Instant Pot Wild Rice Pilaf, a delicious winter pilaf made with wild rice, cranberries, nuts cooked in herbs, broth and apple juice. A perfect dish infused with so many flavors and textures to go with any meal. A satisfying rice dish for the winter. Healthy. Vegan. Gluten-Free. 1 minute Video Recipe.

Why you will love this Instant Pot Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe?

Name: Instant Pot Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 26 min
Total time: 48 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup Lundberg Wildrice Blend; 1.5 cup Vegetable Broth; 3/4 cup Apple Juice; 2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar; 2 tablespoon Olive Oil; 1 Onion, diced; 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning or fresh herbs; 1/2 cup Crasins; 1/2 cup Pecans; 3 Garlic cloves, minced; 2 spings of fresh thyme for garnishing; salt to taste if required.; 1 bay leaf (optional)

First, it's a one pot pressure cooker recipe.
Packed with sweet and nutty flavors and lots of textures.
Easy peasy to make, just saute the onions and herbs and the rest is all dump and stir.
A perfect addition to the winter table to when you want to add a special touch.
Healthy because it's packed with the goodness of wild rice.
Makes a perfect warm side dish or cold salad.
Great for potlucks.
Lefts overs can be used to make stuffing or soup.
Vegan and Gluten-Free.

New to Instant Pot check out how we make the perfect rice everytime in our Instant Pots with consistent results, here. Plus tips on how to avoid Instant Pot burn message, here.

Can I make this on the stove top ?

Absolutely yes, if you don't have an electric pressure we'd highly recommend that you get one. If you are still wondering if an electric pressure cooker is worth it. Check out how it can make your life easy, here. However in the mean time you can make this recipe in one pot on your stove top.

What does this Wild Rice Pilaf taste like?

This Wild Rice pilaf is a medley of a lot of flavors and textures.

The wild rice blend adds to just perfect chewy textures and nutty flavors. The cranberries and apple juice add the sweetness while the apple cider vinegar adds the tart flavors. The nuts add the perfect crunch while the herbs pack it with all the aroma. It's just the right medley of sweet, tart and savory flavors for sure.

Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf Ingredients

Wild Rice Blend - I prefer to use the wild rice blend instead of just plain wild rice as it's offers a lot of textures. I like to use the Lundberg blend as it's made of Long Grain Brown Rice, Sweet Brown Rice, Wild Rice, Whole Grain Wehani Rice & Whole Grain Black Japonica Rice. You can source it from any grocery store or Amazon.
Cranberries - Use the dried cranberries for this recipe and not the fresh ones. The juices from the fresh cranberries alter the taste and the liquid ratio when cooking this rice. Plus they will make the rice super tart.
Apple Juice - Adds just the right amount of mild sweetness in the pilaf.
Apple Cider Vinegar - A little apple cider vinegar goes a long way in the this recipe. Just to add a little tartness. If you are not fond of tart flavors then feel free to skip this however you will need to maintain the rice to liquid ratio addressed below.
Vegetable Broth - Vegetable broth always enhances the flavors of anything you are cooking compared to water so if you have broth handy use that or else water is fine too. I use a low sodium broth and don;t feel the need to add salt to this recipe.
Olive Oil - You will need this to saute the seasonings and onions and also toasting the rice makes the rice less sticky.
Onion - Adding onions to any pilaf just takes the pilaf to a completely new level.
Seasonings - You will need a bay leaf, oregano, thyme, parsley (or an Italian seasoning) and some garlic. These add a lovely aroma to the rice.
Nuts - You can use whatever nuts you have handy at home, pecans, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts. They all go well with this pilaf.

What is the rice to liquid ratio when cooking Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf?

For each cup of the wild rice blend you will need 2 cups to total liquid. You can always adjust the apple juice, apple cider vinegar, broth, water ratio as long at the total quantity is 2 cups of liquid for each cup of the rice blend.

1 cup wild rice blend : 2 cups liquid

How much time does it take to make this Instant Pot Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe?

It takes about 5 minutes to prepare the ingredients. Approximately 10 minutes for the pressure to build up inside the cooker. 26 minutes of pressure cooking time. Lastly you will wait for about 10 minutes for the pressure to naturally release once the rice is cooked. Approximately 48 minutes from start to finish.

Prepping time : 5 minutes.

Saute : 2 minutes

Pressure Cook : 5 minutes to build pressure + 26 minutes cook time.

NPR (Natural Pressure Release) : 10 minutes.

How to make Instant Pot Wild Rice Pilaf? Step by step instructions.

Here is gist of how to make this recipe. The full recipe with the ingredient measurements is available in the recipe card towards the bottom of the post.

Prep the ingredients - Start by rinsing the wild rice blend in cold water and keeping it aside. Chopping an onion and garlic and getting the seasonings and liquids ready.
Saute - Heat the inner pot of the Instant pot using the saute function. Once the inner pot is hot, add oil and allow the oil to become hot. Once the oil is hot add the bay leaf, garlic, thyme, oregano and parsley or Italian seasoning. Give it a stir and wait for the aroma. Next add the onions and saute until for a couple minutes.
Dump remaining ingredients - Throw in the wild rice blend, cranberries and nuts. Stir so they are toasted in the oil. Then add in the broth or water, apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Stir well and close the lid, sealing the vent.
Pressure cook - Now cancel the Saute function and using the Pressure Cook or Manual function, pressure cook for about 26 minutes followed by a NPR (Natural Pressure Release), allowing the pressure to naturally release completely.
Garnish - Now the lid carefully and serve the pilaf in a bowl or plate garnishing it with cranberries and nuts. Unlike other pilafs where each grain is separate, wild rice pilafs on the other hand tend to be a little sticky cos of the different varieties of rice being used in the blend. So don't panic if your rice is slightly sticky, the liquid tends to evaporate as pilaf cools down.

What is the texture of this pilaf?

Each grain separate or slightly sticky??? Since we are using a Wild Rice Blend which is made of up different kinds of rice, you will not find that each grain is separate as there is also a starchy variety of rice blended in there. So the slightly sticky texture is perfectly normal.

How to use the leftovers ?

If at all you have any left overs, use them for a stuffing.

WHEN YOU TRY THIS INSTANT POT CRANBERRY WILD RICE RECIPE

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MORE INSTANT POT WINTER RECIPES

Instant Pot Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 26 minutes

Additional Time: 17 minutes

Total Time: 48 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup Lundberg Wildrice Blend
1.5 cup Vegetable Broth
3/4 cup Apple Juice
2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning or fresh herbs
1/2 cup Crasins
1/2 cup Pecans
3 Garlic cloves, minced
2 spings of fresh thyme for garnishing
salt to taste if required.
1 bay leaf (optional)

Instructions

Prep the ingredients - Start by rinsing the wild rice blend in cold water and keeping it aside. Chopping an onion and garlic and getting the seasonings and liquids ready.

Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe - Instant Pot

Saute - Heat the inner pot of the Instant pot using the saute function. Once the inner pot is hot, add oil and allow the oil to become hot. Once the oil is hot add the bay leaf, garlic, Italian seasoning or thyme, oregano and parsley individually, depending on what you have handy. . Give it a stir and wait for the aroma. Next add the onions and saute until for a couple minutes.

Dump remaining ingredients - Throw in the wild rice blend, half the craisins and nuts. Stir so they are toasted in the oil. Then add in the broth or water, apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Stir well and close the lid, sealing the vent.

Pressure cook - Now cancel the Saute function and using the Pressure Cook or Manual function, pressure cook for about 26 minutes followed by a NPR (Natural Pressure Release), allowing the pressure to naturally release completely.

Garnish - Now the lid carefully and serve the pilaf in a bowl or plate garnishing it with cranberries and nuts. Unlike other pilafs where each grain is separate, wild rice pilafs on the other hand tend to be a little sticky cos of the different varieties of rice being used in the blend. So don't panic if your rice is slightly sticky, the liquid tends to evaporate as pilaf cools down.

Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf Recipe - Stove Top

In a pan, pot or wok, heat the oil.

Toss in the garlic, Italian seasoning and onions to saute until the onions become translucent

Now add in the rice, half of the crasins and pecans each. Let it cook for a couple mins on slow heat.

Now add the remaining liquid ingredients, vegetable broth, apple cider vinegar & apple juice.

Cover and cook on slow heat until rice is completely cooked. Depending on the cook top, if you think rice needs more liquid to cook, add some water gradually or some broth.

Once the rice is completely cooked, garnish with rest of the cranberries and pecans, or even a strand of fresh thyme. Bon appetit!!!

Notes

Wild Rice Blend : Liquid Ratio