This Rice Cooker Is, Hands-Down, My Most-Used Kitchen Gadget

A lifetime ago, as an intern for The Toronto Star, I interviewed Roger Ebert about an obsession he'd had for much of his culinary life: cooking entire meals in a single rice cooker. In 2010, he'd published a whole cookbook of recipes based on this premise called The Pot and How to Use It.

While the late film critic had long been renowned as a gourmand, what made this notable at the time was that it had been four years since Ebert had actually had a meal. (Thyroid cancer and complications following surgery from it had left him unable to eat.) Clearly, he was passionate about the subject! 

Ebert was by no means the first person to come up with the idea of using rice cookers for dishes other than rice—this mainstay in many east Asian kitchens has been employed to steam vegetables, simmer soups and more for decades. But I've often since thought about his enthusiasm for making a single-purpose kitchen tool into a versatile workhorse.

When I got my first rice cooker in late 2024, one of the first things I made with it was a snack my childhood piano teacher often had ready on the counter after a lesson: eggs steamed over rice with chopped scallions. I loved slicing into the yolks with a spoon and letting them run into the fluffy rice. With just a dribble of soy sauce to add a bit of salt, you could call it a meal. 

Of all the kitchen gear I test in a year—and every year, it’s a lot—a rice cooker is one of the few things I’d never live without. They pre-date Crock-Pots and there’s now a slew of new smart models that adjust cooking time and heat to get you the best result. They’re also truly versatile: this trusty gadget can steam vegetables, simmer soups and even turn out a simple meal in the time it takes to throw three or four ingredients into the pot.

Here are two ultra-quick, one-pot meals I make often in my rice cooker—and sometimes eat straight out of the bowl.

Rice Cooker Trout and Roe

Seven ingredients, 20 minutes, and you've got lunch. Get this trout-and-roe recipe.

Rice Cooker Kimchi-Tofu Soup

This simplified version of soondubu is often in my weekly rotation. Get this kimchi-tofu soup recipe.

Three Rice Cookers We Love

Zojirushi Neurofuzzy 5.5-Cup Rice Cooker, $269

A decent rice cooker can run you anywhere from a simple steam model for $90 to a fancy $500 pressure-cooker style machine with dozens of cooking options for rice type, porridge, and even inserts for steaming and boiling. You don't need the latter, but smart models do have the advantage of calculating and adjusting heat and cook times based on the rice-to-water ratio you've put in your pot (this makes rice basically impossible to mess up).

Zojirushi, one of the OG rice cooker manufacturers, has a smart model version called the Neuro Fuzzy. It's become an indispensable tool in my kitchen in the couple of years I've had it. It may not be cheap, but I'd pay full price to replace it in a heartbeat.

Tiger Micom 5.5-Cup Rice Cooker with Steam Basket, $99

Specializing in rice cookers since the ’70s, this brand has become a trusty, budget-friendly mainstay in many homes. 

KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker, $280

Along with rice, this machine also makes  perfect beans and grains, like quinoa and farro.