Ingredients

  • 1 pound of meatballs ( Either pre-made or you make your own with any of the numerous recipes out there. )
  • 1 ½ cups jasmine rice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ¾ cups chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (roughly half a lemon juiced)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley, minced
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup toasted slivered almonds (toast at 350F for 6-8 minutes until golden)

Instructions

  1. Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot and press the SAUTE button.
  2. While letting the pot heat up it is a good idea to start your oven and do the toasted almonds too if you don’t have them ready. Just spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast them at 350F for 6-8 minutes until golden.
  3. Place the meatballs in the pot.
  4. Let them cook for 2-3 minutes so that they brown on one side.
  5. Rotate the meatballs and repeat step 3 to brown all of the sides.
  6. Take the meatballs out of the Instant Pot; they don’t need to be completely cooked.
  7. Turn the instant pot off for roughly 2 minutes ( it’s likely too hot to immediately add the rice and garlic without quickly burning ).
  8. Press the SAUTE button again.
  9. Add the rice and garlic and let this cook for 1-2 minutes.
  10. Turn the instant pot off again.
  11. Add the chicken stock, water, and lemon juice. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to free up any brown bits.**
  12. Add the salt, turmeric, and dried parsley; stir to combine.
  13. Place the meatballs on top of the rice.
  14. Close the lid, press MANUAL ( the default is high pressure ), and set the timer for 4 minutes.
  15. When the timer goes off allow it to do natural release for 10 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure manually.
  16. Remove the meatballs ( if desired ) and stir the Parmesan cheese and toasted almonds in with the rice.

Notes

** Try to do this quickly without waiting too long. I have let the mixture sit for too long ( 5+ minutes ) and the problem is that too much water evaporates causing the pot to fail to come to pressure after the lid is put on. In that case I have had to open the pot and add an extra ½ cup of water, then start again from 4 minutes. I ended up with rice burnt to the bottom, so combine everything quickly and get the lid on without letting too much water/stock evaporate!