Instant pot vegetable biryani (South Indian) recipe

Last updated on May 28th, 2025 at 03:10 pm

Instant Pot vegetable biryani step-by-step recipe - a delicious south Indian one-pot dish that is wholesome. A perfect way to include a balanced meal with protein, carbs and healthy fats.

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So in our household, we eat out once every week but eat at home most of the time. And I do make it a point to include veggies, lentils, other protein sources, and good fats. Despite all this, my daughter has lost weight. Of course, two bouts of cold and fever are to blame.

She has always been 50 percent on the weight chart, which is good because she is built that way. But she had a cold for almost a month and she lost weight, ugh. Usually, I'm never bothered about cold, I shrug it off as just another immunity booster. But this time it did succeed in getting into my head. So I'm upping my game and including more millets and stuff.

Ok, enough about me, now let's get on to the recipe!

Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani:

I'm a big fan of one-pot meals for obvious reasons. There's only one utensil involved so it is easy to clean and it seems simple and it IS really simple. I have a ton of one-pot Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot recipes (some of which are on this blog here). But this Instant Pot vegetable biryani is my favorite one-pot vegetarian dish.

It is simple and nutritious with lots of veggies and protein sources. You can increase the number of veggies and/or you can decrease the amount of rice to suit your needs. This recipe has a good amount of veggies and rice so that when you eat this biryani, you'll have veggies with every bite.

See Also:

Restaurant style, juicy and flavorful Chicken Seekh Kebabs

Good and fresh quality veggies are a must, it imparts a lot of flavors. If you have sad-looking veggies, I suggest you save them for making stock but not this Biryani.

I have used a small grain variety of rice called Seeragasamba, which is a local SOuth Indian rice. It is very flavorful and I (and some others lol) prefer this rice for South Indian Biryanis. It suits the best for South Indian flavors. If you have always used Basmati Rice, I suggest you give this Seeragasamba rice a try. If not, see notes to make this with Basmati.

Serving Suggestions:

You can serve this up with just plain yogurt or yogurt mixed with sliced onions (raita). And as with any biryani, you can serve this Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani with any plain gravy you like with your biryanis, accompanied by any starter of your choice.

Is it healthy?

Of course, very healthy, at least in my opinion. I say that because some people just consider "RICE" as completely unhealthy, let alone white rice. But if you're like me and don't mind having rice for lunch/dinner, this South Indian Vegetable Biryani is healthy. Considering the fact that there is a bunch of carbs and not to mention complex carbs, good protein sources for soy meal maker and chickpeas, a good amount of fiber from veggies, it certainly is a great option for a balanced meal.

See also:

Super easy Banana Blossom Fritters ( the best alternative to meat)

How to store this?

This Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani since it is made in the Instant Pot, you can cook this an hour ahead and use the KEEP WARM setting to, well, keep it warm until you sit down for your meal.

In the event that you have leftovers, this vegetable biryani stores well in the refrigerator for about 8 hours and the freezer for upto a month (if properly stored). It is also a great option for packed lunch, it tastes just as good when not warm/ hot.

For reheating chilled Vegetable Biryani, you can microwave by sprinkling some water over it. OR if you don't have a microwave, add some oil to a skillet and spread the biryani in it; stir until evenly heated through.

When you have frozen this biryani if possible move it to the fridge for a few hours and then reheat it. If you don't have time for that, sprinkle a little more water over the biryani before microwaving it.

Special Diets:

Firstly, this Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani is an uber good choice for Meal Preps because of the reasons I have given above. It is healthy in appropriate portions, it is a balanced meal and it freezes well.

Additionally, this South Indian Vegetable Biryani is vegan, gluten-free, and lactose-free. It does have soy, so if you're allergic to soy, skip the meal maker and add more chickpeas. I add a bit of ghee, theoretically, ghee has a much-reduced amount of lactose. If you don't want it you can skip and use more peanut oil instead. See also:

See Also:

Gluten Free, Hazelnut Flour Cake with Nutella Frosting

Variations and Substitutions:

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO COOK THIS WITHOUT AN INSTANT POT: I get it, not everyone has Instant Pots at home. Especially those who aren't used to pressure cooking and those who have regular stovetop pressure cookers. I was one of those people by the way; I used to cook with a stovetop pressure cooker before I made the switch. Still I use those whenever my Instant Pot is in use.

So, what to do if you don't have an Instant Pot but have a regular pressure cooker! It is so simple, just follow the same steps but up the rice and water ratio to 1:2. That's it.

But if you don't have a regular pressure cooker, you can do it with a dutch oven over the stove. Although that is a whole different process where you might wanna cook the rice separately and add it to the vegetable biryani masala. If you do need instructions for those, lemme know in the comments below.

VARIATIONS: You can add any vegetables you like. For this recipe here, I did not add any green peas cos I didn't have any in my freezer. You should definitely add green peas if you have them. If you like to add Beetroots, chop and blanch them before use (discard the colored water). This way your whole Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani won't be colored. Other common add-ins people use are Double Beans, Kohlrabi and Toasted Bread; each imparts its own flavor to the dish.

See also:

White Chocolate and Walnut Blondies (Soft and Chewy)

How to make this vegetable biryani:

This is a really simple dish to make in your kitchen and it is really really simplified with the use of Instant Pot. Let's see how to make this:

Cooking the Soybean meal / Meal Maker / Soya Nuggets:

Sometimes I cook too many chickpeas to make Channa Masala and then I realize I don't want some of it; so I store it in the refrigerator. I like to use those chickpeas the next day to make this Instant Pot Vegetable Biryani.

But for times when I don't have any leftover chickpeas, I cook them just to make this biryani. You can skip it if you don't want them in your vegetable biryani. To do use chickpeas cook them until half done and add to biryani masala while making biryani. You can also just soak, drain and add it; this will give a slightly harder bite. To half cook chickpeas:

• Soak 50 g chickpeas for about 8 hours or 2 hours in hot water.
• Drain the soaked water and wash once.
• Add the chickpeas to Instant Pot and PRESSURE COOK for 20 minutes. (Alternatively, use a saucepan with some fresh water, cook until half cooked.)
• Add that to the Instant Pot while cooking vegetable biryani.

Cooking soybean meal/ meal maker:

• Boil some water in a saucepan large enough to hold the meal makers. (the meal makers will puff up when cooked).
• Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add the meal makers and boil for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and drain through a colander. Let it cool down.
• Squeeze the water by gently pressing each nugget.
• Add it to the Instant Pot while making the biryani.

Making the vegeable biryani:

Once you've got your chickpeas and soya nuggets ready, all you have to do is sauté them all in your Instant Pot and cook them.

• Wash and peel 2 medium onions and slice them. Wash and slit 4 green chillies. chop 1 large tomato mint and cilantro leaves, remove the leaves from their respective stalks and chop 'em up roughly.
• Place the instant pot bowl in the Instant Pot. Set to SAUTÉ mode for 10 minutes.
• Add 2-4 tbsps Peanut oil and let it get hot. Once hot, add the whole spices; 2 cloves, 2 cardamom pods, 2-inch Cinnamon sticks, and 2 large dried bay leaves. Let the oil heat up and extract the flavor from the spices. You can notice that when the cloves have bulged up.
• Add the sliced onions and sauté until they begin to brown.
• Tip in the slit green chillies and the ginger-garlic paste. Stir for a few seconds. Ginger garlic paste tends to stick to the bottom and begin scorching. To avoid this, sprinkle some water whenever you notice it sticking and gently scrape it using a spatula or ladle.
• Next, add the tomatoes and the rock salt. Salt brings out the moisture from the tomatoes and makes it softer. Sauté until the tomatoes become mushy and juicy.
• Add the chopped herbs and stir once.
• Then add the veggies, soya and chickpeas.
• Add the garam masala powder and chilli powder. Stir and sauté until everything comes together and looks like a semi gravy.
• Finally, add 2 cups of Seeragasamba rice and 3 cups of water.
• Close the Instant Pot with its lid. Set it to PRESSURE COOK mode for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, QUICK RELEASE to let off the steam, open the lid and give it a gentle stir.
• Serve hot!

Recipe source: this is a family recipe

Here is a video recipe:

Notes:

• USE THE SERVING SIZE ADJUSTOR (in the recipe card) TO ALTER THE INGREDIENT MEASUREMENTS FOR AS MANY NUMBER OF PEOPLE YOU LIKE.
• You can skip the whole spices (cloves, cardamom, cinnamon) if you don't have them. In that case, increase the garam masala to 1 tsp.
• Chilli Powder: Based on your spice tolerance level, you can use ½ teaspoon for medium hotness or skip chilli powder altogether for a mildly spicy vegetable biryani. If you like it spicy hot, go for 1 teaspoon or 1.5 teaspoon (very spicy)
• To make this with Basmati Rice: Use 2.5 cups of Basmati Rice and 2.5 cups of water for an al dente texture. If you like a softer rice, add 2.75 cups of water.

Made this? Got doubts? Let me know what you think in the comments below!