5 One Pot Ricer cooker Meals (even a Cake)

Sometimes the last thing I want to do is stand over a hot stove. After my hotel cooking video went viral (yes, the one where I cooked an entire meal in a hotel room with just a rice cooker), so many of you flooded my comments asking for more rice cooker recipes. You wanted easy, delicious, one-pot meals that actually taste like real food—not sad dorm room dinners.

So here we are. These five rice cooker recipes are my absolute favorites. They're perfect for busy weeknights, tiny kitchens, college dorms, or those days when you just want a warm, comforting bowl of food without the fuss. Each one cooks completely in one pot—no stove, no oven, no mess.

The best part? My viral tomato rice is here (yes, the one TikTok put in their official cookbook), plus four more dishes my family loves. From savory dinners to a surprise dessert, these recipes prove that your rice cooker is so much more than a rice maker.

Let's cook. Hello hello.

Recipe 1: One-Tomato Lazy Rice (懒人番茄饭)

This is the recipe that started it all, over 30 million views and counting. I still get messages from people shocked at how something so simple can taste so good. The secret? One whole tomato sitting right in the center like a little hat. As the rice cooks, the tomato steams and softens, then you mash it into the rice and it becomes this perfect natural sauce. It's colorful, comforting, and honestly genius for lazy days.

My kids call this "the tomato that does the work," and they're not wrong.

Ingredients

Makes 6 servings

• 3¾ cups (435g) short-grain rice (jasmine or sushi rice works great)
• 3 cups (709ml) water
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• ½ cup shelled edamame (frozen is fine)
• ½ cup chopped shiitake mushrooms
• ⅓ cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
• ⅓ cup chopped Chinese sausage or ham
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 medium tomato (ripe but still firm)
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Wash the rice: Rinse the rice with cold water three times until the water runs mostly clear. This removes excess starch and helps the rice cook fluffier.
2. Add rice and water: Put the drained rice into your rice cooker pot. Add 3 cups of water.
3. Season the rice: Drizzle in the sesame oil and soy sauce. Give it a gentle stir so everything mixes evenly.
4. Layer the vegetables: Scatter the edamame, mushrooms, corn, Chinese sausage, and carrots on top of the rice. Don't stir—just layer them on top.
5. The star of the show: Take your tomato and cut a small X on the top (about 1 inch wide and ½ inch deep). This helps it release its juices while cooking. Place the tomato right in the center of everything, like a little crown.
6. Cook: Close the lid and press the regular white rice setting. Walk away and let the rice cooker do its magic.
7. Mash and mix: When the cooker beeps, open the lid carefully (watch out for steam). The tomato should be super soft. Use your spatula to mash the tomato and stir everything together. The rice will turn this beautiful reddish color. Taste and add salt if needed.
8. Serve: Scoop into bowls and enjoy immediately. Each grain of rice should be coated in that tomato goodness.

Chinese Mom Tips

Don't skip the whole tomato in the center. That's where the magic happens. The tomato steams and melts into natural sauce as it cooks. If you cut it beforehand, you lose that effect.

No Chinese sausage? Use regular smoked sausage, bacon, or skip it entirely for a vegetarian version. I've also used leftover rotisserie chicken—delicious.

Want it richer? Drizzle a little extra oyster sauce on top after mixing. Or add a fried egg on top. Trust me.

Leftovers? This reheats beautifully. Add a splash of water before microwaving to keep it moist.

Customize it: This recipe is super flexible. Add whatever vegetables you have—peas, bell peppers, zucchini. Just keep the tomato.

Recipe 2: Hotpot Rice Cooker Meal (火锅丸子饭)

Sometimes I just don't have the energy for the whole setup—the broth, the portable burner, all the dipping sauces. That's when I make this. It's basically hotpot in rice cooker form. The hotpot seasoning cube melts while the rice cooks and flavors everything. All those frozen fish balls, shrimp balls, and crab sticks cook perfectly in the steam. It smells like Haidilao moved into your kitchen.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 300g (1½ cups) rice
• 300ml (1¼ cups) water
• 1 hotpot seasoning packet or cube (90g)—any flavor you like
• Frozen hotpot items of your choice:
• 4-5 fish balls
• 4-5 shrimp balls or meatballs
• 4-5 crab sticks
• 4-5 tofu cubes (fried tofu works great)
• Green onions or cilantro for topping
• Optional: A drizzle of sesame oil

Instructions

1. Wash and add rice: Rinse your rice and add it to the rice cooker pot.
2. The magic ingredient: Drop the hotpot seasoning packet right in the center of the rice. It will melt and flavor everything as it cooks.
3. Arrange the goodies: This is the fun part. Arrange your frozen fish balls, meatballs, crab sticks, and tofu cubes around the hotpot packet. They don't need to be thawed—just add them frozen.
4. Add water: Pour in the 300ml of water.
5. Cook: Close the lid and hit the regular rice setting.
6. Finish and serve: When it's done, sprinkle with chopped green onions or cilantro. Give everything a good stir so the melted hotpot seasoning coats all the rice and toppings. Serve hot.

Tips:

Flavor options: Spicy hotpot base for heat lovers, tomato base for kids, mushroom base for umami depth. I rotate between all three.

Make it creamy: Add a small knob of butter at the end and mix it in. It makes the rice insanely rich.

Use what you have: This is perfect for using up leftover frozen hotpot items from Lunar New Year or that random bag of fish balls in your freezer.

Add vegetables: Throw in some napa cabbage, bok choy, or mushrooms for extra nutrition.

Spice it up: Top with chili crisp or lao gan ma for extra kick.

Recipe 3: Soy Sauce Chicken and Vegetable Pot (豉油鸡蔬菜锅)

This one reminds me of my gradma's cooking in Chengdu. It's a true Chinese home-style meal where you don't add any water the vegetables release their own juices as they cook. The layering is important here because it prevents burning and helps all the flavors blend together. When you open the rice cooker, the chicken is fall-apart tender and sitting in this gorgeous natural sauce. My husband always says this tastes like comfort in a bowl.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

For the chicken:

• 4 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on for best flavor)

For the vegetables:

• 150g green onions (about 1 bunch), cut into 2-inch pieces
• 100g pumpkin or kabocha squash, cut into large chunks
• 100g potato, cut into large chunks
• 90g carrot, cut into large chunks
• 1 ear of corn, cut into 3-4 rounds

For the marinade:

• 80ml light soy sauce
• 20ml dark soy sauce
• 35g oyster sauce
• 10g sugar
• 10g fresh ginger, sliced
• 15g fresh garlic, sliced
• 2g white pepper
• 2-3 green onions, roughly chopped (for marinade)

Instructions

1. Marinate the chicken: In a bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken thighs and massage the marinade into the chicken. Cover and marinate for at least 15 minutes. (Or do this the night before and let it marinate overnight in the fridge for even better flavor.)
2. Layer the green onions: This is your base layer and it's important. Spread the green onion pieces across the bottom of the rice cooker pot. This prevents the chicken from sticking and burning.
3. Add the vegetables: Layer the pumpkin, potato, carrot, and corn on top of the green onions. Cut them into large chunks so they don't fall apart during cooking.
4. Add the chicken: Lay the marinated chicken thighs flat on top of all the vegetables.
5. Pour in the marinade: Pour every drop of that delicious marinade from the bowl over the chicken.
6. Cook: Close the lid and press the regular rice setting.
7. Optional color boost: Halfway through cooking (if you remember), open the lid and brush a little extra dark soy sauce on top of the chicken for a deeper color. But honestly, I usually forget this step and it still turns out great.
8. Serve: When finished, the chicken should be incredibly tender and the vegetables soft. Serve everything with hot steamed rice or noodles. Make sure to spoon that amazing sauce from the pot over everything.

Tips: No water needed. Seriously, don't add water. The vegetables release enough moisture. This is called "no-water cooking" (无水料理) in Chinese and it concentrates all the flavors.

Rice cooker temperature matters: If your rice cooker has a lower temperature setting, you might need to press "cook" twice to make sure the chicken is fully cooked through.

Add mushrooms: Shiitake or oyster mushrooms add incredible umami to this dish.

Save the sauce. The leftover sauce in the pot is liquid gold. Save it and toss it with noodles the next day.

Chicken options: You can use chicken drumsticks or even boneless thighs. Bone-in just has more flavor.

Recipe 4: Beef and Zucchini Rice (西葫芦牛肉焖饭)

When I'm too tired to stir-fry but still want something that tastes like real cooking, I make this. The beef gets so tender from the marinade and the cornstarch, and the zucchini becomes sweet and soft. The rice catches all those delicious beef juices, so every bite is flavorful. It's like a deconstructed stir-fry but easier.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

For the rice:

• 250g (about 1¼ cups) rice
• 250ml (about 1 cup) water

For the beef and vegetables:

• 680g (1.5 lbs) thinly sliced beef (top sirloin or tenderloin works well)
• 2 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced into rounds
• 1 carrot, julienned or shredded
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, sliced

For the beef marinade:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (for color)
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• ½ tablespoon cornstarch (this is the secret to tender beef)
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

For finishing:

• 3-4g (about 1 teaspoon) cooking oil or sesame oil

Instructions

1. Marinate the beef: In a bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients. Add the sliced beef and massage the marinade into the meat with your hands. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes while you prep everything else.
2. Cook the rice first: Add the rice and water to the rice cooker. Press the regular rice setting and let it cook until it's about 80-90 percent done. (You'll know because the water will be mostly absorbed but the rice will still look slightly wet.)
3. Layer the vegetables: Open the lid. First, add the shredded carrots evenly on top of the rice.
4. Add the zucchini: Layer the zucchini slices on top of the carrots.
5. Add the garlic: Scatter the garlic slices over the zucchini.
6. Top with beef: Arrange the marinated beef on the very top layer. Try to spread it out evenly.
7. Add oil: Spray or drizzle about 1 teaspoon of cooking oil over the beef. This helps it brown a little.
8. Finish cooking: Close the lid and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
9. Mix and serve: Open the lid, sprinkle with chopped green onions, and mix everything together gently. The rice should be coated in the beef juices and the zucchini should be tender.

Tips:

Cornstarch is key. Don't skip it in the marinade. It coats the beef and keeps it tender and silky, just like restaurant stir-fry.

Beef slicing: If your beef isn't pre-sliced, freeze it for 15-20 minutes first. It will be much easier to slice thinly.

More garlic flavor: If you want stronger garlic taste, add minced garlic after cooking and stir it into the hot rice. The residual heat will cook it perfectly.

Protein swaps: Use thinly sliced chicken, pork, or even firm tofu instead of beef. All work great.

Make it spicy: Add a spoonful of chili crisp or doubanjiang to the marinade for Sichuan-style heat.

Vegetable variations: Bell peppers, snap peas, or mushrooms also work beautifully in this recipe.

Recipe 5: Rice Cooker Banana Chocolate Cake (香蕉巧克力蛋糕)

 

Yes, you read that right—cake in a rice cooker. My rice cooker truly has range. This dessert is soft, moist, and deeply chocolatey. I love leaving a little melted chocolate in the center for a lava cake effect. It's perfect for when you're craving something sweet but don't want to turn on the oven. My kids fight over who gets the gooey center.

Ingredients

Makes 6-8 servings

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 2 large eggs
• 120ml (½ cup) milk
• 25g (¼ cup) cocoa powder
• 100g (¾ cup) cake flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
• Chocolate chips (as many as you like)
• Chopped nuts (optional—walnuts or pecans work great)
• Optional: 2-3 squares of dark chocolate for lava center

Instructions

1. Mash the banana: This is the best part—you mash the banana directly in the rice cooker pot. No extra bowl needed. Leave a few small chunks for texture.
2. Add wet ingredients: Crack in the eggs and pour in the milk. Mix everything together with a whisk or fork until well combined.
3. Add dry ingredients: Add the cocoa powder, cake flour, and baking powder. Mix until smooth. Don't overmix—a few small lumps are okay.
4. Add chocolate chips: Stir in chocolate chips. If you want a lava center, press 2-3 squares of chocolate into the center of the batter.
5. Optional nuts: Sprinkle chopped nuts on top if you like texture.
6. Cook: Close the lid and press the regular rice setting. Let it cook for about 50 minutes.
7. Check doneness: If your rice cooker runs cooler, you might need to press "cook" again for another cycle. Stick a toothpick in the center—if it comes out clean (or with just a little melted chocolate if you did the lava center), it's done.
8. Remove the cake: Let it cool for 5 minutes. Run a rubber spatula around the edges to loosen it. Use a large spatula to carefully lift the cake out of the pot.
9. Serve: This is amazing served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Tips:

Ripe bananas are essential. The riper, the better. Brown spots on the peel equal perfect sweetness.

Deepen the chocolate: Add 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder to the batter. It makes the chocolate taste even more intense.

Lava center: If you want that gooey chocolate center, cook it for less time and check at 40 minutes. The edges should be set but the middle still soft.

Different flavors: Skip the cocoa and chocolate chips. Add vanilla extract and blueberries for a different cake.

Serve warm: This cake is 100 times better served warm. If you have leftovers, microwave for 20 seconds before eating.

No cake flour? Use all-purpose flour. The texture will be slightly less fluffy but still delicious.