Korean Multigrain Rice (Japgokbap)
Multigrain rice (japgokbap) is a nutritious everyday side dish made with white rice and mixed grains. Learn how to cook it perfectly using a stovetop, rice cooker, or Instant Pot with tips, soaking guide, and ideal grain ratios.
Many Korean families enjoy japgokbap (잡곡밥), multigrain rice, as a wholesome, everyday alternative to plain white rice. Grains like brown rice, black rice, barley, millet, and oats are often added for extra texture, nutty flavor, and fiber-rich nutrition.
These days, multigrain rice is actually more common than white rice in many Korean homes. I grew up eating japgokbap almost daily, and I still prefer it with most meals—except for the occasional dish where white rice simply works better.
Some call it Korean purple rice, thanks to the deep hue from black rice or red beans. Korean multigrain rice might take some getting used to, but once you do, you’ll love its hearty, fluffy goodness.
One reviewer commented: “Your recipe for multigrain rice is the best and easiest to follow from any recipe I’ve seen. Thank you!” ★★★★★ – Donna Mikasa
Best Grain Combinations and Ratios for Japgokbap
One of the great things about Korean multigrain rice (japgokbap) is its flexibility—there’s no strict rule for which grains or legumes to use. You can customize the mix based on your taste or dietary preferences.
That said, using 100% whole grains may sound healthy, but it can result in a rough, dense texture. It may also be too fibrous for young children or those with sensitive digestion. To improve the overall texture and make it more palatable, it’s best to include some short grain white rice.
Recommended Grain-to-Rice Ratios
The ratio of white rice to mixed grains is completely up to you, but here are some helpful guidelines:
- Beginner-friendly: 2 parts white rice : 1 part mixed grains
- Balanced: 1:1 (used in this recipe)
- Grain-heavy: 1 part white rice : 2 parts mixed grains (may require extra soak/cook time)
If you’re new to this mixed grain rice, start with more white rice and gradually increase the amount of grains as you get used to the taste and texture.
Common Grains and Legumes in Multigrain Rice
Here are the most commonly used ingredients in a multigrain rice blend:
- White rice (short grain) – Essential for fluffiness and softness. You can also add glutinous white rice (chapssal, 찹쌀) for a slightly stickier texture. Check out my post for different varieties of Korean rice.
- Brown rice – Adds chewiness and extra fiber.
- Black rice – Gives the rice a rich purple hue. Use sparingly, as a little goes a long way.
- Millet – Soft and slightly nutty; great for balancing heavier grains.
- Barley – Adds chew and subtle sweetness.
- Sorghum – Small and round, with a mild crunch.
- Oats (hulled oats) – Adds heartiness and earthy flavor.
- Legumes – Such as red beans, black soybeans, lentils, or dried peas for added protein and color.
Pre-Mixed Multigrain Packs (Store-Bought Option)
If you don’t want to measure each grain individually, pre-mixed grain packs are widely available at Korean grocery stores. These range from 5-grain (ogokbap) to 7-, 10-, or even 12-grain blends. Check the label to choose a mix that includes your favorite grains and legumes.
You can experiment with different blends over time to find what works best for your family’s taste and digestion.
Should I Soak the Grains First?
Yes—soaking your multigrain mix is highly recommended when making japgokbap especially when cooking in a pot over stovetop. It allows the grains to absorb water in advance, leading to a softer, more evenly cooked texture.
Skipping the soak can leave hearty grains like barley, brown rice or legumes undercooked, even with extra cooking time and water. The results may still be uneven depending on your grain mix and cooking method.
How to Cook Korean Multigrain Rice (Japgokbap) – Best Cookware and Methods
In Korean kitchens, multigrain rice (japgokbap) is often made in a stovetop pressure cooker, which helps create a pleasantly chewy texture while reducing cooking time—even without long soaking.
Depending on what cookware you have, you can still get great results with other methods. Here’s how each one compares:
Stovetop Pot Method
You can cook japgokbap in a regular heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid. This method works well and gives great results, but it does require longer soaking time—ideally overnight. Before cooking, drain the soaking water and replace it with fresh water. Here’s how you cook multigrain rice over stovetop:
Mix grains. Use a water ratio of 1 part soaked grains to 1.25 parts fresh water. From there, cook it just as you would white short grain rice on the stovetop.
Cook. Bring the grains to a boil with the lid slightly open. Reduce the heat to low, cover fully, and simmer for about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and let the rice steam, covered, for 10 minutes—this final step, called tteum (뜸), helps develop the ideal texture.
For another great stovetop rice method, try Korean sotbap (pot rice) as one pot meal with crispy, golden crust at the bottom!
Rice Cooker (Asian or Standard) Method
Using a rice cooker is another easy way to cook japgokbap at home. Korean and Japanese rice cookers often have specific settings for multigrain or brown rice, making the process even more convenient.
For the best texture, you’ll still need to soak the grains in advance—at least a few hours. Soaking helps ensure that heartier grains like barley or brown rice cook through evenly.
Use the same water ratio of 1 part soaked grains to 1.25 parts fresh water, just like the stovetop method. After soaking, drain the grains and add fresh water before cooking.
If your rice cooker has a “mixed grain” or “brown rice” setting, use it for optimal results. Otherwise, the regular setting will still work, but expect a slightly longer cook time.
Instant Pot or Electric Pressure Cooker Method
The Instant Pot or other electric pressure cookers are a quick and easy way to cook japgokbap. They cut down on cooking time and require minimal hands-on effort.
While soaking isn’t required, a quick 15-minute soak improves texture and ensures even cooking. Use a 1:1 ratio of grains to fresh water.
Select the “Rice” or “Multigrain” setting, or cook on high pressure for 20–22 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for the best results.
If using a stovetop pressure cooker, you’ll need to adjust the heat manually and allow for natural pressure release as well. This method requires a little more attention but produces great results.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
If you have leftover japgokbap, the best way to store it is in the freezer. Portion the rice into zip-top bags or airtight containers, flatten them for quicker freezing, and store for up to a month.
When you’re ready to eat, simply reheat in the microwave for 2–3 minutes. The texture will be nearly as good as freshly cooked.
Multigrain rice tends to lose moisture quickly in the fridge and may become dry or crumbly after a day. For better texture and flavor, freezing is the recommended method for storing leftover japgokbap.
What to Serve with Japgokbap (Multigrain Rice)
- Spicy Pork Bulgogi (Jeyuk Bokkeum)
- Classic Doenjang Jjigae (Soybean Paste Stew)
- Ssambap (Lettuce Wrap with Rice)
- Grilled mackerel (with Parchment Paper)
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Korean Multigrain Rice (Japgokbap)
Ingredients
- 1 cup assorted mixed grains, see note below
- 1 cup white short grain rice
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups water, depending on the cookware
Instructions
- Soak the Grains: Rinse mixed grains several times and soak in water for at least 15 minute to overnight (if cooking in stovetop pot) depending on the cookware choice. Drain the soaked grains. In a separate bowl, rinse white rice and set aside.
- Stovetop Pot Method: Transfer the soaked grains and white rice to a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 2-1/2 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat with the lid slightly open. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover fully, and simmer for about 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and let the rice steam, covered, for 10 minutes before serving. Fluff with a rice paddle and serve.
- Rice Cooker Method: Place the soaked and drained grains into a rice cooker. Add 2-1/2 cups of fresh water. Select the “mixed grain” or “brown rice” setting, if available. If your rice cooker doesn’t have those options, use the regular setting. After cooking, let the rice sit in warm mode for 10 minutes, then fluff and serve.
- Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Method:Place the rinsed grains into the pot with an equal amount of fresh water (1:1 ratio). You can skip soaking, but a quick 15-minute soak improves the texture. Select the “rice” or “multigrain” function, or manually set to high pressure for 20–22 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally before opening the lid. Fluff and serve.
Notes
Popular grains to mix in include brown rice, black rice (for color), barley, millet, sorghum, oats, and legumes like red beans or black soybeans. Start with 2–4 grains and adjust the mix based on your texture preference—barley adds chew, millet softens the blend, and black rice gives a deep purple hue. Pre-mixed grain packs are also a great shortcut. For a Stickier Texture:
Substitute regular short grain white rice with glutinous sweet rice (chapssal). It adds more chew and helps the grains bind together. Storage & Reheat Tips:
Store leftover japgokbap in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day. For longer storage, portion the rice into zip-top bags or containers and freeze for up to 1 month. To reheat, microwave straight from frozen for 2–3 minutes, or until hot. For best texture, avoid refrigerating for more than a day, as the rice can dry out quickly.
Your recipe for multigrain rice is the best and easiest to follow from any recipe I’ve seen. Thank you!
Hi Holly,
What would you recommend for cooking pressed barley with white rice in a rice cooker?
Amazing tips!!! I’ve got the exact same grains as you and thanks for the cooking instructions! 🙂
I see this type of rice more and more in korean dramas and often wondered if it was just rice and beans (like in latin dishes). Now I know. I’ll definitely have to give it a try and buy from my H-Mart store.
Hello, these posts are all so great!
I was wondering where I can purchase the baskets used to hold noodles or fried foods, or the ones used in the pictures on this article.
Thank you Holly for the information. I have been cooking a 12-grain rice blend since 2005 when I worked with a Korean lady named Hyonmi. I LOVE it…soo earthy, delicious and satisfying. I usually soak overnight and use a rice cooker. I only cook a small amount since it is just for myself. Sometimes, I toss a little butter in at the end, and I think it’s amazing. I never mix it with white rice, but it sounds like it could be good as well. I was wondering; Besides being a side dish of ‘purple rice’ what other uses would you suggest. Is this something that is only eaten on the side or are there Korean dishes such as soups, stir frys, etc that it is used in. Thanks!
I purchased a package of T&T 10 multigrain rice, I have soaked it for 2 hours like the package says. When I cook it in the rice cooker, I am clearly doing it wrong, perhaps too much water? It come out looking like mushy hot cereal not rice. Do I drain the water it was soaked in? how much water should I add to cook it in the rice cooker? I have a Hamilton Beach Rice cooker with a whole grain setting.
You don’t want to cook with the water you soaked your grains in. Drain the water off and pour new water but a lot less amount. With minimum of 2 hours of soak time, I would put about 1:1.5 ratio of grain and water. Some rice cooker with the whole grain setting turns the grains into a porridge. Try with the whole grain setting again and if it still turns into porridge, use the regular setting. Hope this helps.
Thank you very much, worked much better now. Hope you have a Blessed and Joyous New Year.
Argh… I had just made this but I had no idea that the grains needed to be soaked, especially since I used a regular rice cooker. Is what I made still edible?
As long as they are fully cooked to your taste, they are edible. If you soak the grain in the water, it cooks more evenly that you can enjoy the soft texture of the grains
Mmmm! Looks good! Can I just leave it in my cuckoo rice cookers eat it everyday instead of putting it in the freezer or will the taste go bad?
Also if I just want to make brown rice, how long do I soak it for and how long does it take in the cuckoo rice cooker? I’ve read somewhere 4 hours!
This is how I make it. I soak the 7 mixed multi-grain in water for 24hrs. Normally you’ll need 2-3x the amount of water as the rice, as they soak up alot. I put it in the refrig. Then I put it in my cuckoo for multi-grain setting. Here’s the key. Soaked rice only needs small amount of water. I usually pour the entire thing into the rice cooker pot and drain all the water up to the same level as rice. It’s comes out crunchy and soft. Even people are surprised how well it taste. You need 1:2 ratio because it’s not been soaked enough. I used to do this, but it doesn’t taste as good as soaking it in for 24 hours + and using less water during cooking. It usually cooks in 3hrs in my cuckoo.
Hi,
I bought the 7 mixed multigrain rice at hmart. My rice consists of brown rice, brown sweet rice, barley, red bean, black bean, black sweet rice, and mung bean. I had two bad attempts with cooking the rice. Both of my attempts were a big fail. I think I may have had the wrong water ratio. (I cooked it in a rice cooker under mixed rice settings).
Can you let me know the ratio of rice I should use and the water? I’m cooking for myself and I own a small zojirushi rice cooker with mixed rice settings. I like my rice to not be too dried nor too sticky.
Is it NECESSARILY to add white rice to the mixed rice? I mean my rice already have brown rice in it.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker and using ordinary rice cooker, I highly recommend to soak the grains in the water for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. Soaking will help cook the grains evenly and thoroughly. I would use 1:2 grains and water ratio for the ordinary rice cooker.
I made it but it tastes bland. What vegetables and spices can we add to make it tasty, moist and complete in nutrition? Thanks.
This is a recipe for making multi-grain rice only, not a complete meal. It will taste bland without any dishes to go with.
Where can I find the multi-grains in Singapore?
Check Korean grocery stores. Or you can collect each grains separately from any grocery stores
There’s Seoul Mart in Bedok mall and other areas. They sell the grains rice!!
정말 너무 감사하고요 벌써 60줄 가까이 되지만 한국요리는 잘 하지못해 해본적이 별로 없었는데 Holly씨의 blog을 보고 김치를 담았는데 난생 처음으로 맛있게 잘 되어서 너무 기뻤어요. 앞으로도 좋은 요리법과 사진들 부탁들일께요
감사합니다. 도움이 될수있어서 기쁘네요.
growing up my brother and i would call this ‘purple rice’. so good!
My kids call it ‘purple rice’ as well. They like to eat their purple rice.
Really informative post. I haven’t had Wonder Bread for years (decades!) but I do like white rice, even though I know of its nutritional downside. I should start cooking with multigrains more. And a great excuse to buy a pressure cooker!
Hi, Holly. I have just discovered your blog (I came from Hyosun’s blog) and I’m amazed by the beauty of your photos and the fascinating dishes I see here. I want to cook everything you post (well at least all the Korean dishes because I am a beginner in Korean cuisine, but I love every single dish I discover and prepare). I am crazy for perilla, use it whenever I can and I see it here as a wrap with lettuce! What a fantastic idea! This multi grain rice looks very unusual! I hope I can find it one day here and taste.
Hi Sissi, welcome to my blog and thank you for the nice compliment. I love perilla leaves, too and lanning to post more dishes with them. Multi-grain rice is quite tasty and flavorful. I prefer over brown rice. Hope you get to give it a try.
I LOVE your site! I’m in the process of launching a Korean food blog. I’m excited to share my culture and food with other people. SO… I was just browsing your blog and saw that you’re LDS!! Totally cool! I am, too. Are you Korean as well? If so, we have so many things in common. 🙂 We’re Korean. We both love food. We both blog. And we are both LDS! ha
Hi Sook
Yes, I am a Korean, of course, and LDS living in overseas. Congratulations on your new blog. It is always nice to meet a new blogger especially who is sharing a similar interest. Wishing the best luck and let me know when you launch.
Holly, I am so glad you posted this. I have been blending different grains and rice for awhile, and my family loves it. I made an aromatic rice made from organic brown and red rice for dinner the other day. My daughter had a friend over and she ate three helpings…of course teenage kids might be a little more open to the idea. Anyway, why I am so glad to see your post is I have been using a mixed grains from my Korean store and I found the legumes in it were not cooked right. I am happy to find out how to use it in my pressure cooker, and soaking it is a key! Thanks! One question do you find the white rice gets overcooked when using it with brown rice and grains that need longer cooking time?
Hi Lyndsey
You want to soak your brown rice and other grains but not the white rice. I cook them together and they are fine. Grains that have been soaked will cook faster and that will even out the cooking time with white rice. The white rice adds the stickiness where the other grains won’t and helps to create soft chewing texture. If you use a stove top pressure cooker, you need to reduce the water amount more than the electrical automatic ones. I would start with small amount first to experiment and you will get a sense that how much grain:water ratio is the most ideal for you. Everyone has different preference on their rice texture. I like it softer side on the multi-grian.
Yum! I will definitely have to try this. I love seeing your blog posts. I’m Korean but never cook Korean food aside from re-heating what my mom makes for me. Your recipes inspire me to learn to do all of this on my own. Thank you!
thanks for the recipe! my mom used to make this rice sometimes when i was younger and i hated it… i even picked the beans out! now i LOVE it. sorry, mom. 😛
hehe….I gave up white rice (cold turkey style as you referred) long ago for the same reason you mentioned in your post. I usually prepare simple brown rice for my family. As you said, there’s not much flavor in them. I love your version of multi-grain. I bet it has better flavor than just plain brown rice. But my kids are so used to brown rice already, I think they can handle all brown rice with milti-grain. 🙂
Thanks Amy. If your families are tamed with brown rice, that is blessing! No need to go back to white rice. Adding some multi-grains is a fun change and delivers different flavor and texture. My family prefers multi-grain rice over brown rice alone.
This looks really good! It’s a lot healthier than white rice. I meant to change our rice to more healthier version but my kids and my husband refuse to change. I tried to introduce in different form (like rice ball etc) but they are just not used to it. Beautiful photography Holly!
Thank you Nami. It is hard to switch from white rice. I would suggest to add a little amount of millet to your rice first. Millet are tiny grains and doesn’t change much of flavor to white rice. Then slowly add a different grains each time. It is like introducing each solid food to babies, isn’t it?
Holly you’re amazing. You’re probably the best food find since I got on the internet 12 years ago. My only problem (mine, not yours) is that I live in Mumbai and there aren’t any Korean food stores here. Even finding the essential pastes and ingredients can be a chore (and an expensive one at that).
I still read your blog though. I hope that soon, several Korean ingredients will be available here. And in the meantime, I shall improvise with whatever is available and a good enough substitute.
Thanks for sharing these with us 🙂
Thank you AK. You are so sweet. I heard that there are quite a number of Korean expats there. I wonder if there are any Korean stores. I will ask around and let you know. Hope you can access a few basic Korean condiments and ingredients, so you can make many delicious Korean dishes.
Well, it’s not easily available I’ll tell you that. There is a store that sells international foods, but the supply is very inconsistent. But I’m sure I can find some of the very basic things 🙂 What would you recommend are the 3 ingredients I have on me at all times? I want to try cooking the Korean chicken salad, and the basic Khimchee this Sunday 🙂
If I have to pick the 3 most important Korean condiments, that would be Korean chili flakes(gochugaru), chili paste(gochujang) and soybean paste(doenjang). You can find soy sauce and sesame oil in most western grocery stores these days.
If you wan to make Korean chicken salad, you will need Korean mustard but you can substitute with dijion if you can’t get it. For Kimchi, you will need Korean fish sauce(comes from fermented anchovies) and some coarse sea salt.
Have fun making Korean food this weekend.
How would this work in a rice cooker rather than the pressure cooker. Would the rice/water balance need changing? Thanks.
Bob, If you cook in a rice cooker, you will need to soak the grains longer, at least 4 hours to overnight. Try the ratio of rice:water to 1:1.5 first. It is hard to say the fixed ideal ratio when cooking rice, especially multi-grain, and everyone’s preference on the rice texture is a little different. Some needs more water and some needs less. Try a couple of times with a little different ratio and you will get the sense how much water is most ideal to you.