Learn how to cook delicious and aromatic Instant Pot brown rice, which serves as the perfect base in our healthy, vegan-friendly salad with a scrummy peanut butter dressing. This recipe is also gluten-free.
Want to add more fibre and protein-rich plant-based foods to your diet but don’t have the time to soak and cook foods such as legumes and brown rice? Not to worry! Instant Pot is a real time-saver when it comes to cooking these, and this recipe we show you how to make a healthy and delicious brown rice salad in a lot less time than using a stovetop.
Besides the nutrient-dense brown rice, this hearty salad features a lot of other healthy ingredients such as crunchy red cabbage, peppers, carrots and herbs. The Asian peanut butter dressing is full of healthy fats and is a shining star of this dish. With perfectly balanced salty and sweet flavours, it coats the salad with the most gorgeous flavours.
If you like meal planning and batch cooking, this salad is a great dish to add to your menu. You can make the brown rice ahead of time and freeze it until you need to use it. You can even portion it out into smaller batches and store in Ziploc bag for single or double serve meals. Simply defrost it overnight in the fridge or in a microwave.
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT BROWN RICE
You will find the full list of ingredients, instructions and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below. Here are the basic steps and handy photos.
Step 1. Add rinsed brown rice, seasoning and water to the pot and pressure cook on HIGH for 18 minutes with natural pressure release. For brown Basmati rice, we tend to get the best results with 1: 1.25 ratio (so for 1 cup of rice, 1.25 cups of water, or just a little more than 1:1 ratio).
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, simply cook the brown rice on the stovetop as per packet instructions and then use the rest of our recipe to create the same tasty salad.
Step 2. Dice up the vegetables and whisk together the peanut butter dressing.
The peanut butter dressing can also be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to 1 week. Then all you need to do to assemble the salad is add some pre-chopped veggies and herbs of choice.
Step 3. Combine the cooked, cooled brown rice with the veggies and peanut butter dressing. Serve with fresh herbs like cilantro and mint on top.
MORE INSTANT POT RICE RECIPES
- Instant Pot Green Veggie Risotto (Vegan, GF)
- Instant Pot Rice & Chickpea Pilaf (Vegan, GF)
- Thai-Style Brown Rice & Chicken in Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Sushi Rice
- Instant Pot Rice Biriyani Recipes
Instant Pot Brown Rice Salad With Peanut Butter Dressing
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
Hearty and nutritious, this Instant Pot cooked brown rice based salad is full of veggies and a delicious peanut butter dressing.
Ingredients
For the rice
1 + 1/4 cups uncooked brown rice, rinsed
2 slices of fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cube of vegetable stock
1 + 1/2 cups water
For the salad
1/4 purple or white cabbage, diced into cubes or shredded
1 large carrot, grated
1 bell red pepper, diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced finely
8–10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon of black or white sesame seeds
Finish with: chopped fresh mint and cilantro/coriander (2-3 tablespoons of each)
For the dressing
2 heaped tablespoons crunchy peanut butter (see notes)
3 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 garlic clove, minced or grated
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 red chili, finely diced (less or more depending on your spice tolerance)
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce (alternatively, add 1/4 teaspoon salt)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Extra: have an extra lime to serve at the table.
Instructions
- To make the brown rice, turn the Instant Pot on and add the rice ingredients and the water to the inner pot. Stir through.
- Place and lock the lid, making sure the steam valve is pointing to Sealing. Press Manual, HIGH pressure, and set the time to 18 minutes. After 3 beeps, the Instant Pot will start to build up the pressure and cooking will commence (this will take about 5-10 minutes).
- Once the timer goes off, allow the pressure to release naturally (about 10-15 minutes). If you’re in a rush, release the pressure manually by carefully pointing the valve to Venting after 5 minutes.
- Open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. Transfer the cooked brown rice to a large salad bowl to cool down.
- While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the salad ingredients.
- To make the salad dressing, soften the peanut butter in a microwave or over a stove. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
Notes
For a gluten-free version, make sure to use GF peanut butter and swap the soy sauce for Tamari sauce.
We used this brand of peanut butter, which has less added sugar than other traditional American peanut butters. If using a really sweet peanut butter, adjust the ingredients by adding less honey.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 365
- Sugar: 19.2 g
- Sodium: 757.1 mg
- Fat: 10.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 63.1 g
- Fiber: 5.1 g
- Protein: 8.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
SAVE THIS BROWN RICE SALAD RECIPE TO PINTEREST
This is absolutely delicious. As an alternative to rice in the instant pot, I used Native American wild rice cooked on the stove, and it was delicious. The fresh mint and cilantro really enhance the flavors. I used fresh ground peanut butter from the local food coop, and it worked great. Thanks for a delicious recipe.
★★★★★
What is a good non-wheat noodle substitute for brown rice? I like peanut butter sauce better with noodles.
Thank you!
This recipe is designed with Brown Rice. So we can’t guarantee results when altering the ingredients. However, there’s a surge of gluten-free plant-based noodles in the market now. There’s Edamame spaghetti which could fit with the Asian influence of the meal. Don’t expect edamame noodles to act like wheat pasta. They are fragile and will fall apart. Try not to overcook them which is easy to do because they only require about 4 minutes to fully cook. I would test it out first at zero minutes. Be very gentle when rinsing and draining. I haven’t seen any instant pot specific recipes using edamame yet.
I’ve NEVER thought about using a peanut butter dressing before! It’s definitely grabbed my attention though. I’ll have to give this recipe a try very soon, thank you!