Instant Pot Yellow Rice

Here’s a simple and delicious recipe for Instant Pot Yellow Rice. Ground turmeric adds a beautiful yellow color with anti-inflammatory properties. Everyone loves this savory side dish.

Make perfect yellow rice in your Instant Pot every time! You can ditch packaged yellow rice because this recipe is just as easy.

Yellow rice is a Spanish dish made with white rice and turmeric. It usually contains butter or olive oil and seasonings like garlic powder and onion powder. Turmeric is what gives it that sunny yellow color it’s known for.

Although packaged yellow rice like Vigo can be helpful in a pinch, most packaged varieties contain preservatives, MSG, and artificial coloring.

This homemade yellow rice recipe gives you the same great flavors without any of the additives. My favorite way to cook it is in the Instant Pot. It takes out all the guesswork and gives you perfectly cooked yellow rice every time.

This kid-friendly side dish is perfect for a busy weeknight. Serve yellow rice alongside any main dish to jazz up any meal. Or, add cooked sliced chicken breasts or black beans to make it a simple main dish.

Why You Need This Recipe

• Perfect rice every time – no mushy or crunchy rice.
• You don’t have to babysit the stove. The Instant Pot electric pressure cooker does all the work.
• It’s ready in 30 minutes and is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.
• A perfect side dish for Greek or Spanish dishes. If you want a fancier version, try my Indian Yellow Rice.

Key Ingredients

Olive oil – Heart-healthy olive oil imparts plenty of flavor.

Onion – Once onions are cooked, their pungent flavor mellows and gets sweet. You can use white, sweet, or yellow onions for this recipe. Red onions are okay too, but they may alter the color of the finished dish.

White basmati rice – Be sure to use long-grain white basmati rice. Short-grain rice has a higher starch content and won’t cook correctly.

Seasoning – Turmeric is an essential part of yellow rice. It’s what gives yellow rice its beautiful color and quintessential flavor. It’s also an anti-inflammatory ingredient. You will also need fresh garlic or garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Vegetable broth – Vegetable broth packs in lots of flavor with only one ingredient. Vegetable broth can be high in sodium which is why I recommend buying reduced-sodium broth. Feel free to use low-sodium chicken broth or chicken stock if you want to add more protein to the dish.

Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.

Recipe Steps

Let me show you how easy it is to make delicious, fluffy Instant Pot Yellow Rice.

Step One

Press the Sauté button on your Instant Pot. Pour in the olive oil and let it heat up for a few minutes. Then, add the diced onion.

Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.

Step Two

Cook the onion until it starts to soften and caramelize. Cancel the Sauté button and scrape up any pieces of onion that have stuck to the bottom of the pot. This will help prevent you getting a burn message.

Step Three

Then, add the rinsed rice, garlic powder, turmeric, salt, pepper and vegetable broth. Stir to combine.

Step Four

Lock on the lid and set the cook time to 6 minutes at high pressure.

When the cooking time is complete, let the pressure come down naturally for 5 minutes (using the natural release). Then, use the quick release by switching the pressure valve to get rid of the remaining pressure.

Carefully remove the lid and use a fork to fluff the rice. Enjoy hot!

I hope you enjoy this Instant Pot rice dish as much as I do. It has so much flavor and is a great addition to an easy weeknight meal.

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

• Basmati rice is a long-grain white rice that is perfect for this recipe. You can also use Jasmine rice, if you prefer.
• To rinse the rice, place it in a fine-mesh sieve and put it under cold running water from the sink. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.
• If you want to use long-grain brown rice for this recipe, you will need to increase the cooking time to 20 minutes.
• Store any leftover cooked rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or, you can freeze cooked rice for up to 2 months. Defrost and reheat before serving.
• The total cooking time includes 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure.
• This recipe can easily be doubled to make extra servings, if desired.

Recipe FAQs

More Rice Recipes You Might Like

• Instant Pot Wild Rice
• Instant Pot Brown Rice Pudding
• Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon
• Instant Pot Basmati Rice
• Instant Pot Japanese Sushi Rice
• Instant Pot Mexican Rice
• Pumpkin Rice

Or, check out my entire index of healthy Instant Pot recipes.

Don’t Miss These Instant Pot Resources

How to Use the Instant Pot Duo (For Beginners)

11+ Best Healthy Instant Pot Cookbooks (2024)

Instant Pot Meal Prep Gift Guide (Plus Recipes)

25+ Healthy Instant Pot Side Dishes

Instant Pot Yellow Rice

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Here’s a simple and delicious recipe for Instant Pot Yellow Rice. Ground turmeric adds a beautiful yellow color with anti-inflammatory properties. Everyone loves this savory side dish.

• Total Time: 31 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup white basmati rice, rinsed well
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth (or water)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Press the Sauté button on your Instant Pot. Pour in the olive oil and let it heat up for a few minutes. Then, add the diced onion.
2. Cook the onion for 2-3 minutes or until it starts to soften. Cancel the Sauté button and scrape up any pieces of onion that have stuck to the bottom of the pot. This will help prevent you getting a burn message.
3. Then, add the rinsed rice, garlic powder, turmeric, salt, pepper and vegetable broth. Stir to combine.
4. Lock on the lid and set the time to 6 minutes at high pressure.
5. When the cooking time is complete, let the pressure come down naturally for 5 minutes. Then, use the quick release to get rid of the remaining pressure.
6. Carefully remove the lid and stir the rice. Serve hot.

Equipment

Instant Pot

Buy Now →

Notes

1. Basmati rice is a long-grain white rice. You can also use Jasmine rice, if you prefer.
2. To rinse the rice, place it in a fine-mesh sieve and put it under cold running water from the sink. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.
3. If you want to use long-grain brown rice for this recipe, you will need to increase the cooking time to 20 minutes.
4. Store any leftover cooked rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or, you can freeze cooked rice for up to 2 months. Defrost and reheat before serving.
5. The total cooking time includes 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure.
6. This recipe can easily be doubled to make extra servings, if desired.

• Author: Carrie Forrest, MPH in Nutrition
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 6 minutes
• Category: Side dish
• Method: Instant Pot
• Cuisine: Spanish
• Diet: Vegan

Nutrition

• Serving Size:
• Calories: 145
• Sugar: 1.2 g
• Sodium: 117.1 mg
• Fat: 2.6 g
• Saturated Fat: 0.4 g
• Carbohydrates: 27.5 g
• Fiber: 0.8 g
• Protein: 2.5 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg

Don’t forget to join my newsletter list to get exclusive clean eating recipes and tips. The newsletter is 100% free with no spam; unsubscribe anytime.

About the Author: Carrie Forrest is the author of the best-selling Instant Pot-authorized cookbook, The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook. She has a master’s degree in public health with a specialty in nutrition and receives nearly 10 million annual visitors to her site. Send Carrie a message through her contact form.