If we had a nickel for every trendy grain bowl recipe we’ve saved to Pinterest or Instagram, well, let’s just say we’d be able to buy more than a few delicious Sweetgreen Harvest Bowls.
But after putting NutriBullet’s new EveryGrain Cooker to the test, we can save that money, because making rice, quinoa, oatmeal and other grains at home just got extremely easy, efficient and convenient. And did we mention you can steam veggies in it too? If you’re looking for a space-saving small appliance that will not only limit cleanup but also keep your diet in check, you’ll want to check out this multitasking cooker.
- NutriBullet EveryGrain Cooker ($79.99; nutribullet.com)
The rundown
The company known for its personal- and full-size blenders, fruit and veggie juicers, air fryers and recently, coffee makers, now offers a space-saving grain cooker that can be used to whip up rice (white, brown, jasmine — you name it), quinoa, oats and ancient grains (think farro, spelt or millet) in one handy machine. And as a bonus, it can be used to steam veggies, shrimp or fish too.
Using the cooker is easy: Simply grab the included plastic scoop to add your grains and water, select one of six auto-cook programs (white rice, brown rice, grains, oats, quinoa or steam) and press start. When 10 minutes are left in the cycle, a timer will appear and count it down.
Want to set it and forget it? Use the delay start timer to delay the cooking process for up to 12 hours — perfect for waking up to fresh oatmeal or coming home from work with rice ready to serve. Once cooked, the machine goes into a “keep warm” mode for up to three hours, with a timer letting you know how long your food has been resting.
And, maybe the coolest part, the cooker includes a steaming basket so you can use it to steam veggies — or even fish — either on their own, using a scoop of water or (our fave) along with your grains simultaneously.
Measuring 10.8 inches across, 8.6 inches high and 11.4 inches deep, and weighing just 8 pounds, it’s easy to find space to store the EveryGrain Cooker away in a cabinet, and it really doesn’t take up much space on the counter should you choose to leave it out for frequent use. It comes with a black cooker base, 10-cup nonstick pot and plastic steaming basket, rice spoon and measuring scoop and includes a one-year limited warranty as well as a recipe guide that includes measuring and cook/steam times.
The lowdown
Getting started right out of the box is a snap with the NutriBullet EveryGrain Cooker. After unpacking, just give the parts a quick wash in soapy water (or throw the plastic pieces in the dishwasher), open the lid with the push of a button, place the pot into the base and you’re ready to roll. Next, add your ingredients, select your settings and press start. In about 30 to 60 minutes your food will be ready.
The cooker allows you to use up to five dry scoops of grains at a time, making it great for large batches — or plenty of leftovers. The included guide provides grain-to-water ratios for 15 food options ranging from white rice to quinoa to amaranth to oats to jasmine rice to buckwheat, along with the preferred cooking mode, serving sizes and automatic cook time and yield per scoop.
The scoop makes measuring simple, but we also like the option of the premarked water levels labeled in the inner pot that let you know how much liquid to add for two, three, four or five scoops of various grains.
True to its name, we found the EveryGrain worked beautifully on everything we tested, including white rice, brown rice, quinoa and oats. All turned out light and fluffy, with little to no sticking to the pot, even after resting on warm for an hour. We also had great results with the steaming function. We added broccoli, cauliflower and green beans to the basket about halfway through grain cycles and had soft veggies ready to add to our bowl without the need to pull out a separate pan that would later need to be hand-washed. Steaming veggies on their own, with just a scoop of water, worked well too.
Speaking of washing, the plastic steam basket, rice spoon and scoop are all dishwasher-safe, but the pot needs to be hand-washed. With very little food sticking to the pot, though, that was a breeze.
Bottom line
If your family eats a lot of rice, oatmeal or other grains, you will save serious time and space with the NutriBullet EveryGrain Cooker. Rather than getting out one pot in the morning to make oatmeal, hauling out the rice cooker for dinner, plus dirtying yet another pot and metal steamer to cook veggies, this one small appliance covers it all.
Plus, rather than picking up fast food on her way home from soccer practices, my teen has started setting the cooker to make quinoa and steam veggies for a healthy grain bowl. And if that’s not reason enough to recommend the EveryGrain Cooker, we don’t know what is.