CookBook Review: 300 Best Rice Cooker Recipes (Also Including Legumes and Whole Grains)

Who knew there were so many recipes for dishes that could be made in a rice cooker? I sure didnt! I was recently given the opportunity to review this awesome cookbook 300 Best Rice Cooker Recipes by Katie Chin. I love my rice cooker, so I was looking forward to trying some of the recipes and seeing what the book is all about!

First, know that there arent many pictures though there are two sets of a few glossy photos of recipes in the middle of the book. Although not top priority for me, glossy pages and pictures with each recipe are one of the things I love in my favorite cookbooks, so I cant help wishing there were more photos in this cookbook. However, that just means there is more room for recipes!

The recipes are separated by breakfasts, appetizers, salads, soups, stews and chilis, main dishes and one-pot meals, risottos and pilafs, side dishes, steam cuisine, and desserts. And its definitely not all based around rice!

Some examples:

• Cowboy Breakfast Tamales
• Stuffed Japanese Rice Balls
• Turkey and Wild Rice Curry Salad
• Thick and Hearty Split Pea Soup
• Shrimp Jambalaya
• Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
• Mexicali Rice
• Crab Dumplings
• Blackberry Custards

This book is packed full of information about the different settings on rice cookers, how to choose and store rice, the differences between certain rices and beans, and how you can get the most out of your rice cooker. I realized after reading it that I need a new rice cooker mine has only an on/off switch, but some rice cookers can cook with fuzzy logic which means they dont cook at only one temperature (like mine), they have different settings for brown rice, white rice, soup, things like that. I have my eye on this one right now!

Testing a Recipe

I decided to try a recipe I found for Rice Pudding, something I knew my kids would like (theyre rice fiends!).

Click photo to enlarge

Note that the recipe states it is Fuzzy Logic Only. I ignored this and tried it in my rice cooker, and although I know the consistency could have been better, it still tasted really good, and was a total hit with my kids! Heres Isaac downing his serving

Final Thoughts:

There is a wide range of difficulty levels of the recipes throughout this book meaning that some take no time at all to put together and others seem to be more time-consuming. The more time-consuming recipes that require going back and forth from the rice cooker to the stove or to the oven dont appeal to me quite as much as the one-pot recipes, and I wish there was a way to search out the one-pot recipes separately from the others. Also, many of the recipes contain types of rice and beans Id never heard of, and some of the recipes are unfamiliar to me, so if youre looking for simple, youll find some throughout this book but its not all easy and familiar recipes. For those who are looking to branch out and try some different recipes, who want to explore the different types of rices and beans out there, this is a terrific find! I have to admit that I am intrigued and want to try black rice now. 🙂

I think this is a great collection of recipes you can use with the rice cooker and can recommend this cookbook highly. Im pleased to see that I have reason to invest in a more expensive, multitalented rice cooker!

Want it?

Buy 300 Best Rice Cooker Recipes from Amazon.com now for $16.30. It retails for $24.95.

I received the book reviewed in this post free of charge in order that I might share my thoughts on it with you.