You are going to love this Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice (Uzbek Beef Plov) dish! This easy ground beef recipe is made with a few ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. It's a simple rice dish that offers big flavors, so scrumptious! This dish will be a great addition to your ground beef recipe collection!
You can feed your family fast and cheaply with this Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice recipe. It's the easiest one-pot meal recipe to make on busy weeknights! It's so quick, delicious, and nutritious!
Also, check out this Ground Beef Italian Meatballs recipe.
Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice - An Uzbek Beef Plov-Inspired Dish
This Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice tastes similar to pilaf and it is inspired by the traditional Uzbekistan plov.
The ground beef is cooked together with rice, broth, spices, and vegetables in one pot. The rice is perfectly seasoned, so fluffy, tender, and not mushy!
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Ingredients for Uzbek Beef Plov
To make this Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice recipe, you will need lean ground beef, white rice, broth, onion, garlic, carrots, paprika, cumin, coriander, butter, salt, black pepper, and steak seasoning (optional).
- Ground beef is so versatile and inexpensive. In this recipe, you only need to use about a pound of lean ground beef.
- White rice is a staple food and cheap. It is rich in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. To make this recipe, you need about 2 cups of white rice. You can use either short or long-grain white rice depending on your personal taste.
Short-grain rice is very starchy and commonly used in paella, risotto, and sushi recipes. It's a perfect choice if you want your rice fluffy, soft, and a bit sticky.
Long-grain rice contains less starch and would be a perfect choice when a fluffy, drier texture is desired, such as in pilaf or any dish with a lot of sauce.
I personally used the short-grain rice and the result was perfect!
- Liquid. To cook this rice dish in an instant pot, you need to use a 1 to 1 water to rice ratio. Beef or chicken broth is recommended but vegetable broth or water is perfectly acceptable.
- Seasoning. I used a combination of paprika, cumin, and coriander. These spices are commonly used in meats and savory dishes. To add flavor to the ground beef, I also added about 2 teaspoons of steak seasoning (such as Montreal steak seasoning).
How to Make The Best Rice Dish in an Instant Pot
This Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice recipe requires minimal chopping and takes only 4 minutes of cooking time at high pressure! It's also a freezer-friendly meal! It can be prepped in advance and frozen!
Here are some important steps to follow:
- First, you need to dice the yellow onion, wash the garlic bulb then cut it in half crosswise, and rinse the rice under cool water before cooking.
- Second, heat some oil and cook the yellow onion for about 5 minutes or until translucent.
- Third, add ground beef then carrots, and cook until the meat is lightly browned for about 6-7 minutes.
- Next, add steak seasoning, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, and butter and stir for about 2 minutes. It's very important to scrape the bottom of the pot so there is nothing stuck that will prevent burning.
- After that, spread the rice evenly all over the pot and add bay leaves.
- Now, it's time to pour in the liquid (broth), press the rice down gently to make sure it is submerged in liquid. Do not stir!
- Close and seal the lid. Set it to "manual" for 4 minutes. After the cooking cycle is finished, wait 10 minutes before moving the Venting Knob from the Sealing Position to Venting Position to release the remaining pressure.
To Drain, or Not to Drain the Ground Beef:
If you are using medium-fat ground beef, you may need to drain the grease to reduce the fat and calorie content.
The extra-lean ground beef doesn't need to be drained after browning but if you see grease, feel free to remove it to make it an even healthier dish.
To remove the extra grease, carefully tilt the pot (make sure that the instant pot is on the "off" setting) and use a paper towel to absorb much of the fat from browned ground beef. A little fat goes a long way with flavors but it's your choice and it will taste great even without the extra fat.
Storing the Leftover Ground Beef and Rice Dish:
Properly stored, the cooked ground beef dish will last for 3-4 days in the fridge or 2-3 months in the freezer.
Check Out More Tasty Ground Beef Recipes:
- Instant Pot Hamburger Helper
- Ground Beef Quesadilla
- Asian Ground Beef Stir
- Skilet Beef Enchiladas
- Korean Beef Bowl
- Bolognese Sauce Recipe
- Instant Pot Goulash
I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and share it with friends! If you try it and don't mind, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating. Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly recipes and follow me on Pinterest.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice: An Uzbek Beef Plov-Inspired Dish
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 cups short-grain white rice (or use medium or long-grain)
- 2 cups chicken or beef broth
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion
- 1½ cups diced carrots
- 1 garlic bulb (rinse well and cut in half crosswise)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (cut into thin slices)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin (for a milder flavor, use 1-2 tsp)
- ¾ teaspoon ground paprika
- ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons steak seasoning (such as Montreal Steak seasoning)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- black pepper (to taste)
- 2 bay leaves
Method
- Rinse the rice under cold running water until the water runs clear; drain well.
- Press the "Sauté" function key. Heat oil then cook onion with a pinch of salt. Keep stirring for 4-5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add the ground beef and cook for about 2 minutes. Add carrots and keep stirring for 3 minutes.
- Add steak seasonings, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Keep stirring for about 1 minute then add butter. Keep stirring until the butter is melted and the ground meat is lightly browned. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to keep the pan clear and nothing is stuck on it to prevent burning.
- Add the rice and spread evenly on top of the ground beef mixture. Add bay leaves then pour in the broth. Press the rice down gently to make sure it is submerged in liquid. DO NOT STIR!
- Put the garlic halves cut-side-down. Place the lid on, sealed, and set to manual for "4 minutes" on a high setting. After the cooking cycle finished, wait for 10 minutes then carefully move the Venting Knob from the Sealing Position to Venting Position to quickly release the remaining pressure.
- Open the lid, remove the garlic halves and squeeze it back into the pot. Stir the rice mixture to combine ingredients. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.
Val says
Love this rice recipe so much! It reminds me of Russian plov, and love the cumin taste and smell. This is a regular at our house 🙂
Rika says
I'm so happy to hear that. I have a soft spot for cumin so I feel the same. I've been meaning to make more Russian plov, and similar pilaf recipes, so tasty and good to warm up the body these colder months.
Nancy says
I love this recipe, and use it regularly. I switch out the white rice for brown, and sometimes make it with millet. We really enjoy the texture of the millet, and it is a plus to switch out grains for nutrient variety. Excellent, easy recipe! Thanks!
Rika says
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your nice words about this beef plove recipe! I'm happy you enjoy it. Swapping white rice for brown and trying millet is a cool idea. Others might find your tip helpful for mixing things up and getting more nutrients. I'm grateful for your comment and hope you keep enjoying the recipe!
Best,
Rika
Michael says
Can you replace rice with quinoa?
Rika says
Hi Michael,
I haven't tried this particular dish with quinoa but I am sure you can do it. If you want to make this recipe using quinoa, use the same grain-to-water ratio (1:1) and cook it on high pressure for 3 minutes then wait 10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure. Let me know how it goes.
Best,
Rika
Jan says
Delicious! Easy and quick!! Thank you for this yummy recipe!
Rika says
Hi Jan,
You're very welcome! I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the Instant Pot Ground Beef and Rice recipe. Delicious, easy, and quick is a winning combination.
Best,
Rika
Brayden J Smith says
I love this recipe.. HOWEVER I often will cook it and the rice will be hard still.. I'm not mixing it and I do wait the 10 minutes afterwards..
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong!
Please do let me know what I can do different and add notes to the recipe. It seems I'm not the only one having this problem.
I cook this rice all the time in the same instant pot and it turns out great. 4 minutes as well.
I would love to change this to 5 stars!
Rika says
Hi Brayden,
Thanks for trying the recipe and sharing your feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it, even though you found the rice a bit hard. To fix this, soak the short grain rice for 20 minutes before cooking and/or use the "multigrain" setting.
Please let me know if you have any other questions or need further assistance.
Rika
Daniela says
Thank you for this recipe! Very similar to Plov, but doesn’t take as long to cook and just as delicious! I used ground bison instead of beef, and I added sour cream and Valentina hot sauce at the end. Soooo good!!
Rika says
Hi Daniela,
You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe and made some delicious modifications. Using ground bison sounds like a great substitution, and adding sour cream and Valentina hot sauce must have given it an extra kick of flavor.
Best,
Rika
Lisa Bryant says
This was delicious! Now a staple meal in our house hold.Thank you.
Rika says
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for trying it out, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
Best,
Rika
Mum to littles says
I love this recipe and I keep coming back to make it. Very quick, and easy, common ingredients you most likely have, but so flavourful and comforting and filling. This meal is in our regular rotation. The kids all love it, too. Thanks so much for the recipe!!! Looking forward to trying some others you have.
Rika says
Hi Mum to Littles,
Thank you for the kind words! I'm thrilled to hear that you love the recipe and that it's become a regular in your rotation. It's wonderful that the kids enjoy it too! Have you tried my popular recipes for healthy baked chicken tenders, pork tenderloin stir-fry, and caramelized ground pork? They are popular with picky eaters and extremely easy to make. Additionally, for caramelized ground pork, you can always replace it with another type of ground meat.
Best,
Rika
Jennifer says
This is on regular rotation at our house! Simple & delicious!
Rika says
I'm so glad you like it! Thanks for letting me know, Jennifer!
Alex Cunningham says
I added a Serano pepper. Still seemed like it was missing something
Rika says
Hi Alex,
Thanks for trying and sharing your honest feedback. If you feel that your dish requires additional seasoning, consider beginning by incorporating more steak seasoning. Alternatively, you can enhance the flavor by adding salt, cumin, and be sure to use high-quality broth.
Joan says
Followed recipe to the letter, little worried about the short cooking time, but still did it. Sure enough, after pressure-cooking for 4 min, waiting the 10 min, releasing the pressure etc etc, smelled good but rice was hard and crunchy!! It’s back on pressure; not sure how it’s going to turn out.
Rika says
Hi Joan,
I apologize if the rice didn't cook thoroughly despite you following my instructions. Did you stir the rice? Please share your thoughts on how it turned out.
Rika
Tara Ramirez says
This was so good! My family of 5 ate it all! They requested I make it more often. Thank you for sharing!
Rika says
Yay, that’s awesome to hear, Tara! So glad the whole family enjoyed it! 😄 Sounds like it’s a new favorite — I’m sure it’ll be on repeat in no time. Thanks for letting me know!
Rika
Rika says
That makes me so happy to hear, Tara! I'm thrilled your whole family enjoyed it—and what a compliment that they’re already asking for it again. Thanks so much for trying the recipe and sharing your kind words!