Instant Pot Salmon and Rice

Instant Pot Salmon and Rice is an easy full dinner recipe- it's all pressure cooked in the same pot! Salmon is glazed with a garlic and maple sauce and is cooked alongside white rice and your choice of veggies. This meal is a full course, one pot pressure cooker dinner that is ready to serve quickly and needs little preparation. It's healthy, easy, and full of fantastic flavor!

Jump to:

• Ingredients and Substitutions
• Recipe Tips
• Instructions
• Pot-in-Pot Method
• Storing and Reheating
• Recipe

If you're looking for a delicious one-pot dinner that's healthy and well-balanced, this maple-glazed Instant Pot Salmon and Rice is the perfect choice.

Reasons You'll Love This Recipe:

• It's loaded with wholesome ingredients, protein, and omega fatty acids.
• There's minimal preparation- you only need to mince the garlic and cut the carrots!
• Quick cooking time- just 4 minutes.
• It's done in less than 30 minutes, pressure-building time included!

It's made with salmon, white rice, and carrots or your choice of vegetables, all pressure cooked together in a sweet garlic maple and soy sauce glaze. The fish turns out juicy, flaky, and flavorful.

I tested this recipe in both 6 quart and 8 quart Instant Pots. It should work in a 10 quart Instant Pot, but will need to be altered to fit in a 3 quart pressure cooker. Cut the ingredients by at least half to ensure they fit without overloading the pot.

Ingredients and Substitutions

You need:

• Salmon fillets: they should be thawed fillets between 4 and 6 ounces, preferably skinless to avoid fat from making its way into the sauce as it cooks.
• White rice: use long grain white rice. Substituting with brown or jasmine rice is not recommended, as they have a longer cook time. Make sure to rinse it thoroughly.
• Maple syrup: I use pure maple syrup and suggest you do too. You can substitute with honey.
• Soy sauce: dark or light soy sauce work here, and you can substitute with worchestire or teriyaki sauce if desired.
• Carrots: whole fresh carrots that are sliced in half and then cut into halves longways again are the best. If you'd like to use another vegetable, use one with a cook time similar to the rice, like green beans.

Recipe Tips

These are some important tips and strategies when making Instant Pot salmon and rice that will give you a successfully cooked and delicious meal every time.

• Do not use foil to cover the pan of salmon and vegetables. When anything in the pressure cooker is covered in foil, it will take longer to cook. If you cover it in foil for this recipe, the fish will not cook completely in 4 minutes.
• Using an egg stand under the trivet elevates the cake pan, making removal easier.
• If using another vegetable instead of carrots, choose one with a cook time similar to the rice and salmon. Green beans, parsnips, turnips, and sliced artichokes work well in this recipe.
• Pour extra sauce over the carrots and rice for extra flavor.
• If you have an Instant Pot that's sensitive to getting the burn notice, use the pot-in-pot method for the rice in addition to the salmon and vegetables. See below for how to do this.

Instructions

Step 1: Add the rinsed rice and water to the inner pot of the pressure cooker. Place an egg stand on top, followed by a trivet. Put a cake pan on top of the trivet.

Step 2: Add the salmon to the cake pan and arrange carrots (or other vegetable) around the salmon.

Step 3: In a small bowl, mix maple syrup, soy sauce, mashed garlic, pepper, and salt together. Pour the sauce over the salmon.

Step 4: Close and seal the pressure cooker lid. Set to pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. Allow to complete a 15 minute natural release when done, then manually release any remaining pressure.

Step 5: Remove the lid. Using oven mitts, carefully remove the trivet and cake pan. Fluff the rice with a fork.

Serve salmon and vegetables over the rice, drizzling with extra sauce and garnishing with fresh parsley.

Pot-in-Pot Method

If your pressure cooker seems to get the burn notice frequently or you don't have much luck cooking the rice directly in the inner pot, use the pot-in-pot (PIP) method for the rice, too. Many people have great success using PIP when pressure cooking rice when they have failed miserably otherwise.

Instead of putting the water and rice into the inner pot, put it in a second cake pan. Here are the steps.

1. Pour 1 ½ cups of water into the inner pot and place a trivet inside.
2. Put the rice and water (from the recipe ingredient list) into the second cake pan and put into the inner pot on the trivet.
3. Place the egg rack into the cake pan of rice.
4. Now put the cake pan of salmon and vegetables on top of the egg rack and follow the recipe for cook time.

Now you have 2 separate cake pans and nothing touching the bottom of the inner pot to trigger the burn notice!

Storing and Reheating

Fridge: store in a covered container for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven or toaster.

Freezer: put in freezer-safe bags and store for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave, oven, or toaster.

Enjoy!

Recipe

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