Ninja Foodi Rice

Ok, we’ll admit, when we first saw the ninja foodi, we thought it was just another kitchen gadget. Boy, were we wrong! We can’t seem to be able to stop using it. Most of our dishes come out even better when we throw them in the ninja foodi. One thing we’ve found that has been greatly improved is the quality of our rice. Ninja foodi rice is so simple to make, but it really compliments any dish when it’s done right! Read on to see how easy it can be! 

What is a Ninja Foodi?

The ninja foodi is an electrically powered kitchen unit that combines several cooking styles to give great results. It acts as a pressure cooker. This allows it to cook at a temperature higher than boiling, meaning food cooks quicker. Because it is pressurized, it also forces moisture into whatever you are cooking.

And it doesn’t end there.

The ninja foodi also acts as an air fryer, so it can also make food lovely and crispy depending on the dish. French fries in a ninja foodi are one of our favorites! 

Is the Ninja Foodi also a Rice Cooker?

Indeed it is! Anything you can do in a fryer or pressure cooker you can also do in a ninja foodi. In fact, because of the way it cooks, you’ll find that you get perfect fluffy rice every time as it is less likely to dry out, which is the usual problem when cooking rice using conventional methods.

How Much Water Do I put in my Ninja Foodi Rice?

This is the simplest part. We get annoyed when we see rice recipes that have you working on ratios and doing complex maths…

We just want to cook white rice! Grrrr.

Here’s the good news with a ninja foodi. It’s about as easy as it gets. Simply add one cup of water for every cup of rice that you use. 

Yep, it really is that simple.

Can you Make Ninja Foodi Rice with Brown Rice?

Of course, you can! There isn’t that much difference between white and brown rice, except brown rice has more fiber. This means the grains taste a little firmer. People often make the mistake of overcooking brown rice to try and get it to the same consistency as white rice. 

Our ninja foodi rice recipe works well for both white and brown rice.

How to Make Ninja Foodi Rice

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a long recipe that bores your socks off talking about rinsing rice, soaking rice, water running clear, and all that jazz! 

Why?

Because we are busy people, and you are too, we haven’t got time for all that fooling around. 

Ninja foodi rice is supposed to be simple, and that’s how we will keep it. Here’s what we do.

We add two cups of rice to our ninja foodi. That’s simple enough so far, right? From there, it is just a case of adding the right amount of water. 

Now, here’s the trick.

Make sure that you use the same cup to measure the water that you used to measure your rice. It doesn’t matter whether it is a big cup, a small cup, or an egg cup! It is all about proportion.

Did you read what we said above about how much water you need to make ninja foodi rice?

Use the same amount of water as you did rice. You’ll get ninja foodi rice recipes coming out with all sorts of funky advice about quarter cups and what not… This is not the way. 

From there, it’s simply a case of whacking a lid on, turning the steam valve to ‘sealing’, and leaving it on ‘high’ for two minutes before doing a natural release over 10 minutes.

When you take the lid off, you should find that you’ve got nice rice, grains all separated with a  few little dots of air bubbles at the top. That means it’s worked perfectly! 

Tips and Tricks

Ok, this recipe requires you to be familiar with the settings on your ninja foodi.

• We find that adding just a tiny bit of salt makes the rice less bland. It is entirely optional whether you do this step.
• Ignore people who say ‘rinse the rice’. This releases starches that will make your rice sticky. Just pop it in straight out of the pack.
• If you want to impart a bit of flavor, you go right on ahead. We find that a teaspoon of cumin seeds, a pinch of saffron, coriander, and turmeric work well.
• One lovely idea is to add a small finely chopped onion. Perfect ninja foodi onion rice? Yes, please! 
• Another great idea if you want rice with a little more flavor is to add some stock or broth. Beef broth is our favorite!

Conclusion

When we told you our ninja foodi rice recipe was simple, we really meant it. But that’s kind of the point. Ninja foodi cooking is meant to make life easy, not hard. We sometimes deliberately make too much. That way, we can use the cold rice the next day in Chinese chicken fried rice! It is our little ninja foodi hack. Have you got any kitchen hacks that you want to share? How do you find the ninja foodi? Give us some top tips in the comments section below. We love hearing from you guys!