9 Easy One Pot Rice Cooker Dinners

These easy one pot rice cooker dinners are the meals I make when even the stove feels like too much, because the rice cooker cooks the protein and the rice together and turns itself off when it’s done.

From a rice cooker chicken and rice to a Hainanese chicken, a sausage jambalaya, a teriyaki salmon rice, a fried rice, and a coconut curry chicken and rice, everything goes into the pot at once and dinner is ready when the light clicks over to warm.

Here are the nine I make!

The rice cooker is the most underused appliance in most kitchens, and it turns out that anything that cooks in the time rice takes, which is chicken thighs, salmon, sausage, and most vegetables, can go in with the rice.

These all work in a basic rice cooker with a single button, and a fancier one with settings just gives you more options.

1. Rice Cooker Chicken and Rice

Seasoned chicken thighs go on top of rinsed rice, broth, garlic, and a little soy sauce, and the cooker does the rest.

The chicken cooks through in the same time the rice does, and its juices season the rice underneath.

It’s the recipe to start with, since it teaches the whole method in one go.

Green onions and a drizzle of sesame oil at the end!

2. Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken

Chicken thighs cook over rice flavored with ginger, garlic, and chicken fat, and it’s the Singapore hawker classic made in the appliance it was meant for.

The rice comes out fragrant and a little rich, and the chicken stays soft.

A quick ginger scallion sauce and a splash of chili sauce on the side are what make it taste right.

Sliced cucumber alongside, and it’s a dinner I’d pay for.

3. Rice Cooker Sausage Jambalaya

Sliced smoked sausage, rice, diced tomatoes, onion, pepper, celery, and cajun seasoning go into the cooker together and come out as jambalaya.

The sausage flavors the rice as it cooks, and there’s no browning and no stirring.

Add shrimp for the last few minutes if you want them.

Hot sauce on the table, and it feeds a crowd for the cost of a ring of sausage.

4. Rice Cooker Fried Rice

Rice, soy sauce, sesame oil, frozen peas and carrots, and an egg cracked on top cook together, and a stir at the end scrambles the egg through the rice.

There’s no wok smokiness, and there’s also no need for leftover rice, which is what makes it easier than the skillet kind.

Diced ham or leftover chicken goes in at the start.

Green onions on top, and it’s a ten minute prep dinner.

5. Rice Cooker Teriyaki Salmon Rice

A salmon fillet brushed with teriyaki sauce cooks on top of the rice, and it flakes into the rice with a fork when the cooker clicks off.

Salmon cooks in about the same time as rice, so it comes out just done and not dry.

Frozen edamame or broccoli on top of the salmon steams at the same time.

Sesame seeds and green onions, and it’s a fifteen minute dinner start to finish.

6. Rice Cooker Chicken and Broccoli

Diced chicken and rice go in with broth and seasoning, and broccoli florets go on top so they steam while everything cooks.

It’s a full plate of protein, starch, and vegetable from one appliance.

Cheddar stirred in at the end makes it a cheesy chicken broccoli rice.

It’s the one I make for the kids most weeks.

7. Rice Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken and Rice

Chicken, rice, coconut milk, curry paste, and vegetables cook together in the rice cooker into a creamy curry rice with the chicken already in it.

The coconut milk stands in for some of the water and makes the rice rich.

Lime and cilantro at the end.

It tastes like it took an hour on the stove!

8. Rice Cooker Mexican Rice

Rice, tomato sauce, broth, onion, cumin, and chili powder cook into the orange restaurant rice, and it’s the base of every burrito bowl in my house.

Add a can of black beans and a cup of frozen corn to the pot and it’s a full vegetarian dinner on its own.

Shredded rotisserie chicken stirred in at the end for the meat eaters.

Cheese, salsa, and avocado on top.

9. Rice Cooker Veggie Rice Bowl

Rice, mushrooms, carrots, tofu or chickpeas, and a soy and garlic seasoning cook together into a savory rice bowl with everything in it.

It’s the vegan dinner on this list, and it’s as filling as any of the others.

A fried egg on top if eggs are allowed, and chili crisp either way.

It’s a pantry dinner that takes five minutes to assemble.

Notes on Cooking Dinner in a Rice Cooker

Rinse the rice first, use the same water ratio you always do, and lay the protein and vegetables on top without stirring them in, so the rice cooks evenly underneath.

Chicken thighs, salmon, shrimp, smoked sausage, and diced chicken breast all cook through in the time white rice takes, and larger pieces of raw meat should be cut small.

Broth in place of water is the single biggest flavor upgrade, and a spoonful of bouillon base stirred into the water does the same job.

A 6-cup rice cooker feeds four, and a fuzzy logic one adjusts itself to the extra ingredients, but a basic one-button cooker makes every recipe on this list.

Let it sit on warm for ten minutes after it clicks over, which finishes the protein and lets the rice settle.

A rice paddle fluffs without scratching the pot, and a rice washing bowl makes the rinsing step faster.

The inner pot goes in the sink and that’s the whole cleanup.

More Hands-Off Dinners on the Site

The quick crockpot dinners with ten minutes of prep post is the slow cooker version of this same set-it-and-leave-it idea.

My crockpot meals with chicken breast that don’t dry out post has the chicken dinners for the days the rice cooker is busy.

And the slow cooker chicken and dumplings is the other appliance dinner I make weekly.