The Best Rice Cooker (2024), Reviewed by Our Experts

The Zojirushi NW-JEC10 is like the Apple of rice cookers: It’s sleek, high tech, and expensive. It’s the most expensive home rice cooker in the brand’s lineup, as a matter of fact. Of its host of features, the one that sets it apart from the other high-end models Zojirushi offers is the “My Rice” setting, which uses artificial intelligence to learn your preferred rice texture based on inputs you give it after cooking through each batch of rice. Commerce writer Wilder Davies has been testing the NW-JEC10 for over a year, and has come around to the view that the My Rice functionality is no gimmick. He found that his batches of rice evolved for the better over time as he gave the machine more feedback (specifically, it will ask you to input whether the stickiness and firmness of the previous batch you made was “not enough,” “okay,” or “too much”). What’s more, this rice won its initial taste test with our staffers. That said, the difference in rice quality was not enough to merit the $750 price tag, hence why our recommendation for the average rice eater remains the (nearly $450 cheaper) NP-HCC10.

With Micom technology and induction heating, this model is very similar to our top pick. If you’re wondering why it’s over $100 more expensive, that’s because unlike our winner, it uses pressure when cooking rice. While intended to produce a more tender grain, our testers preferred the rice the NP-HCC10 churned out, deeming the NP-NWC10’s rice a bit soft for their liking when cooked on a standard setting. It’s worth noting that this model allows you to adjust texture and consistency with relative ease, which worked well in our long-term testing, but we cannot recommend you shell out an additional $100+ for it based on its overall performance.

The Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 didn’t make as nicely textured and fluffy rice as our winning pick. It does include many of the features we loved in our winner at a lower price point, like the intuitive interface, sturdy inner pot, Keep Warm function and array of presets. It also had some additional features our winner lacked, like a retractable cord and handles on the sides of the pot that allow you to lift it out from the cooker while it’s still hot. That said, at over $240 at the time of publication, we just don’t think this cooker produced rice that merited the still-high price tag.

This model is part of Zojirushi’s newest line of rice cookers, and looks similar to the pricey NW-JEC10 model we mentioned above. It is similar to our winner in terms of functionality, but couldn’t match up to the NP-HCC10’s results in the white rice test. Our tasters found the rice this model produced to be soft and less intact than they’d have liked. That said, the NW-QAC10 features quinoa and oatmeal settings, which makes it a good rice cooker for anyone with a particular affinity for either of those grains.

With a 3-cup capacity, this is the only rice cooker Zojirushi makes that we’d classify as a mini. It’s dead simple, with a single button used to start the cooking process, and didn’t leak starchy water out of the steam vent unlike some other similar models we tested. That said, there were several things that kept this cooker out of the running: It produced inconsistent results, making great rice sometimes and over or undercooked rice others. It also lacks a Keep Warm function, and we found it didn’t handle brown rice well.

This model performed exceedingly well in our initial blind taste test, producing fluffy grains that won over our testers. We also loved its suite of programmable features, the way it gave us a timer countdown from the start of cooking as well as the option to delay cooking until later, its audible alarm, and its use of fuzzy logic AI to make minute temperature and time adjustments according to real time sensor feedback (something more typically seen in higher price point models). We found it easy to use, with helpful presets for a range of rice types and a quick rice function that worked well for grains like quinoa, farro, and polenta, and an included steamer basket.

But our long-term testing of this product revealed a major flaw: We found that the timer would repeatedly freeze (sometimes for 20 minutes or longer) while the machine continued to cook. This issue was particularly prevalent when using the multi grain and quick rice settings. It’s worth noting that the timer function on a rice cooker is typically more of an approximation, and it’s not uncommon for it to change or stall momentarily—but not to this extent, where it resulted in overcooked or even burned grains. It was not a consistent problem, but a problem nonetheless, and a big enough one to give us pause about recommending this model as our top budget pick.

This rice cooker from Toshiba is not a newer version of the TRCS01 referenced above, but rather a smaller model with a 3-cup capacity we’d classify as mini. While it has some of the same features such as fuzzy logic technology and a delay start option, it has a different array of presets from the other Toshiba that includes things like “Cake,” “Egg,” and “Slow Cook.” It fared relatively well in the white rice portion of our taste test, but produced overcooked brown rice that kept it from earning a top spot.

This model from Tiger is similar to some of the Zojirushi and Toshiba models we tested in terms of preset options and general functionality. It has a 5.5-cup uncooked capacity, ten different menu settings for various types of rice and cooking functions (like steam and synchro), and uses the same kind of Micom technology as we’ve seen in other high-end rice cookers. Despite its promising features, this model produced white rice that was a bit wet and soft for our testers’ liking. The brown rice had a nice bite to it, but its exterior was a tad mushy. Overall, we found that our budget pick Tiger outperformed this more expensive model.

This model performed very similarly to our winning pick from Zojirushi, scoring just a few points below it in our taste test. It has a 5.5-cup uncooked capacity, a sturdy nonstick inner pot with handles for safely lifting it out of the machine while hot, and all the other features we’d expect from a rice cooker with its price tag: A bevy of settings (12 to be exact), automatic logic technology, an audible chime, and automatic keep warm functionality. It produced beautifully cooked white rice that was nearly on par with the Zojirushi NP-HCC10, but fell a bit more short in the brown rice test, where the grains were on the mushier side. All in all, it’s a great rice cooker that any home cook would be happy to use, but for just a few dollars more we’d recommend you go with our winning pick from Zojirushi.

This is a straightforward, single button rice cooker that makes enough rice for the whole family (and a large one at that). Unfortunately, the rice it produced proved some of the softest of the bunch, and while that could potentially be remedied by playing around with the water to rice ratio, the lack of features and subpar taste test performance meant we just weren’t wowed by this appliance enough to recommend it to anyone.

Cosori makes some of our favorite air fryers, so we were hopeful that their first entry into the rice cooker space would follow suit. In the end, we gave this cooker a passing grade, but it’s nothing to write home about. Standard settings produced rice that was a bit undercooked according to most of our testers, though those who prefer their rice on the al dente side may appreciate this. This machine does have a whopping 18 settings, including a range of different grains, so it could be a decent option for anyone who frequently cooks steel-cut oats, barley, farro, and the like.

The vast majority of rice cookers featured pots coated with a nonstick material called PTFE, more commonly known as Teflon. There is ongoing research into the safety of PFAS, the group of chemicals PTFE belongs to, though it’s worth noting that the concerns surrounding them are more relevant for nonstick skillets, which are heated to high temperatures and more likely to be scratched than the pot of a rice cooker. That said, we tested a few options for PTFE-free nonstick rice cookers for people who’d like to avoid PFAS when possible.

This model from GreenPan is the best option for a nonstick, PTFE-free rice cooker we’ve found to date. It had fuzzy logic capabilities and a keep warm setting, plus a steamer basket that fits in its ceramic nonstick interior. It was also one of the faster rice cookers we tested, producing totally acceptable white rice in about 25 minutes, and decent brown rice in about 50. That said, note that this rice cooker has some of the fewest setting options out of the models we tested around this price point, a smaller capacity than the 5.5-cup Zojirushi (because GreenPan measures cups by the amount of cooked rice rather than uncooked), and made rice that, while adequate, didn’t knock our socks off.

This model is another PTFE-free option that’s similar to the GreenPan above, but fared markedly worse in our testing. We found every batch of rice was burned on the bottom, and that the keep warm setting didn’t do a great job of keeping the rice fresh—it was prone to yellowing and drying out within minutes.

This model from Cuckoo is a great rice cooker for the price. Tasters ranked the rice it made nearly as highly as our winning Zojirushi, which is a feat considering the Cuckoo is a third of the price. It’s also much faster than the Zojirushi, clocking in at 15 minutes less, and a bit larger, with a 6-cup capacity. Why didn’t it take the top spot, you might ask? A couple reasons: The lid jerks open with so much force that it can knock the whole appliance off the counter (as well as any objects surrounding it), and it doesn’t have a countdown for the total cook time.

This model is like a redesigned, modernized version of the CR-0655F, and makes similarly great rice. However, it too suffers from design flaws in the form of unresponsive buttons and a counterintuitive interface. The manual wasn’t much help either, as its English translation was unclear and hard to follow. So while this cooker checks the “Makes Great Rice” box, the same cannot be said for the “Is a Joy to Use” box.

This is another modern-looking model from Cuckoo that has many of the same flaws as the CR-0675F—most importantly, the irritatingly unresponsive control panel. It also talks, and in a voice that can only be described as Barbie DreamHouse-core—which may be amusing to some, but aggravating to others. Like the other Cuckoos, it made decent rice, but even the most perfect rice wouldn’t cancel out the downsides we found with this model.

This recently-launched model from KitchenAid has a unique design that comprises an integrated scale and attached water tank. It uses that scale and whichever of the 21 preset functions you’ve chosen to determine how much water to add, eliminating the need to futz around with measuring cups and ratios. While it’s an interesting concept, we weren’t impressed enough by this model’s performance to recommend it at this time. The first batch of white rice we made was painfully dry, though the second batch we made using the “softer” setting was an improvement. The brown rice was serviceable, nicely textured if still a touch dry.

The Aroma Mi was a pleasant surprise: Despite its cutesy logo and unassuming appearance, it’s a great little rice cooker. It made fluffy rice and had a few handy features that we loved, like a side-locking lid, handles for toting it around, and buttons for both white and brown rice. We also appreciated the loud beep it emits to let you know your rice is done, and the fact that it automatically switches to a keep warm setting after cooking. If you’re looking for an affordable small-capacity rice cooker, this is a great option.

This affordable 4-cup rice cooker from Aroma performed well in the white rice test, producing rice that struck a nice balance in terms of doneness, neither overly mushy nor too hard. If anything, it was a touch on the soft side. The brown rice test was a different story. It was quite literally a hot mess, leaking starchy water onto a divet on the cooker’s lid that would have spilled everywhere had I not mopped it up. The rice itself was wet and oh-so-mushy.

This model from Aroma is another simple, one-button cooker that’s similar in look and function to the Zojirushi 3-cup model, but with a stainless steel inner pot that we found difficult to clean. It made white rice in near record time (20 minutes or so), but it tended to be a bit underdone. The same can be said for its performance in the brown rice test—the rice was good, but certainly not great. This model also exhibited some leakage through the steam vent even when just cooking one cup of rice, which we imagine would only get worse if you filled it to capacity.

The Hamilton Beach rice cooker looks similar to the Aroma Digital Rice Cooker, but comes with the kinds of presets we’d usually expect to find in a slightly higher-end model. Like the Aroma, it performed very well in the white rice test but crashed and burned with the brown rice, which was still underdone after an hour of cooking. That said, if you like the idea of having steam and hot cereal functionality at a budget price and aren’t a big brown rice eater, this could be a solid option for you.

This cooker is a best-seller on Amazon, so we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. We liked that this model is compact in capacity and footprint while still affording you a range of presets to choose from, like long grain, short grain, porridge, and even cake. It remained a promising contender through the first round of taste testing, where it produced excellent white rice. However, like many of the rice cookers on this list, the brown rice test proved to be the Yum Asia Panda’s downfall; the brown rice this model made was overcooked and mushy. As with the Hamilton Beach above, if brown rice isn’t your thing, you might still consider this model.

The Dash Mini Rice Cooker is another one-button model like the Zojirushi 3-cup and Aroma 2.5-cup models. However, the lid of this model was too lightweight to stay sealed as steam was trying to escape, therefore allowing much of the heat to escape the pot during cooking.

This was another disappointing mini model that didn’t move past the white rice test in our most recent round of testing. The rice it produced looked very wet and undercooked at the time it finished cooking and switched to the keep warm function, and tasted too firm in the middle. This model also came dangerously close to leaking starchy water out of the lid’s steam vent even with just one cup of rice, so we shudder to think of the mess a full four cups would likely make.

This cooker has settings for specific grains like white rice, quinoa, and oats, as well as a general “grains” setting, plus other nice-to-have features like a delayed start button and steam option. And while we can’t comment on how this cooker performs with other grains, we can say that it did not fare well with rice. The white rice we made was wildly inconsistent even within the same batch, with some grains emerging too hard and others way too mushy.

The beloved Instant Pot Duo is a multi-cooker that claims to do it all—including make rice. It was one of the fastest models to do so, but the grains it produced were probably the worst of the bunch. This cooker didn’t move past the white rice round because the rice in question was gummy and decidedly un-fluffable. You’re better off using the Instant Pot’s pressure cooker function to make a hearty stew, and using a dedicated rice cooker to make a pot of rice to go with it.