Your Rice Cooker Is Way More Versatile Than You Think
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A few months after I graduated from college, a few friends and I went on a two-week road trip around the Southwest U.S., stopping at national parks, major city centers, and many, many rest stop bathrooms. When I say this trip was on a budget, I mean it—the nicest place we stayed was a Motel 6, and our splurge meals were from McDonald’s. The rest of our food consisted of budget cold cut sandwiches that got progressively worse the further into the trip we got and anything we could make in our six-quart rice cooker, which was actually a lot.
It was on this trip that I learned just how versatile a rice cooker could be. We made everything from spaghetti bolognese to congee in the bathrooms of the sketchy motels we stayed in until, on one of the last days of the trip, the rice cooker finally gave out on us, exhausted from almost two weeks of overuse.
Whether you’re also trying to save $2 on your vacation by cooking unseasoned canned beans in a dank 1970s hotel room or you’re just looking for an alternate way to cook some of your favorite foods, you’ll be excited to know that you can make all of the following foods in your own rice cooker.
1. Quinoa
Rice cookers don’t just work for rice; they’re great for a variety of grains. Although quinoa is technically a seed, not a grain, it cooks like one, which makes it a good candidate for the rice cooker. When you’re making quinoa in your rice cooker, employ the finger trick just as you would for rice: When the tip of your index finger is touching the top layer of rice, the water should come to your first knuckle.
2. Steamed vegetables
Many rice cookers come with a steamer basket, which will allow you to steam all kinds of foods ranging from fish to chicken. However, we tend to think that vegetables come out best. Pour some water into your rice cooker, add the steamer basket piled with the veggies of your choice and you’ll have a side dish ready in a matter of minutes.
3. Pasta
Rice cookers are also great for cooking pasta, but you’ll want to keep in mind that pasta expands quite a bit as it cooks, so make sure you don’t fill the pot up too much—you’ll want to leave about half the room in your rice cooker for the pasta to expand. When the pasta has reached its perfect al dente texture, drain it and return it to the rice cooker to add sauce, cheese or other ingredients to the dish.
4. Beans and lentils
Beans can take a long time to cook, so you may not think you can make them in a rice cooker. In reality, though, it’s super simple to cook beans this way because you can leave them soaking in the pot overnight, then turn the rice cooker on in the morning and start cooking. There’s a chance the rice cooker will turn off automatically at some point in the cooking process, but you can just push the switch down again to keep boiling your beans until they’re done. Lentils require significantly less cooking time, so you should be able to cook them in one session.
5. Pancakes
Pancakes are surprisingly easy to make in a rice cooker. Just take your batter, pour it into the rice cooker and wait until the bottom browns nicely before you flip it over. Unless your rice cooker is on the smaller side, this will yield one large pancake. Sure, this method of cooking pancakes may not be ideal if you’re trying to make enough for a crowd, but it’s ideal if you’re only feeding one or two people.
6. Oatmeal
Another rice cooker on the breakfast front? Oatmeal. This is a particularly good cooking method for steel cut oatmeal, which can take a lot of time to make when you cook it on the stove. Add in extras like banana, berries or peanut butter to the oatmeal while it’s still cooking to maximize flavor.
7. Instant ramen
Looking for a quick way to make instant ramen? You can always put it in the microwave, but it’s going to come out with a soft, soggy texture that makes it less than appetizing. You’re better off cooking your instant ramen in a rice cooker. This process should only take a few minutes, and you still don’t have to stand over a pot.
8. Eggs
There are a few different ways to prepare eggs in a rice cooker. It’s super easy to boil them to make soft- or hard-boiled eggs, but if you have a steamer basket, your rice cooker will make amazing steamed eggs as well. This probably isn’t the easiest method for making eggs, but when you’re in a pinch and all you have access to is a rice cooker, it’ll get the job done.
9. Grits
This Southern classic breakfast staple can easily be prepared in a rice cooker. Instant grits will require only a few minutes in boiling water before they cook all the way through, while regular grits may take a bit longer. If it’s your first time cooking grits in your rice cooker, you’ll want to check on them a few times during the cooking process to ensure they’re not burning.
10. Potatoes
You can boil pretty much anything in your rice cooker, including potatoes. This makes for possibly the easiest mashed potatoes you’ve ever made in your life. Just boil them until they become nice and soft, add some butter and cream and mash them up. If you don’t use too much water, you may not even have to drain the potatoes.
Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.