Instant Pot millet with vegetables is a 1-pot full meal! Colorful, nutritious, and easy to pull together any day of the week. Comforting and slightly creamy, millet pairs with healthy veggies, soy curls (optional), and Tex-Mex spices. Versatile and great for meal prep! Gluten-free, nut-free, and oil-free.

serving of creamy millet with vegetables and soy curls in a bowl.

Why We Love This Recipe

With nutritious millet and vegetables, you'll love that this basic recipe is very versatile. No need to include every vegetable listed. Feel free to incorporate what you have on hand.

If including the soy curls, as long as they are rehydrated before adding them to the Instant Pot, and you keep the overall wet-to-dry ratio the same, there's a lot of room to play here!

Try it with different spice profiles, like Indian, Chinese, or Thai. Or keep it plain and add your favorite sauces to individual servings.

You'll also love the creamy and comforting consistency. Cooked millet can sometimes be dry, but in this dish we're using more water so the end result is actually a little creamy, almost like kitchari or a thick polenta.

A servine of creamy millet, vegetables, and soy curls in a bowl topped with green onion.

Is millet a grain?

Technically, millet is not a grain. It's often referred to as a pseudo-grain, similar to quinoa, amaranth, and rice. In other words, millet isn't a grain, but it has many of the same characteristics and is usually treated as one.

Millet is naturally gluten-free and has a mild and versatile flavor. I think it tastes slightly nutty and similar to cornmeal.

labeled photo of ingredients needed for millet with vegetables.

Ingredient Notes

Millet
Hulled millet is usually available in well-stocked grocery stores and can also be found online.

It's also great in this millet breakfast bake.

Vegetables
Part of the joy of this recipe is using up whatever veggies you have on hand. Feel free to omit the carrots, pepper, and/or jalapeño. Substitute garlic powder for the fresh garlic if needed.

The baby spinach is also optional. Alternatively, serve the millet with lettuce, arugula, or coleslaw.

Soy Curls
Ordering soy curls online is best since they're nearly impossible to find in stores (if you're lucky you might come across soy curls in a small, local health food store).

Buy soy curls on Amazon or order directly from the Butler Foods website.

If you're new to cooking with soy curls, be sure to read this post: 19 Vegan Soy Curl Recipes + FAQs! More ways to use them:

Can I omit the soy curls?

Sure! You can also make this recipe without the soy curls. Since you won't need water for soaking/rehydrating, the total amount of water needed is 2 ½ cups.

You may also want to slightly decrease the chili powder, cumin, and salt to account for the missing soy curls, but that's totally up to you.

all ingredients inside Instant Pot insert. — Photo of everything stirred together inside the Instant Pot insert before cooking.

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How To Make It

I always flinch a little at the use of the word "dump" to describe anything relating to food 😂 but "dump-and-start" and "dump-and-go" really are good descriptors for this kind of Instant Pot recipe.

The only work involved in making this millet recipe is chopping the onion, garlic, peppers, and carrots. There is no sautéing or babysitting a pot involved!

Rehydrate the soy curls in water mixed with my homemade chicken flavored broth powder, or use any salty broth you have on hand.
While the soy curls soak, chop the veggies.
Then, simply add all ingredients (except spinach, which is added after cooking) to the Instant Pot, and stir very well. Lock on the lid, and cook at high pressure for 11 minutes.

So easy. Also, thanks to the onion, peppers, and spices, your house will smell amazing!

showing texture of millet and soy curls inside Instant Pot after removing lid. — This is how the dish will look immediately after releasing the pressure and removing the Instant Pot lid.

After removing the lid, stir in fresh spinach and allow the heat to wilt it down. Let the millet cool for a few minutes, then serve with salsa, cilantro, avocado, or any other toppings you enjoy.

Tips and Storage

I touched on a few possible substitutions in the Ingredient Notes above, so be sure to check that out if you have questions.

Stir the ingredients very well before locking on the Instant Pot lid. This ensures that the millet is fully incorporated and not clumped on the bottom, which could result in a burn warning (I haven't had that happen, but just in case).

Store leftover millet in a lidded storage container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It also freezes well.

Reheat leftovers on the stovetop or briefly in the microwave.