Abstract: Background and Objective: Instant rice is rice that has been precooked, dehydrated and can be rehydrated in a relatively shorter period of time than the normal time for cooking. The aim for instant rice is to shorten the cooking time of rice which add value and increase consumer acceptability of the product. Materials and Methods: Three local rice varieties (Akujie, Igbo and Mass) and three processing methods (boiling, fissuring and pressing) were used for instant rice processing. The boiled samples were prepared by boiling rice between 100-105°C for 12 min, freezing for 24 h before oven drying at 50°C. The fissured samples were prepared by dry heating (130-140°C) the rice, boiling for 12 min and drying at 50°C. Pressed samples were prepared by pressing the rice between rolls after boiling (12 min) and then dried at 50°C to 10% moisture content. All the samples were reconstituted by boiling (1:1.5 rice-to-water ratio) for 6 min and used for analysis. Results: The results obtained were statistically analyzed using one way ANOVA at p<0.05. The proximate composition results revealed that fissured Akujie rice (RFA) had highest (p<0.05) crude protein (9.30%) and moisture contents (78.90%) but lowest (p<0.05) fat (0.25%) and crude fibre (0.65%) contents. Akujie rice (RBA) contained highest (p<0.05) crude fibre (0.73%) and carbohydrate contents (84.55%) but lowest (p<0.05) moisture (7.60%) content pressed Igbo rice (RPM) had highest (p<0.05) fat (0.60%) and least ash (0.50%) contents. The functional properties results showed that RBI (boiled Igbo rice) had highest (p<0.05) bulk density (0.79%), rehydration ratio (2.20) and volume expansion (2.83%), RFI (fissured Igbo rice) had the lowest (p<0.05) bulk density (0.59%) rehydration ratio (1.95%) but highest in oil absorption capacity (2.00%). The sensory evaluation revealed that the boiled samples were the most accepted instant rice at the “like moderately” level. The Akujie rice variety was the most preferred in terms of sensory attributes like appearance, taste, flavour and overall acceptability. Conclusion: In summary, the instant rice produced reconstituted within six minutes of boiling, RBI had the best functional properties while RBA was the most preferred. Therefore instant rice of acceptable quality could be produced from local rice varieties in Abonyi state.