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!
This recipe looks so good! Do you think that if I used the slow cooker setting on the instant pot I would have to boil the liquid first?
Hmm, I’m not sure because I’ve not tried cooking rice in a slow cooker to try to get it to break down like this.
Has anyone tried freezing this? I love congee, especially for breakfast, but I think the rest of the family may just tolerate it. Can I freeze it in breakfast-sized portions and enjoy ALL of it myself?! ;)
Hi! I just got an instant pot and this is the first recipe I want to make. I have a question though. When your recipes call for 1 cup of rice is that referring to the rice measuring cup? If you say add 7 cups of water is that a regular American cup or also the rice cup? Thanks!Ā
1 cup rice one dry measuring cup of uncooked rice. I don’t use a measuring cup that is specific for rice, just a regular American measuring cup. Same for the water.
Thanks for the recipe! I just made this for lunch, delicious! I halved the recipe and I used 4 chicken drumsticks.
I added a bit of soy sauce, fish sauce, cut chillies (I love it spicy!), crushed peanuts, green onions and cilantro. Will make this again for sure š
Quite good and easy. I needed to add quite a bit of salt to this, but it ended up very good. Added some La-Yu (chili oil) to give it some kick as well.
Great recipe. I loved how fast this was to make using an electric pressure cooker. I loved the recipe but it was missing fish sauce and a pinch of sugar. After adding those additional ingredients, it tasted just like the chao ga my grandma use to make.
I just made this. I LOVE it. Personally, I really only liked having the green onion and maybe a bit of soy sauce added to it. I tried the sesame oil but felt it blocked the other flavors too much. I can’t believe how good this is, and how simple and easy to make! I even made it with chicken breast and still like it. I just need to figure out how to make the mushrooms a bit less tough.
I’ve made congee of various types over the years on the stove and while I love it, it takes a lot of time and stirring! I don’t own an Instant Pot (yet), either, so I went with a suggestion in the comments and tried this in my slow cooker on high for 4 hours. I used chicken stock in place of water and added a glob (about 2 tbsp) of oyster sauce for a kick of umami. No added salt or soy sauce later, though. I also used boneless chicken breasts because I had them on hand and needed to use them, but like Beth has said, the dark meat chicken would probably make it taste better and add richness. The four hours in the slow cooker didn’t get my porridge to the stage I wanted so maybe a longer cook time would work. I was hungry, so I removed my chicken to a separate plate and transferred everything else to a pot on the stove and simmered it for about 30 minutes until thick. Shredded the chicken and added it back in and also stirred in some leftover stir fried cabbage and bean sprouts for texture (did not have the peanuts). It’s common to add a couple of beaten eggs in at the end too (kinda like egg drop soup), so did that too. Those shiitake mushrooms take this congee over the top! And it was a great couple of meals for me and my bf while he’s recuperating from stomach problems. Thanks a lot Beth!
When you first added the ingredients to the pot, did you bring to a boil?
If I use bone in chicken breast, do I need to adjust to MORE on the instant pot?
Thanks!
I’m not sure off hand, I suggest checking the cooking time tables that are in the instruction manual.
I’ve made this three times now. The first time I used a mixture of thighs and drumsticks. The next two times I used frozen boneless/skinless thighs. While all three times have tasted great, I noticed that the two times I used the frozen thighs came out slightly more watery than the first time. I’m guessing this is because of the fact the frozen thighs had some retained liquid in them. I’m wondering if I should try reducing the amount of water I add slightly to compensate. Any suggestions on how much I should try reducing it by?
Very interesting! I wouldn’t think that frozen thighs would have any more moisture than refrigerated. It’s hard to say how much to reduce the liquid without seeing how it turned out, though, so maybe just start with 1/2 cup less and tweak it every time you make it until you find the right consistency.
I know you posted this recipe almost a year ago, but it was a life saver for me today! I woke up feeling crappy due to a combination of a lingering cold and too much red wine last night and was basically a lump in bed all day. I finally developed an appetite this afternoon but still had no energy. I just wanted something warm and filling, something that a little old grandma might make. I immediately thought of congee, then I thought, “ugh, that’s going to be way too complicated,” but THEN I thought, “No wait, I think I remembered seeing a recipe for congee on Beth’s page!” I crossed my fingers and searched and YES… and with the INSTANT POT. BONUS!
I had to omit the mushrooms because I didn’t have any and used boneless thighs (which meant that I only had to stir the congee when it was done since the meat just broke apart) but it was still awesome. I topped it with green onions, Sriracha, and soy sauce. I’ll try a soft boiled egg next time, but that was just too much effort today :-) I devoured 2 bowls.
I still don’t feel great, but I’m no longer hungry!
Awesome!! I’m so glad it still turned out tasty and comforting for you. :) Feel better!
I’m sorry to say that I didn’t care for this at all… I think that the main problem for me was that it was made with water and not chicken stock/broth. It ended up being too bland for me. Even adding a bit of Sriracha and salt didn’t help.
Hi Beth! I’m really excited to make this tonight – I don’t have an Instant Pot, but I do have a really nice Pressure Cooker. Rice typically takes about 5 minutes to cook at pressure – is that the same for the Instant Pot, do you know? I was thinking I would just bring it to pressure and cook for the 20 minutes, but didn’t want to steam it to death. No worries if you don’t know – I’ll just experiment and hope for the best!
Actually, for this recipe you kind of want to “steam it to death.” :D You want the rice to cook down until it is completely broken down and creamy. I think 20 minutes is a good place to start.
Ah – I get it! I’ve never had Congee but love similar foods. Looking forward to it. Thank you!
I’ve been a huge fan of congee for ages but always thought it would be difficult to make at home. When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. It came out perfect and tasted just like the restaurant versions! When my daughter came home from school and smelled the cooking, she told me she assumed that I must have ordered in from a Chinese restaurant. I will definitely be making this again. BTW, I don’t have an IP so it simmered on my stove at low for a couple hours — definitely worth the wait.
I made this for dinner last night and this recipe alone was worth the cost of the Instant Pot. I had boneless chicken thighs so I added some chicken stock to the water when I cooked it, and it was amaaazing.