Yellow Rice in Rice Cooker
You won't believe how easy it is to make Yellow Rice in your Rice Cooker. I make this yellow rice as a side for weeknight dinners almost every single week, and this always comes out absolutely perfect. Great for meal prepping as well.
Making yellow rice in the Rice Cooker is very simple. You just saute everything, add the required liquid amount, and press "cook". Easy as that! But I do have a few tips for you to get those rice grains perfectly fluffy without making them overcooked or undercooked. So don't skip the description. Despite yellow rice being an extremely simple dish, I cover every detail you need to know in this post.
Rice Cooker I use
I use this small 1.2 qt rice cooker with the stainless steel inner pot for the recipe. I cook 1 standard US cups of uncooked rice, which yields 3 Cup of cooked rice. This is usuall enough for 2 - 3 servings.
This recipe is very scalable to feed a larger crowd as well. Make sure to follow the same ratio of rice and liquid (water or broth)
Rice Cooker Cup vs Standard US Cup
Please note that when I say a cup, I mean a standard US Cup measurement, which is 240ml. Your rice cooker probably comes with its own cup. This is actually smaller and is the size of 3/4 of a standard cup.
Here's the confusing part. When Rice cooker brands say that you can cook 3 cups in your rice cooker, they mean that you can cook "3 rice cooker cups" in your rice cooker. Not 3 standard cups. So consider this when you plan serving sizes.
Variations of Yellow Rice
There are so many variations of yellow rice in the world. Many cuisines have their own version. The good news is you can make many of those variations in your rice cooker. The process is roughly the same for many. You just have to change the ingredients.
For example, my favorite Sri Lankan yellow rice has many whole spices added to it, such as Cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. I also use crushed ginger and garlic, chopped onions, curry leaves, pandan leaves etc. So when I make it, I saute all those aromatics and spices in butter before I add rice. And then add my broth, a little bit of coconut milk and cook it.
You can also make another variation with sarzon seasoning, which is also a popular variety of yellow rice.
Another good variation is yellow rice with saffron. This goes amazingly well with Mediterranean dishes and curries as well.
My easy, fool-proof recipe to make fluffy and flavorful Yellow Rice in Rice Cooker. The perfect side dish for weeknight meals.
- 1 cup Basmati or Long grain white Rice
- 1 tbsp Butter/ghee/oil (both salted and unsalted butter are fine)
- 1/4 tsp Granulated garlic/garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp Granulated onion/onion powder
- 1/4 tsp Cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1.5 cup Chicken broth/ Vegetable broth/ Water
Rinse rice 3 times to remove excess starch (No need to wash until water runs clear. If water runs less cloudy, that's good). Drain all water and keep it aside.
Plug the rice cooker and turn the 'cook' function on. (In some rice cookers, the 'cook' function turns automatically off when the pot has nothing in it to weigh it down. If that's the case, you'd need to keep the lid on.)
Add Butter. Put the lid on and wait until the butter melts.
When the butter is melted, add rice, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, and salt. Mix well until all the rice grains are coated with butter.
Add broth. Taste the liquid. It should taste on the saltier side. If not you can add a bit more salt. Cover with the lid. If the "Cook function is turned off, turn it back on.
When the rice is done, turn the rice cooker off. Leaving the 'warm' function on can dry out the rice. Then let it sit for 10 minutes with the lid on, for the rice to absorb any excess moisture and for the steam to settle down.
After 10 minutes, fluff the rice with a fork or a spoon. Serve warm.
