This Spinach Rice is a quick, healthy Indian-style one-pot recipe cooked with aromatic basmati rice, spinach (palak), and a few spices in an Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker in under 30 minutes. Spinach Pulao is Vegan and gluten-free!
This Spinach Rice is also known as Palak Rice or Palak Pulao in Hindi (Palak=Spinach). This Indian Spinach rice is easy, delicious, and adds beautiful color to your plate. It takes less than 30 minutes to prepare in an Instant Pot pressure cooker. It is perfect for lunch boxes that your kids and your family would love to have.
I grew up eating this dish a lot. My mom would make this spinach pilaf to sneak some greens into our daily meals, and it worked.
Today, I have prepared this dish in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT.
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Ingredients
- Rice: I used long-grain basmati rice, but you can also use sona masoori.
- Spinach: I used fresh organic baby spinach.
- Vegetables: I used onion, tomato, and green peas. You can also use other vegetables like carrots, green beans, and potatoes.
- Garlic, ginger, and green chilies: I used freshly minced ginger and garlic paste. You can use any green chili variety for this recipe.
- Herbs: Use freshly chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) for a nice flavor.
- Spices: For whole spices, I used bayleaf, cumin seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. For dry spices, I used turmeric, coriander powder, and garam masala.
- Oil: any cooking oil of your choice.
- Lime juice: freshly squeezed lime/lemon juice gives the best flavor.
How to Make Indian Spinach Rice
Instant Pot Method
Press SAUTE on the Instant Pot. Add oil, and once it's hot, add whole spices, cumin, and cashew nuts. Saute until the cashew nuts turn light brown.
Then add sliced onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chilies. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they turn soft and light brown - stir regularly.
Then add tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes till they turn soft.
Add spinach leaves and green peas. Cook till the leaves wilt.
Add rinsed basmati rice, water, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, coriander leaves, lime juice, and give a stir.
Close the lid securely, and turn the vent to "SEALING". Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL (High Pressure) setting and set the cooking time to 5 minutes.
When the instant pot beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure before removing the lid.
The Instant pot Spinach Rice recipe is ready. Serve with Raita or plain yogurt.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- Follow the same process mentioned above for Instant Pot. Give 2 whistles on medium flame and let the pressure release naturally. All the other steps remain the same. After 10 mins, fluff up the rice gently. Indian Spinach Rice is ready.
Stovetop Pot Method
I have prepared this dish in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT. But you can make this recipe easily on the stovetop, too. Here’s how:
- Heat a heavy bottom pan on medium flame, Add oil, and once it's hot, add whole spices, cumin, and cashew nuts. Saute till cashew nuts turn light brown.
- Then, add sliced onions, ginger-garlic paste, and green chilies. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they turn soft and light brown - stir regularly.
- Then add tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes till they turn soft.
- Add spinach leaves and green peas and cook till the leaves wilt.
- Add rinsed basmati rice, water, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, coriander leaves, lime juice, and give a stir.
- Close the lid, and cook on medium-low flame for 10-15 minutes till rice is cooked well.
- After 10 mins, Fluff up the rice gently.
- The Indian Spinach rice recipe is ready. Serve with raita or plain yogurt.
What to Serve with Spinach Rice?
Serve Spinach Pulao with any lentil or beans curry, or serve with a side of yogurt or raita.
Storage Suggestions
- Fridge: Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container.
- Freezer: You can store in freezer-safe containers or zip locks for up to 2-3 months.
- Reheat: Sprinkle some water and reheat in a microwave or stovetop until warm.
Variations
- Grains: You can substitute basmati rice with quinoa or millet. Follow the same steps, but cooking times will vary.
- Protein: Add canned or cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cubed paneer (cottage cheese), or crispy tofu to this rice for extra protein.
- Vegetables: You can also add other vegetables like carrots, beans, cauliflower, and potatoes to make them extra nutritious.
- Vegan: This dish will be more flavorful when you cook it with ghee. But vegans can simply use coconut or olive oil or any cooking oil of their choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Brown rice takes longer to cook, i.e., 20-22 minutes on (High pressure) in an Instant Pot. For the stovetop version, follow the rice packaging instructions.
Yes! Although frozen spinach can be used, You will get a better result when you use fresh spinach.
If you like spinach, check out more Spinach Recipes
Spinach Rice (Palak Rice) - Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice rinsed & drained
- 2-3 cups spinach (palak) fresh, chopped
- ½ cup green peas (i used frozen)
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic minced
- 2-3 green chillies chopped
- 6-7 cashew-nuts
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoon coriander leaves (cilantro) finely chopped
- 1.5 cups water
- 2 tablespoon oil
- salt to taste
Whole Spices:
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 bayleaf
- 2 cardamom
- 2-3 cloves
- ½ teaspoon cumin(jeera) seeds
Dry Spices:
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
Instructions
Instant Pot Method:
- Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it's hot, add whole spices, cumin, and cashew nuts. Saute till cashew nuts turn light brown.
- Then add sliced onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chilies. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they turn soft and light brown - stir regularly.
- Then add tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes till they turn soft.
- Add spinach leaves and green peas. Cook till the leaves wilt.
- Add rinsed basmati rice, water, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, coriander leaves, lime juice, and give a stir.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
- Wait for Natural Pressure Release (NPR). Remove lid away from you. Mix well.
- Spinach Rice recipe is ready. Serve with Raita or plain yogurt.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method:
- Follow the same process mentioned above for Instant Pot. Give 2 whistles on medium flame and let the pressure release naturally. All the other steps remain the same. After 10 mins fluff up the rice gently. Spinach Rice is ready
Stovetop Pot Method:
- Heat a heavy bottom pan on medium flame, Add oil and once it's hot, add whole spices, cumin, and cashew nuts. Saute till cashew nuts turn light brown in color.
- Then add sliced onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chilies. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they turn soft and light brown in color - stir regularly.
- Then add tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes till they turn soft.
- Add spinach leaves, green peas cook till the leaves wilt.
- Add rinsed basmati rice, water, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, coriander leaves, lime juice, and give a stir.
- Close the lid, cook on medium-low flame for 10-15 minutes till rice is cooked well.
- After 10 mins fluff up the rice gently.
- Indian Spinach rice recipe is ready. Serve with raita or plain yogurt.
Notes
Variations
- You can replace basmati rice with quinoa or millets. Follow the same steps but only cooking times will vary.
- You can also add canned or cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or cubed paneer (cottage cheese) or tofu in this rice for extra protein.
- Also vegetables like carrot, beans can be added.
- This dish will be more flavorful when you cook with ghee. But vegans can simply use coconut or olive or any oil.
Nutrition
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Mary
We all loved this recipe! The rice came so good and chewy and my hubby loved it with cashew yogurt. I can't wait to make it again and try some of the variations, such as tomatoes. Thank you for posting this recipe. Yum!
bhavana
Thank you Mary 🙂 Not only did you just try the recipe - but you went a step further, interacted with us - gave a nice twist to the recipe as per your available resources & needs. I am so glad your family loved it - It's a moment I would definitely Cherish 🙂 Thank you once again.
Jen
Amazing! Thank you
bhavana
Thank you so much Jen 🙂 Glad you liked it 🙂
Jennifer (Delva) Garcia-Bossio
Amazing! Thank you
bhavana
You are welcome Jennifer:)
Nina
It was delicious. Made it for my son's lunch box and he loved it. Thank you!
bhavana
@nina :welcome. Checkout for more Healthy Kids Lunch Box Recipes
Isha Gujrathi
I made this tonight and it turned out Lip smacking delicious. ??? perfect water measurements and got fluffy rice.
bhavana
Thank you isha happy to hear you like the recipe ,please do try my other instant pot recipes.
Sanjana Guttal
Hi I like the recipe ?
But I just have one doubt - I cook regular plain in 3 minutes pressure cook. Wont the rice be over cooked if I keep it for 6 minutes? Even when I make tomato rice I pressure cook for 3 minutes.
Shall I go ahead and do the same for palak rice too or is there a reason why it has to be cooked for 6 minutes? Please suggest.
Thank you?
bhavana
Hi Sanjana
sorry for the late reply.i usually like to cook all my rice dishes for 6 minutes.when i am usually in a hurry i do a quick release.so 6 minutes works perfect.
Rashmi
Hi please add more recipes
bhavana
Hi Rashmi
Please check out latest Potato Biryani recipe from my blog.Thanks for the support.