Instant Pot Vegetable Fried Rice recipe is a quick, easy and delicious Indian Chinese style dish that can be prepared in just 15 minutes in an electric pressure cooker and makes a great weeknight or lunchbox meal that everyone will love. Veg fried rice is Vegan, Gluten-free and Kid approved!

I grew up eating Indo-Chinese Fried rice in India. The authentic recipe is mainly done using cooked or leftover rice. It used to be one of my commonly prepared lunchboxes when I was working in India, as it's easy to prepare and loaded with veggies.
I have shared Paneer Fried Rice and Hawaiian Style Pineapple Fried Rice on my blog using leftover rice, and it is a great idea to pack kids lunchboxes.
When I am in a hurry to make dinner or lunch, I have recently made this one-pot Indian Chinese fried rice in Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT Pressure Cooker. They are easy to make in this instant pot and take less than 15 minutes.
DONT HAVE INSTANT POT? You can still make this recipe on the stovetop pan. I have shared a detailed recipe below.
How to Make Vegetable Fried Rice in Instant Pot
Firstly, press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Next, add oil and once it's hot, add minced garlic and saute for 30 secs or until aromatic.
Next, add the onions and saute for about 2 minutes till the onions turn soft.
Add the mixed vegetables, rinsed jasmine rice, water, salt, and Mix well. Deglaze the pot by scraping the bits stuck to the bottom to avoid BURN notice
Furthermore, close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 4 minutes.
When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure manually.
Remove lid away from you. Add soy sauce, white vinegar, black pepper powder, and salt if needed. Toss everything well.
Sprinkle sliced spring onions just before serving. Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Indian Vegetable Fried Rice is ready to enjoy with Gobi Manchurian.
Stovetop Pot Method
- In a large pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat.
- Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Then add onion saute till they get light brown and soft.
- Add the mix veggies and stir fry until they are tender but crisp.
- Then add soy sauce, vinegar, and saute in a high flame stirring regularly without getting burnt.
- Add the cooked rice, salt, and ground black pepper to this and gently mix it evenly. Let this be in a low flame for 2-3 minutes.
- Sprinkle sliced spring onions just before serving.
Serving Suggestions
You can generally eat Veg Fried Rice on your own since they are flavorful. But they also taste great with Indo-Chinese side dishes like
Gobi Manchurian
Sweet Corn Soup
Lemon Coriander Soup
Variations
- Rice: You can use either jasmine rice, sona masuri, or basmati in this recipe. Rice to water ratio will vary for each rice type. For example, for Basmati (1 rice:1 ½ water), sona masuri short grain(1:1 ¾), jasmine rice (1:1 ¼).
- Protein: Add ½ cup of crumbled paneer (cottage cheese), scrambled tofu, or eggs.
- Greens: Stir in some spinach leaves or kale towards the end of the cooking time.
- Spicy: Add either crushed red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons of sriracha or schezwan sauce.
- Oil: You can also use coconut oil or sesame oil for this recipe.
- Vegetables: You can also add bell peppers and shredded cabbage after the pressure cooking.
Tips
- Some people like adding soy sauce and vinegar after pressure cooking. Both methods work well.
- Try to use low sodium soy sauce and if you are looking for gluten-free use Tamari or also Coconut Aminos to replace the soy sauce and it’s the best!
Recipe FAQs
The rice variety is significant. I have used jasmine rice in this recipe. You can also use long grain basmati rice (white or brown), sona masuri for this recipe. I do not recommend using sushi rice, risotto rice, or paella rice.
You can also add the following vegetables after pressure cooking.
- Bell peppers
- Shredded Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Snap peas
Yes, you can, Add these frozen vegetables after pressure cooking and mix well with sauces.
Yes!
More Indo Chinese Recipes
- Vegetable Hakka Noodles
- Garlic Noodles
- Mushroom Fried Rice
- Chapati Noodles
- Pineapple Fried Rice
- Paneer Fried Rice
- Cauliflower Fried rice
Instant Pot Vegetable Fried Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
Measuring cup used 1 cup = 250 ml
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil or olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 cup mixed vegetables (carrot, green peas and sweet corn)
- 1 ¼ cups water (depends on rice variety) or vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Garnish:
- 2 tablespoon green onions
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
Instant Pot Method:
- Firstly, press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Next, add oil and once it's hot, add minced garlic and saute for 30 secs or until aromatic.
- Next, add the onions and saute for about 2 minutes till the onions turn soft.
- Add the mixed vegetables, rinsed jasmine rice, water, salt, and Mix well. Deglaze the pot by scraping the bits stuck to the bottom to avoid BURN notice.
- Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 4 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure manually.
- Remove lid away from you. Add soy sauce, white vinegar, black pepper powder, and salt if needed. Toss everything well.
- Sprinkle sliced spring onions just before serving. Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Indian Vegetable Fried Rice is ready to enjoy with Gobi Manchurian.
Stovetop Pot Method:
- In a large pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat.
- Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Then add onion saute till they get light brown and soft.
- Add the mix veggies and stir fry until they are tender but crisp.
- Then add soy sauce, vinegar, and saute in a high flame stirring regularly without getting burnt.
- Add the cooked rice, salt, and ground black pepper to this and gently mix it evenly. Let this be in a low flame for 2-3 minutes.
- Sprinkle sliced spring onions just before serving.
Video

Notes
Variations
- Rice: You can use either jasmine rice, sona masuri, or Basmati in this recipe. Rice to water ratio will vary for each rice type. For example, for Basmati (1 rice:1 ½ water), sona masuri short grain(1:1 ¾), jasmine rice (1:1 ¼).
- Protein: Add ½ cup of crumbled paneer (cottage cheese), scrambled tofu, or eggs.
- Greens: Stir in some spinach leaves or kale towards the end of the cooking time.
- Spicy: Add either crushed red pepper flakes or a few teaspoons of sriracha or schezwan sauce.
- Oil: You can also use coconut oil or sesame oil for this recipe.
- Vegetables: You can also add bell peppers and shredded cabbage after the pressure cooking.
Tips
- Some people like adding soy sauce and vinegar after pressure cooking. Both methods work well.
- Try to use low sodium soy sauce and if you are looking for gluten-free use Tamari or also Coconut Aminos to replace the soy sauce and it’s the best!
Nutrition
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Krissy says
Are you using fresh or frozen veggies?
bhavana says
Hi Krissy, I have used fresh carrots and frozen peas and corn here.
Charlotte says
Hello, do you suggest adding egg before or after pressure cooking? Thanks.
bhavana says
Hi Charlotte ,I would recommend adding scrambled egg after pressure cooking.
You can push some cooked fried rice to side ,turn on the SAUTE mode and break an egg in the middle of the pot.cook for sometime and mix with the rice.Hope this helps.
Cheryl Northrup says
I made this tonight amd my husband loved it. The jasmine rice was mushy, though. I accidentally used too much water; could that be why? I added soy curls to make it more filling, and don't use oil. I will definitely use it again, probably with brown rice, which s what I usually use. Definitely a keeper; thank you! I'm also very interested in finding a biryani recipe similar to what we had in Manila-we loved it and want to replicate it.
Bhavana Patil says
Thanks for your feedback Cheryl. Yeah excess water made it mushy for sure. This is my favorite Biryani recipe from my blog Vegetable Biryani which is restaurant-style one ... But I do have more Biryani options on my blog, Do check them out 🙂
Kim Lippy says
Question...before I make this, could you tell me please, what is fried about this fried rice?
Bhavana Patil says
Hi Kim, Traditional veg fried rice is made in the Wok, where veggie are first sauteed till tender, and cooked rice is added and tossed with sauces and seasoning. But this is a one pot pressure cooker fried rice recipe. Hope this helps