Vegetable and Paneer Biryani is a complete meal with grains, vegetables, and protein. It begins with a base of caramelized onions, then builds layers of flavors with aromatic long-grain basmati rice and a combination of vegetables cooked to tender perfection. Each bite is infused with delicately balanced whole spices and a bold finish with garam masala.
I have been trying to perfect my veg biryani in the Instant Pot for months now. After the success of my easy InstaPot Chicken Biryani recipe in just a few tries, I was surprised to see how different it was to cook vegetable Biryani in the pressure cooker.
Although I was using the same rice and similar spices, it took many failed attempts (mushy rice, undercooked rice, mushy veggies etc) before I got the technique right. The key was to choose the right kind of vegetables and also more importantly cut them right so they all cook within 5 to 6 mins of pressure cooking time.
This simple Biryani recipe is inspired from my mom’s famous vegetable pulav recipe. She cuts her veggies in a certain size and shape, which I thought was to make the dish look gorgeous. But now I understand that it also helps them cook perfectly each time.
The same trick of cutting the veggies and choosing the right ones, helped me with this easy vegetable biryani recipe. Then my talented cousin gave me an idea of adding Paneer to this dish which really took the Biryani to a whole new level.
If you’re like me and enjoy cooking vegetarian dishes you must check out my 60+ vegetarian main meals or bookmark it for later.
To make the best and authentic tasting biryani make sure to use homemade ghee, choose the right vegetables or organic frozen mixed vegetables and long grain basmati rice. The whole spices and the homemade garam masala will do its magic to add beautiful aromas and bring this delectable recipe together.
Tips for perfect Vegetable Biryani in the Instant Pot:
- Use fresh garam masala
- Deglaze the pot using the liquids from the vegetables to remove any browned bits from sautéing of the onions. This will help the Instant Pot come to pressure and also prevent “BURN” signal
- Make sure all of the rice is under the liquids before closing the Instant Pot
- Lastly, although, Sauté (more) function on the Instant Pot works great for true one pot cooking, you can also caramelize the onions using stove top in a non-stick pan. This will speed up the process and also will prevent the stainless steel insert getting scorched which may lead to “BURN” notice on the newer Instant Pot’s
Update to my original recipe:
Certain brands of store bought paneer can get chewy when cooked in high pressure. So I have modified the cook times for this recipe to 5 minutes on low pressure. Note: If your Instant Pot does not have the HI/LO pressure cook options, you can cook the biryani on high pressure and then gently stir in the paneer in the end.
Step by step instructions to make vegetable biryani in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker:
Step 1 – Rinse and soak the rice in 2 cups of water for 20 minutes. Drain water after 20 mins. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté (more) mode and heat 1 tablespoon of ghee. Add thinly sliced onions and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are lightly caramelized. Take half of the onions out and reserve for garnish (photos 1 – 2).
Step 2 – Add remaining ghee, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, bay leaves. Cook for 30 seconds. Add all the veggies (carrots, green beans, mushrooms, red pepper, corn, paneer). Press cancel and deglaze the pot removing any browning. Use 1-2 tablespoons of water if needed. See the third picture below that shows how the bottom of the pot looks after properly deglazing. There should not be any browned bits stuck to the bottom (photos 3 – 4)
Step 3 – Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala and 1 teaspoon of salt. mix well. Add mint, rice and 2 teaspoons salt. Add 2 cups of water. Mix well, making sure most of the rice is under water (photos 5 – 8)
Step 4 – Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Select Manual/Pressure Cook(LO) and adjust the cook time to 5 minutes. Follow with quick release to stop overcooking the rice. Open the Instant Pot. Garnish with caramelized onions and cilantro.
Enjoy hot with yogurt or raita and a squeeze of fresh lemon. This spicy vegetable biryani goes well with refreshing watermelon juice, homemade lemonade or mango lassi.
Have last minute guests? Make one of these 30+ easy desserts and you will have a delicious meal. One of my favorites to make are these easy Instant Pot brownies. They are a crowd pleaser and a sweet way to finish your meal.
Commonly asked questions
Yes, can be doubled in 6-QT or 8 QT Instant Pots
Store bought paneer can become chewy after pressure cooking. Here are few options: 1. Adjust pressure cook time to 5 minutes on low pressure mode. 2. Sauté the paneer in a non-stick pan and add it to the Biryani in the end 3.Use homemade Paneer.
Press cancel before adding all the veggies. This will stop the pot from further overheating as you remove the browning from the bottom of the pot. Then add the veggies and deglaze the pot using the water contents from the veggies so that all the browning from sautéing the onions is removed. You can also use 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to remove the browning.
Yes. Follow same recipe. No need to soak the quinoa. Just rinse thoroughly and drain all the water before adding it to the pot.
Yes. Substitute ghee with oil. Skip Paneer or stir in sautéed tofu in the end.
I have tried to explain the sizes of the veggies, but do see the video here so you get a better idea!
Do you love Indian food? Here are my top Instant Pot Indian Recipes other people have enjoyed:
- Easy Chicken Tikka Masala – Creamy tomato based curry with chicken marinated in yogurt, red chili powder, turmeric and garam masala
- Healthy “Butter” Chicken – Flavorful chicken in a creamy sauce with orangish hue from the red chili powder and turmeric
- Spicy Misal Pav – A popular Indian dish made with spicy sprouted bean curry served with lightly buttered dinner rolls
- Tandoori Salmon – Tender, flaky salmon cooked in warm tandoori spices
- Easy Shrimp Curry – Tender-sweet shrimp lightly spiced with aromatic whole spices and a tropical flavors from coconut milk
- Chicken Korma – A mild and healthy chicken curry cooked in whole spices and then braised in a yogurt-based sauce
- Kheema Pulao – A flavor-packed one-pot meal with fragrant long grain basmati rice cooked in ground chicken and aromatic-warm whole spices
- Madras Lentils/Daal Makhani – A creamy lentil dish cooked with whole black lentils and kidney beans, lightly spiced
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Vegetable and Paneer Biryani – Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain basmati rice
- 3 tablespoons ghee divided
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 whole green cardamom
- 4 cloves
- 8-10 whole black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup carrots chopped lengthwise into 1 inch x 1/4 inch strips
- 1 cup green beans chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup white mushrooms halved
- 1/2 cup red pepper chopped into 1 inch x 1/2 inch strips
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1 cup paneer cubed into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 tablespoon ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 3 teaspoons salt divided
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh mint chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Rinse and soak the rice in 2 cups of water for 20 minutes. Drain water after 20 mins.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute(More) mode and heat 1 tablespoon of ghee. Add sliced onions and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are lightly caramelized. Take half of the onions out and reserve for garnish.
- Add remaining ghee, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, bay leaves. Cook for 30 seconds. Add all the veggies (carrots, green beans, mushrooms, red pepper, corn, paneer). Press cancel and deglaze the pot removing any browning. Use 1-2 tablespoons of water if needed. Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala and 1 teaspoon of salt. mix well. Add mint, rice and 2 teaspoons salt. Add 2 cups of water. Mix well, making sure most of the rice is under water.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Select Manual/Pressure Cook(Hi) and adjust the cook time to 6 minutes. Quick release. Open the Instant Pot. Garnish with caramelized onions and cilantro. Enjoy hot with Raita!
Video
Notes
- Deglaze the pot after adding the vegetables to remove any browning in the pot from sautéing the onions. This will help the Instant Pot come to pressure and also prevent the biryani from burning.
- You can make this recipe Vegan by using coconut oil instead of ghee and extra firm tofu instead of paneer
Nutrition
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Deepika Gandhi says
Can I use Brown rice instead and would the cook time increase?
Archana says
Hi Deepika, yes you can, increase the pressure cook time to 20 mins. I would leave out paneer as it will overcook. You can stir it in the end.
Hannah McKay says
Can I add cut up boneless chicken to this?
Also, if I use brown rice in this recipe, do I still add the vegetables at the same time as the rice even though brown rice cooks for 20 min?
Archana says
yes you can. But follow my brown rice chicken biryani steps – https://ministryofcurry.com/brown-rice-chicken-biryani-instant-pot/
Eileen Guy says
Could this be converted to a slow cooker?
Archana says
Yes I think you can but the rice may get a bit mushy sitting in the water for a long time. You can try with rice setting on the slow cooker or whatever setting you generally use for rice.
Deepa Mistry says
Do I increase the time for pressure cook if I am cooking 5 cups of rice, for 20 people ?
Archana says
Same pressure cooking time. I hope you are using a 8-QT Instant Pot. It might be too full for a 6 QT
Deepa Mistry says
I am using only 3-4 cups of rice and not whole lot of veggies jus mix medley and potato.
Archana says
Sounds good.
Vidya says
I plan to saute and add paneer at the end. So I must cook 5 mins Hi pressure or 6 mins Hi pressure?
Archana says
6 mins High pressure
Jim says
I did this recipe at 1-1/2 scale, and even after adding an additional cup and a half of water (4-1/2 c to 3 c rice) I could not get to full pressure due to burn mode switching on. I carefully deglazed each time, but to no avail. Still waiting for it to come out of the pot (i just got the pressure valve to seal, so fingers crossed) and I’ll see how it goes. Smells great, and I hope it’s tasty, but I won’t make it again if I can’t figure this out.
Archana says
Hi Jim, Thank you for your detailed feedback. I am wondering if the sealing ring was loose. This recipe along with the water and all the veggies have plenty of liquids. So BURN should not have displayed. Please check the sealing ring and I hope it was tasty.
Purvi says
If I want to make this with delayed cooking where I would put everything in the pot in the morning but delay it for 6-8 hours, what should be the ideal setting? I wouldn’t have a chance to QR. it will be NPR.
Archana says
Hi Purvi, Since these are all veggies, I would highly recommend you cook this and then reheat. The rice will soak way too much in 6 to 8 hours. If you do not care for the textures of the rice, you can cook it for 3 minutes and then let it NPR.
Jen & Presh says
Brilliant instructions! Loved loved loved the biryani! You have two new fans 🙂
Payal says
It was a great recipe, I followed it exactly & my family loved it. If you like spice, you may want to add green chilis, but for my taste it was the perfect amount of spiciness. Thanks for the recipe, I will make it often!
Archana says
Thank you!
Veena Sriram says
Superb recipe… Am a vegetarian n love n live in paneer all d time…. This one melted through heart and filled my stomach… I enjoyed it like anything n it’s smells mesmerizing… Love u for such mouthwatering recipe….
Share more on paneer n would love to try it n enjoy…
Veena Sriram
Isha says
It set off to burn even before reaching cooking , I cancelled and again started pressure at low for 3 mins?
What is the exact steps when it says burn!
Archana says
Make sure to deglaze really well after sautéing onions. Also For this recipe if you see BURN you can just leave the lid closed for 10 to 15 mins and the biryani will cook with the remnant heat
Akshita says
I had the same issue as Isha. It states burn even before reaching the cooking time. I carmalized onions on stove top. The pot was deglazed. Any other tips to avoid that? Also, of leaving it for 10 -15 mins is it after pressing cancel and doing quick release?
Archana says
Newer Instant Pot’s seem to be very sensitive to burn. But please make sure that your sealing ring is not too loose and is secured properly all the way around.
ColleenG says
I made this exactly as written except I did not have any whole peppercorns, so I omitted them.
So delicious!!! I have looked for a recipe to make Biryani Rice that tastes authentic, and this is it! And it is in the instant pot, even better! Thank you!
Mie Ling watson says
I have a party this weekend. Do you think I could make it a few days earlier and reheat?? So excited to try!!!
Archana says
Absolutely! The flavors will get even better
Sera says
Tried this recipe, turned out well, I put extra veggies so that caused rice to not dip in the water, next time I will take out some of the veggies add water and rice and then add remaining veggies on top of the rice.
Gauri says
Can you make this without an instapot?
Either with a regular pressure cooker or simply stove top?
Archana says
Yes you can. In the regular pressure cooker I would do 1 whistle and then open the lid after about 5 to 10 mins.
Shirley says
Just made this wonderful dish! Couldn’t find paneer in good old Montana, but saw I could substitute halloumi cheese. Delicious! Will be making again for sure. Thank you!
Alex says
So delicious! Love the flavor of the paneer and the veggies in this biryani!