Easy Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani
Mar 29, 2018, Updated Sep 13, 2019
Easy Vegetable Biryani made in the Instant Pot! Basmati rice cooked with spices and vegetable makes this biryani one of my favorite one pot meals. Packed with so much flavor, this biryani is also gluten-free!
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Easy Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani – fragrant basmati rice cooked with whole spices, herbs and vegetables. This easy biryani is packed with so much flavor, is also vegan and gluten-free. While it tastes great on its own, I enjoy it with a side of raita (yogurt dip).
If you love all the Instant Pot vegetarian/vegan recipes that I share on the blog, please join me on this Facebook Group – Instant Pot Vegetarian Recipes. The group would share/feature vegetarian instant pot recipes and ideas from all around the web!
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I always find it very hard to get back to a routine after a break. Since I spent most of March in bed, now I am finding it difficult to get back to my daily routine. Everything feels like a task, even cooking! Isn’t it strange how habits change so quickly. I know I will get back to it pretty soon and I am trying my best but it hasn’t been easy. I haven’t gone to the gym in ages and to go back? Well that will take some extra motivation on my part! On top of it Sarvesh keeps telling me to take it easy. He’s right though, I get so tired these days so I really shouldn’t push myself.
Anyway amidst all these challenges of getting back to life, I took out my Instant Pot after a while and made this vegetable biryani! I have become so used to my IP, that now I can hardly think to cook in anything else. This happened because of my cookbook! For 4 to 5 months, I used my Instant Pot 24 x 7 testing recipes. In fact I have three instant pots, not that we need three when are only 2 in the house! But because I had to test so many recipes for the book in a little time frame, I just couldn’t do with one IP. I was testing 2 to 3 recipes simultaneously and I needed extra IPs for that so Sarvesh got me 2 more.
Now I am done with those crazy days of recipe testing for the book but I have become to used to the Instant Pot that unknowingly I always take it out when I think of making dinner. I think my hands just reach out to it on its own! So yesterday I took it out and made this vegetable biryani. I am always excited to share Instant Pot recipe with you guys especially when it turns out this good. You guys, this is just the easiest vegetable biryani ever! I call it the lazy cook method for making biryani!
Traditionally biryani making is a long process. You cook the rice and the veggies and then layer them and then cook them over low heat. This is like a super easy recipe to make biryani without compromising on taste. It’s just one pot, few minutes of prep work and you will have delicious biryani ready in no time! By the way, I have a vegetable biryani recipe in my book too but that involves more ingredients (and also tastes amazing!) but I just thought it would be nice to share an easy version of the same with you guys on the blog!
What all is in this Easy Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani?
whole spices: cardamom, cloves, bay leaf, peppercorns and cumin seeds
ground spices: garam masala and smoked paprika
vegetables: potato, onion, carrots, green peas
nuts & herbs: cashews and fresh cilantro
& of course basmati rice!
If you ask me, a good biryani depends a lot on the type of rice you use. You of course have to use basmati rice for a good biryani, however try to get the one with extra long grains. I use this basmati rice called the XXL Sela Basmati Rice and it has really long grains. The resulting pulao/biryani is always so good when I use this rice! I highly recommend it!
This is vegan/vegetable biryani so you may use any vegetable of your choice. I have used potato, carrots and green peas here. I just won’t recommend using cauliflower here because it will turn out super mushy or if you want to use it, make sure to cut it into large pieces and then use in the recipe. You may also add paneer or tofu to this recipe. 
This fragrant instant pot vegetable biryani is packed with so much flavor especially with the addition of all the spices and fresh cilantro.
I went easy on the ground spices and used only a bit of garam masala and smoked paprika in this recipe. You may add more spices if you like, for example ground cumin or ground coriander. I thought these two spices were just perfect because the biryani gets so much flavor from the whole spices that you don’t need a ton of ground spices. As you guys know, I can’t handle much heat so I have only used 1 green chili here. You may use more green chilies or may even add cayenne/red chili powder if you like spicy food.
This instant pot vegetable biryani is a one pot meal which is sure to enjoyed by your entire family. It’s also vegan & gluten-free! If you are looking for an easy dinner to make this weekend, I suggest you give this recipe a try. I promise you won’t be disappointed. It is best enjoyed with a side of raita and chutney.
Method
Wash and rinse the basmati rice until water turns clear. Then soak it in 2 cups of water for 20 minutes. While the rice is soaking, chop all the veggies. Also soak the frozen green peas in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Once 20 minutes are up, drain the water from the rice and set it aside. Also drain the water from the green peas and set it aside.
Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add oil to the pot. To the hot oil, add bay leaf, green cardamom, whole cloves, black peppercorns and cumin seeds. Saute for 30 seconds until the spices are fragrant.
Then add the sliced onions, along with the green chili and cashews. Cook for 3-4 minutes until onion turn light brown. The cashews will also turn little brown by now.
Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 1 more minute. Add 1 tablespoon water at this point and deglaze the pot. Scrape and remove all the burnt bits that may have been there due to sauteing the onions. Don’t skip this step else the pot might not come to pressure.
Then add the vegetables – potatoes, carrots, green peas. Also add the chopped cilantro, garam masala, smoked paprika and salt.
Add the drained rice to the pot and gently toss it all together with a spoon.
Add water to the pot. Do not stir anything at this point.
Close the pot with its lid and then press the manual or pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the pot and fluff the rice with a fork.
Serve this instant pot vegetable biryani with a side of raita like this mango mint raita or spinach raita!
Easy Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani
Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoon oil 22 ml
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 green cardamoms
- 4 whole cloves
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 medium red onion 170 grams, sliced
- 1 green chili sliced, add more as per taste
- 12 raw cashews broken
- 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
- 2 medium carrots 100 grams, sliced
- 1 medium potato 185 grams, diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1/3 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 cup basmati rice 200 grams, soaked in 2 cups water for 20 minutes
- 1.25 cups water 10 oz
Instructions
- Wash and rinse the basmati rice until water turns clear. Then soak it in 2 cups of water for 20 minutes. While the rice is soaking, chop all the veggies. Also soak the frozen green peas in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Once 20 minutes are up, drain the water from the rice and set it aside. Also drain the water from the green peas and set it aside.
- Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add oil to the pot. To the hot oil, add bay leaf, green cardamom, whole cloves, black peppercorns and cumin seeds. Saute for 30 seconds until the spices are fragrant.
- Then add the sliced onions, along with green chili and cashews. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the onion turns light brown. The cashews will also turn little brown by now.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 1 more minute. Add 1 tablespoon water at this point and deglaze the pot. Scrape and remove all the burnt bits that may have been there due to sauteing the onions. Don't skip this step else the pot might not come to pressure.
- Then add the vegetables - potatoes, carrots, green peas. Also add the chopped cilantro, garam masala, smoked paprika and salt.
- Add the drained rice to the pot and gently toss it all together with a spoon.
- Add water to the pot. Do not stir anything at this point.
- Close the pot with its lid and then press the manual or pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
- Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the pot and fluff the rice with a fork.
- Serve the biryani with a side of raita!
Notes
- Adjust spice levels to taste. Add cayenne pepper/red chili powder to make the biryani spicier.
- You may add fresh mint leaves to the biryani too in addition to cilantro.
- You may use ghee in place of oil if not making it vegan.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Easy Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani
This is sooooo gooooood! Thank for this!
welcome 🙂
Excellent and delicious. I left out the potato as I was serving with Vindaloo and chapatis. I have previously had mixed results with rice dishes in the IP but this was perfect. A wholegrain (brown) or mixed rice version would be appreciated. Thank you
Tried it out today in my 8 qt duo novo and I did get the BURN message after 4 mins. switched it off and let it rest for 5 min before Quick Release. The rice tasted good but there was a layer stuck to the bottom 🙁 Added 2.5 cups of water for 2 cups of rice. Didn’t add more water as I don’t like my pulao mushy. Need to tweak something next time.
And also, I think I forgot NOT to stir.
Thanks for easy recipe!!
Biryani turned out very tasty
Recipe looks great. Can I add uncooked brown lentils as well, if so, how much and how would I adjust the cooking time?
hmm you can but biryani never has lentils in it…rice with lentils is khichdi, a totally different dish consistency and taste wise.
Good recipe. I made rice separately in rice cooker such that it’s still fluffy and separate enough for biryani. When I added that with vegetables, it didn’t work out. So I put together everything in a glass bowl to bake in the oven at 350 degree for 30 minutes. Boy o boy!! The smoked oven flavour blew off my mind.
Tried this and it was delicious! If I were to leave out the potato next time, would I have to reduce the water? Thanks again!
no water will remain same
This recipe works really really well. I have 2 vegetarians in the house and 2 meat eaters and we made this last Eid and this Eid too and have had no complaints or hankering for meat so I think it’s a success! Thx so much for this recipe.
Excellent recipe. Made it 4 times already and never had any issues. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Such a great recipe!! The vegetables I used were carrots, potato, peas, and kale. Perfect quick ramadan recipe
Thank you for the wonderful recipes! I only have ground spices-can I use all ground instead of the whole spices and do you have suggestions for how much I should use? Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try this one!
hmmm biryani really needs whole spices, it’s what gives it flavor and makes it biryani. Still I would say at least don’t skip on the cumin seeds. Skip the bay leaf, add 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder and probably pinch of ground cloves and pinch of black pepper. Add more as needed.
This is so good, and with such basic ingredients – the spicing is beautiful! I don’t have an Instant Pot, but it worked perfectly in my ordinary pressure cooker.
This is going to be a staple in our household from now on.
This was awesome! I didn’t have any cashews, so subbed walnuts (the only nut I had) and crossed my fingers! It came out amazing! I will continue to use this fantastic recipe often! Hubby loved it, so two thumbs up!????
Manali,
thank you so much for your recipes ! I made your instapot veg biryani yesterday for the second time, this time including drumsticks which I had left over from recently making sambar ( that also was your recipe and it turned out amazing!) Had some leftover biryani this morning for breakfast and it was so good I just had to write and thank you. My wife and I love your recipes which are now more important than ever since the restaurants have closed.
many thanks !!
Welcome David! so glad you guys are enjoying the recipes! 🙂
Get rid of the ads. Distracting.
How about a condensed version of the recipe. Like reading a novel. Get to the point.
Unfortunately it’s difficult for me to do that. This is my full time job and the blog receives a lot of traffic (Millions monthly) because of which the running costs are high. The ads help pay for running the blog, testing recipes, pay my bills etc. There’s a jump to recipe button on top which you can click to go directly to the recipe and skip all text and ads. Hope this helps and thanks for understanding!
Curious as to what the garlic-ginger paste is…..I’m guessing 1/2-1/2?
yes you can either make it at home by grinding equal amount (by weight) ginger and garlic or buy one from store. Most Indian stores carry it!
I just made a lovely Indian feast for a dinner party & used your Instant Pot Veggie Biryani recipe as the centerpiece, using regular brown basmati rice. I followed the recipe, including rinsing & soaking the rice, & adjusted the cooking time based on the manufacturer’s recommendations, to 22 minutes (they say all rice is 1:1 with water, just cooked for different times, so that’s what I did), left it for the 5 minutes of natural release you recommend then released manually. The rice was a perfect al dente, which is how we like it, with all the water absorbed. If you like it softer, you could probably lengthen the cooking time a little or let the pressure drop on its own. The extra cooking time didn’t make the veggies mushy at all, which was what I had worried about. Oh, & that Mango Mint Raita was a major hit, too! Thanks for helping make gourmet food accessible for an every day cook!
Perfect first recipe for my pressure cooker!
I just follow your recipe step by step and it turns out amazing every single time! Love love love your recipes so much! I love how detailed your posts are and you have so many vegan options in your blog. ❤️
Hi is this recipe for a 3 qt or 6 qt or larger instant pot? want to make sure my proportions are right
will work in either
Thanks for the reply! I ended up using the full proportions listed in my 3 qt pot. I guess I’m wondering since the rice expands if it is not supposed to go over a certain level of the instant pot? And If i should have halved the ingredients? The rice came out a little softer than I wanted but not sure if that was due to how full the pot was or because the rice needed to be drained more.
I have made this recipe both in my 6qt and 3 qt and haven’t noticed a difference. You didn’t need to halve the ingredients…maybe use a colander to drain the rice completely.
can we use Biryani masala alone in this recipe?
yes you can
How did you get the color? My biryani was awesome in taste, but the color was more white. I used regular red chili powder vs the paprika.
I haven’t used anything special 🙂 I think its the paprika and garam masala only..use kashmiri red chili powder next time for color
So sad, mine turned out pale, bland and wet! *cryface* I wonder what happened? Next time I’ll use less water, more spices and salt, and probably manually release immediately after the cook. Maybe fresh peas too….
Sorry it didn’t work out. Not sure what happened, I make this so often and always turns out great! also not sure how 1 cup rice and 1.25 cups water can result in wet rice..hmm..
I made this tonight, and it was amazing! I doubled the recipe, used the original cook time and it was perfect. The only thing I didn’t like was when I bit into a cardamom seed … tasted like Vick’s vapo-rub. I will warn folks about that when I make it next time. Which I will … good enough for company!
lol Vicks vapo-rub..haha that’s quite a comparison ;)..my husband doesn’t like biting into whole spices too..so what you can do next time is tie all the whole spices in a muslin cloth and place it inside the pot while cooking. The rice will get nice aroma of the spices without you having to bite into them. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Great idea, thank you!
Hi,
I’m going to make this tomorrow. Could I blend grind the cardamom, clove etc? Hate biting into it
tie whole spices in a muslin cloth and put them in the IP, you will get the fragrance that way.
Hey, I wanted to double the quantity of rice. so should i double the water and cook time also? Or just doubling the water will work?
double rice and water, cooking time remains same.
Thanks Manali, that helps:)
Hi,
Is this rice cup or measuring cup?
Hi, I don’t know what rice cup are you talking about? Everything on blog is standard US measuring cups. I have given the value in grams also just to be sure. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the recipe. I did it for the first time in IP. So am not sure how to set it up for this. I did it as you’ve mentioned in this recipe. What should I do once after setting up the timer for 5 minutes in high pressure? Should I cancel the program and let it cool ? Please guide me!
You let the rice cook for 5 minutes on high pressure. First Instant Pot will take time to build pressure. Once the pressure is build, the floating silver pin will come all the way to the top. And then you will notice the timer on IP will start for 5 minutes. Once it has cooked for 5 minutes on high pressure, you will hear a beep which would means it has cooked on high pressure. At this point, you can quickly release the pressure by moving the pressure valve from sealing to venting position. I have instructed to let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then do the quick pressure release. Hope this helps!
Wow, wow, wow!!!!! Made this last night, doubled the recipe and oh my gosh, it was insanely delicious! This is going to be in heavy rotation in my meal planning! And so quick and easy too! Thank you so much for sharing your talents! I can’t wait to try more of your other recipes as well!!!!
I am so glad to know! and hope you get to try other recipes as well 🙂
Can I cook it in a rice cooker instead after adding water to the pot?
I have never tried it but can work! Give it a try!
How do you prevent getting a BURN message? I tried this but got BURN prior to the pressure cooking
unfortunately BURN message is a problem with the newer IP models especially the 8 qt. Make sure there’s nothing stuck at the bottom after you saute the onions. De-glaze the pot with water after sauteing onion.
Can we use paprika rather than smoked paprika can’t find that anywhere in one to three different stores haha
Hi! This is a fantastic recipe, and thank you for sharing it! I was wondering… would a black cardamom pod or two be a good addition in place of the smoked paprika? If so, should I cut back on the green cardamom? Thanks again for such a quick, straightforward, and tasty dish!
Sure you can add black cardamom. And no don’t cut back on green cardamom, black and green are entirely different in flavors!
Hi Manali,
Looking forward to making this in my new IP. Quick question…can I add tofu/paneer along with the other veggies or should I sauté them separately and add then after the biryani is done?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Yes you can add them along with the other veggies, should be okay 🙂
Thanks Manali. It worked great with the tofu soaking in the other flavors!! Unfortunately, the msg Burn appeared, and when I apprehensively released the pressure, though there was a thin burn layer, the rice was cooked perfectly. I doubled the rice and water quantity. Thanks again for the super easy recipe!! ??
Hi Manali! LOVE your recipes!!! I’ve printed out 4 of them today and if I get enough time will make all of them! I’m trying to get acquainted with quinoa and will try your Quinoa Mango Thai Salad and IP Mexican Quinoa. I’ve already made twice your Thai Peanut Noodles and they have made it into my regular rotation of things I make for supper at work! Thanks a lot for these and I do enjoy Indian food ever since watching an older Britcom Red Dwarf which introduced me to Vindaloo! Take care an my very best to you and yours!!!!
I am so glad to hear that Gary! and hope you enjoy those quinoa recipes! 🙂
Hi Manali! This biryani surely looks yum. Before I try, I had a small query. I have the traditional Hawkins pressure cooker and not the instant pot. How Long do you think it will take if I had to cook in the traditional cooker, 5 mins would be too Long, right ? Please advise.
Thanks
Hi Kirti, if using the regular pressure cooker, I would say follow all the steps as it (of sauteing and all) and then pressure cook for 2-3 whistles on medium-high heat. Hope that helps!
Hi
Is it possible to make biryani in the delay start mode of instant pot? I bought an instant pot recently and was trying out options for vegetarian items when this thought struck me…
Hi Keerthi,I have not tried the delay start mode, but I am not sure if you could do it for the biryani though…it may be a good option for dump and go recipes!
Hi
Can you replace the rice with brown rice? And how long do you think I will have to cook it for in the Instant pot?
Hi Ritu! I have never tried this recipe with brown rice but I know that brown rice takes around 22-24 minutes to cook in the IP [check here: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/instant-pot-brown-rice/%5D. I would not add potato then, it will turn to mush in that long time! Rather add paneer of tofu..hope this helps!
Hi, Your rice looks fluffy. What brand of basmati rice do you use?
Hi Roopa, I have mentioned the link in the post. Please look at the post!
My instant pot overheated before it could get to pressure. Did that happen to anyone else?
hmm that shouldn’t happen Vicki, did you get the burn message? and do you have a 8qt newer model?
Yes this happened to me too! I had to cancel the cooking and when I opened the lid the rice was pretty cooked so I did not try to recook it all
Thanks so much . I tripled it too and turned out just perfect . There is so little clean up after . Loved it
nice recipe ..check my recipe once
Hi,
Would the cooking time change for brown basmati rice? Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Yes Lavanya, it would! Brown rice takes much longer to cook. This recipe will not work with brown rice because it usually takes 20 minutes + to cook and these veggies would turn very mushy by then…I will try and post a brown basmati rice biryani!
Hi there, if i don’t have a pressure cooker… can i still do this in the oven? if so, how long do you think i should cook for?
You can do it to on the stove-top, in a pan. Just cook until the rice is done.
Delicious!! Entire dish was devoured by the family. Thank you
glad to know Deb!!
Looks great! When do you use the black peppercorns? Didn’t see that. Do you just grind them and garnish with pepper after the dish is finished?
Or do you add the whole peppercorns at some point in steps 2 -5?
yes step 2 along with all other whole spices!
with the whole spices, sorry fixed it in the instructions now.
Hi There,
I was wondering if I could omit the onions? Mom doesn’t eat onion or garlic and was wondering if you had any substitution ideas?
Thanks!
Hi Priya, does your mom eat green onions? You can replace regular onions with those. And if she doesn’t eat that either,simply add more of other veggies like french beans or paneer. Skip the garlic and use ginger paste only. Hope this helps!
Thank you for sharing I will have to try it. I hope you’re feeling better!
Thank you Cindy, I am much better now 🙂 and hope you enjoy the recipe!
I never thought that I could see instant pot biryani recipe. It looks so delicious…. in india, instant pot is quite new and yet to come in the market.. I am eagerly waiting for this holy grail product 😉 ..
Thank you Priya! I love my IP so just keep using it all the time!
Hi it looks yummy. If i want to make biriyani for 3 cup of rice , i will triple ingredients, but for how much time i have to do pressure?
hmm I have never tried it but I would maybe do 7 minutes at high pressure and then 5 minutes natural pressure release followed by quick release. Time shouldn’t change much! hope this helps!
I just tripled and left the original cook time alone. Turned out perfectly. SO delicious. A hit for my entire family, including 3 littles. Thank you!
yay! You are welcome Anna 🙂
So fluffy! The rice is perfectly flavourd and prepared, Manali.