Rice cookers are a convenient and inexpensive way to cook food for those confined to small spaces or without access to conventional kitchens, so I’m going to develop a few recipes specifically for rice cookers, starting with this super easy Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice. This ultra simple dish is similar to shrimp fried rice that you’d get from your local take out joint, except it’s steamed not fried, and therefore way less caloric. The ultra short ingredient list means you don’t have to have a lot of ingredients on hand, and most of them can be kept indefinitely either in your pantry or freezer.
Check out my other Rice Cooker Recipes: Rice Cooker Chili, Rice Cooker Mac and Cheese, Rice Cooker Spanish Chickpeas and Rice.
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What Rice Cooker am I Using?
I chose to work with one of the most popular and most basic rice cookers on the market to make sure the recipes I develop have the broadest compatibility. That being said, every model rice cooker is slightly different, and may yield slightly different results. I’m using the Aroma Housewares 8 cup cooked/4 cup uncooked Digital Rice Cooker (affiliate link).
Can I Make This Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice in an Instant Pot?
Using the “rice” function on your Instant Pot will cook food in the same manner as a rice cooker, so this recipe should work just fine in an Instant Pot, providing you are using the rice function and not a pressure cooking function. That being said, I have not had a chance to actually test this recipe using an Instant Pot.
Rice to Water Ratios
There is a lot of conflicting information about what the proper rice to water ratio is for rice cookers, partly due to differing needs for different rice varieties and variations in the way different rice cookers work. I’ve tested this particular recipe several times with different rice to water ratios, and found that 1:1.33 worked best for me. Again, if using a different model rice cooker or a different variety of rice, the ratio may need to be adjusted.
Rice Cooker Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice Recipe
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1/2 lb. raw medium shrimp (41/50 size)* ($4.00)
- 1 small onion ($0.33)
- 1 cup frozen peas ($0.38)
- 1.5 cups uncooked jasmine rice ($0.99)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.08)
Instructions
- If your shrimp is frozen, thaw it first by placing in a colander and running cool water over it until thawed (this only takes a few minutes).
- Finely dice the onion and place it in the bottom of the rice cooker along with the frozen peas (I did not thaw my peas). Add the uncooked rice, minced garlic, and grated ginger. Stir these ingredients together.
- Add the shrimp to the top of the rice mixture, then pour in 2 cups water. Close the lid and set the cooker to the “white rice” setting. The rice cooker will begin to heat and once the contents inside reach the appropriate temperature, it will begin to count down the cooking time (12 minutes for my model).
- Once the rice cooker finishes its cooking cycle, let it rest for an additional 5-10 minutes on the keep warm cycle before opening the lid. While waiting, stir together the soy sauce and brown sugar.
- Finally, open the lid and pour the soy sauce mixture over the contents in the rice cooker. Use a rice paddle to gently fold the sauce into the rice. Serve hot, with sriracha or sliced green onions if desired.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How To Make Shrimp & Rice Teriyaki In A Rice Cooker – Step by Step Photos
If using frozen shrimp, thaw them first by placing them in a colander and running cool water over top until thawed (this only takes a couple of minutes). Finely dice one small onion and place it in the rice cooker along with 1 cup frozen peas (I did not thaw the peas).
Add 1.5 cups white jasmine rice to the cooker, along with two cloves of garlic (minced) and about 1 tsp grated fresh ginger. Stir these ingredients together until everything is evenly combined.
Add 1/2 lb. medium shrimp (41/50 size) to the rice cooker, then pour 2 cups water over top.
Close the rice cooker and set it to the “white rice” function. The rice cooker will begin to heat up, and once it reaches the appropriate temperature it will begin to count down the actual cooking time (mine is 12 minutes for the white rice function). Depending on the temperature and volume of the ingredients in the cooker, it can take a different amount of time to come up to temperature before it begins counting the actual “cooking time.”
After the cooking cycle has finished, make sure to let it sit without opening the lid for an additional 5-10 minutes. This really helps give you more even results because it gives the steam a chance to settle in the cooker. While waiting for the rice to rest in the cooker, stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce and 2 Tbsp brown sugar in a small bowl. It’s okay if the sugar doesn’t totally dissolve.
Pour the soy sauce mixture over the contents of the rice cooker, then use your rice paddle to gently fold the sauce into the shrimp and rice.
If you’re at the max volume of your rice cooker, like I was, it may be easier to transfer everything to a large bowl to fold in the soy sauce, but that’s up to you. Once the sauce is incorporated, the Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice is ready to eat!!
Of course I topped mine with some sriracha, but that’s optional! A couple sliced green onions or cilantro would also be nice if you have them on hand.
Dig in!!
I have been using a rice cooker to make my daily portion of rice for the past two years as I maneuvered through my hectic university days. I came across this recipe to make a whole dish out of a rice cooker, gave it a try today and I loved it! This is definitely going to stay with me! Thank you.
I was very excited to try this recipe. Not much flavor and shrimp was over cooked. I was so disappointed.
Does the shrimp get overcooked?
Oneta, yes, for me I did feel the shrimp were overcooked. I’m going to try it again using frozen shrimp because I did really like the overall recipe. Simple and tasty. Next time I will not defrost and hopefully the recipe will then be a 5 star.
I’ll try and let you know.
Looks good!! Is there a way to make chicken teriyaki like with pineapple and peas? Thanks.
Sounds like a great experiment. I would try the ratios in this recipe. xoxo
Can you make this in a crock pot? I don’t have an instant pot. Or just on the stove top, I guess instead of crock pot. Thank you!
Slow cookers usually don’t do well with rice because they don’t get hot enough to cook it properly. It tends to just make the rice mushy. :(
It’s a rice cooker not a slow cooker.
She asked if she could make it in a slow cooker (crock pot).
I need that dish that looks like a takeout box. I love it.
I made this stovetop in a dutch oven. I sautéed the onion only with a little oil until soft, then added all the other ingredients (except the sauce). Bring to a boil, turn to low for 15 min, steam with heat off for another 5-10. Stir in sauce, done!
I recommend to put the frozen peas in the last 5 to 10 minutes cooking time and on top, otherwise they become overcooked.
Due to diet issues, my family has to eat brown sticky rice (We live in Japan), but I would love to be able to make this in my rice cooker. Do you have any suggestions on how I might tweak this to work with brown rice?
I think your best bet is to check the manual for your machine and see what the suggested cooking time is for brown rice, or if it has a brown rice button, and then use that. The only issue you might have is that because brown rice generally takes much longer to cook you might end up overcooking the vegetables, but adding them later with the shrimp probably won’t be enough cooking time.
I’ve got mine cooking right now, but I am sure it will be fine. The only comments I have are (1) this is not the sort of disk in which I would leave the tail of the shrimp on. Pain in the neck to have to peel of the tail of each shrimp as they turn up. Also, while I used dried ground ginger, because my fresh ginger is frozen solid in the freezer….people who are not accustomed to cooking Asian, need to know that there is definitely a different flavor between fresh and dried/ground ginger. Better than nothing, but quite different. And, to the person who asked if it would be okay to use broccoli rather than peas….come on now! Be brave and try it. It will be just fine!
I keep my fresh ginger in the freezer and when I need some, I peel the skin to the amount I need and then use a zested to grate the ginger up. It’s super easy, and makes my ginger last a long time. I think I may have gotten that trick from this website? I dunno, but def WAY better than powdered ginger! – Best
Would this work with small chicken chunks?
Yep, as a matter of fact, I made a similar recipe using chicken and done in a skillet: One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice
How would I need to modify this to do a one pot meal on the stove. I don’t have a rice cooker anymore and it doesn’t seem like a good fit for an instant pot or slow cooker. Thanks!
You could do this one in an Instant Pot using the rice cooker function. As for stove top, I’d need to do some testing before offering exact instructions.
My rice cooker is a 10 cup Wolfgang Puck. It only has 2 functions-cook and keep warm. How long would I have to cook the teriyaki shrimp recipe
Follow the instructions as listed below except use the “cook” function where I used the “white rice” function. Those two should be the same. :)
Just a note to let you know that the Instant Pot rice function uses high pressure, so the shrimp should definitely be rubbery
Do you rinse the rise before hand?
I’ve never used a rice cooker, but I have an Instant Pot. Any ideas if it would work in a similar way?
We haven’t tried this one in an instant pot. But a previous reader noted: “I made this in my Instant Pot tonight and it turned out pretty good! What I did differently:
1) 1:1 water to rice ratio in the Instant Pot since there’s less water evaporation.
2) I just used the Rice button, which set the pot to 15 minutes. The shrimp turned out slightly overcooked, so next time I’ll probably set it to manual and try something shorter, like maybe 12 minutes.
3) I didn’t have any brown sugar so I just used pre-made teriyaki sauce, which turned out nice.”
Would using frozen broccoli work in place in the frozen peas?
Loved trying this easy recipe in my Cuisinart model. Perfect for having at the Ski Condo.
I can keep the ingredients in the little freezer there and cook this up after a great day on the slopes! Added extra Teriyaki Sauce.
Easy on the wallet.
Is this recipe too big for a 6 cup cooker?
If it’s a 6 cup cooked capacity, I would say that yes this is too big. It filled my 8 cup (cooked) / 4 cup (uncooked) rice capacity cooker to the top.
Will make again but we both thought shrimp needs some kind of seasoning on it when added to pot.
Hi. I haven’t made this recipe yet so that’s why I didn’t give it a rating yet. But lately I’ve been making a lot of your recipes and they are very good. I’m not the best cook but with your recipes I get more confidence and you have so many ideas. ( also I have your book ).
I have two questions. One is related to this recipe the other isn’t.
Can I use whole grain uncle bens rice ?
The second question is I have a slow cooker but barely use it. I have a 2 quart size slow cooker. With your slow cooker recipes can I use mine ?whats the amount you use?
Thank you :)
Hi Krystina! I would definitely stick to long grain white rice for this as whole grain rice requires different cooking times and a different amount of liquid. I use a 5 quart slow cooker, so unfortunately most of my slow cooker recipes would probably be too big for your slow cooker. :( Sorry to give bad news!
That’s ok thanks anyways. Will be making it tonight.
if you have a 2 quart slow cooker and the recipe is for a 5 quart, just cut the recipe in half
Easy and great tasting! Adding to the dinner rotation!!
This is really good. I made a few ‘tweaks” because I am a super busy mom (aka really lazy). This will go in my rotation.
-I used dried diced onion instead of fresh…same with ginger
-I used frozen peas and carrots and doubled it to 2 cups.
-I cooked 2 quick scrambled eggs and added them at the end.
I subbed quinoa for the rice and it worked perfectly! Tasty and easy, thanks.
So easy and yummy and much healthier than takeout! I loved being able to throw everything into my rice cooker. I didn’t trust Beth and thought between the frozen peas and wet defrosted shrimp, there would be too much liquid so I added a little less water. Lesson learned—trust Beth’s measurements!! Once I fixed it, it was delicious though. I threw in a little baby corn too which made it feel more take-out-y. ☺️
Comfort food to the max. Cooked this in my IP. Bumped it up to 2 c jasmine rice and 1 lb shrimp to feed my family of five. I stirred in three scrambled eggs when I added the sauce mix. Topped it with sriracha and sliced green onions. Heaven. Adding this to my weekly rotation…it’ll be perfect for those long work days when I’m tempted to come home and heat up a frozen pizza :)
Tried this recipe tonight, it is going to be one of our favourites! Loved it so Good!!!
This sounds really good, but I live alone and tend to make a meal Sunday nights as lunch for the week (I also can’t eat 4 servings at once lol). How would you reheat the leftovers?
Personally, I just reheat my leftovers in the microwave. I just start with a minute, stir, and add more time if needed.
Hey Beth, thanks for sharing this recipe. It looks delicious.i didn’t know how to make that.your tips will help me to make that correctly. Keep posting like this.good wishes.. :)
I love this site and have gotten so many great recipes from it—looking forward to trying this one! But I’ve got to ask—not just the site, but every restaurant/blog/cooking show of the past two decades:
WTF is so awesome about leaving shrimp tails on?
Is the idea that the shrimp look radically different this way? They don’t. What exactly is the perceived improvement? And most crucially, how has anyone, ever, decided that this minuscule visual difference is worth making the shrimp so much harder to eat? It’s one thing with boiled shrimp l, where the peeling is part of the dining process, and it’s always eaten by hand. But leaving tails on shrimp in dishes meant to be eaten with forks basically gives diners two options: (1) get your hands down in food they’re not meant to be in, or (2) leave tasty shrimp uneaten in the tail that gets sliced off by knife or fork. These options are both lousy.
So why? Why? Seriously, I would love one food pro—just one, anywhere—explain to me why leaving the tails on shrimp is a good thing to do. To me, it prioritizes a rather arbitrary visual difference over both flavor and ease of eating, which IMO is not the point of cooking.
Haha! I love it. There is actually a lot of info about this online (mostly discussions, rants, etc.) because it does annoy so many people! For some dishes, leaving the tail on can act as a little handle to eat the shrimp, for other recipes the shell and/or tail can actually add flavor to the dish (you can use shells and tails to make seafood broths, too), but sometimes it’s pure aesthetics. I think people don’t give enough credit to how much aesthetics add to the enjoyment of food, BUT if it’s greatly outweighed by the annoyance of eating the dish, it’s totally not worth it. But that’s always going to be a personal call. ;)
This did not turn out very well. As I expected they might be, the shrimp were so overcooked, they were inedible. But 12 minutes of boiling as the rice cooks will do that to shrimp (typically you only boil shrimp for 2-3 minutes). The rice flavor was fairly meh too. I think sauteering the onions and garlic and ginger would go a long way.
If I try this recipe again, would definitely want to separate out the shrimp and likely pan-sear it for extra flavor.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. One question. Can I use wild rice? Thanks
You won’t be able to just swap out the white rice for wild rice because wild rice needs a different cooking time and a different amount of liquid. So it would take some testing to get those measurements right, and then figure out how that might affect the other ingredients in the recipe, like the shrimp.
Hi Beth, I made this in my simple rice cooker ( only off/on buttons. It worked great. Also my shrimp were already cooked, but I made the recipe as written and shrimp were fine. Love this, so delicious! Thank you for budget wise tasty recipes!!
Awesome! Good to know that it worked with pre-cooked shrimp as well! :)
I, too, have an Aroma 8-cup rice cooker and I love it! It it 1.5 cups using the Aroma measuring cup, or a “real” 12 ounces in a standard measuring cup. Rice measuring cups are usually only 6 ounces, or ¾ of a regular cup.
We tried this tonight and really liked it! The only thing we’d change is maybe adding more (and smaller-sized) shrimp next time. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
My rice cooker is quite a bit too small to have this much in it at once. Would this one-pot style recipe be doable on the stove? Would you recommend any changes to make it work? Thanks!
Yes, I often cook one pot rice dishes on the stove and they turn out great. :) Just add the ingredients as instructed in this recipe, bring it up to a boil with a lid on, then as soon as it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it steam for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit for five minutes before lifting the lid.
What a tasty dish! The shrimp and the rice are so good together. A simple, yet extremely delicious and inexpensive dish to make. Definatelly a keeper!
I made this in my Instant Pot tonight and it turned out pretty good! What I did differently:
1) 1:1 water to rice ratio in the Instant Pot since there’s less water evaporation.
2) I just used the Rice button, which set the pot to 15 minutes. The shrimp turned out slightly overcooked, so next time I’ll probably set it to manual and try something shorter, like maybe 12 minutes.
3) I didn’t have any brown sugar so I just used pre-made teriyaki sauce, which turned out nice.
I made this with a few changes- I used a peas n’ carrots mix instead of all peas and also threw in some finely diced red bell pepper in place of the onion. I accidentally stirred in the shrimp instead of placing on top. I stirred in a scrambled egg after cooking to make it more like “fried rice.” We enjoyed it but the flavors were pretty flat. I didn’t taste any of the ginger/garlic- it was mostly soy sauce and the sirracha I added to mine. I will make again but try to think of other things to add to the sauce that’s added at the end- sesame oil? And maybe use chicken broth instead of water. It’s definitely simple to prepare!
Sesame oil would be awesome, and yes using broth will definitely deepen the flavor. :) You will definitely be missing a lot when you leave out the garlic and ginger. Also, keep in mind that if you add a lot of extra vegetables you will have more volume of food that you are trying to flavor with the same amount of sauce, so the flavor will be diluted.
This recipe sounds wonderful! Always looking for shrimp recipes. My rice cooker is very simple, not digital. Will this work okay in that cooker? Only has off and on buttons!
Since I only used the basic “white rice” function, it should also work with the most basic of rice cookers. :) That being said, every model cooks a little differently, so you may need to tinker with it a bit.
What other types of seafood would you recommend substituting for the shrimp? I think my stepdad would really like this recipe, but he’s allergic. Would something like scallops work?
Yes, I think scallops would also work well. Just like shrimp, they cook quickly, so that should be an easy swap. :)
I can’t wait to try this. I’m excited to see any other rice cooker recipies you come up with too! I have used this same cooker for several years, and just talked my adult kid into one for his kitchen. I like the brown rice function on the cooker not only for brown rice, but it is also perfect for wild rice, and I am working on how best to use it to cook dry beans (about 3/4 of a rice cooker cup dry equals a can when cooked). I use my Instant Pot for may things, but I still like this little appliance for its fool-proof rice cooking and small footprint.
this is intriguing because it seems easy, healthy, fast and tasty. but what is the texture like? I’m worried the rice would be kinda soggy if you add the sauce mix without cooking it a frying pan a bit. I don’t mind soft, but soggy is a turn off. can you elaborate on the texture of the finished dish a bit?
It’s definitely a bit more moist than plain cooked rice, but I didn’t find it mushy. This may vary a bit with your rice cooker, too. During one of my test runs I did cook the sauce with the rice and shrimp, replacing a small amount of water with the sauce, but I found the flavors to be more distinct and pronounced and the colors more appealing when adding it after, but cooking the sauce with the rice is always an option.
Would this work with a Zojirushi fuzzy logic rice cooker?
Unfortunately I’ve never made it with any other rice cooker than the Aroma brand cooker linked above.
I love the idea of rice cooker recipes! Any tips for rice cookers that seem to burn the bottom layer of the rice? I’ve tried several different types of rice and follow the instructions on rice to water ratio in the manual that came with it… unfortunately the rice still comes out burned at the bottom every time. :(
Hmm, I’m not quite sure why it would burn every time, as I haven’t had mine burn at all yet, so no chance to trouble shoot that. But definitely let the rice rest for about 10 minutes after the cooking cycle before opening the pot. That lets the steam pressure come down and helps moisture enter back into that bottom layer so that it doesn’t stick. It may still get a little browned on bottom, but it won’t be stuck or dry.
Wow! I never thought of cooking anything other than rice in a rice cooker. LOL. I would think the shrimp world over cook. I guess the short cook time works well.
Awesome! Looking forward to more rice cooker recipes. I suspect that if you chopped other meats small (ie, minced) then you might be able to replace the shrimp.
This series is going to be invaluable to me. Thank you! I can not wait to try this particular recipe out. It sounds absolutely delicious.
Where did you get the dish(es) you are eating out of???? So cute must have!
I think I got that from CB2. :)
i just wanted to ask the same question!
Think this may be it https://www.cb2.com/take-out-serving-bowl/s102243
Made it w/out the shrimp and it was quick, easy and yummy. More veggie rice cooker recipes please!
Did you change anything else? I’m not a fan of shrimp and was curious about making this without it! Good to know it turned out well for you :)
Love the takeout-style dish you put it in, who’s the manufacturer?
I believe I got it from CB2. :)
This sounds so good! I’d like to make it with brown jasmine rice. I can figure out the rice:water ratio, but would you change the way you prepare the other ingredients (not thawing the shrimp first, adding the frozen peas later in the process)? I have a very basic, non-digital rice cooker .
Yes, since it would need to cook much longer than the white rice it will definitely affect how the other ingredients are cooked as well. I would need to do some testing to find out the best process, though.
I’m thinking beef or chicken would work in this too. I don’t care to eat shrimp. Maybe 1” chunks of raw meat would work? I just made teriyaki steak last night lol, and fried rice so the one pot method sounds good!
Shrimp cooks very quickly – I don’t think chicken or beef would cook – you’re just steaming it for less than 30 minutes.
Chicken definitely takes longer to cook than shrimp, perhaps even when it’s in small pieces because they just have a different texture. In the booklet that came with my rice cooker it has suggested cooking times for different types of proteins, and most of them other than fish were much longer than the time needed to cook the rice. So I think it would be a bit tricky to use raw chicken in this recipe.
Buying my rice cooker right now! Can’t wait to make this recipe! Thank you again :)
Would this work with brown rice? Maybe a pressure cooker?
To use brown rice you will need more water and a longer cooking time, so it would definitely need some testing to get the ratios correct. Same with the pressure cooker.
The rice is that a “rice cooker” cup or a standard cup measuring cup?
Also I could use any type of frozen veggies? I don’t like just peas!
I used a standard measuring cup. You could use other vegetables, just keep in mind that if they are larger pieces you may want to thaw them first to ensure that they cook through. Peas are so small that they thaw and cook through extremely quickly.