One-pot tomato rice cooked in a rice cooker has been making its rounds on the internet for years now, so it’s definitely not a new concept. Yet, I only finally got to try out the recipe recently. After reviewing a couple of recipes on social media and other channels, and one partially failed attempt (I had to flash-cook the rice a couple more times), this tweaked recipe is what works for me. The first attempt didn’t work because the recipes I found used white jasmine rice, while we preferred brown rice.

This recipe is a simple yet flavorful one, and it is currently our favorite quick dinner, especially on days when we have errands to run. We just put the rice to cook and return home to a welcoming smell of fragrant rice!

The inspiration

Once upon a time, say around three weeks ago, I was browsing the posts on my Facebook feed and saw a video by The Meat Man, and it caught my attention. We have been house-hunting out of state since March 2022, and the housing search intensified from April as we are running out of time before the husband’s new job assignment begins in another state. Even before the stress builds up, I’ve favored easy recipes while juggling different tasks and hobbies. I am running out of executive functioning capacity with increasing pressure, so I go for easier-than-easy recipes. This is it!

I made some adjustments to the recipe to veganize the recipe, and we prefer brown rice to jasmine white rice. I also tweaked the sauce ingredients to incorporate my mom’s sauce in her rice cooker taro rice recipe. Instead of meat, I used the homemade washed flour seitan chick’n, which turned out perfect!

The Easiest Rice Cooker Tomato Rice Recipe

This rice cooker tomato rice is easy to cook but flavorful to eat. On errand days, we put the rice to cook and come home to a welcoming smell of fragrant rice!

Ingredients

Sauce

3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sweet soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine (or sherry cooking wine)

Seitan

0.25 tsp salt
0.5 tbsp sesame oil
250 g seitan (try out homemade washed flour seitan chick’n)

For the rice

2 tbsp minced garlic (adjust to your liking)

1.5 cups brown rice

1 whole tomato (sliced in 6 parts)

1 cup frozen vegetables (thawed)

1.5 cup green cabbage (roughly chopped)

Instructions

Prepare the tomato rice sauce

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and set it aside.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp dark soy sauce; 1 tsp sweet soy sauce (optional); 1 tsp hoisin sauce; 1 tsp sesame oil; 2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine

Brown the seitan

Cut the seitan into bite-sized cubes, and season the seitan with salt and sesame oil. Brown the seitan in a heated pan.
Ingredients: 250g seitan chick’n; ¼ tsp salt; ½ tbsp sesame oil

Chop and rinse cabbage

Ingredients: 1 cup green cabbage

Wash and rinse rice

Wash and rinse the brown rice and transfer it to the rice cooker pot liner. Add water to the “2” marking under the “cup” reading in the liner.
1½ regular measuring cups are equivalent to 2 cups of the small rice cup that comes with the rice cooker.
Ingredients: 1½ cups brown rice

Add tomato

Slice the tomato into 6 sections and place it in the center of the rice in the rice cooker pot liner.
Ingredients: 1 whole tomato

Add chopped cabbage

Ingredients: 1 cup chopped cabbage

Add thawed frozen vegetables

Ingredients: 1½ cups frozen vegetables (thawed)

Add browned seitan

We use our homemade washed flour seitan, you can use vegan sausage or store-bought seitan.
Ingredients: 250g seitan chick’n

Drizzle the sauce

Add minced garlic

Ingredients: 2 tbsp minced garlic

Cook the rice as usual

Select the “brown rice” setting on the rice cooker and cook as usual.

Cooked in about 45 mins!

Mix the tomato rice well and serve

The tomato rice goes well with cilantro or green onion

Note

If using tofu in place of seitan, I recommend making tofu crumbles and only mixing them in after the rice is cooked.

Some recipes recommend reducing the water for the rice, considering that there will be some fluid from the vegetables. For brown rice, reducing the water may result in uncooked rice — speaking from experience!

This tomato rice recipe is highly versatile, so you can replace the vegetables with what you have at home. I highly recommend green cabbage because it adds a natural sweetness to the rice.

Wholesome Recipes

Tomato Rice – Insanely Easy and Flavorful Rice Cooker Recipe

The inspiration

Table of Contents

The Easiest Rice Cooker Tomato Rice Recipe