10 Creative Ways To Use Your Rice Cooker

Once known as a staple only in Asian households, rice cookers have gained quite a bit of popularity among Americans. They were bound to become a kitchen essential for a lot more of us, given that cooking rice in rice cookers is a low-effort task. While people have given this appliance credit for cooking rice, you might not know about all the other things you could make in your rice cooker.

For instance, were you aware that you can boil eggs and steam veggies and dumplings in your rice cooker? And that's the tip of the iceberg — you can also use it to make delicious cakes, frittatas, homemade jam, and much more. Here, we'll explore some amazing and creative ways to use a rice cooker so it doesn't have to sit on your kitchen counter when you aren't making rice. For those of you who haven't bought one yet, this will make you realize that a rice cooker is a good purchase even if you don't make a lot of rice. 

Many of you probably make one-pot pasta dishes, but you may not use your rice cooker for them. That shouldn't be the case, because you can absolutely cook pasta in your rice cooker. In fact, there are a few advantages to making one-pot pasta in your rice cooker — the most obvious being that you can rely on the appliance to cook everything without having to check on it continuously. Here's something more that'll make you happy: You can easily make mac and cheese. Also, it's great for those extra-hot days when you wouldn't want to stand near the stovetop with a boiling pot of pasta.

To prepare a delicious one-pot pasta dish in your rice cooker, throw all the ingredients (such as the pasta, sauce, salt, and garlic) into the pot and cook on the regular setting. This is a fantastic option for when you're using store-bought sauce. Or, you can boil the pasta first and then toss in cream and cheese, which is a great way to make creamy one-pot pasta or mac and cheese. Lastly, if you'd like to use tomato sauce made from scratch, you can prepare that first in the rice cooker as well. 

We bet you didn't know that for a quick and delicious cake, you can grab your rice cooker. A rice cooker works similarly to an oven, and so, you can bake a cake in it, as long as you've got the batter right. This is a particularly handy option for days when you really need to make a homemade cake, but don't want the oven heating up the whole house. And for those of you who don't have an oven but have a rice cooker, now you won't need to rely on store-bought cakes if you don't want to.

To do this, start by preparing the batter as usual. You can use any boxed cake mix of your choice to whip a quick batter, or you can let the baker in you shine and make it from scratch. Also, make sure to grease the pot with butter and then dust it lightly with flour so that the cake doesn't stick. Now comes the crucial part — baking the cake the right way and for the right amount of time. We recommend baking your cake on the "cook" setting for 30-45 minutes so that it turns out moist. That said, do start checking the doneness of the cake at the 30-minute mark. You don't want to overbake it.

To be fair, making chili on a stovetop isn't difficult — though you may have to stir it now and then. Generally, though, you can let the chili cook without constantly keeping an eye on it.

If using meat, you'll have to brown it first in the rice cooker as you usually would when making chili on your stovetop — or brown the aromatics and veggies for a vegetarian/vegan version. And this is the perfect time to add spices to your homemade chili, which will give it a deeper flavor. After that, pour in the rest of the ingredients, like beans, diced tomatoes, water, and tomato paste, and let your chili cook for 30 minutes — that should do the trick.

If you love steamed vegetables but haven't been making them because you don't have a steamer, we've got good news for you — you can steam them in your rice cooker. Since most rice cookers already come with a steamer tray, the entire process is much easier. But even if you have an old model that doesn't have one of those, you can still steam veggies in this appliance with a few simple tricks.

First, let's understand how you can steam veggies in your rice cooker if you have a steamer tray. You'll start by adding water to the cooker's pot, then turn the appliance on and let the water boil for a few minutes. Meanwhile, cut the veggies and get them ready for steaming, but make sure they're all cut to the same size. Once your veggies are prepped and the water has boiled, place them on the steamer tray and steam for 10-12 minutes with the appliance on the "cook" setting.

If you don't have a steamer tray, cook rice in the cooker first as usual, and then add the raw veggies to a bowl, place that on top of the cooked rice, and then turn the cooker off. The vegetables will cook perfectly with the steam that's released from the rice.

Using a rice cooker to boil eggs is sort of a no-brainer. There are two ways you can go about it. First, simply pour water into the rice cooker pot and add as many whole eggs as you'd like, then turn the appliance on and let it do its work. We'd recommend adding ½ teaspoon of baking soda to the water as well, as that's a hack to easily peel hard-boiled eggs. If you have a rice cooker with a timer, you can set it while boiling the eggs and based on your desired doneness.

The second way to boil eggs in your rice cooker is to arrange them on the steamer tray, add water to the pot, and turn it on. Here, the steam will cook the eggs. In fact, this method is slightly more foolproof, as it reduces the chances of the eggs cracking, which is quite likely when you boil them the usual way. Important: When done, transfer the eggs to ice water to stop them from continuing to cook. Keep in mind that you'll need to steam the eggs for around 20 minutes for hard-boiled doneness, and 13-15 minutes for soft-boiled.

If you're one of those people who strongly believe that oatmeal is the best breakfast option out there, you'll be happy to know you can make the creamiest oatmeal in your rice cooker. This appliance will make the entire process hands-off, which is especially great for those of you who want to prepare a quick breakfast with minimal effort. 

There's no rocket science to making oatmeal in your rice cooker. All you need to do is add as much oatmeal as you'd like to the pot along with water, salt, and any sweetener of your choice. A good ratio is 1¾ cup of water to every 1 cup of old-fashioned oats. Then turn the appliance on. Of course, you can skip the sweetener for savory oatmeal. Also, you can add fruits like apples, pears, or even berries to the pot so they can cook along with the oatmeal and soften up while giving this breakfast dish an amazing fruity flavor. We'd also recommend including spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom to sweet, fruity oatmeal to make it tastier.

If you love making curries, you're in luck. Because it doesn't matter whether it's a vegetarian or meat-based curry, they'll both turn out pretty well in your rice cooker.    

One question that might cross your mind: What if I need to sear the meat separately before adding it to the curry? You can use your rice cooker for that, too, particularly if it has sauté or brown settings — add oil into the pot, then sear the meat in it and take it out once its surface has browned. After that, you can sauté the aromatics in the same oil, then add the remaining ingredients, spices, and meat, and let it all cook until the dish is ready. 

For a vegetarian or vegan curry, you'll need to prepare the curry base as usual, then add vegetables or plant-based protein and let them simmer in the curry for a bit so they can soak up all that flavor.

Yes, it's indeed possible to make a delicious frittata in your rice cooker. In fact, we'd highly recommend it. This appliance makes the process hands-free and low-effort, and you won't have to constantly keep an eye on the frittata while it cooks, unlike when you're making it on the stovetop. Plus, you can use up all those random leftovers in your refrigerator to make your frittata. It's a win-win overall.

To make a frittata in your rice cooker, you'll first grease the pot generously, then set the appliance to "cook" for a few minutes to heat the oil. Meanwhile, you can mix eggs with any seasonings you like, along with the leftovers. If you don't have leftovers or aren't particularly inclined toward adding them to your frittata, you can also use fresh veggies or deli meats instead. Once the oil is hot, add the egg mixture to the pot and cook until it's set. Consider topping the frittata with cheese before putting the lid on the rice cooker so that it melts well. 

Alternatively, you can make a frittata cake. For that, you'll have to add self-raising flour (or all-purpose flour and baking powder) to the egg mixture and then cook it the same way. Also, remember that you don't need to flip the regular frittata or the frittata cake.

Since you can steam vegetables in your rice cooker, it's obviously possible to steam dumplings in it, too. But here's something that will pleasantly surprise you — you can also fry dumplings in this appliance. Of course, you can't deep-fry them, but you can shallow-fry them, similar to how you'd pan-fry dumplings on the stovetop. 

Steaming dumplings in a rice cooker is simple. You just need to add water to the cooker's pot and let it boil. Then grease the steamer tray, arrange the dumplings on it, place the tray in the rice cooker, put the lid on, and let them cook for 20-30 minutes. It's ideal to check if they're ready at the 20-minute mark, so that they don't turn into mush.

When it comes to shallow frying the dumplings, you'll start by adding oil to the rice cooker pot and letting it heat up for a few minutes on the "cook" setting. After that, arrange the dumplings in the pot in a single layer, place the lid on the rice cooker, and let them cook for roughly 10 minutes. 

We don't say this lightly: Homemade food is generally better than store-bought. And that includes jam. So why not switch to homemade jam altogether? It's preservative-free and more tasty. And you can easily make jam in your rice cooker; you might not even have to stir it (or stir very little). Unlike on the stovetop, where you definitely need to stir it at certain times. 

Add any fruit of your choice (like berries, apples, pears, pineapples, or anything else), and some sugar to the rice cooker pot, and turn it on. The jam should be ready in 30-40 minutes, depending on how much fruit you've used. Also, keep in mind that you can use fresh or frozen fruit to make your jam; adding other ingredients, such as spices or lemon juice, enhances its flavor. In fact, we'd highly recommend dropping in a little lemon juice if working with low-acidic fruits, as it will balance the sweetness and help thicken the jam.