This Rice Cooker Costs Under $50 And Makes A Lot More Than Rice

Spoiler alert: I made a cake in it.

Lately I've been extremely fascinated with the kitchen and small appliances section at Target. IDK what it is about that aisle that excites me, all I know is that I purposely avoid that area, because if I don't, I'll be looking at my bank statement trying to figure out who spent all of my money. However, I did buy an Aroma 20-cup digital rice cooker from Target for $42.99. This is probably one of my favorite small kitchen appliances, and I think it could be your favorite, too.

Target

It comes with a non-stick inner pot, a steam basket, a rice paddle, and a measuring cup. I especially love the steam basket because I can steam veggies while I cook rice. It's also super easy to clean because the inner pot is removable and you can just use a damp cloth to clean the outside.

With nine programmable digital controls, this cooker allows for all sorts of meals to be made! It even has a 15-hour delay timer, so you can make all the slow cooker recipes your heart desires. No matter what you cook, when the timer goes off, the rice cooker automatically switches to the "keep warm" setting. Then it counts the minutes that it has been placed on "keep warm." You'll never have those "how long has this been on?" moments.

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The settings are: white rice, steam, cake, delay timer, multi-grain, oatmeal, sauté, keep warm, and slow cook.

I honestly believe the multiple settings make cooking various types of meals easier. The set cooking time ensures food is cooked just right.

I swear this is the best rice cooker because my rice is always cooked to perfection! For some reason, the consistency is way better than stovetop rice. I also appreciate the fact that I can walk away from my food and not have to worry about it burning. I just set the rice cooker to "white rice," waited for the beep, and it was finished cooking in about 15 minutes. It's really that easy!

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Remember to always use non-metal utensils when using your rice cooker — you don't want any scratches on your nonstick pot. Another thing to keep in mind: When using the rice cooker, keep the pressure cap OPEN ALL THE WAY. If it's closed while you're cooking, then you will have a pool of water gathered in the center of the lid. I kept mine open for everything I made and I didn't have that problem. In the past, I've had that problem because the pressure cap was closed. Keep the pressure cap open.

I bought my rice cooker last March, and I'd only used it to make the fluffiest rice ever. I wondered what else I could make, so I tried making orzo, the TikTok-famous feta pasta, and a sponge cake.

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I didn't want to go too overboard with the recipes, just in case it didn't work how I expected. Also, I hate wasting food.

I love that the inner pot is nonstick because I can do other things at once and practically forget about my food. I enjoy cooking, but always having to check on it can feel like watching paint dry. As you can see, it worked perfectly with the orzo pasta!

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BTW, I used chicken stock instead of water to cook the orzo. I cooked the orzo like I would cook white rice. In this case, two cups of chicken stock to one cup of orzo.

Just a little garnish because why not. Seriously though, the orzo was ready in under 20 minutes, and it came out great! The texture was perfect and it had a slight shine from being cooked in chicken stock.

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Next, I made the famous TikTok feta pasta. NGL, I was super nervous that it would be overcooked, overall disgusting, or an unfortunate mixture of both.

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If you decide to make pasta in this rice cooker, I recommend putting it on the multigrain setting. I used the whole box of thin spaghetti, broke the noodles in half, and used four cups of water. Surprisingly enough, I didn't have to drain the water. I also had enough pasta water left over to give it some shine.

Toped with basil and sprinkled with parmesan cheese, the pasta tasted heavenly. The noodles were cooked al dente and the feta was creamy enough to be blended with the pasta and tomatoes. The total cooking time was around 35 minutes. Not bad for a dish that would normally take around 45 minutes to an hour to make.

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Making this was enough proof to convince me to give the oven and stove a break. Honestly, I prefer the rice cooker because it makes cleaning easier and faster. It's essentially like cleaning up a one-pot meal — practically effortless.

Making this sponge cake stressed me out the most. Even though my rice cooker has a "cake" setting, I seriously doubted it would work. As you can see in the GIF below, it worked.

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For those who don't know, the GIF shows me doing the toothpick check. I didn't have any toothpicks, so I used a chopstick. Even though the sponge cake cooks like a pancake, I was sure the middle would still be runny. When I tested the middle, my chopstick came out CLEAN!!!

Obviously, the cake setting does work for cakes. I didn't even have to set a timer. The timer set itself for like 15 or 20 minutes.

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Thanks to the inner pot being removable and nonstick, my cake plopped right onto a large plate without breaking! Pro tip: gently shake the inner pot to loosen the edges BEFORE your transfer the cake to a plate. You see that sponge cake looking extra spongy, right??? Literally cooked to perfection and I didn't even have to constantly check on it.

I'm not the only one who absolutely loves this rice cooker, and has used it to make other dishes. Check out what other reviewers had to say!

SNL

Promising reviews: "Bought back in the middle of March after my Crockpot died. I love everything about it. Yesterday I had meatballs and hot sausage slow cooking all day and they were so tender. Today I made teriyaki chicken with broccoli and rice. Put rice in the pot and the chicken and broccoli in the basket so that everything cooks at the same time. The chicken is so tender while the broccoli still has that little crunch to it. Rice is perfect too. Taste just like you ordered take-out." —Christina H.

"Three to four days of meals for me. I don't like cooking. This makes preparing meals easier. Veggies, rice, oatmeal, and various noodle recipes." —Lin

"Easy to use and clean! Rice tastes amazing! Cooked to perfection! Can’t wait to try new recipes! Best investment for under $50! I highly recommend!" —EK77

"Love this rice cooker! I bought it as a gift for a friend as I have the same one. Great size capacity with multiple options! Easy one-touch and measurement cup included !" —Damitria

TL;DR: Basicalllyyyyy having a rice cooker is a great investment if you value saving time. It costs under $50 and is super easy to clean and store. It could be a great alternative when you don't feel like using the stove or the oven. If you enjoy cooking, but don't always have the time, then this rice cooker is for you. Get it from Target for $42.99.

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You can also find a similar one on Amazon!

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