Congee is a savory rice porridge that I’ve wanted to make for quite some time. It’s a warm, comforting porridge made with rice, chicken, ginger, and sometimes other fun ingredients. Congee usually needs to simmer for quite some time, so the Instant Pot is a great way to make congee fast, but I’ve included stovetop directions for everyone else (it’s ridiculously simple either way). So, even though I’ve titled this “Instant Pot Congee”, don’t pass up this gem of a recipe just because you don’t own a trendy IP. It’s just toooooo good not to try.
What is Congee?
Congee is a rice porridge that is a staple food in several countries in Asia. You’ll find many different versions and names for this dish, depending on the region, but they all have one thing in common–they’re warm, comforting, and filling. The base for congee is rice that has been cooked for an extended amount of time in water or both until it breaks down into a really thick porridge. It can be as simple as that, or it can have extra ingredients added, like meat and aromatics, to make it more of a full meal.
But that’s just a snapshot of the history and culture surrounding this classic comfort food. If you’d like to try an authentic congee recipe and learn more about congee, I highly suggest checking out these resources:
- Chicken Congee from Made with Lau
- The Secret to Making Chinese Congee from Tiff & Case (Youtube)
- How to Make Congee (Rice Porridge) from China Sichuan Food
- 20 Minute Congee from The Woks of Life
What Does Congee Taste Like?
Congee is a fairly mild dish, but the flavor is deep. Oh so deliciously deep. This version, made with chicken, has a mild chicken flavor, with a little extra umami kick from mushrooms, and a lovely ginger base note. I found the congee to be so velvety smooth and delicious that I could happily slurp it up on its own, but when I started adding fun toppings the meal was elevated to super-star status.
Add Toppings
I’d suggest using at least the base toppings that I have listed on the recipe card below:
- sesame oil
- soy sauce
- green onion
- cilantro
- chopped peanuts
Beyond that, the sky’s the limit. I gave the congee the “soft boiled egg and sriracha” treatment because I add those two things to just about everything, but the congee was really quite filling on its own, so I probably won’t opt for an egg in the future. The sriracha was a nice touch, though.
Here are a few other topping ideas:
- pickled vegetables
- fried onions or shallots
- sesame seeds
- steamed greens
But really, anything goes here. Sweep the kitchen!
Instant Pot Congee (Rice Porridge)
Servings 6 (1.3 cups each)Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice ($0.52)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1-2 inches fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 3 shittake mushrooms ($0.63)
- 2 lb. bone-in chicken pieces ($3.66)
- 7 cups water ($0.00)
- 1/2 Tbsp salt (or to taste) ($0.05)
TOPPINGS
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.23)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro (optional) ($0.20)
- 1/3 cup peanuts, chopped ($1.12)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.33)
Instructions
- Peel and slice the ginger, and crush the cloves of garlic. Slice the mushrooms into thin strips. Remove the skin from the chicken pieces.
- Place the uncooked rice in the bottom of the Instant Pot and add the crushed garlic, sliced ginger, and sliced mushrooms on top. Lay the chicken pieces over the rice and aromatics. Finally, add seven cups of water.
- Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Turn the steam release valve to the “sealing” position. Press the “porridge” button to begin cooking (no need to adjust the time or pressure). After ten seconds the pot will begin to heat and build pressure. Once it reaches the required temperature and pressure, the display will begin to count down 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, the pot will switch to the “keep warm” setting and begin to drop in pressure. Allow the pot to reduce in pressure naturally, without opening the steam release valve. When the float valve falls back to the down position, open the steam valve, and then open the lid.
- Using tongs, carefully remove the chicken pieces and place them on a clean cutting board. Use two forks to shred the meat and remove the bones. Return the shredded meat to the pot.
- Stir and taste the porridge, and add salt as needed (I added 1/2 Tbsp). Only add enough salt to amplify the flavors, but leave room for the addition of soy sauce as a topping.
- Ladle the congee into each bowl and drizzle a small amount (1 tsp) of toasted sesame oil and soy sauce on top of each bowl. Sprinkle the sliced green onions, cilantro leaves, and chopped peanuts over top, then serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Congee in an Instant Pot – Step by Step Photos
Start by peeling and slicing 1-2 inches of ginger (I really like ginger, so may use more next time). Thinly slice three shittake mushrooms and crush two cloves of garlic. Shittake mushrooms are pretty expensive ($8.99/lb. at my local stores), but since they’re mostly air and weigh next to nothing, I was able to get three fairly large mushrooms for $0.63. Not bad.
Remove the skin from about 2 lbs. of bone-in chicken pieces. Dark meat is going to give you a lot better flavor than breasts, so I highly suggest you stick to thighs and drumsticks. You can remove the excess fat as well, but I found that it made the porridge incredibly rich and velvety. Plus, trimming the fat is tedious. Ha.
Place one cup uncooked jasmine rice in the bottom of the Instant Pot and add the ginger slices, crushed garlic, and sliced mushrooms on top.
Then add the chicken pieces…
And finally, add 7 cups water.
If you’re making this on the stove top, just add all the ingredients listed above to a large pot, but use 10 cups water instead of 7 (you’ll get a lot more evaporation with the stove top method). Bring the pot to a boil (with lid) over high heat, then reduce to low and let simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring often, or until a thick porridge has formed. If the porridge is too thin after that time, simply let it simmer without a lid until it thickens.
Close and lock the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the steam release valve (on the left in the photo) to the “sealing” position. Notice the float valve on the right, the small metal circle, is down. This means there is no pressure in the Instant Pot.
Press the “porridge” button over there on the right and it will turn on to the automatic setting of 20 minutes at high pressure. No need to adjust, just wait ten seconds for it to begin.
It may take 10-15 minutes for the pot to come up to temperature and pressure. Once it reaches high pressure, the float valve will be elevated (it’s that small metal circle on the right). That indicates that the pot is under pressure. Once it reaches the proper pressure, the display on the front will begin to count down 20 minutes.
After cooking with high pressure for 20 minutes, the Instant Pot will beep and change to “keep warm” mode. The display will show an “L” and start counting up the time (it’s at seven minutes in the photo). Let the pressure naturally come back down, which may take 15 minutes or so. You’ll know the pressure is safe when that metal float valve has fallen back down.
Once it’s back down to safe pressure, open the steam release valve, then open the lid. It will look a little something like this. It looks a little watery on top, but once it’s stirred it thickens right up. Carefully remove the chicken pieces with tongs and place them on a clean cutting board.
Use two forks to shred and pull the meat from the bones. The meat should be so tender that it literally falls apart when you touch it.
Stir the shredded meat back into the congee. Give it a taste and add salt to your liking (I added 1/2 Tbsp). You want enough salt to make the flavors pop, but not so much that you wouldn’t want to add soy sauce as a topping.
Ladle some congee into a bowl… I gotta say, too, that I love those ginger slices. They become quite mild through the cooking process and have a texture similar to water chestnuts. They’re SO GOOD. More ginger slices next time for sure.
At a minimum, I’d suggest adding a small drizzle of toasted sesame oil & soy sauce to each bowl, along with some sliced green onions, cilantro leaves, and chopped peanuts to your Instant Pot Congee. The chopped peanuts were truly a delight. They added wonderful texture.
Or, you know, you could go crazy and add a soft boiled egg and some sriracha too… Cuz why not? Make your Instant Pot Congee your own!
I would add that frozen chicken works great with InstantPot congee, requires no adjustment whatsoever (the pre-heating time is automatically prolonged). When I’m in a rush, I’ll do a quick and rustic version with carrots and drumsticks/boneless thighs so that de-boning isn’t even necessary. The prep is 10 mins – or however long it takes you to cut the veggies!
This is a great recipe! My fiancé just got me an instant pot last night. We’ve been sick for the past few days (flu season 😔). I was running out of soup ideas and remembered he loves congee. I googled a recipe and yours was the first to pop up AND it was sheer coincidence that it utilizes an instant pot. Woke up this morning at 3 and threw the ingredients in the pot minus the mushrooms, with a chicken breast and a tsp of better than buillon vegetable and a tsp better than buillon chicken. Made myself tea and opened the pot 35 mins later (20 mins to cook and a 15 min wait). It was delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe, my first attempt at congee was made super easy.
Got my Black Friday on-sale instant pot yesterday and made this immediately! So great! I usually make congee in a Dutch oven on the stovetop but the chicken comes out much better in the IP. Dried shiitake are the way to go here– I just crunched up a few in my hands and threw them in and they were fantastic. No need to presoak. Awesome with the leftover Trader Joe’s fried onions from turkey day on top– similar to the fried shallots you get in Asian markets. I’m going to have congee and game night parties this winter… mmmm….
Thanks for making my introduction to the instant pot such a success!!
Rich and comforting! Made in crock pot. Used 8 cups water and cooked for 5 hours on high. Came out perfect. Thanks!
Making it again and drooling ;)
Has anyone tried this with brown rice? I know it’s not authentic, but much better for my family.
I have seen recipes on the internet for brown rice congee, so I know it can be done. I’m sure you just need to increase the cooking time and probably the liquid ratio as well.
Did you try it with brown rice?
My Vietnamese roommate made this once when we were all sick at the same time and I started requesting it all the time as its so amazing :)
She would beat a few eggs together in a bowl and then pour them over the rice as it simmered. Kimchi is also an amazing topping!
Thank you for sharing this recipe now I can make it for myself all the time :)
Hi, it was fantastic and will make it again but I did add 2 cups of stock and the rest water, used dried shiitake because I always have them on hand and grated my ginger into it since I like to keep mine frozen as I rarely use it and it keeps for ages this way. Added some fried shallots on top you buy in little jars at the Asian supermarket too. Thanks!
This recipe was quite amazing. I had read often that the longer you cook congee the more “healing” it was supposed to be. So I always used manual pressure, about a cup or a half rice with 6c water, and set it for like three hours.
It always turned out yummy, but I love this cook time much more. The rice comes out “fluffier” and lighter than the other way. Most recipes I ever read just said to use manual so I was skeptical at using the preset functions.
Thanks for this!
Oh my gosh! Thank you for this wonderful recipe! My daugher is Korean and I cook a lot of Korean food but I’ve never made Juk/Jook and I’ve always wanted to! Well, I got my Instant Pot yesterday and this was the first recipe I wanted to try. It was fantastic! I will be making this very, very often! Thanks again!
We often ate this for breakfast when we lived temporarily in Singapore. You can find it most anywhere there, from your neighbors kitchen, to food courts, & even at the fancy breakfast buffets. Mostly we had it with added white fish like cod. Of course that increases the cost to make it, but it is still reasonable. I bake the fish separately, flake with a fork, and add to the finished porridge. This is wonderful if you are recovering from any illness, especially intestinal problems (but, make it plainer then) Soothing, mild, and nourishing. Babies, elderly, & every age in between enjoy Congee. Yeah, another use for my Instant Pot. Thanks for the recipe.
I absolutely loved this recipe! I’ve already made it for times. I was wondering if you will post more pressure cooker recipes? I love what you do here! Thank you!
Do you think you could use a slow cooker for this?
Yes, probably! I think I’ve seen slow cooker versions of congee. You can google “slow cooker congee” to get recommended cooking times and settings.
Man, this looks delicious! I have a combination cooker similar to yours, but instead of a porridge setting, it has an oatmeal setting, do you think that would work?
I bet those two settings are similar. :)
Made a vegan version of this today using short grain brown rice in IP for 35 minutes (Porridge setting). I love a lot of scallions, cilantro, sambal oelek and a tiny drizzle of toasted sesame oil and low-sodium tamari on it. Yum!