This flavorful instant pot keema biryani, a spiced ground meat and rice dish, is going to be your new favorite one-pot meal.
What is Keema Biryani?
Keema biryani or keema pulao is a one-pot dish made up of spiced ground meat, long-grain basmati rice, and aromatic spices. It’s a weeknight favorite at our house as well as a dish we serve when we have last-minute company. It’s easy to make and impressive too!
This dish is very flavorful so I suppose it really is more like biryani since pulao is typically more subtle in flavor. You can call this keema biryani or keema pulao or keema rice or ground meat pualo. Or just call it “that super scrumptious rice dish from myheartbeets” which to be fair, could refer to any one of my super tasty rice recipes… okay, it’s not like we really need another name for this dish, lol. Whatever you call it, know that it’s absolutely delicious.
If you’ve tried my chicken biryani or my shrimp biryani or my lamb/beef biryani then you know I know good biryani. Biryani has been one of my favorite things to eat for as long as I can remember so I know what good biryani should taste like. This keema biryani is so dang good. You are going to love it!
Beef Biryani Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this keema biryani:
- Ground Meat: you can use any ground meat you’d like. I typically use ground lamb or ground beef when making this, but chicken or turkey will work too.
- Basmati Rice: I love this brand of basmati rice – the grains are long and fragrant and cook perfectly every time.
- Whole Spices: cardamom, cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, cumin
- Onion
- Garlic: you can use minced garlic or garlic paste.
- Ginger: you can use micned ginger or ginger paste.
- Green Chilli: you can use a minced serrano or green chilli paste.
- Ground Spices: coriander, paprika, salt, black pepper, garam masala, turmeric, cayenne
- Tomatoes
- Cilanto and Mint leaves: for garnish
If I’m making this keema biryani on a weeknight, I’ll sometimes leave out the herbs (I usually have cilantro in the house, but I don’t always have mint). If you’re serving this on a special occasion though then be sure to add the herbs. They add a bright fresh flavor to the dish. My goal for the spring/summer is to grow my own cilantro, mint, and parsley so hopefully, I’ll always have fresh herbs nearby. I have a brown thumb (both literally and figuratively) so I’m hoping I don’t kill my new plants right away.
How much should I cook the rice?
The best part about making biryani in an instant pot is that you don’t need to worry about this question because you cook the rice and meat together, in one pot, in the same amount of time.
Traditionally when making biryani, you cook the meat and rice separately but since we’re cooking it all together, we can cook the meat and rice together in 6 minutes (with a 10-minute natural release).
How long does does keema biryani last?
I would suggest eating this biryani within 2-3 days. You can also store it in the freezer for up to a couple of months.
What meat is best for biryani?
You can use any meat to make biriyani. I have many different types of biryani recipes on the blog. For this particular recipe, any type of ground meat will work. I typically use ground lamb or ground beef when making this, but chicken or turkey will work too.
Try another biryani recipe next!:
Looking for more ground meat recipes?
- Keema (reader favorite!)
- Kerala Ground Meat Stew
- Kerala Cutlets
- Ground Meat Vindaloo
Keema Biryani (Keema Pulao)
Keema Biryani (Keema Pulao)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups basmati rice soaked for 15 minutes
- 2 tablespoons oil of choice
Whole Spices
- 5 cardamom pods
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cinnamon stick
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 pound ground meat of choice
- 1 onion diced
- 5 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- ½ – 1 Serrano pepper or green chili minced, adjust to taste
Ground Spices
- 3 teaspoons coriander powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 2 (medium) tomatoes diced (approx 8-10 ounces total)
- 1 ½ cups water
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves chopped
- ¼ cup mint leaves chopped
Instructions
- Soak the basmati rice in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse and set aside.
- Press the sauté button, then add the oil to the pot. Allow the oil a minute to heat up, then add the whole spices to the pot and give them a stir. Once the spices begin to sizzle, add the ground meat, onions, garlic, ginger, Serrano pepper and cook until the meat is mostly browned.
- Add the ground spices, mix well, then add the tomatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until they have softened.
- Dump the rice on top of the meat (do not mix) then pour water on top. Sprinkle half the cilantro and mint on top of the rice.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 6 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes. Open the valve to release any remaining pressure.
- Remove whole spices and sprinkle with remaining cilantro and mint.
Ian Sproule says
Can we have the recipes and methods for non pressure cooker users please.
Thank you
Nisha says
Awesome recipe Ashley, thank you for sharing it. It’s on my monthly rotation and my kids actually ask for it.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Nisha, I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you and your kids like this!
Rajee says
Superb! Thank you for this recipe. I read it and instantly felt in my bones that it would be good – glad my bones were right 🙂
I used 30% more beef mince than the recipe called for, as I wanted it to carry a higher protein to carb ratio than classic rice-heavy pulao/biriyanis do.
Also I sautéed the tomatoes & spice powders after the onions had softened, to bring out their flavours before adding the beef mince and then lightly browning.
Recommended InstantPot cooking time was just right and resulted in the perfect grain quality for my basmati.
Overall super happy with this thank you – have saved it in my recipe app as a keeper!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Rajee, I’m so glad you made and liked this recipe! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Edmund says
Tried multiple times-every time pressure valve fails to pop out and IP gives “Food Burn” alarm. Tried less rice, more water, mix water with meat before adding rice, nothing works. Same thing with other biryani recipes. Not sure what the problem is.
When finished on a stove top, it tastes great though.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Edmund, I’m surprised that’s happening – are you making any other changes to the recipe? Are you making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot?
Louise Rackley says
Just did this without a pressure cooker on the hob using a heavy based pan with a lid. Followed the recipe exact until right at the end, added the water, brought it to boil then put the lid on and put it on simmer for around 10-12 mins. I also added a handful of frozen veg in when adding the tomatoes (peas sweetcorn, carrots) and it was sooooooo good 😍 thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Louise, that’s great to hear! Thanks for letting us know how it turned out for you on the stovetop! I’m sure this will be helpful for other readers 🙂
Nisha says
This is absolutely delicious and a quick go-to for any week night.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Nisha, I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked it 🙂
Raffat says
how many tomatoes do we need? Sorry don’t think I see in the recipe
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Raffat, you’ll want to use 2 tomatoes. You can see it in the recipe card at the bottom of the post 🙂
Veda says
Love all of Ashley’s recipes, this one is no exception! My 2 y/o toddler loves it too!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Veda! That’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how much you and your toddler liked this recipe 🙂
Mimi says
This turned out beautifully and cannot get over how simple and quick the whole process was. I put in 2 green chillies instead of the the half as recommended in the recipe and it came out pretty spicy but made some raita to have on the side.
Will be adding to my regular dishes I reckon!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Mimi, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked this dish 🙂
Ginger Bingham says
Made this tonight. It was delicious. The spice combination is amazing. I used ground turkey and brown rice(an organic sprouted brown basmati) I prefer using brown rice to white. I soaked it for close to 2 hrs and did the pressure for 8 minutes. It was done, but the dish was perhaps a little wetter than your photo looked. Any suggestions on a better way to substitute brown for white? And thanks for yet another fabulous recipe!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Ginger, thanks for letting us know how it turned out for you with brown rice. I normally soak brown rice for 15-20 minutes and cook for 22 minutes, maybe try that next time?
Debbie Finkelstein says
I love all your recipes and even bought an Instant Pot to make them. Working my way through the main dish recipes at the moment. Needless to say, I’m very pleased, and so is hubby.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Debbie, that’s awesome – very happy to hear that 🙂 Please continue to let me know what you think of the recipes you try!