This is a super easy and hearty One-Pot Rice Cooker Meal you can make with your rice cooker! Itβs a great way to pack in those vegetables and protein and also use up any produce you have left. Youβre free to use any vegetables or protein of your choice to make this.
THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS RICE COOKER MEAL
Growing up we cooked full rice meals such as this in our rice cookers. We cook Kiam Peng, a Fukien dish meaning salty rice (kiam = salty, peng = rice) in our rice cooker. Kiam Peng isnβt actually that salty but it does have a hint of saltiness from the soy sauce. This rice cooker meal is heavily inspired by that.
I wanted to add some veggies and protein to make this a complete hearty meal that I could just leave in the rice cooker and let it do its thing!
RICE TO WATER RATIO
I used short grain or sushi rice for this recipe. Youβre free to use medium or long grain white rice too! The rice to water ratio is 1:1 for white rice. For brown rice and black rice, I usually double mine to 2:1 for the water to rice ratio since these types of rice usually requite more water to cook.
If youβre using brown or black rice, do note that these usually take longer (sometimes double the time) to cook compared to white rice. The vegetables and protein you mix-in will cook for much longer too so these can overcook or turn mushy.
I personally would add the likes of vegan ham or sausages and have no problem leaving these on for double the time. But for vegetables and other protein, you can add this halfway through cooking. If you have a see-through glass lid on your rice cooker or are able to see if the rice grains are half-cooked (still very wet & starchy but are starting to get plump), you can add in the vegetables/ protein and cover the rice cooker again to allow to cook.
HOW TO MAKE THIS
- Wash your rice 2-3 times until the water starts to run clearer. Drain excess water.
- In the rice cooker pot, add the rice, soy sauces, sugar (if using), sesame oil, veg. oyster sauce, and water. Mix well.
- Add your vegetables and protein over the rice. Cover your rice cook and set to cook.
- Once cooked, mix everything together. Feel free to season with more soy sauce to taste, if needed. Serve your rice with some sesame seeds and chili sauce/chili oil of choice. Enjoy!
MIX AND ENJOY YOUR RICE!
Feel free to season with more soy sauce to taste, if needed. Serve your rice with some sesame seeds and chili sauce/chili oil of choice. I had mine with my homemade garlic chilli oil (recipe here)
I also stuffed some of my rice into a bowl and flipped it over to create this dome shape!
OTHER RICE RECIPES YOU MIGHT LOVE:
- Kimchi Mayo Deopbap
- Japanese Chahan or Fried Rice
- Tom Yum Fried Rice
- Kimchi Mayo Deopbap
- Filipino Fried Garlic Rice (Sinangag)
- Miso Butter Fried Rice
- Kimchi Fried Rice
- Clay Pot Rice
One Pot Rice Cooker Meal
Equipment
- Rice cooker or pot with lid
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup short grain rice/sushi rice, or other rice of choice
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp soy sauce or more to taste
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp dark soy sauce optional for colour
- 1-2 tsp sugar optional for a bit of sweetness
- 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 cup water equal part/1:1 ratio with the rice
Vegetables & Protein (totally up to you!)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 scallion chopped
- 1/2 medium carrot diced
- 4 shiitake mushrooms or other mushrooms of choice
- 1 head bok choy chopped
- 2 tbsp edamame
- Diced vegan ham
- Diced bell pepper
Other options:
- Corn
- Vegan sausage
- Smoked extra firm tofu
- Other vegetables of choice
To finish
- Sesame seeds for garnish
- Chili garlic sauce or chilli oil or other hot sauce of choice, optional
Instructions
- Wash your rice 2-3 times until the water starts to run clearer. Drain excess water.
- In the rice cooker pot, add the rice, soy sauces, sugar (if using), sesame oil, veg. oyster sauce, and water. Mix well.
- Add your vegetables and protein over the rice. Cover your rice cook and set to cook.
- Once cooked, mix everything together. Feel free to season with more soy sauce to taste, if needed. Serve your rice with some sesame seeds and chili sauce/chili oil of choice. Enjoy!
WATCH Video
Notes
RICE TO WATER RATIO
I used short grain or sushi rice for this recipe. Youβre free to use medium or long grain white rice too! The rice to water ratio is 1:1 for white rice. For brown rice and black rice, I usually double mine to 2:1 for the water to rice ratio since these types of rice usually requite more water to cook. If youβre using brown or black rice, do note that these usually take longer (sometimes double the time) to cook compared to white rice. The vegetables and protein you mix-in will cook for much longer too so these can overcook or turn mushy. I personally would add the likes of vegan ham or sausages and have no problem leaving these on for double the time. But for vegetables and other protein, you can add this halfway through cooking. If you have a see-through glass lid on your rice cooker or are able to see if the rice grains are half-cooked (still very wet & starchy but are starting to get plump), you can add in the vegetables/ protein and cover the rice cooker again to allow to cook.NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 65 Comments
This is a great recipe!! For veggies I used edamame, corn, carrot, criminals mushrooms and garlic. I made mine in the instant pot with a cook time of 5 minutes and then 15 minutes of pressure release. Highly recommend overall!!
**cremini mushrooms!
Glad you liked it, thanks so much Campbell! And gotta love criminal mushrooms haha π€ͺ
Easy to follow and delicious.hubby approved.
yay!
One way to add protein with brown rice is green or brown lentils as they have a similar cook time and water ratio.
Thanks for the tip!! β‘Μ
Thanks so much for the tip! I’ll keep this in mind for future recipes.
I made this recipe with sushi rice, carrots, hot dogs, yellow bell peppers, and oyster mushrooms in my instant pot and it was just perfection. 10/10
Yay! Glad you liked it β‘Μ and thanks for the review
What rice cooker do you use? The little one we have finally gave up, so time to get a new one.
Thanks for all you do, Debi
Hi Debi! The one I used for this is actually from a local Filipino brand called Tough Mama. I also have a Panasonic one that’s been around for years and it still works great. I have basic rice cookers without any of those fancy buttons and really happy with them. β‘Μ
I wouldn’t consider this to have any protein… highly recommend being cognitive of the daily recommend protein intake and consider that the amino acid profile of vegan protein is about half that of normal protein.
I HiGhLy rEcOmMeNd
Thanks Dan!! β‘Μ
Edamame are protein
Followed to a tee and it was simply delicious!!!
Thanks Jayme, happy to hear you like it! β‘Μ
Great recipe! I used firm tofu I stead of vegan ham and garden peas instead of carrots. It was delicious and obviously easy to cook π
Great idea to use tofu and peas instead!! And happy you liked it β‘Μ
Hi, how big or small of a rice cooker do You use, 1L or?
Hi Matea, if I’m not mistaken mine is a 1.5 L rice cooker. β‘Μ
Can I use frozen veg or should I cook before
Frozen vegetables would work perfectly! Though do note that they might contain a bit more water compared to fresh ones so you can slightly lessen the water if you’re adding a lot. Hope this helps! β‘Μ
Used this as a new meal prep recipe for the week! It was delicious, thank you.
Thank you too, Mallory! β‘Μ
What kind of vegan ham do you use?
Hi Caitlin! I tried this veg soy roll from a Taiwanese brand I got at a local store actually. There may be similar ones in local Asian stores if you have one in your area β‘Μ
Hi Jeeca,
does this work with any rice cooker?
Hi Christian! Yes I’ve tried this with 2 different rice cookers. Both my rice cookers just have a simple ‘cook’ feature (used for cooking regular white rice) and both turned out really well.
This recipe is a joy in every way! My two littles had a great time making it with me, it was easy, we got to play while it cooked, and the whole family loved eating it. What a gift you gave us today, Jeeca. Thank you!
Reading this made me so so happy! Thank you too, Jen and rly glad you enjoyed this β‘Μ
You mention the ratio of water to brown rice one typically uses, but not what happens to the veggies and protein when cooking two or three times as long as one does with white rice. Have you ever made an easy rice cooker meal with brown rice?
Hi Michiko! Realised I never updated my blog post to include cooking tips for brown rice/black rice. I’ve only tried it before with brown rice and this takes sometimes double the cooking time compared to white rice. So yes, the veg and protein can get soggy/overcook. I’ll update my post to reflect this as well but I do recommend adding the protein/veg halfway through cooking the rice. The seasonings still go in with the rice and any ham/sausage you’d like to add that can stand the longer cooking. But the rest of the veg/protein, you can add halfway through when the rice is partially cooked — usually my way of gauging this is when I see the rice has absorbed most of the water but still wet and starchy so there’s still enough liquid to create steam and cook down anything you add in. Hope this helps!
Mine didn’t seem to catch the brown colour that yours did, is there something I did wrong? I did not have sesame oil though, but I doubt that’s the reason for a lack of color. Open to any suggestions!
Hey Sushi! It’s the dark soy sauce I added that added that nice brown color after cooking. π
Made it today for my vegetarian family. Was so easy and tasty. Even my boyfriend who canβt cook could do this.
Thanks Lavanya! Hope you all liked it β‘Μ
Iβve made this three times now with different variations. Itβs so good and easy! And a great way to eat a lot vegetables.
Yay thank you Lauren, glad you like it! It’s also one of my fav ways to eat vegetables β€οΈ
I love the idea of a one-pot rice cooker meal! Your recipe looks delicious and so easy to make. I appreciate that you included tips on how to customize the recipe to fit different dietary preferences. The fact that everything can be cooked in the rice cooker saves time and makes cleanup a breeze. Thanks for sharing this tasty and convenient meal idea!
I came across this recipe while looking for simple rice cooker meal. Really wanted some thing that was quick and easy to make and fast. This came out so good! My husband and adult son absolutely loved it. I put a bag of frozen green beans on top of the rice while it cooked. I probably would not do that again just because the green beans cooked too much. I like mine a little crispy. I also added some rotisserie chicken. It was a perfect meal that really satisfied us and was fast and easy to put together. Thank you so much!
So happy you gave it a try Marixi! You can add the green beans halfway through cooking next time to still have a good bite after cooking. Thanks so much as well! β‘Μ
Have you done this using Chicken Breast? Im just curious if it would work with Chicken id assume chopping up the chicken first?
Hi Sabrina! I haven’t but if using chicken I recommend to slice it into smaller strips or pieces then place it on top of the rice to cook. You can also just place them as whole fillets on top of the rice since the smaller pieces might cook and dry up faster. Just be sure to check that the inside of the chicken is cooked before eating. Hope this helps π
itβs delicious and hubby approved.thanks for this recipe.
Thanks Maria β‘Μ
I have to admit, I wasnβt expecting this to be very exciting, but I saw it as a good way to use up some leftover vegetables and ham that I had in the fridge. I was also expecting it to burn in the rice cooker, but it actually turned out really good! I diced up half a shallot, some red bell pepper, one small carrot and some ham. I did sautΓ© them for 5-10 minutes to get some color before adding them into the rice cooker mixture. I also served it with some cubed tofu and more red peppers that I roasted in the oven. I will definitely keep this as a base to use in future recipes!
Hi SJ, glad it turned out good! Thanks for giving it a try β‘Μ
This was my first time cooking a meal in my rice cooker, and it came out so delicious – I’m going to use this approach so much more now!
I noticed that my rice came out very burnt at the bottom, however. I was able to scrape it off, but does anyone have any advice on how to prevent/avoid this in the future? I have a very basic cheap rice cooker that only has a cook/warm functionality. It turned off automatically pretty quickly, so I had to manually keep it set to cook.
Hi Paul, glad it turned out good. For the burnt one at the bottom, it might be due to your rice cooker. Some heat up pretty quick and it’s hard to adjust this if there’s only a cook/warm setting. I have a rice cooker with the same settings and don’t have this problem of burnt rice though, so for yours you may just have to keep an eye out on it.
Hi Jeeca, this sounds amazing! Do you think adding dried mushrooms would work? If yes, do I need to increase the water content slightly? Thanks so much for your advice.
Hi Sae! Would be best to pre-soak the mushrooms so you can add them when they’re rehydrated already. π
This is so good! The seasonings are perfect, and I love the way it’s customizable depending on what veggies you have. I’ve made this three times already…it’s so delicious and comforting. Instant favorite, thank you!
Hey Alicia, really happy reading this! So happy you liked it, and thanks so much for leaving this review too π§‘
Rice cooker cup or standard cup measure for the rice?
I used a standard US cup but a rice cooker cup works too as long as you use a 1:1 rice to water ratio π
Hi! My grandmom used to make Kiam Peng also. I’ve been looking for something similar and I happened on yours. I tried this recipe. It is delicious! However, my rice came out not too cooked, like al dente for pasta. The ratio I’ve grown up using is x cup rice to x cup + 1 cup water. If rice is new, then it’s + 1.5 water. In any case, I think that’s the issue. I’ll try again with the ratio I use.
hey Sue, let me know how it goes for your ratio! I usually have no problems with my 1:1 ratio, but possibly due to the mix of vegetables I use that add some extra moisture too. π and thanks for giving this recipe a try, glad you like it!!
I will be trying this today, so excited! Have you ever used half cauliflower rice? I’m just trying to eat more veggies than rice.
hey Jana! Yes I have. Personally not a fan of the texture of cauliflower rice though π I think it could work well in a fried rice recipe, but not to be cooked in a rice cooker like rice.
Hi Jeeca! As a person with arthritis this is such a great and simple meal that’s easy for me to cook. Out of curiosity if I wanted to add an egg should I scramble one separately or is there a way to cook it in the pot?
Hey Kaija! I haven’t tried it myself so this is all in theory. I would whisk the eggs in a small bowl then pour it into the top of the rice when it’s almost done cooking then cover it again. This way the rice grains are almost cooked and the egg still has some time to cook. Timing can just be a bit tricky if your rice cooker doesn’t have a timer on it. You can also possibly scramble the egg in on the rice cooker pot with some oil (before the adding the ingredients in), remove the scrambled egg, then place it back when done cooking. This way you only have to wash the rice cooker pot. Let me know what you try π
For those who want meat free options, I’ve tried substituting the diced ham with ~ 130 g of seafood before and it has turned out great.
Overall a fantastic recipe- everyone should give it a go.
Hey Wendy, great idea!! Thanks for sharing π