Making Instant Pot Rice-a-Roni is a cinch! Set it and forget it, then enjoy your quick side dish!
You’ll love this foolproof Instant Pot Rice-a-Roni recipe–it’s a simple side dish that can pair with chicken, fish, beef, pork, or veggies!
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Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved Rice-a-Roni and other similar boxed rice mixes.
They seemed easy enough to make, despite my primitive cooking skills at the time, and they made a tasty side dish to accompany pork chops or grilled chicken breasts.
These days, I most often cook chicken and Rice-a-Roni in the Instant Pot, making a whole one-pot meal of it.
Rice is such a frugal addition to meals, and there are endless tasty possibilities of meal options to make with it.
But if you want to just make the rice by itself as a side dish or the base of a different recipe, you’ll be glad to know you can indeed make Instant Pot Rice-a-Roni!
I use a similar method to what I use when I cook a box of Uncle Ben’s wild rice in the Instant Pot or when I make Knorr Rice Sides in the Instant Pot, because these shortcuts are just so helpful as a busy mom!
Can You Cook Rice-a-Roni in the Instant Pot?
Yes, I know it seems too good to be true, but you can make Rice-a-Roni in your pressure cooker! It’s actually super easy to do!
I love that there is no mess from boiled-over pans when you use your Instant Pot. And there’s no babysitting the pan, either.
It’s a set-it-and-forget-it situation, which is a mom’s best friend!
More Instant Pot Rice Recipes:
- Instant Pot White Rice
- Instant Pot Brown Rice
- Instant Pot Basmati Rice
- Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
- Instant Pot Spanish Rice
Rice a Roni in the Pressure Cooker
This Instant Pot Rice-a-Roni is so easy, it barely even qualifies as a recipe (more of a how-to, maybe?), but it certainly does come in handy!
Cooking under pressure means it cooks in mere minutes and the flavors meld together really nicely.
If you have leftover rice after your meal, you can also reheat rice in the Instant Pot, which is a great method for preserving the texture.
New to Pressure Cooking? Check Out These Helpful Resources:
- Everything You Need to Know to Get Started Making Easy Pressure Cooker Recipes
- How to Reheat Leftovers in the Instant Pot
- How to Make Your Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes in the Instant Pot
- Affordable Gifts for the Instant Pot Lover in Your Life
How to Make Failproof Instant Pot Rice a Roni
Follow these simple steps to make perfect, flavorful Ricearoni in your Instant Pot!
Rice to Water Ratio
I like to follow a ration of 1 1/2 cups of water for 1 box (6.9-oz) of Rice-a-Roni.
This ratio allows for rice that is soft but not watery. In my opinion, it’s perfect!
Note that this is less water than called for on the box–that’s because there’s so little evaporation in the pressure cooker.
How to Cook Rice-a-Roni in the Instant Pot
(Full printable recipe is available below)
Saute. To make this super simple and versatile side dish, you’ll start by using the Saute function to brown the rice and vermicelli in a bit of butter.
Mix. Then, you add the liquid and seasonings.
Pressure Cook. Select a cook time of 5 minutes at high pressure using the Manual/Pressure Cook setting.
Once the cook time is complete, perform a quick release of pressure.
After the pressure has released and the valve drops, carefully remove the lid. Fluff the rice gently and serve!
Can I Make Rice-a-Roni in my Ninja Foodi?
Sure thing! To use your Ninja Foodi, you’ll use the Sear/Saute function to brown the rice in the butter until it’s golden.
Then, you’ll proceed with pressure cooking, just as described above!
Why is My Rice-a-Roni Mushy?
Usually, Rice-a-Roni gets mushy if it’s overcooked. Thankfully, the timer function of the Instant Pot helps this to not be the case!
If you allow a natural release instead of a quick release, that could cause it to overcook–so be sure to do the quick release!
Can You Freeze Ricearoni?
Typically, I am a big fan of freezing leftover rice for using later. The tricky thing with Rice-a-Roni is that it isn’t just rice–it also has vermicelli in it, which is thin noodles.
Because of this, it can sometimes become mushy after freezing/thawing.
So while you can technically freeze the leftovers, just know that the texture may not be exactly the same after reheating. If texture isn’t a big deal for you, go ahead and freeze away!
Recommended Equipment:
- Instant Pot – I have the DUO60 model, which I love.
Delicious Instant Pot Rice Recipes:
- Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
- Faillproof Instant Pot Brown Rice
- Instant Pot Spanish Rice
- Perfectly Easy Instant Pot Basmati Rice
- Instant Pot Yellow Rice
Quick & Easy Instant Pot Rice-a-Roni
Yes, you can cook a box of Rice-a-Roni in the Instant Pot with these simple instructions!
Ingredients
- 6.9-oz or 6.8-oz box Rice-A-Roni (such as chicken or beef)
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- Add butter to the insert pot of an Instant Pot. Use the Saute function to melt the butter.
- Add the dry Rice-a-Roni to the butter and saute until it starts to turn light golden-brown.
- Turn off the Saute function. Add water and seasoning mix, stirring to combine.
- Close the lid and set the vent to the sealed position. Select a 5 minute cook time at high pressure using the Manual/Pressure Cook button.
- Once the cook time is complete, perform a quick pressure release.
- After the pressure has released and the valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid. Fluff or stir the rice, then serve and
enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 91Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 208mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.
Works perfectly!! I just made a batch of this with 2 boxes of rice. After it finished I added a can of chicken and a bag of thawed broccoli and cauliflower. DELICIOUS and so easy. I have always loved Rice A Roni, but not the cooking time. I think its time to stock up on some. Thank you for sharing the recipe!!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Lolly! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe–your tweaks sound delicious and make it a quick but well-rounded meal! 🙂
I actually added uncooked chicken tenders before starting the IP. I know from doing other recipes that chicken can be cooked in that length of time, so I just added them. Voila! Full dinner after I added some frozen broccoli.
You look at numerous recipes, such as bourbon chicken, etc that call for adding raw chicken and cooking w/the sauce ingredients. Certainly 12 minutes is long enough in the instant pot to cook raw chicken tenders. They were perfect. So now, you can simplify even more,
Thanks so much for sharing! I love a good shortcut! 🙂
I followed your recipie. First time making rice a roni in the instapot and it came out perfect. Thank you for sharing. If I want to make two boxes does the cook time still 5 minutes?
Hi Kaitlyn! I’m so glad to hear it! Yes, if you are making two boxes, keep the cook time the same. Enjoy! 🙂
1st time making ricearoni in instapot. It still had water in it and was not cooked. What did I do wrong?
Hi Gail! I’m sorry you had trouble! It’s hard to know for sure what happened, but I’m wondering if either the pressure was set to low instead of high, or if maybe the vent wasn’t sealed so it never actually came to pressure (this is more common than you’d think!)?
Perfect every time. Such a time saver! Thank you
Thank you so much, Judith–It makes me so happy to hear that that! 🙂
Perfect thank you so much! Just received my instant at Christmas so still learning recipes and learning how to use it! Follow this to a “T” and came out perfect! Thank you again!
I’m so glad to hear that it worked out great for you, Kaitlyn! Enjoy using your new Instant Pot! 🙂
I read instructions are the same for 2 boxes, what about 3 or 4 boxes – do you increase the cooking time? If so, how long?
Hi Julie! I haven’t tried that many boxes, but I would maybe decrease cooking time by 1 or 2 minutes, since it will take the pot longer to come to pressure with that much more liquid. Let me know how it works out! 🙂
If I use two or three boxes do I decrease the amount of water? Six cups (for three boxes) seems like a lot since the water doesn’t evaporate like on a stove.
I’m looking forward to making this recipe.
Hi Angela! I haven’t tried it with three boxes, so I can’t speak from experience with that many. But with two boxes, I double everything (including the liquid). The rice/pasta will need enough liquid to absorb without causing the BURN error. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! My Foodi can saute at any of a bunch of different temperatures. Does it matter which temperature I use? Thanks…
Hi Ian! I’m not as familiar with the settings on the Foodi, but if there’s a medium-high setting (or something comparable), that would probably be best. You want the mixture to turn golden-brown, but not burn. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hmm…I’ve just made this for the second time and for the second time it’s come out wet and undercooked. Going to have to pressure-cook it longer maybe.
Hi Ian! You can try adding another minute or two of cook time, or sometimes the extra liquid will be absorbed if you just let the rice sit for a few minutes after cooking (with the lid off). Often it will absorb the rest of the liquid as it cools. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hi, I absolutely love this recipe. I also love the unique spelling of your name. Have you tried with a family sized box? I keep buying the small ones. I still have a family sized one in my pantry. I’m so spoiled with this recipe. I won’t make it any other way. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Christi! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂 I haven’t tried a family box yet, so I’m not sure how the ratios would change. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear back!