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Friends, are you up for a simple, cozy, and flavorful Thai recipe? Introducing Instant Pot Sticky Rice with Green Curry Sauce!
This is honestly one of the BEST rice dishes I’ve ever had, and yet it’s super easy! I first tried this combination of sticky rice with green curry at a Thai restaurant called Dok Boua a few months ago. It took me a few tries before perfecting the sauce, which is now one of my favorite green sauces. It’s spicy, creamy, and flavored with basil, cilantro, mint, and lemongrass!
Not talented with chopsticks? This recipe is definitely for you! The sticky rice makes it 100 times easier to take big portions of rice using chopsticks.
Sticky rice, also called glutinous rice or sweet rice, is usually steamed instead of boiled like regular rice, making it fluffy and moist. I first tried soaking it for one night and then steaming it using a colander placed on top of a pot with boiling water (as I don’t have a bamboo steamer). The thing is, it took over 50 minutes to cook! If you have a bamboo steamer, the cooking time may be quicker, probably around 20 minutes.
To make things easier and quicker, I cooked the rice in my Instant Pot using the steam rack and a bowl with the rice and water placed on top. The result is perfectly cooked rice that is tender, fluffy, and moist. Did I mention it’s ready in just 25 minutes?
Now, onto the sauce, which is magical. Can we call it the magical green sauce?
The base is to combine full-fat coconut milk with fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, and mint. Then comes lime juice for freshness, green curry paste for spiciness, and finally, lemongrass and ginger for a citrusy flavor. You blend everything in a blender until smooth.
To serve, divide the sticky rice into serving plates and pour some warm magical green sauce on top. That’s it!
If you want to make a more substantial meal, feel free to add some sautéed tofu, tempeh, or roasted vegetables on the side. In my opinion, there is not much to add here except maybe a few leaves of basil or mint, as this dish is already delicious on its own.
If you are into Thai food and like comforting, spicy (and carb-y) dishes, you are going to love this! The sticky rice has some chewiness and absorbs the incredibly flavorful green curry sauce.
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Instant Pot Sticky Rice with Green Curry Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
Sticky Rice
- 3/4 cup white sticky rice
- 3/4 cup water
Thai Green Curry Sauce
- 1 and 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (see notes)
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil
- 2 tbsp loosely packed fresh mint
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp green curry paste
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 lemongrass stalk cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
Sticky Rice
- Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot liner and place the steam rack in the liner.
- Rinse the sticky rice. In a glass bowl that can fit in the liner, combine the sticky rice with the 3/4 cup of water. Place the bowl on the steam rack. Close the lid and set the valve on the "Sealed" position.
- Pressure cook for 14 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the sauce.
- After 14 minutes, let the pressure release naturally for 10-12 minutes. Release the remaining pressure by turning the valve to "Venting" position. You can keep the lid closed to keep the rice warm if you are not ready to serve it yet.
- To serve, place about 1/3 cup of rice on a plate and pour the warm green curry sauce on top (or on the side). Top with some basil and mint leaves and serve immediately. You can serve this as is, or with roasted vegetables on the side.
Thai Green Curry Sauce
- Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until very smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the sauce to a saucepan and heat until warm over medium heat.
Notes
Nutrition
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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Oh my! I LOVE Thai green curry! Was never successful at making it at home though, never tasted like it should. I have given up on making it, but given it’s your recipe I will have to try it 🙂
PS: which paste did you use? I find that the ones from the supermarket are just spicy and not flavourful. Thanks!
The one I use is from “Cock Brand”, I’m not sure it’s available everywhere. The ingredients are: green chili, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, salt, galanga, cumin, coriander.
If you can’t find it maybe try this one from Thai Kitchen, the ingredients are very similar.
Hope this helps! 🙂
Very nice recipe, I want to try this with GABA brown rice, I’ll search for the steaming instructions for that.
Hey Thomas, today I tried cooking sticky rice using my Instant Pot according to your recipe. It turned out great! Just perfect! Instead of water, I used coconut milk and a pinch of salt to make a traditional snack from Indonesia called” lemper ayam” (sticky rice with chicken filling). It turned out yummy! I am so excited to know that I don’t have to spend too much work and time in preparing the rice. Thank you Thomas. Next I am going to try your yummy looking green sauce. Keep up the good work!
I’m glad the recipe worked well for you! I also used to make sticky rice the traditional way and it was long and not easy.
Cooking in coconut milk sounds delicious!
What pressure do you use on the Instant Pot? Low, high or just ‘steam’? I’m looking forward to trying this!
I simply press the “Pressure Cook” button and then set the time. I guess it is not high or low, it’s in normal mode.
I cook my sticky rice in the rice cooker with one part rice one part liquid but steamed must be better. I have an IP but haven’t tried the pot in pot method yet as I am not sure what pot I can use inside. Like another small pot? does it have t o be metal? Can I use a ceramic bowl? I am really scared of explosions. I have a bunch of Gu dessert pots too, I wonder if I can use them inside the IP too.
I use a glass bowl and nothing exploded, yet. I think ceramic will work too.
So surprisingly easy and delicious!
Thanks Anna!