What "whole meal" can I cook in my rice cooker?

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brownvs
brownvs Posts: 40 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Please comment! Any thoughts on a *whole meal* that I can make using a rice cooker? I have chicken, rice, eggs, chorizo, mushrooms, coconut milk, and green peas (and assorted spices).

I was considering a frittata, but I don't like frittatas, haha.

Or alternatively, if I am adventurous, adding chicken to http://www.restaurantwidow.com/2006/12/rice_cooker_des.html.

Or if I am desperate I suppose I can make jambalaya http://www.8asians.com/2011/10/27/cooking-with-your-rice-cooker/ but I don't particularly love jambalaya either and I have this worry that it will be mushy.

My *dream* is to just put a bunch of stuff in the rice cooker and arrive home from the gym to a fully cooked meal this evening. And also have it not be mushy. I don't even care if it's healthy or not, I just need something that will be available quickly this evening.

Thanks in advance for all your help!
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Replies

  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
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    Please comment! Any thoughts on a *whole meal* that I can make using a rice cooker? I have chicken, rice, eggs, chorizo, mushrooms, coconut milk, and green peas (and assorted spices).

    I was considering a frittata, but I don't like frittatas, haha.

    Or alternatively, if I am adventurous, adding chicken to http://www.restaurantwidow.com/2006/12/rice_cooker_des.html.

    Or if I am desperate I suppose I can make jambalaya http://www.8asians.com/2011/10/27/cooking-with-your-rice-cooker/ but I don't particularly love jambalaya either and I have this worry that it will be mushy.

    My *dream* is to just put a bunch of stuff in the rice cooker and arrive home from the gym to a fully cooked meal this evening. And also have it not be mushy. I don't even care if it's healthy or not, I just need something that will be available quickly this evening.

    Thanks in advance for all your help!

    You could use your Rice Cooker as a crock pot with just a little more monitoring to start. Any crock pot recipe should work. There are many recipes in the Recipe section here on MFP. In boarding school we'd place all our hot soup/pot roast/stew ingredients in the rice cooker ~> Allow the rice cooker to heat up to maximum temperature ~> Then manually change the dial to warm. If you leave it at this setting and head for the gym or work in the morning before you depart, dinner should be ready to serve upon your return.

    ETA: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/864332-crock-pot-slow-cooker-recipes
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Did yours come with a steamer tray? Is it one of the rice cookers that has a "slow cooker" setting? Is it a "fuzzy logic" rice cooker?

    My most successful meals in my "dumb" rice cooker (only has one setting, no steamer tray) is to put in, for example:

    1 cup dry rice (or lentils or quinoa)
    3/4 cup FROZEN veggies (like peas and carrots... whatever I have)
    4 oz. leftover/pre-cooked chicken
    1/8 cup raisins
    curry powder -- amount depends on your preference. A teaspoon or two maybe
    1.5 cups water (or whatever is a little more than you normally would for the amount of rice you used)
    1 teaspoon chicken broth powder, if desired

    Press start, run errands. It'll take maybe half an hour to cook, then it'll switch over to the warm setting for a couple hours.
  • Danalynn39
    Danalynn39 Posts: 38
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    I just bought a rice cooker/steamer/slow cooker at costco last week for less than 30 bucks. I was also considering what I can cook. I'm thinking of using the steamer tray to make veggies, tilapia or shrimp and rice in the bottom tonight. I'm not sure how it will do. But I workout at home so I am hoping I can come up with something. Your ideas on jambalaya are great too. Thank you. :)
  • brownvs
    brownvs Posts: 40 Member
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    Did yours come with a steamer tray? Is it one of the rice cookers that has a "slow cooker" setting? Is it a "fuzzy logic" rice cooker?

    My most successful meals in my "dumb" rice cooker (only has one setting, no steamer tray) is to put in, for example:

    1 cup dry rice (or lentils or quinoa)
    3/4 cup FROZEN veggies (like peas and carrots... whatever I have)
    4 oz. leftover/pre-cooked chicken
    1/8 cup raisins
    curry powder -- amount depends on your preference. A teaspoon or two maybe
    1.5 cups water (or whatever is a little more than you normally would for the amount of rice you used)
    1 teaspoon chicken broth powder, if desired

    Press start, run errands. It'll take maybe half an hour to cook, then it'll switch over to the warm setting for a couple hours.

    Thank you! I'm trying some variation of this tonight based on your suggestion...I had to make a lot of substitutions based on need (no raisins, my frozen veggies were some sort of corn medly, I have no idea if the cooked chicken was even edible since I just cooked it), and for some reason I went nuts with extra spices, so we'll see if it tastes like edible food at the end.

    But it's a great idea, thank you.

    And yes, I have a not-smart rice cooker (no tray, no other settings - just cook or warm). :)

    Thanks to the others who posted (Gemma)! I need to look through those crockpot recipes - I got started but then got caught up.
  • LadyMustard
    LadyMustard Posts: 104 Member
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    If you go to the spanish section of the international isle of your grocery store, they have all sorts of different kinds of yellow rice that come in different flavors. I found one that came with all the seasonings and four different types of seafood in it. Just dump it in the cooker with the recommended amount of water and hit cook. If you want, you can add the chunks of chicken or veggies to it to make it into a main dish. Just be sure to watch the sodium on them.
    Some flavors I've seen:
    ~Saffron Yellow Rice (very tasty, has zest without the spicyness)
    ~Seafood Medley
    ~Saffron Yellow Rice with Peppers
    ~Chicken and Veggies
    ~Beans and Rice (has the beans already mixed in)
  • brownvs
    brownvs Posts: 40 Member
    Options
    Did yours come with a steamer tray? Is it one of the rice cookers that has a "slow cooker" setting? Is it a "fuzzy logic" rice cooker?

    My most successful meals in my "dumb" rice cooker (only has one setting, no steamer tray) is to put in, for example:

    1 cup dry rice (or lentils or quinoa)
    3/4 cup FROZEN veggies (like peas and carrots... whatever I have)
    4 oz. leftover/pre-cooked chicken
    1/8 cup raisins
    curry powder -- amount depends on your preference. A teaspoon or two maybe
    1.5 cups water (or whatever is a little more than you normally would for the amount of rice you used)
    1 teaspoon chicken broth powder, if desired

    Press start, run errands. It'll take maybe half an hour to cook, then it'll switch over to the warm setting for a couple hours.

    Wonderful! Amazing success. I will remember this recipe in 3 months when I start working 80-hours a week and have no actual time to cook. Thank you for the great idea. It came out perfectly, just in time for the fiance to make it home, and with leftovers for tomorrow.

    Couldn't ask for a better recipe. I added a little chili garlic sauce (the kind you get from Asian markets) and it gave the recipe a nice kick.
  • JenniferNoll
    JenniferNoll Posts: 367 Member
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    pollo con arroz

    chicken
    rice
    peas. Look up a recipe on the net for the spices, throw everything in the rice cooker. Dinnertime!
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,303 Member
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    bump for later. I have a fancy schmancy rice cooker with steamer basket but I also kinda live a low-carb life so havent used it in eons.
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,303 Member
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    pollo con arroz

    chicken
    rice
    peas. Look up a recipe on the net for the spices, throw everything in the rice cooker. Dinnertime!

    is the chicken pre-cooked?
  • Danalynn39
    Danalynn39 Posts: 38
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    I went home and used my rice cooker for the first time. It's super awesome. And easy. I added brown rice in the bottom. Shrimp and broccoli in the top. My family wanted fried rice. So I let it all go until the beeper went off. And then dumped it into the bottom where the rice was. Whipped two eggs in a bowl and put in the microwave during the last bit. Added it with Braggs Aminos. And they loved it! No frying or anything. And turned out great. I used frozen peeled shrimp. I also have used steamer bags at work. You can cook fish and chicken from raw. So if you are looking for something to cook chicken from raw without heating the kitchen or at work. Use the steamer bags from the grocery aisle. They are awesome! Good luck everyone on your journey!
  • jbonow1231
    jbonow1231 Posts: 75 Member
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    Just to note a lot of "instant rice" type meals have a really high level of sodium, so - I'd caution about eating them a lot.
  • JenniferNoll
    JenniferNoll Posts: 367 Member
    Options
    pollo con arroz

    chicken
    rice
    peas. Look up a recipe on the net for the spices, throw everything in the rice cooker. Dinnertime!

    is the chicken pre-cooked?

    no. everything gets cooked in the rice cooker.
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
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    bump :)
  • Lialena
    Lialena Posts: 45 Member
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    I make soup in my rice cooker. I eyeball the amounts, but it looks something like this:

    1 scoop rice (for a scoop I use the little measuring cup that came with the cooker, but it's not a measuring-cup cup, it's much less)
    1/4 cup carrots
    1/4 cup celery
    1/4 cup corn
    1/4-1/2 cup leftover cooked chicken (optional)
    2-4 packets or cubes of beef seasoning (I use OXO) to taste
    Garlic powder and black pepper to taste
    A little butter, roughly 1 pats worth (optional)

    Put the veggies, chicken, butter, rice, 1 of the beef packets (hold the others back for now) and other spices in the rice cooker. Cover with with water, more then you'd use for just rice. I usually have about 1-2 inches of water above my ingredients before I stir.
    Stir a couple times and pop the lid on. Check on it in about 10-15 minutes. I let mine cook for 20-25 min.
    When just about done, taste it to see if you think the flavour is to your liking. I add the other 2-3 OXO packets I mentioned one at a time until I'm happy with the flavour.

    If you want pasta in the soup as well you'll want to add it about 8-10 minutes before the soup should be done, and possibly add a little more water.

    Depending on the size of your rice cooker you may need to use more ingredients and more water for it to have enough weight to let you start it. The above is fine for our small cooker, but isn't heavy enough in our larger one.

    A note of caution: Due to the calories of the rice, meat, OXO, and the pat of butter, the above is not that great calorie-wise. I think last time I worked it out a serving was 340 cals. The above makes 2 servings.
  • JJordon
    JJordon Posts: 857 Member
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    Rice, beans (hopefully black or kidney), green peppers, onions, garlic. Yum.
  • RM10003
    RM10003 Posts: 316 Member
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    It's not dinner, but I love using the rice cooker to make steel cut oatmeal. We have a slightly fancy one so I use the "porridge" setting. No worries about boiling over or sticking to the bottom, just start it and walk away.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Wonderful! Amazing success. I will remember this recipe in 3 months when I start working 80-hours a week and have no actual time to cook. Thank you for the great idea. It came out perfectly, just in time for the fiance to make it home, and with leftovers for tomorrow.

    Couldn't ask for a better recipe. I added a little chili garlic sauce (the kind you get from Asian markets) and it gave the recipe a nice kick.

    You are VERY welcome. I love my rice cooker. Perfect rice every time, as well as simple, quick whole meals for when I don't feel like thinking too hard about dinner. The recipe I listed was for a "quick mock-curry rice" but obviously it's easy to make variations, if you have other ingredients on hand or preferences.

    If your chicken/meat is uncooked, you can put cubed raw chicken in the bottom, press start, stir and cook that for 10 minutes or so with just a little oil, then proceed with the rest of the basic recipe once the chicken is fully cooked.
  • KarmaxKitty
    KarmaxKitty Posts: 901 Member
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    bump
  • purple_orchid
    purple_orchid Posts: 129 Member
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    Saving, thank-you
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,303 Member
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    Any idea how long I need to cook chicken in a rice cooker for it to be ready?

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