Ambiano 2 Cup Rice Cooker Headed to Aldi
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated for 2025.
In the 1851 American novel Moby Dick, Herman Melville talks about a knife that wasn’t just a knife. It had “not only blades of various sizes, but also screw-drivers, cork-screws, tweezers, awls, pens, rulers, nail-filers and countersinkers.” Four decades later, the Karl Elsener company in Switzerland would produce the first — you guessed it — Swiss Army knife.
The term Swiss Army knife is, today, synonymous with an object that can do a bunch of different things, and modern society is full of them. Smartphones are electronic Swiss Army knives that can map your route, play your movies, or summon your ride. Programmable pressure cookers like Instant Pots can act as pressure cookers, slow cookers, or even yogurt makers. Multi-tools do a lot of what Swiss Army knives do, and maybe more.
In such a jack-of-all-trades world that we live, there’s something simple and cool about a device that does one thing and does it well. Sure, it’s not always easy when storage space is at a premium, but specialized products have their place. I have plenty of those kinds of devices, and chances are you do, too.
This is such an appliance — something that does one thing.
What We Know:
The Ambiano 2 Cup Rice Cooker is an Aldi Find, which, as you know, means it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store gets just one shipment, and once that shipment is sold out, you won’t be able to get another one until it comes back to stores … if it comes back to stores. If you can’t find one in stores, you’re out of luck, as Aldi doesn’t ship online.
Most recently, this is scheduled to arrive in stores July 9th, 2025.
Aldi has sold various rice cookers over the years, including a standard 6-cup rice cooker and a big 20-cup rice cooker and steamer.
This is on the other end of the spectrum, a small cooker made for just a serving or two of rice. Rice cookers of this size are often called “mini rice cookers,” or something to that effect.
This model currently comes in three colors: black, purple, or blue.
In 2025, the 2 cup rice cooker cost $14.99. That’s up from $12.99 in 2024. Even with the price increase, though, I can’t find anything online at that low of a price point for a mini rice cooker like this one.
According to Aldi, features for this little cooker include:
- Ceramic nonstick coated inner pot for easy cleaning
- Keep warm function at the end of the cooking cycle
- Includes rice spoon and measuring cup
- Inner cooking pot capacity: 2 cups of cooked rice
What We Don’t Know:
Ambiano is an Aldi house brand, not its own company. For that reason, we don’t know who made the cooker, and at present we don’t have any information about whether this comes with warranties or after-sales support. We also haven’t yet tested this model, so we can’t speak to ease of use or longevity. We’ve created this open thread so users can share their experiences.
Have you tried out this mini rice cooker? Let us know about it in the comments.
I bought this today and tried it out. It cooks up to one cup of uncooked rice, which makes 2 cups of cooked rice. It did a good job on jasmine rice. Keep in mind that this is a very small rice cooker. Good for 1-2 people. I like the low price point. Overall a decent rice cooker.
I picked one up today. Out of the box the pot won’t sit flat in the cooker. There is a spring in the bottom, I suppose to know when to turn it off by weight. This is my first experience with a rice cooker. Is it normal to not sit flat when empty? Or do I have a defective one and should I go back to swap?
Totally normal for the pot to feel wobbly when empty.
This Ambiano cooker looks exactly like a Dash brand mini rice cooker that I purchased at Target a year ago. I love my Dash cooker and am betting the Ambiano is made by the same manufacturer. I use my Dash cooker at least once a week. It makes the perfect amount of rice for us and no worries about a pot boiling over on the stove.
Sounds perfect to me. I’ll try and get one on the 9th.
Purchased a cooker during 2024. When plugged in did not heat. Had waited too long to try it out so did not try to return, just trashed it. If you buy one, try it out immediately.