This super simple Instant Pot chicken and rice is your one-stop-shop for a flavorful, budget-friendly, complete family-friendly dinner idea that can even give you leftovers for the week! One-pot for easy clean-up is an added bonus!
Table of Contents
One-Pot Meal (in an instant!)
Instant Pot chicken and rice is a game-changer for busy families! Especially on days when no matter how well you think you’ve planned, you still don’t have as much time as you thought to get dinner on the table. This easy recipe is a complete, healthy, and filling, one-pot meal that will save any day!
If you love my one-pot chicken and rice or chicken and rice casserole, you’re going to love this one! They’re each a little different and definitely all deserve a place at your dinner table on any given night, but for easy hands-off cooking, this chicken and rice in Instant Pot recipe wins every time.
It’s cheesy and creamy which can either remind you of a casserole or a risotto and has similar comforting flavors as my favorite Instant Pot chicken noodle soup recipe. It’s loaded with herbs, fall apart pieces of chicken, and healthy tender veggies. The flavors of the parmesan cheese and lemon pepper put it over the top.
Key Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe below.
- Jasmine rice: This long-grain rice will hold its shape and provide a nutty flavor against the chicken.
- Chicken: You can use thighs or breasts for this recipe, but I think the thighs impart a bit more flavor.
- Onion, carrots, celery: Just the smell of these cooking is enough to make someone hungry, and this traditional mix makes the perfect backdrop for a hearty meal.
- Chicken broth: The broth adds additional flavor to the rice, as it is absorbed into every grain.
- Parmesan: A hit of salty and creamy to finish the dish just makes everything better.
Which Rice to Use?
Here’s the scoop! There is no precooking the rice for this dish. It goes in uncooked, all at once and then the magic of the pressure cooker does the rest. It is because of this, that white rice works best because of its much shorter cook time than brown rice.
If you were to make this dish with brown rice, based on the timing of this recipe you would have undercooked rice. Either that or, if you decided to cook the brown rice long enough, you’d have overcooked everything else. Stick with white rice for this one!
How to make Chicken and Rice in an Instant Pot
- Sauté. Cook the vegetables in the heated virgin olive oil using the Instant Pot sauté mode.
- Cooking chicken. Keep the sauté mode on and add chicken pieces into the heated oil over top the vegetables. No need to cook them all the way through here.
- Add Rice. Next you’ll add in the rice and chicken stock. Don’t mix it around here.
- Cover and cook. Cover with the lid. Turn the valve to seal and cook for 8 minutes on high pressure.
Cooking Tips
- Be ready: Once the sauté button comes on, it is helpful to be ready to add your mirepoix (celery, onions, carrots) as well as the pieces of chicken. Having everything chopped beforehand will help to streamline everything and make it even easier than it already is.
- Variations: This recipe is super flexible so go ahead and add more veggies if you want. 1/2 cup of bell peppers with the onions is great or you could up the garlic to an extra 3 cloves to infuse more garlic flavor into everything.
- Fresh herbs: Swap the parsley with basil or oregano if that’s what you have or prefer the taste of.
- Rinse rice: White rice comes with a lot of starch, so rinsing off any residual starch will help keep it from clumping together.
- Do not stir: Once you have added your rice over the chicken and the broth on top of that, it’s important you do not stir. This is to avoid the burn notice. Once the rice absorbs all of the broth it can start to dry out, so keeping it above the chicken will help to avoid it burning on the bottom of the pot.
- Quick release: Remember to avoid a natural release otherwise everything will be cooking much longer than it needs to. For more information on exactly what that means, check out my simple guide on how to use the Instant Pot.
Best Cut of Chicken
For this dish, Instant Pot chicken breast and rice is definitely a contender, but I must say I prefer using chicken thighs. To make it even more budget-friendly, sometimes I’ll just use whatever is on sale! The reason I prefer thighs over breasts is that they are much more flavorful and juicy. You do, however, technically get more meat from a non butterflied breast, so it’s still a great option.
Recipe FAQs
Technically, yes, but I find that the brown rice takes longer to cook and doesn’t mesh as well as the long-grain white rice.
Rinsing rice in cold water until the water runs clear removes excess starches, which leads to fluffier, individual grains. Trust me, it is worth the extra minute to avoid clumpy rice.
Yes, you can definitely use chicken thighs. Either will work.
Storage Suggestions
- To store: This recipe makes quite a bit, so if you’re not feeding a big family or crowd, you will probably have leftovers. Meal prep for the win! Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: Transfer to a freezer-friendly bag or container and keep frozen for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: Thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat on the stovetop on a low simmer. You’ll want to add a splash of water or broth to moisten it back up again. Cover with a lid so the steam will help bring it back to life!
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Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2-3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion , diced
- 3 large carrots , peeled and shredded
- 3 celery stalks , chopped
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt , plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon lemon pepper or ground black pepper , plus more to taste
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts , cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 ½ cups jasmine rice , rinsed
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock or broth
- 1/4-1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Heat olive oil. Add in the onion, carrots, and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, or until vegetables are softened.
- Turn the Sauté mode back on if it turns off. Place chicken pieces into the heated oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté 5 minutes. Add the garlic the last minute of cooking.
- Add the rice. Pour the chicken broth over the top (do not stir). Cover with the lid and turn the valve to seal. Cook 5 minutes on high pressure. Then do a natural release for 5 minutes.
- Carefully remove the lid with a towel. Stir in the parmesan and parsley.
- Taste and add more salt, pepper, or seasonings, if desired. Serve while warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Great!
I just love finding so many recipes for my instant pot and my family has been loving them all so far! This one is perfect for our dinner tonight and looks so flavorful. Excited to try this tonight!
I’m so excited that this turned out so good! I’ve been trying to use my Instant Pot more and more and this is now on the rotation!
This is packed full of flavors! My whole family loved it!