Although I grew up on jasmine rice, I have learned to enjoy eating brown rice because it contains more fiber and other nutrients than white rice. In particular, I like short grain brown rice because of its chewy, toothsome texture.
Often times, I cook a large batch of short grain brown rice on the weekends. Then, I refrigerate the rice and incorporate it into various dishes throughout the week. The rice is great in salads with cooked chickpeas, feta, butternut squash, and olive oil; egg fried rice; or in chilis. Short grain brown rice is incredibly versatile.
HOW TO COOK SHORT GRAIN BROWN RICE
WASH THE RICE
First, rinse the rice twice to get rid of any excess starch. Then, drain the rice over a sieve or strainer.
COOK THE RICE
When it comes to cooking rice, I prefer the absorption method. In other words, I like using only as much water as needed to cook the rice. All the water used for cooking the rice absorbs into the grains.
Some people like to cook rice like pasta—boil a large pot of water, add the rice, and then drain the cooked rice over a strainer. Although this method of cooking rice works, the texture of the rice will not be as toothsome and chewy as rice cooked with the absorption method.
Below, I outline 3 different methods for cooking short grain brown rice: stovetop, Instant Pot, and slow cooker. I prefer the Instant Pot method the most because I can just set the cooker and walk away. With the slow cooker method, make sure to stir the rice about 30 minutes before it is done cooking. This helps to ensure that the rice on the top is fully cooked and the rice at the bottom isn’t overly gummy.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BROWN RICE
- Vegan Butternut Squash Curry (photographed above)
- Sticky Asian Chicken Thighs
- Spicy Three Bean Chili (I like adding 1 to 2 cups of cooked rice to my chili for a fuller meal)
- Paneer Tikka Masala
OTHER RICE COOKING TUTORIALS
How to Cook Short Grain Brown Rice: Stovetop, Instant Pot & Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Stovetop
- 2 cups short grain brown rice, see note 1
- 3 1/4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instant Pot
- 2 cups short grain brown rice
- 2 1/4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Slow Cooker
- cooking spray
- 2 cups short grain brown rice
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Wash the Rice
- Rinse the rice and drain the water. Repeat the process one more time and drain the rice over a sieve or strainer.
Stovetop Method
- Add the rice, water, and salt to a saucepan. Cover the pan with the lid.
- Heat the pan over high heat and bring the water to boil. This should take about 7 minutes and you’ll see a lot of steam coming out the sides of the saucepan.
- Reduce heat to low. I have a gas range and usually move my saucepan to the smaller range. Cook the rice for another 40 minutes. All the water should be absorbed by then.
- Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for another 10 minutes, covered. Remove the lid and use a fork to fluff up the rice.
Instant Pot Method
- Add the rice, water, and salt to the Instant Pot.
- Fasten the lid and press the “MANUAL” button. Leave the pressure on high but decrease the timer to 20 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, let the rice sit in the Instant Pot in the “KEEP WARM” setting for 15 minutes. Manually release any residual steam before removing the lid.
- Fluff up the rice and serve.
Slow Cooker Method
- Coat the bottom of the slow cooker with cooking spray. This prevents the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot. It is particularly an issue if your slow cooker pot is made of ceramic, like mine. You can also rub a thin layer of oil in the pot.
- Add the rice, water, and salt into the slow cooker. Cover the pot with the lid.
- Cook on high for 2.5 hours. After 2 hours of cooking, check the rice. Most of the water should be absorbed by now. Uncover the lid and give the rice a good stir. This ensures that the rice on the top is fully cooked and the rice at the bottom doesn’t turn too gummy. Cover the lid again and cook for another 30 minutes.
Janet says
I’m wondering if the stovetop method work in a rice cooker?
Lisa Lin says
Hi, Janet! I think the rice cooker method is probably a combination of the Instant Pot cooking method and stovetop. I have not tested it before, so I can’t say for certain. However, my instinct tells me that you don’t need as much water as the stovetop, but you need to cook longer than the Instant Pot. Are there different rice cooking settings in your rice cooker?
Renee de Abreu says
Perfect recipe for the Instant Pot. I went all in for tripling the recipe since I cook for a few seniors. It is now my go to recipe!
Thank you so much!
Samantha says
Lisa, did you increase the time when you tripled this recipe for the instant pot? Thank you! Samantha
Samantha says
Thank you for this recipe! I used the instant pot method and it turned out perfect. If I double or triple recipe will the time be the same or do I need to increase?
Lisa Lin says
Hi Samantha, I’m not 100% sure, but you can add 3 extra minutes if you’re tripling the recipe, but I don’t think you need that much more time.
Mia says
Oh! And I will add that I was making a doubled recipe and did not increase the time one minute. It came out *perfect*.
Mia says
Omg it came out PERFEEECT! Thank you so much for providing an instant pot recipe specific to *short grain* brown rice. I followed this recipe exactly and added some butter before closing up the instant pot. It came out with that perfect, chewy-tender texture that great short grain brown rice should have. YUM.
Judith says
Perfection! Thank you – you can’t imagine what a relief it is to have a go-to method that works.
I have a 3-qt Instant Pot that I use for grains, I’ve made sg brown rice, jasmine rice and quinoa with you proportions – Magic!
Maz says
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for the lovely recipe!
Can you recommend a good quality organic short grain brown rice?
Lisa Lin says
I usually buy Lundberg’s organic short grain brown rice.
Patty walkup says
A great recipe thank you ! I used the stove top method . I have a ceramic cook top, not my favorite type, .. I found that on low when doing a two cup batch, it took longer to cook by about ten minutes.. but was perfect!!
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Patty!
Nora says
Hi, Lisa.
In your Ingredients list, the Instant Pot is listed under Stovetop, and Slow Cooker is listed under Instant Pot.
Just thought you’d like to know.
Annika says
I really want to try your instant pot method, but I am confused, since your stovetop ingredients specify an instant pot, your instant pot ingredients specify a slow cooker, and your slow cooker ingredients don’t specify either. Are your titles off? Or do the titles go with the ingredients correctly but the equipment shouldn’t be there?
Lisa Lin says
Hi Annika, I checked the recipe card, and on my end the equipment is labeled according to the method of cooking. In other words, the Instant Pot method only includes Instant Pot directions and there’s not mix up. Maybe try looking at the recipe with a different web bowser?
Selina Pishori says
It is showing up like that for me too Annika. I tried opening the link in different browsers as the author suggested, but it showed up the same. I took the plunge and can report that following the instant pot ingredients list works perfectly. Just ignore the last line in the “instant pot ingredients” that says “slow cooker”
Lisa Lin says
Hi Selina, thanks for this note! I finally realized what the issue was with the recipe card (it had to do with me converting the recipe card from an old software). I think I fixed the problem now!
Lora Medina says
Hi, Lisa ~ Thank you for this posting! For my first recipe with my new Instant Pot Duo 6-quart, I’d like to try your recipe, as we love short-grain brown rice. But I make small batches. If I use 3/4 cup of rice, how much water would you recommend? And would the timing be the same as your recipe or less time? I appreciate your response, in advance, dear.
Lisa Lin says
This is a good question. The cooking time should be the same. I’d roughly calculate the same ratio as the original recipe, which seems like it’s 1 1/4 cups of water for 3/4 cups of rice. I think it will work.
Beth says
Can I replace the water with broth for the instant pot recipe? I have some homemade broth I am dying to use, but I don’t want to waste it!
Lisa Lin says
I don’t see why not!
Nay Vaz says
Thank you for sharing your good recipe! It didnt stick to the pot and it had a bit of a flavor.
Lisa Lin says
Thank you, Nay!
MaryAnn Neblock says
I’m a recent convert to short-grain brown rice although I used many kinds of white rice. I usually buy Lundberg rice as well but saw a sale on Cadia brand and bought it. Their recommendation for proportions was way off and my rice came out mushy and wet! I knew I had to find a better recipe and landed on your site. I just made rice again and used the stovetop method and it came out lovely. Thank you very much! I made 1 cup to test the recipe and I’m very pleased with the taste and texture. 40 minutes..on the nose. Very easy.
Alyssa says
Followed the stove top method using chicken bone broth instead of water and added a teaspoon of olive oil. I made it in my Staub Dutch oven and it came out beautifully!! Thank you!!!
Bob Koure says
I tried the instant pot method (1g rice to 1.25ml water so 150g x188ml)
High pressure 20 min, release at done + 15 min (indicator down at that point).
A bit chewier than we like, going to try with 1×1.5 or 1×1.6 next.
I’ve tried 1×1.75 with the built-in ‘rice’ program; a bit too soft and watery, so I tried your recipe.
No worries, I usually iterate things I make regularly until the whole house is happy. 🙂
Patriece Senoko says
I’m around 70 now and enjoy your rice and cabbage