My Instant Pot chicken and rice recipe is easy comfort food at its max!Â
Imagine: it’s a weeknight. You want a fast meal that’s the food equivalent of a hug. You flip through standard chicken recipes, but nothing is right…
And then! You find Instant Pot chicken recipes. Quick, flavorful, with that heartwarming chicken, taste you’re craving — you peruse the chicken and rice recipes until you find see tender chicken breasts, creamy sauce, perfectly chewy rice calling to you. It’s a one-pot complete meal!
If you love to partner chicken and rice, you’ll definitely gonna love my easy recipes like chicken and rice casserole, chicken broccoli rice casserole, Campbells chicken and rice for weeknight dinner!
Yep. This recipe is the dinner you’ve been looking for!
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What I Love About This Recipe
Any recipe that has my favorite kitchen appliance right in the name is a keeper — so it’s no wonder I love this chicken and rice recipe!
- Minimal clean-up
- All the ingredients cook right in the Instant Pot!
- One-pot complete meal
- Perfectly cooked rice in a snap!
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken And Rice Recipe
What I love about Instant Pot recipes is that they’re all basically “dump it, set it, eat it!”
First, you put your ingredients in the Instant Pot. There’s some specialty with the layering of the ingredients to ensure that your rice cooks properly (see the recipe below for more details), but the most important thing to remember is to NOT stir your pot! You need everything to sit exactly as it is to absorb all the flavors.
Second, set your Instant Pot timer. Let it do its thing! Once the timer goes off, carefully release the pressure, then open and remove the chicken breasts. Shred them, return them to the pot along with the peas, stir everything together, and get ready for YUM CITY!
Recipe Notes
Most chicken and rice recipes have the same standard ingredients, but my recipe have a few tweaks that make it special. Read on for my tips and tricks!
Ingredient Notes
Method: This is one of those recipes that it’s imperative to follow the instructions exactly. Adding the vegetable first to the instant pot creates a base that will add moisture as it cooks and layer between the rice and the bottom of the pot. Starchy food can burn easily in the instant pot, and in this recipe, this is one of the steps that will ensure your success. Trust me on this one guys ♥
The rice actually finishes cooking during the natural release. If you a “quick release” the rice will not be cooked properly.
Rice:Â For this recipe, I use long grain rice. Why? The final dish texture benefits from the long, thin grains, and they hold up well in the cooking of the Instant Pot. But feel free to use whatever grains you like! I also love Instant Pot chicken and wild rice.
Poultry Seasoning:Â What, exactly, is poultry seasoning, and why is it so necessary when you’re cooking any type of Instant Pot chicken breast? Poultry seasoning is a special blend of spices that most successfully enhance the flavor of the chicken. Typically, it’s made of sage, thyme, and marjoram.
Sherry:Â I love the extra pop of flavor that cooking sherry brings to this recipe! But if you aren’t a sherry fan, you can easily swap it for an alternative like apple cider vinegar, fruit juices, or other cooking wines.
Cream of Chicken:Â Don’t skimp on the cream of chicken! This canned soup wonder is what brings that creamy punch to your final dish. Not sure what it is? Cream of chicken is basically a white sauce made with chicken broth and heavy cream. Yum!
Storing Tips
Can You Freeze This?
Yes! Because the dairy ingredients are all mixed in with the other ingredients, you can safely store this for up to 4-6Â months in the freezer.
Be sure to thoroughly cool your dish before you store it though! Any extra heat will lead to condensation, which will change the texture of your rice over time.
Make Ahead Tips
Honestly, there aren’t any make-ahead tips! So much of this recipe is already fast-meal friendly that I can’t accelerate it anymore. The whole thing whips together in less than an hour, with minimal prep. It’s catered to make ahead lovers already!
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
You can keep this recipe in the fridge for up to four days. Any longer and the rice starts to lose its texture, soaking up too much of the liquid.
I, personally, think it still tastes great, but I know a lot of people are very texture-sensitive. So best to play it safe!
Instant Pot Chicken And Rice
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 4 medium carrots, diced
- 1 cup long-grain rice, rinsed under cold running water until water runs clear, drain
- 2 (7-8 ounce) boneless skinless uncooked chicken breast
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth,
- 1 heaping tablespoon chicken flavor Better Than Bouillon, dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons sherry
- 1 (10-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed and drained
Garnish (optional):
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Grease inside of a 6 quart instant pot.
- Generously season chicken with salt and pepper. In the following order add, onion, carrots, rice, chicken breasts to the Instant Pot.
- In a small bowl whisk together chicken broth, Better Than Bouillon, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, thyme, and sherry. Pour sauce over chicken. DO NOT STIR! Spread cream of chicken soup over chicken breasts.
- Lock the lid and set the valve to seal. Set function to "manual mode-high pressure" for 12 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to reach pressure and will start on its own.
- When the pressure cooking cycle is completed, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 10 minutes. Release any remaining pressure. Carefully open the Instant Pot (there still may be some steam) and remove chicken to a plate and shred into bite sized pieces, return to the rice and mix well.
- Stir in thawed peas, cover and let sit 1-2 minutes. Stir everything together, spoon into individual bowls, garnish with parsley and serve.
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Nutrition
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
I’ve got an Instant Pot chicken recipe for every day of the week! Try out these when you’re next in a dinner pinch:
- Instant Pot Lemon Chicken – Bright citrus pop to liven up your week
Conclusion
Now that your belly is full of warm, creamy chicken and rice, I hope your chaotic weeknight got a little calmer! There’s something magical about a steaming bowl of hearty, home-cooked food. It really is a hug for your soul!
Who did you make this Instant Pot chicken and rice recipe for? Let me know in the comments!
I plan to make this but we don’t like cooked carrots (I put whole carrots in my chicken soup but remove them before putting noodles in). Will this still work out ok without them? I haven’t used my instant pot much so am looking forward to trying this. Thx!
Hi Esther! Yes, you can cook it even without the carrots. Hope this helps!