20 Best Small Rice Cooker (2023 Reviews & Buying Guide)

Anyone who is ever burned or botched rice on the stovetop may understand the allure of a rice cooker. Rice cookers turn out fluffy, flavorful rice each time if you are serving it hot in a bowl to relish with chopsticks or packaging it in a bento box for lunch the next day. However, for a lot of folks, standard-size rice cookers are simply too big for their requirements. Small rice cookers serve up smaller parts and pack off easily afterward.

And there are small rice cookers that have a compact build and also a restricted capacity. Many times, they could simply produce up to 6 cups of cooked rice which is the reason why a small rice cooker is not for everybody. They are more ideal for smaller families and people who want a simple way out when cooking their own day-to-day meals.

The top perks that have small rice cookers are the mobile build quality and user-friendly functions. Regardless of their size, numerous small rice cookers are constructed with fantastic characteristics that may come in rather handy in the kitchen.

With that, we’ve listed the top best small rice cookers on the current market, their attributes, and much more to assist you in making the best choice for your investment.

Benefits of Using a Small Rice Cooker

Before diving into the primary post, let us discuss why do you want to go for a very small rice cooker as a substitute for a traditional larger one.

Relatively Smaller

Should you reside single or you’ve got a small family of 2 persón, then you most likely don’t require a massive kitchen? Luckily, a small rice cooker for 2 individuals won’t require a lot of distance from the kitchen space.

On the flip side, if you’re a man or woman who travels a lot and wishes to select the rice cooker readily with you wherever you go and have a fast meal filled with all the carbohydrates, your journey rice cooker may be a fast solution. Using it, you can boost your endurance and energy on the move and revel in a stress-free journey.

You Can Keep the Rice Warm for Long-time

Often people do not consume rice immediately after ingestion. In cases like this, the very best small rice cookers include the choice to keep the rice warm for a protracted period.

If you locate your rice is not warm enough when you’re just about to consume it after a couple of hours, you’ve got the ‘reheat’ alternative that will reheat the rice and also provide you warm and fluffy rice when you desire.

Doesn’t Require Monitoring

Since the stove itself will look after your rice, then you do not have to arrive at the kitchen and track the cooking procedure now and then. You simply sit back and unwind, and following 40-50 minutes, you’ll find the fluffy rice.

Less Messy

Contrary to a microwave oven, a rice cooker does not spill or overflow the surplus water, and it keeps your cooking surroundings clean and neat.

Able to Cook Different Dishes

Rice cookers aren’t the sole expert in cooking rice they could cook unique dishes too. If you’d like some veggies with your own fried rice, then it is possible to steam vegetables with the exact same cooking apparatus.

Together with cooking distinct kinds of rice like brown rice and it also cooks dishes such as soups, porridge, and steam vegetables. Individuals who like to have soup prior to using a heavy meal like rice, have the choice to prepare soup as a starter also. A number of those rice cookers could cook rice and at precisely the exact same time, steam vegetables at a committed steaming basket.

Perfectly Cooked Rice

Whenever you cook rice using a rice cooker, it is going to deliver you rice. And you also won’t need to be concerned about undercooked or overcooked rice.

Easy to Operate

Small rice cookers have an automatic cooking mechanism that only requires your acceptance via the push button. All you have to do is push a button and then require the cooker. Everything will be taken care of.

Easy Cleaning Non-stick Pan

It’s quite bothersome to determine when rice sticks into the pan. In cases like this, you need to put additional effort to wash out the pan. As a result of the removable skillet which comes with nearly every small rice cooker, you may no longer need to watch rice being glued into the pan.

Non-stick pans as its name suggest do not allow the rice to stick into the pan also makes cleanup more comfortable because you do not need to scrap for numerous occasions.

Comes with Handful of Accessories

Last but not the least, these rice cookers include a few useful accessories such as a steaming tray, spatula, and measuring cup. These accessories will create every measure of comfy and easy cooking.

List Of 20 Best Small Rice Cooker Reviews

1. BLACK+DECKER RC506 6-Cup Cooked/3-Cup Uncooked Rice Cooker

Black & Decker’s rice cooker holds up to 6 cups of cooked rice. When the rice is prepared, this wise appliance automatically switches to “keep warm” A dishwasher-safe, removable nonstick pot makes cleanup a breeze. The Black & Decker version includes a steaming basket, a plastic spoon that is safe for nonstick surfaces, along a measuring cup.

Plus, you can use the electric cooker to prepare soups, stews, and even oatmeal! With a 1 to 6-cup capacity, this electric rice cooker is great for small and large servings.

2. Aroma Housewares MI 3-Cup Cool Touch Mini Rice Cooker

The Aroma MI Cool-Touch Rice Cooker is just one having a slick and simple design. It only weighs 2.45 lbs and measures 6.75 x 6.25 x 7.25 inches, which makes it simple to use, take and bring with you to picnics and smaller gatherings. With these attributes, rave reviews, and advantages, it is not surprising that makes it on the very top of the listing.

This portable Aroma rice cooker is operated with a single easy push of a change. That’s sufficient to start the cooking procedure. When the rice has finished cooking, then the change will automatically show back up to instant the Keep Warm work, which may keep your rice in optimum serving temperature for up to 12 hours per day.

The Aroma MI Cool-Touch Rice Cooker can cook over white rice or brown rice. You do not even require another cooking pan to create an entire meal. The inner kettle and cooking lid are removable and coated with nonstick material so that it’s dishwasher safe and extremely durable – and points to be easy to wash.

3. Dash DRCM200GBPK04 Mini Rice Cooker Steamer

Dash DRCM200GBPK04 Mini Rice Cooker is ideal for two-person or pupils living in dorms. Whether or not you fight to prepare a simple breakfast, lunch, fast lunch or dinner, or perhaps snacks, this rice cooker can assist you with these regards. You may use it as a small rice cooker for travel too.

The cooker does not only permit you to cook rice; you could cook curry, oatmeal, soup, pasta, quinoa even steam vegetables too. Consequently, if you would like fried rice with veggies, this cooker will probably be sufficient for you in that circumstance.

The very best aspect of this rice cooker is also, it turns off automatically if your rice is properly cooked. Because of this, it does not overcook or purify the rice along with other components and provides you correctly moist and fluffy rice to relish your mealtime.

This compact-looking rice cooker featured together with all the keep warm work will continue to keep your meal warm for hours. Frequently, rice gets tacky and it is quite annoying to consume sticky rice. Fortunately, this cooker does not make the rice sticky even in the event that you maintain it in a hot manner.

4. Instant Pot Lux Mini 6-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker

The Instant Pot LUX Mini replaces six appliances in one. This innovative design contains a pressure cooker, rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer, warmer, and sauté, supplying you with the capacity of cooking a complete meal, using only 1 unit.

Its compact size also suggests that this version is excellent for couples and tiny families or for use while camping, travel, on sailing excursions, or even if you’re outside for a day excursion on your RV.

The Instant Pot LUX contains 10 built-in apps, letting you warm leftovers, slow-cook stews and broths, and needless to say pressure-cook rice. Additional helpful features include a 24 hour postponed cooking beginning, a car set that lets you keep food warm for up to ten hours after it’s completed cooking, and also three distinct temperature settings which may be used for slow cooking and also for sautés.

5. Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker

This gorgeous small rice cooker in the Japanese manufacturer Zojirushi has proven the maximum functionality and superb cooking capacity. It’s a fully automatic, little rice cooker using a warmer choice. Its flexibility and innovative features introduced it towards the very top of the greatest little rice cooker checklist.

Together with the Neuro-fuzzy rice cooker, you’ll never go through the issue of eating rice. This rice cooker automatically corrects the cooking parameters only right to supply perfectly cooked, flavorful rice, every moment.

6. Panasonic SR-3NAL Rice, Steamer & Multi-Cooker

This Panasonic Small Rice Cooker carries all of the guesswork out of cooking rice. It’s a 1.5 cup rice cooker, which contributes to 3 cups of cooked rice. There’s a glass lid so you can observe the rice cook and then keep a watch out for it.

The Panasonic electric rice cooker also will come with a rice cooker measuring cup. One-switch automated cooking means only flip 1 switch to begin cooking. There’s an automated shut-off function once the rice is intact.

The inside has a non-stick coated aluminum pan which makes cleanup easy. Additionally, it spreads the heat evenly to be sure that the rice is completely cooked. And you’ll be able to cook rice. It functions for oatmeal, soups, and stews too.

7. Dash DRCM200BK Mini Rice Cooker

This is only one of the small rice cookers accessible, using a two-cup capacity. It is incredibly convenient if you just cook a couple of servings at one time and distance is a significant issue for you.

This system is a rice cooker and steamer, meaning it may be used to cook rice or steam vegetables. It doesn’t have another steamer tray. The heating feature makes it good to use for heating soups or blended dishes such as rice bowls or pasta.

8. Cuisinart CRC-400 Rice Cooker

This trendy, cube-shaped stainless steel rice cooker makes 4-7 cooked rice cups (2-3 raw ), but could also be used to steam vegetables and poultry and keeps the food warm once the cooking is completed.

It’s a handy control panel and features a stainless-steel basket, non-stick cooking bowl, glass lid, paddle, and measuring cup.

9. Aroma Housewares 2-8-Cups Digital Cool-Touch Rice Grain Cooker

In case you have zero expertise with rice cooker but do believe it may be a fantastic idea to get one in your own kitchen, the Aroma 8-Cup Digital Rice Cooker and Food Steamer is a superb option.

It’s among the least expensive rice cookers in our listing, and it has a large 8 cup capacity. A word of caution, however, the 8 cups refer to cooked rice so you will begin with 4 cups of raw rice and water, the rice will essentially double in amount.

Another reason, except because of its high capacity, the reason we believe the Aroma small rice cooker is a great first choice is the fact that it includes a steamer basket which you may hang over the rice and so you will be able to cook the vegetable and meat to your meal along with the rice in precisely the exact same moment.

10. Zojirushi NS-LAC05XT Micom 3-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer

Overall, Zojirushi seems to have a fairly tight grip on the rice cooker marketplace, and they have been doing good for quite a while. They certainly know what they’re doing, they’re the most technologically advanced in the marketplace with detectors that could tell if the rice is done cooking (rather than a timer that treats each bowl of raw rice exactly the same).

A nifty keyboard that enables increased control over scheduling your rice requirements, a retractable cable that handles extra cord in your counter, along with a carefully constructed program for cooking good brown rice (hard to perform using its hard outer coating).

11. Joseph Joseph 45002 M-Cuisine Microwave Rice Cooker

The Joseph Joseph rice cooker includes all of the tools required to quantify, cook, serve, and transfer fluffy rice, which can be steamed in the microwave. A 2-liter interior pot doubles as a colander for rinsing rice.

The outer pot doubles as a serving bowl. The contained rice paddle latches on the lid and function as a handle for simple storage and transportation. Each of the bits, such as a measuring cup, then go into the dishwasher.

12. Tiger JAX-S10U-WY 5.5-Cup Micom Rice Cooker

The next one on our best small rice cooker checklist is that this Tiger version. The JAX-S10U electronic rice cooker could possibly be one of those Tiger brand’s tiniest rice cookers, but it doesn’t fall short of all of the best features the Japanese manufacturer Tiger is famous for.

The JAX-S10U Tiger rice cooker gets the exclusive “Tacook” cooking pot which permits you to cook your brown or white rice with your viand in precisely the exact same moment. The innovative technology makes sure that the tastes and textures of every food don’t impact each other while cooking in precisely the exact same pot concurrently – producing a whole, perfectly cooked meal each time.

The JAX-S10U electronic rice cooker includes 10 cooking preferences it is possible to select from, such as plain white rice, synchro-cooking, fast, sweet, blended, porridge, multigrain, brown rice, slow cook, and steam. All these are available through easy navigation and an electronic screen menu. Menu preferences on such cookers make browsing the various presets much simpler.

13. Oyama 3 Cup Traditional Rice Cooker-Warmer

This 3-cup rice cooker weighs only 2.5 pounds making it effortless to carry from 1 area to another. The cooker can feed four individuals as 3 cups of raw rice turns to 6 cups of cooked rice. Owing to the ordinary size, it won’t require that much room in your kitchen space.

The exterior of the rice cooker is constructed from stainless steel that makes it very durable and simple to wash. Stainless steel as well as the white color blend give it an elegant appearance and match fairly nicely with kitchen space décor.

If it has to do with the cooking area, all you have to do is place rice and pour water from the bowl, and then forget about it. The stove will automatically turn off if it completes the cooking procedure. You’re able to focus on other functions while cooking. It includes a steamer tray for steaming veggies.

The best portion of the small rice cooker is functioning automatically in the’keep warm’ manner as soon as your rice is properly cooked. As stated by the producer, it may keep your rice warm for 12 hours. This attribute is very impressive for a small rice cooker at the price point.

14. Aroma Housewares Select Stainless Rice Cooker

The Aroma Simply Stainless 3-Cup (Uncooked) 6-Cup (Cooked) Rice Cooker prepares two to six cups of white or brown rice to restaurant grade. The device may also be employed to prepare soup, oatmeal, pasta, stew, and a lot more dishes.

The cooking pot is created from 100% surgical grade 304 stainless steel and is removable for simple cleaning. The device includes a rice measuring cup plus a helping spatula. Operation is an easy partitioning system, as well as the device, which includes a useful automated keep-warm function.

15. Aroma Housewares 20 Cup Cooked Digital Rice Cooker

Aroma rice cooker is an electronic device ideal for preparing different types of rice dishes, in addition to food steaming and slow cooking. Its universal flexibility is acceptable for any kitchen and loved ones.

Its most powerful asset is its exceptional design which allows preparing 20 cups of rice at the same time! It’s very important to highlight that its measurements don’t exceed those of rice cookers shown here.

The Aroma rice cooker includes a slow cooker, food steamer, remain heat, brown rice, white rice, and fast rice choices. It’s also great for different sorts of grains, such as quinoa. This is quite straightforward to use, however, this multifunctional small rice cooker will get an irreplaceable device in your kitchen.

16. Aroma Housewares MRC-903BL MI 3 Cool Touch Mini Rice Cooker

The Aroma Mini Rice Cooker includes a streamlined layout. It comes in white and blue, which may not fit everybody’s kitchen or a pristine white version. Aroma has a fantastic reputation for rice cookers and this is a fairly great value rice cooker that is simple, with no bells or whistles.

The small rice maker cooks 1.5 cups of raw rice to 3 cups of cooked rice. It is one-touch, Exactly like the Panasonic. The principal difference is that the Panasonic turns off once done however, the Aroma rice manufacturer switches to heat.

It remains on for as many as 12 hours. The non-stick rice pot is dishwasher safe, but many individuals have stated the cooker is somewhat cluttered.

17. DCIGNA 1.2L Mini Rice Cooker

This small rice cooker includes a steamer tray plus a suitable handle, which makes it perfect to deliver on the move with you. Prep and cook a whole meal – two individuals on just 200 watts of electricity, which is particularly valuable for use in RVs.

It’s a really compact machine, so if you are not careful with your own water dimensions, you might encounter some leakage. You will find measuring lines within the pot, however, it is simpler to overfill this manner than having a measuring cup.

18. Aroma Housewares 6-Cup Pot-Style Rice Cooker

Enjoy simple home cooking using an Aroma 6-cup pot-style rice cooker and food steamer. Restaurant-quality rice. Healthy steamed meals. Prepare all of this and more in the flip of a switch!

Aroma requires the “cook” Out of home cooking – turning kitchen time in your time! Help the children with homework, make creative in playtime, or select up that book you have been waiting to dive into.

All while providing hot, hearty, and wholesome foods the whole family will adore. Steam menu, rice measuring cup, and serving spatula included.

19. Hamilton Beach Rice & Hot Cereal Cooker

There’s one huge, clear reason why we needed to include the Hamilton Beach choice on the hunt to find the very best small rice cooker, and that’s that it priced extremely competitively and it’s a more sophisticated, programmable interface.

This means that you may follow simply read precisely how much longer you’ve got to await the rice to prepare yourself and you can also choose a more innovative cooking fashion based on the kind of rice you’re cooking and if you’re utilizing the steamer function independently or with rice beneath.

20. Midea 3-Cup Small Rice Cooker

MRC173 Rice Cooker can cook up to three cups of rice, ideal for small families, empty nesters, or back to school. Not limited to cooking rice, perfect for oatmeal too. Once the meal is cooked, the unit automatically switches to the keep-warm function.

An aluminum steamer basket is included and perfect for steaming vegetables or fish for a complete meal in one easy-to-clean, glass lid and dishwasher-safe cooking vessel. The MRC173 will be available in black or white and comes with a spatula and measuring cup.

Buying Guide For Best Small Rice Cooker

When you shop for a small rice cooker, maintain the attributes outlined below in your mind, for example, kind of rice cooker, the building materials, controls and settings, flexibility, ease of cleaning, and some additional features that could make a specific product the very best ice maker to your requirements.

Type

Before starting your search, pick which kind of small rice cooker will fulfill your requirements. One of the very best small rice cookers, you’ll discover:

Conventional: With all these conventional versions, home cooks will need to provide the rice period to soak before turning to the rice cooker and has to flip the rice cooker away to let it finish steaming.

Microprocessor: Also known as micom rice cookers, these appliances further simplify the job of cooking rice. Cooks just should place tidy, rinsed rice from the rice cooker, then the microprocessor controls the majority of the remaining part of the procedure, such as soaking, boiling, and steaming the rice. Following the rice ends, just fluff and function.

Combination: These flexible devices provide other functions apart from rice groundwork, like steaming as well as baking.

Induction: These rice stoves operate without using heat. They use a conductive substance and radiofrequency power to heat the interior pot to cook the rice.

Size/Capacity

Small rice cookers hold from 2 to 1 cup of rice. Read product specifications carefully. Some producers cite the number of cups of rice that the cooker holds, but others mention cooked rice ability.

Ordinarily, 1 cup of rice cooks to about two cups, depending on the kind of rice. Consider just how much rice you will probably make at the same time, and search for a rice cooker that can accommodate that.

Pay attention to some rice cooker’s total measurements, also. Pick a model which will fit in the counter and storage space you have available for this.

Material

While looking for the best small rice cooker, start looking for a model with a durable exterior, if you select challenging plastic or stainless steel.

Also, focus on the inside lid and pot. Opt for a durable, easy-to-clean, BPA-free material. Stainless steel and nonstick pots are two popular choices.

For cookers that have removable lids, start looking for demanding materials that will not easily break in case an accident occurs. If it has to do with glass lids, tempered glass resists cracks greatest.

Versatility

Some rice cookers offer you special settings for brown, white, or other sorts of rice. Other rice cookers additionally serve as multi-cookers that steam fish and veggies, prepare porridges, bake cakes, and much more. Choose whether you would prefer a very simple rice cooker or among those multifunctional appliances.

Cook Settings and Control

Standard rice cookers might include just one switch to cooking rice. Others arrive with much more advanced configurations, such as different brown and white rice acts, the very helpful “keep warm” atmosphere as well as baking and steaming choices.

On certain rice cookers, switches or buttons control the preferences. Others could incorporate a more high-tech electronic screen. Assess the controls and settings of each small rice cooker to decide on a version that will fit your requirements and preferences.

Ease of Cleaning

A small rice cooker that’s simple to wash makes the entire rice-cooking experience more pleasurable. Nonstick inner strands will probably be a lot easier to clean than stainless steel or other substances. Some pots and lids go in the dishwasher.

Additional Features

Lastly, choose whether you’d love to find any other attributes on your little rice cooker. Some features you might find include:

-Glass lids to track the advancement of the rice as it cooks.

-Stay-cool manages for safe moving and handling of this rice cooker.

-Steaming baskets for preparing vegetables or fish.

-Customizable alerts, which enable users to pick the song or beep that indicates if the rice is prepared.

-Rice paddles to fluff and serve the rice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Consult with the often asked questions below for further insight and advice as you shop.

1. What is the ideal rice-to-water ratio?

A ratio of two cups water to 1 cup corn is best.

2. How long can one small rice cooker take to cook rice?

It depends upon the sort of rice cooker. Normally, it generally requires 30-50 minutes to cook rice. If the cooker includes a quick-cooking function, it is going to take approximately 25 minutes.

Simple Rice Cooker Recipes

Conclusion

Small rice cookers are a fantastic buy, considering they are budget-friendly, streamlined, and user-friendly. Most, like a number of these we recorded here, have exactly the very same functions you’ll see in larger versions but shrunk into a more compact bundle.

In the end, the choice between purchasing a small rice cooker or a larger one will depend on your requirements and tastes, since there’s no such thing as a toaster. However, for solo-dwellers, pupils, active people, and tiny families, small rice cookers are unquestionably what we advocate.

Hopefully, this review and buying guide about the very best small rice cooker can allow you to decide to purchase a rice cooker that will fulfill your need. Make certain to think about the critical items to search for while buying a rice cooker.