Make Your Rice Cooker a Multitasker with Steam Cooking

It may be called a rice cooker, but it's really a kitchen must-have with multiple functions that stretch far beyond grains.  Depending on the model you buy, your rice cooker could do everything from cooking a simple rice dish to making a hot, hearty breakfast of steel cut oats or cooking a tortilla soup for dinner. But even with the most basic rice cooker models, there’s an often overlooked steamy side that will keep this small appliance in regular rotation.

With steam cooking, you can cook a variety of vegetables and meats with the steam basket. So don’t store that accessory away; use it to make a quick, fresh side dish of veggies. Or simplify a weeknight meal and make an entire dinner, like steamed chicken and rice, all in the rice cooker. Here’s how to do it.

Steam Solo …
Steam foods without anything cooking in the pot below by adding water instead. Be sure to follow your rice cooker’s manual for additional specific instructions and measurements.

1. Pour recommended amount of water into cooking pot.
2. Add food to the included steamer basket.
3. Place steam basket on top of cooking pot, close the lid and start the cooking cycle.

… Or Make an Entire Meal
Steam food while rice is cooking for an easy, one-pot meal. Refer to your specific rice cooker’s manual for more details.

1. Measure rice and water and add to pot.
2. Add food to steamer basket and place on top of cooking pot.
3. Close the lid and start the cooking cycle.

Test Kitchen Tips

• The more food added to the steamer basket, the longer the steam time should be.
• Smaller pieces of food will steam faster than larger pieces, so be sure to cut food into similar-sized pieces.
• Give rice a flavor boost by substituting an equal amount of chicken/beef/vegetable broth for water.
• Use a kitchen timer when steaming food while also cooking rice.
• Some food will need to be added when cooking starts, or further into the cooking time. See your rice cooker’s manual for specific cooking times.

VEGETABLES
Create that tender crisp you can only get from steaming by using the included basket for your rice cooker.

POULTRY AND SEAFOOD
Make dinner in one cycle by cooking your proteins in the steam basket.