved it. Please bring more recipes to the instant pot, looking forward to more incredible recipes. Thank you. (By the way, your collection of recipes is amazing and I will be trying most of them)
That’s so great! I’m so inspired reading your review. Thank you!
My husband likes to cook these kind of dishes cos it is easy. we use our usual rice cooker and it worked well too, maybe not as quick as the Insta pot. I will send this recipe for him to try. Looking forward to more recipes!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing that with us, Farhanna.
Natasha, I have made so many of your recipes and everything turns out so well. I haven’t tried this one yet but will do shortly. I love my Instant Pot – I’m wondering if you will be creating more recipes for the Pot?
Thank you for that wonderful compliment! You’re actually not the first to ask that! So many plans for future recipes!
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. The only comment I have it that your recipe doesn’t state what type of butter to use in the first ingredients list. On the printer version it says “unsalted”. I ended up using salted butter but decreased my salt by half and it worked out fine.
Thanks for the great recipe!
OH! Also, I used pearl onions, halved, because I HATE chopping onions. Worked great too!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Can i use a slow cooker with this recipe?
Hi Kina, the slow cooker would probably require some modifications and much lengthier cooking. I haven’t tested plov in a slow cooker so I can’t provide specific instructions. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. I do have a few stove-top versions as well if you don’t have an instant pot. They are also very good
This is SO good!! I can’t stop eating it out of the pot 😋. Followed directions exactly except forgot to poke the holes in the rice. Thank you so much for a flavorful, easy dish!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Amy!
I absolutely love your instant pot plov recipe! I’ve tried it with brown rice and white rice and I think I like it a little more with white rice I just set the time to 8-10 minutes 🙂 super yummy and quick after work meal! Keep posting more instant pot recipes! 🙂
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, Jessica. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Turned out great! The best part was that it’s so easy. I would love for you to post more pressure cooker recipes.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Ruth! Thank you for sharing that with us!
This sounds so good, I may have to go out and buy an instant pot!! How can I make this in my dutch oven?
Hi Carol, I would recommend to follow this recipe when using dutch oven 😬
Have you tried to make this with cous cous or another type of rice substitute?
Hi, I haven’t tried with anything besides rice. I found brown rice to work best (better than white rice) because it doesn’t get mushy in that amount of cooking time in an instant pot.
OMG!!! Made this tonight. So good. Stew meat was tender, flavor was fantastic. Husband and son asked if there was any left over after consuming huge bowls. Daughter also liked this which says a lot because she is so picky. Bonus our kids adopted from Russia years ago (understand Ukraine is not Russia but many foods share a common flavor). We now found a food they both like. Established an new Gotcha Day tradition food. Thank you.
Hi Barb, your comment is like music to my ears 😃. Thank you for such a nice review and you are very welcome!
Since I don’t have an Instant Pot, what about using a pressure cooker for the “Insant Pot Rice (Beef Plov) recipe??? Or, should I just stick with the stove top??
Hi Joy, I haven’t tested this recipe in the slow cooker but you can follow stop instructions right here.
Hi, how long should I cook this for if I want to make twice as much as you made. Thanks
Hi Lyubov, I haven’t tried doubling but I would probably keep the time the same. One of my readers 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 is helpful!
Thank you.
You’re welcome!
First time user of the instant pot. The rice was perfect, meat was dry. Any suggextions.
Hi Susan, I would highly highly suggest reading through the owners manual before beginning so you have a good understanding of the way the machine works and go through the test run the booklet in the box recommends. I haven’t had the meat turn out dry but it is normally very tender and moist. If everything in the recipe was followed per the instructions and dry ingredients were measured with dry ingredient cups and wet with wet ingredient cups, I wonder if maybe it’s a setting on the machine?
Can u make in a crock pot
Hi Barbara, I haven’t tried this in a crockpot. I think it could work but I haven’t tested it to provide instructions on that.