Rice Cooker Recipes: Healthy, Tasty, and Easy

Reduce the washing by cooking everything in a rice cooker with these easy, healthy, and tasty recipes.

Since rice usually takes an hour to cook (depending on the grain), why not add flavored meat to the mix? The drippings from the marinated meat will mix with the rice and vegetables, creating those flavorful claypot rice meals from beloved Chinese restaurants. Besides, steaming is one of the healthier cooking methods since the rice absorbs all the nutrients from the vegetables and meat. Plus, these recipes have a high re-heat value since all it takes is a little water.

Healthy and Tasty Rice Cooker Recipes

1. Steamed Chicken, Chinese Sausage, and Shitake Mushrooms

Grouped under an umbrella of recipes known as the Claypot Recipes, chicken, Chinese sausage, and shitake mushrooms are a common combination that’s steamed on top of a bed of rice. After marinating the chicken for an hour, all you have to do is steam it on top of the rice. No need to use the rice cooker’s accompanying steamer; it’s better to put the meat and vegetables on top of the rice to further infuse the meaty flavor into each grain.

First, marinate the chicken for over an hour in the refrigerator. While it’s marinating, cut the garlic, leek, malunggay, and ginger. Once the chicken is done, take the marinade and mix it with the water you’ll use to steam the rice. Then, toss in the whites of the leek, ginger, garlic, and malunggay. On top of the rice, put the chicken, Chinese sausage, and shitake mushrooms. Pour in the water and then steam for the next 1 hour in the rice cooker and you’re done. Then decorate it with the leek’s greens.

2. Beef Rendang

Our greatest frustration with beef is that it takes too long to cook. But when it’s cooking in the rice cooker, it slowly cooks the beef to tender perfection. This Indonesian tomato-based beef stew has various aromatics like onion, garlic, galangal (Indonesian ginger), lemongrass, black peppercorns, and Taiwan chili that add so much flavor to the rice grains.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1/2 kg of beef stew cuts (kaldereta cut) or beef cubes
• 500 mL of coconut milk
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 6 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 whole head garlic, minced
• 1 whole red onion, minced
• 4 leaves of lemongrass
• 2 Taiwan chili (sliced; optional)
• 1 tbsp of ginger (galangal)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• dash of salt
• dash of black pepper
• dash of ginger powder
• dash of garlic powder
• 3 pieces of star anise
• 1 sachet of cinnamon
• 2 tsp of clove

First, marinate the beef with the ginger, black pepper, garlic powder, salt, and soy sauce for one hour. Next, mince the garlic, onion, ginger or galangal, and Taiwan chili. Then, put the rice in the rice cooker before adding the coconut milk, tomato paste, star anise, cinnamon, clove, lemongrass, ginger, onion, garlic, and Taiwan chili inside with a bit of water to prevent burning. Put the beef on top and steam in the rice cooker for an hour. Then, voila! Beef Rendang with rice!

3. Hainanese Chicken

Hainanese chicken is another clay pot recipe that made waves in both Singaporean and Chinese restaurants. In fact, some restaurants like Tiong Bahru earned their Michelin star last 2023 because of how well they made their Hainanese chicken. Surprisingly, this dish is relatively easy to make at home and can all be done in a rice cooker.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 8 pieces of chicken (4 thighs, 4 breast fillets)
• Marinade
  • 1/4 cup of sesame oil
  • 3 tbsps of garlic powder
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of turmeric
  • 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• 2 tbsps of ginger
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 2 tbsp of ginger (sliced into needles)
• 2 leek stalks (sliced)
• 1/2 head of garlic (minced)
• 4 heads of Pechay Baguio
• 2 cups of rice

Marinate the chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator. While waiting, slice up the ginger, leek, garlic, and pechay baguio. After that, put the rice, sliced-up ginger, leek, garlic, and pechay baguio before mixing the water that we’ll use to steam the rice with the chicken marinade. Use that instead to steam the rice for the next one hour and then, serve with hoisin sauce.

4. Tausi Spareribs

Spareribs are a preferred part because a lot of the flavor is found in the bones. By steaming the spareribs, the pork’s essence will drip into the rice and the lard will slightly brown the grains below. The tausi — fermented and salted black beans — adds a salty break to the pork’s richness along with the peppery ginger needles and minced garlic.

Ingredients

• 1 kg of spareribs
• Sparerib marinade
  • 1/4 cup of sesame oil
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp of black peppercorn (whole)
  • 1 tsp of black pepper grind
  • 1/4 cup of Shaoxing Wine
  • 1 tbsp of sugar (stevia works also!)
• 1/2 cup of tausi black beans
• 1/4 cup of ginger (sliced into needles)
• 1/4 cup garlic (minced)
• 4 bok choy heads
• 2 cups of rice

Marinade the spareribs for 30 minutes to an hour. While it’s marinating, prepare the garlic and ginger. Once it’s done, wash the rice and assemble it in the rice cooker by layering it with rice with ginger and garlic, black beans, and bok choy. Then, place all the spareribs on top then steam for one hour.

5. Steamed Garlic Fish with Broccoli

For those who need more of a fish or seafood option, steamed garlic fish with broccoli is also another recipe that’s light on the stomach in comparison to the first four recipes. It also uses little oil and salt, focusing more on the freshness of the garlic, ginger, and broccoli. Some recipes even use eggs and corn to add more flavor to the rice.

Ingredients

• 4 Cream Dory Fillets
• 1/2 kg of broccoli
• 1 head of garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1/4 cup of ginger (needles)
• 1/3 tbsp soy sauce

Unlike the first four dishes, it doesn’t take time to marinate. Mix the soy sauce, black pepper, salt, garlic, and ginger into the rice. On top of the rice, create a layer of broccoli and then the fish. Steam for an hour and that’s done. What some people add to make it more interesting are salted eggs or century eggs. That way, it doesn’t look boring.

6. Adobo Rice with Egg

Even the most beloved adobo recipe can be cooked in a rice cooker! Since chicken and pork take almost 45 minutes to an hour to cook, we can steam it along with the rice. The best part is, the rice will absorb all the meat juices and the marinade to make a flavorful meal.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 6 chicken drum sticks
• 250 grams of Pork menudo cut
• Marinade:
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Sprite
  • 3 tbsps of garlic powder
  • 3 tsps of onion powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black peppercorn grind
• 1/2 onion head, minced
• 1 garlic head, minced
• 1 tsp black peppercorn, whole
• 1 bayleaf
• 2 eggs

Marinade the chicken and pork first. The longer the marinating time, the better — it’ll also give the Sprite time to tenderize the pork. Once it’s marinated for over an hour or two, pour everything into the rice cooker on top of the rice. Then, ratio the water against the water but use the water to wash out the marinade and into the rice. Add the eggs, onions, black peppercorns, garlic, and baylead and then steam for an hour.

Rice cookers can cook a variety of things!

Most especially the large ones that serve up to 10 cups of rice, rice cookers make meal prep easier since they’re all in one pot. They’re also not so thirsty for electricity, which makes it perfect for families living in condos. And when we’re constantly working, a rice cooker is something we can just leave and trust to cook our food. All we have to do is wait for the rice cooker to play a little tune and the food’s ready!

An extra tip for those cooking: best to get the meat cut with the bone! The closer the meat is to the bone, the more flavor there is because that’s where all the marrow — which is a big flavor bomb — is stored too!

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