12 Best Rice Cookers For Families: Xiaomi, Tefal, Toyomi and more

When I first started buying appliances for my new BTO flat, one of the first things that I got was a rice cooker — maybe it’s just my Asian upbringing, but I think that’s one of the most important appliances in the kitchen. As a child, coming home from school and opening up a cooker full of steaming fluffy rice at dinnertime was an everyday scene, and also one of the most memorable parts of growing up.

Now that we’re adults, getting a rice cooker of our own involves reading rice cooker reviews, looking at features like the ability to cook soup and steam food, and of course seeing whether the aesthetic matches our home. Rice cookers these days also offer options like cooking healthier low-carb rice and WiFi connectivity so you can check its status while away from home.

12 Best Rice Cooker Singapore

We’ve rounded up our top 12 favourites, from budget rice cookers to mini rice cookers for small families, and several other options to suit different tastes (literally) and lifestyles.

Xiaomi Smart Multifunctional Rice Cooker, $52.90

Capacity: 3L
Favourite features: Can link to Mi Home app, looks sleek and minimalist
Best rice cooker for: Busy professionals who want a hot meal when they reach home

Forget clunky rice cookers — this one’s sleek, unobtrusive, and versatile enough to make meals whether it’s just for you and your spouse on a regular Wednesday evening, or for a big family gathering.

My personal favourite feature is that it can link with your Mi Home app, so you can see how much more time it’ll take to cook the rice and set the duration for keeping it warm. This, plus its 24-hour delay function, makes it the perfect rice cooker for busy professionals — just wash and dump the rice in before you leave for work, set the time to finish cooking in the evening, and arrive home to fluffy and hot rice. It’s almost like when you still lived with your parents.

The Xiaomi Smart Multifunctional Rice Cooker retails for $52.90 on Lazada.

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PHILIPS 3000 Series Mini Rice Cooker, $59

Capacity: 0.54L
Favourite features: Can cook rice within half an hour
Best rice cooker for: People who always cook dinner at the last minute

If your in-laws are coming over for dinner and you forgot to cook, this rice cooker’s fast-cooking mode is your lifesaver. It can cook rice in 30 minutes flat, so you can whip up a fresh hot meal in no time. It has the usual functions: congee, soup, steaming, and even cake-making.

Reviewers love its pink and white design, which I personally think is rather sweet. It can cook up to six bowls of rice, so while it might not be great for large gatherings, it’s perfect if you’re looking for a rice cooker for a small family.

The PHILIPS 3000 Series Mini Rice Cooker retails for $59 on Lazada and $66.46 on Amazon.

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Tefal Easy Compact Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker, $67.20

Capacity: 1L
Favourite features: Different settings for different kinds of rice, plus a spherical pot designed for even cooking
Best rice cooker for: Rice aficionados, or just people with really discerning taste buds

I never knew spherical rice cooking pots were a thing until now, but it sounds like a great idea for cooking food evenly. I love that this particular Tefal rice cooker has separate settings for jasmine rice, white rice, and brown rice. It doesn’t have a setting for any other types, but I assume it’ll be a good rice cooker for basmati rice as well since both basmati and jasmine are the long-grain variety that requires slightly more cooking time to soften.

The Tefal Easy Compact Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker retails for $67.20 on Amazon and $79 on Lazada.

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Toyomi Mini Rice Cooker, $63.90

Capacity: 0.3L
Favourite features: Very tiny footprint, looks adorable
Best rice cooker for: People who eat rice very occasionally

You won’t find a cuter rice cooker than this one. It’s extremely compact and takes up barely any real estate on your countertop, saving precious space in your kitchen (a real issue if yours is a BTO kitchen like mine). This tiny rice cooker is perfect for individuals or couples who are low-carb but still want the occasional home-cooked meal. It can perform the usual functions like steaming and boiling soup too, so one-meal pots for weeknights are possible.

The Toyomi Mini Rice Cooker retails for $63.90 at Lazada at Metro.

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Toyomi SmartDiet Low-Carb Rice Cooker, $118

Capacity: 0.8L
Favourite features: The Japandi aesthetic, low-carb feature that makes you feel better about your diet
Best rice cooker for: People who care about the design details

This one’s worth a mention thanks to its ability to boil the rice before steaming it as usual, reducing the carbohydrate content of the rice grains. This rice cooker comes with two separate compartments — a shallower one with perforations that sits above a ceramic-coated pot — which allows it to do so. It’s also got a 72-hour delay function, though I can’t really imagine leaving your rice in there for three days. I guess that’s only if you’re away on a weekend trip and want to come home to cooked rice on a Sunday evening?

Functions aside, my favourite part of this is its aesthetic. It’s definitely one of the best-looking rice cookers out there with its wooden rim.

The Toyomi SmartDiet Low-Carb Rice Cooker retails for $118 on Lazada and Shopee.

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SHARP Digital Twin Rice Cooker, $249

Capacity: 5L total
Favourite features: The ability to cook four dishes at the same time
Best rice cooker for: Families with young kids

Sometimes you want variety, but can’t be bothered to do anything more than food prep. This twin rice cooker makes it easy to cook up to four dishes at once — just peel and cut the ingredients, then chuck it all into the cooker and leave it till it’s done. It’ll even keep the dishes warm for you for 12 hours!

This one’s perfect for families with young children, because steaming is the healthiest method of cooking food, and parents don’t have to spend much time preparing dinner. The only caveat is that it does take up quite a lot of space on the kitchen counter.

The SHARP Digital Twin Rice Cooker retails for $249 at BHG.

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Joseph Joseph M-Cuisine Microwave Rice Cooker, $32

Capacity: 2L
Favourite features: Multi-purpose paddle that also serves as a handle
Best rice cooker for: People who prefer to use the microwave

Don’t need yet another appliance? This microwave rice cooker by Joseph Joseph is both stylish and functional. Simply measure out the rice into the colander, pop it into the cooking pot, and put the whole thing in the microwave.

We can’t guarantee that the grains are perfectly fluffy (some stirring is required with the paddle that also serves as a carrying handle) but it’ll do in a pinch. Great for those who eat rice really infrequently and don’t want to own a whole rice cooker.

The Joseph Joseph M-Cuisine Microwave Rice Cooker retails for $32.03 on Amazon and $55 on Lazada.

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Bear Electric Lunch Box, $28.90

Capacity: 1.3L
Favourite features: Portability, uniform heating thanks to the rounded shape
Best rice cooker for: Cooking your meals in the office

This one’s your best friend if you’re constantly on OT in the office, or if you just prefer to make your own meals (we know how much of a pain it is to work in an industrial area where food options are limited). It works as a rice cooker, steamer, and keeps your food warm till you’re ready to eat it — all at the convenience of your desk. There’s nothing as sad as eating cold stale food because you were too busy or had a last-minute meeting, so with this electric lunchbox you have no excuses not to eat a proper hot meal.

The Bear Electric Lunch Box retails for $28.90 on Lazada and Shopee.

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Drizzle Foldable Electric Cooker, $71

Capacity: 1L
Favourite features: Pour spout, foldable design
Best rice cooker for: Travelling

While this doesn’t strictly qualify as a rice cooker on its own (though it certainly can cook rice and porridge), it caught my eye because of its fold-down design, making it ideal for cooking while on the road. It’s made of food-grade silicone and weighs a mere 1kg, which makes it light to pack and easy to clean. If you have a baby and prefer to prepare your own meals for them while travelling, or just like the convenience of having your own cooker available any time, get this. It even comes with its own travel adapter.

The Drizzle Foldable Electric Cooker retails for $71 on Amazon.

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PowerPac Rice Cooker, from $31.90

Capacity: From 0.6L
Favourite features: Budget rice cooker, straightforward and easy to use
Best rice cooker for: Your elderly parents

Sometimes you just want a single-function device that does the job well for its price, and the PowerPac rice cooker fulfils this requirement. It’s extremely straightforward to use, with just two functions: cook and keep warm. In fact, it’s so simple that even your tech-challenged parents will be able to use it without having to call you ten times to figure it out. I like the old-school look too — great for kitchens with a retro aesthetic.

The PowerPac Rice Cooker retails from $31.90 for the 0.6L version on Lazada and Shopee.

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Song Cho 1.0L Claypot Rice Cooker, $191.55

Capacity: 1L
Favourite features: Earthenware inner pot, ability to cook with a crust, compact size
Best rice cooker for: Fans of claypot rice

If you love claypot rice, you’ll want this rice cooker. It has an inner pot that’s made of earthenware, which heats up more evenly than metal and cooks the rice to perfection. There’s even a function that lets you cook with a crust, giving you that crispy texture you desire. Reviewers also love how compact this is — and it doesn’t hurt that it’s a beautiful sleek shape that’ll look good on the kitchen counter!

The Song Cho 1.0L Claypot Rice Cooker retails for $191.55 on Lazada and Shopee.

KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker 8 Cup, US$300

Capacity: Up to 8 cups
Favourite features: Ability to auto-detect grain weight, ability to cook several types of grains
Best rice cooker for: Families that eat a variety of grains

Though this one doesn’t ship directly to Singapore, I just had to include it for its sheer novelty. This rice cooker actually comes with a water tank, and claims to take the guesswork out of how much water you need to cook rice.

Just select the grain type from 21 presets on its touchscreen, then pour in the rice — it automatically senses the grain weight and then dispenses the correct amount of water accordingly, without you needing to measure out the cups. It can also cook other grains like couscous and oats, with the ability to presoak them if needed. Great for families who like variety in their meals.

The KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker 8 Cup with Automatically Sensing Integrated Scale + Water Tank retails for US$300 (approx. SGD$387) on Amazon US.

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