An easy, one-pot, Instant Pot Butternut Squash Biryani that takes just minutes to throw together, taking you from scratch to dinner in 30 minutes flat. Gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, and can be nut-free.
Here’s the deal about this Instant Pot Butternut Squash Biryani. As it cooks, it fills up your kitchen and house with the most incredible fragrance you can imagine, making tummies growl. And if you actually have leftovers after dinner, well, you must’ve done something wrong.
But seriously, this is a scrumptious, nutritious dish that comes together in just a few minutes. All you do is dump everything into the Instant Pot (it doesn’t have to be an Instant Pot– any electric cooker that lets you saute and cook rice would work just fine), give it all a stir, and let it cook.
I love butternut squash in biryanis, because there’s something about its delicious sweetness that works beautifully with the spicy, salty, tangy notes of a biryani. For more texture and nutrition, you can throw in other veggies. I love cauliflower in here because it cooks to perfect tenderness in the Instant Pot without become even a tad mushy. Just the way I love my cauliflower.
Green beans, green peas, bell peppers of any color and potatoes would be great in here too.
I get my butternut squash pre-cut at my neighborhood grocer’s, the only veggie I buy pre-cut because it saves a lot of time and, perhaps, my fingers. Needless to say, you’d need to factor in more time if you prepped a butternut squash from scratch.
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Looking for more Vegan Instant Pot recipes?
Instant Pot Khichdi with Sprouted Mung Beans
Instant Pot Spaghetti with “Meaty” Marinara
Instant Pot Mushroom and Potato Korma
Basic Tomato Onion Sauce for Quick Indian Curries
Instant Pot Moroccan Chickpea Stew, No Oil
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Instant Pot Butternut Squash Biryani recipe:
Butternut Squash Biryani in an Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 5 cups butternut squash cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 small head of cauliflower, separated into florets
- 1 tsp coconut or any vegetable oil
- 1 tsp shahjeera or caraway seeds (Can substitute with regular cumin seeds if unavailable)
- 2 dry bay leaves
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 2 tbsp biryani masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cayenne or any red chili pepper powder
- 3/4 cup cashew yogurt (see recipe notes for yogurt recipe link)
- 1/4 cup fried onions, like French's (optional, but really nice in biryanis)
- 1 tsp dry mint leaves
- 1 tsp dry dill leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- 3 cups vegetable stock (can sub with water)
- 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Press the saute function on the Instant Pot. Add the shah jeera and the bay leaves and saute for a few seconds. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 10-15 seconds, then add the butternut squash, cauliflower, fried onions, biryani masala, cayenne, turmeric, cashew yogurt, mint, dill and coriander. Mix well.
- Add the vegetable stock, rice, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Stir well.
- Click on the lid of the Instant Pot and switch to the "rice" cooking function. Once the pressure has released, open and fluff the rice with a fork.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- Find my cultured cashew yogurt recipe here.
- To make the recipe nut-free, use 3/4 cup of canned coconut milk mixed with the juice of 1 lemon.
Nutrition
Hi Vaishali
Can you make this in an amc pot and can you halve the recipe?
hello Vaishali,
Love that you’re posting many Instant pot recipes. Over thanksgiving week, we tried many recipes from your blog; vegan French onion tart, Slab apple pie with salted caramel pecan drizzle, Tikka Masala pot pie with few other entrees. We subbed paneer for Tofu in the tart; it was superb and nothing was left !! Everything turned out excellent; friends and kids enjoyed the meal thoroughly. We celebrated thanksgiving by thanking you for these awesome recipes.
I’ll surely try this biryani soon…
Until then, thanks and God Bless,
Meena.
I am having trouble finding biryani masala, is it the same or similar as the garam masala spice? Or do you have a source to buy the correct spice? Thank you, I love your website.
Hi Christine, there are plenty of choices on Amazon. I like the Bombay Biryani masala, but you cannot go wrong with the Chicken Biryani masala either. Despite the name, the masalas are all vegan, of course. 🙂
I tried the IP butternut squash biriyani and the rice turned out mushy. I thought I followed the directions and amounts of ingredients. Any suggestions what I might have done wrong? Thank you! Gale
I’m making this now. The coriander is not in the ingredients list, and I find it unclear whether I should do a natural release or an instant release. Never have made rice in my IP see.
After reading another comment, I decided to manual release, and I’m glad I did. I didnt have the biryani spice, so I used a tikka masala spice that was just sitting in my cupboard.
This meal is delicious, thank you. The squash with the biryani is a really nice combination.
Happy you liked it, Jane!