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!!
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 :)