Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is the perfect comfort food all year round! Make it entirely in the electric pressure cooker to save on dishes!
Either chicken breast and white rice or chicken thighs and brown rice. You’ll see, this instant pot chicken and rice will become your new favorite dinner recipe!
The Instant Pot is my new obsession! I experiment a lot with “all-in-one-pot” meals with it and jump in the air with joy when I finally get it right.
Unfortunately, it requires loads of trials and errors until I hit the perfect cooking time and pressure and pressure release. You are lucky though, I do all the testing and you can simply follow the recipe enjoy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice made to perfection :)
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Use this amazing electric pressure cooker and watch the magic happen! No, they’re not paying me to say that, I’m just the most satisfied customer on the planet!
Ever since making instant pot rice for the first time I found out it cooks SO MUCH BETTER than in a regular pot! It turnes out freakin’ fantastic!
The advantage of a pressure cooker, is that water doesn’t evaporate, you cook the grains with less water and avoid any kind of mushiness.
Now, exactly this is why the Instant Pot is perfect for cooking chicken and rice at the same time. Since there is little water involved the chicken “sits” on the rice, as opposed to being submerged in water.
You basically steam the chicken breasts or chicken thighs and they come out super duper tender and juicy. Boiled chicken breast or chicken thighs are horrible if you ask me and steamed is the absolute best for moist, juicy meat.
Instant Pot Chicken Breasts and Rice
The original recipe initially was for chicken breasts and white rice in the Instant Pot and I tested it extensively!
Some people haven’t had success with the recipe though and after trouble shooting with them we came to the grain of the problem. Here the list of things you have to pay special attention to:
- Preheat the Instant Pot and sauté garlic and onion in order to bring the instant pot to the right temperature before the high pressure cooking process.
- Do not use chicken breasts much larger than 6.5 oz (180g). If your chicken breasts are bigger I recommend cutting into 1″ cubes to ensure they cook through.
- The sealing knob has to be in the sealing position and the IP has to come to high pressure without any air coming out of the knob. If there is air or any noise coming out it means the sealing ring isn’t positioned properly and needs to be adjusted.
- After the 5 minutes high pressure and 10 minutes natural pressure release the chicken is JUST cooked. It won’t be dry but it shouldn’t be pink at all, just white.
- If your pin dropped before the 10 minutes the pot most likely didn’t get to high pressure. After the 10 minutes natural pressure release there should still be quite a bit of pressure to be released.
Instant Pot Chicken and Brown Rice / Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice
I’ve had many people ask for versions of the original recipe with brown rice. And I’ve had people ask for versions with chicken thighs instead of breasts so I went in the kitchen and cooked Instant Pot chicken and rice about 10 thousand times in many different variations.
I finally got the formula!! YAY!!! I finally have the answers to your Instant Pot Chicken and Brown Rice questions and to your Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice questions. And guess what, they are answered with ONE recipe.
I used basmati brown rice and I used bone-in chicken thighs! The brown rice / chicken thigh version was even better than the chicken breast / white rice version. I am SO happy you asked me to experiment. All your questions and comments always lead to further improvements of recipes on my blog.
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Questions
If you have ANY questions left about how to make Chicken and Rice in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker, please let me know in the comments below. Happy to go back in the kitchen and experiment.
If you aren’t successful with my recipe, please let me help you troubleshoot. I’m sure we can make this work together. I want you to be successful with my recipe!
If you were successful and liked the recipe please make sure to rate it so I know it’s working for you :)
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 5oz / 10 oz chicken breasts / bone-in chicken thighs (Either 2 five-ounce chicken breasts if you are making the recipe with white rice. OR. 2 ten-ounce bone-in chicken thighs if you are making the recipe with brown rice.)
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 cup water (at room temperature, not cold!)
- 1/2 Tbsp ghee or bacon fat
- 1 small diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup white basmati rice or brown basmati rice (choose white or brown depending on the type of chicken you are using)
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper
- Salt
- Pepper
- cilantro for garnishing
Instructions
- Generously season chicken breasts (or remove skin of chicken thighs and season) with salt and pepper on both sides and set aside.
- Peel and dice carrot, wash and dice celery, wash, deseed and dice bell pepper.
- Wash and spin dry cilantro and cut off the stems for the most part and then blend with a cup of room temperature water in the blender or with an immersion blender.
- Preheat Instant Pot by pressing the "sauté" button.
- Peel and chop onion and garlic. By now, the instant pot is probably hot. Add ghee or bacon fat and sauté onion and garlic in it until it starts slightly browning. Stir often. Make sure no bunt bits of onion or garlic are stuck to the bottom of the pot. If for some reason there are, deglaze by adding a Tablespoon or two of water and stir to remove all bits from the bottom.
- Add rice, salt and pepper to Instant Pot and then pour cilantro water on top. Give it a quick stir. Add diced vegetables in one layer and then top with seasoned chicken breasts. Then IMMEDIATELY close lid to avoid water from evaporating (<-important!)
- Turn venting knob to "sealing", hit "cancel" and then "manual" and adjust to 5(-8) minutes high pressure for chicken breast / white rice version OR 22 minutes for chicken thigh / brown rice version. >>> READ THE NOTES SECTION FOR TIMING PLEASE!
- Once the Instant Pot beeps telling you the 5 minutes are over, allow for 10 minutes natural pressure release (set a timer to not miss the moment). Then release the remaining pressure manually for chicken breast / white rice version. Or let pressure release naturally completely on its own for chicken thigh / brown rice version (might take about 15-20 minutes)
- Open the pot and enjoy the smell! Then use two forks to shred the chicken. Mix it all and serve immediately with some fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.
Notes
- *Please read the blog post section where I go into detail what to pay attention to in order to succeed to avoid any error messages from the pot.
Nutritionally-Balanced Vegan Meal Plan
Sweet Potato Lasagna
Vegan Quinoa Falafel Bowl
Tricia says
If the thighs are boneless/skinless will they cook properly with the white rice option/settings?
Lorena says
I haven’t tried but I would assume so, yes. Maybe, just in case, cut the thighs up into 1″ pieces?
Vlpjohnson says
I’ve made this recipe several times (chicken thigh/brown rice version), and it always turns out delicious! It has become part of my rotating menu, so thank you!
Lorena says
thank you so much for coming back and leaving your feedback! It means the world to me :)
Amy Lee says
Can I make the chicken thighs with the white rice? Any changes needed if I do?
Lorena says
I’m afraid that won’t work because chicken thighs need more than 5 minutes to fully cook through and white rice will become mushy if cooked for longer than 5 minutes on high. You’d have to cook both separately. I recommend, preheating your oven to 400 F and cook rice and veggies in the IP (3 mins on high + full natural pressure release only), and at the same time put your chicken thighs salted and peppered in the oven for 25 minutes. Both should be finished almost at the same time. Rice will be a bit quicker but you can leave it at keep warm function until the thighs are ready, then add thighs with juices to instant pot and shred and mix and serve.
Erica Cheek says
I’ve made this both ways multiple times and its a lovely dish. I get everything prepped before I turn the instant pot on and it works great for quick week night dinners.
Lorena says
I’m so happy to read you like it :D Prepping everything ahead of time is definitely a smart idea!
Gabrielle says
I switched out the cilantro water for chicken broth to add flavour (usually pilafs are made this way and its so much more flavourful). I was really excited by the meal, but I wish I’d read the comments b/c I also kept getting burn warnings. I wish your instructions didn’t suggest mixing in the rice. I wonder if the veg below the rice would be better? I ended up cooking it in a stove top and adding a LOT more liquid to unstick the rice from the bottom. It was actually pretty yummy and flavourful – but the chicken was dry b/c of the strange mix of trying to regain pressure without burn warning and eventually finishing it on the stove top. It ended up way trickier than anticipated.
I will likely try to find another recipe for a variation more similar to mine (aka with broth and not “cilantro water”) in the future.
Lorena says
It makes me so incredibly sad to read when people get the burn warning :( I’ve literally tried EVERYTHING to recreate the problem and it doesn’t happen with any of my two Instant Pots. I don’t know if there are some pots that are more sensitive than others. I just don’t know how to help anymore. I’ve even contacted Instant Pot themselves and asked for advice but upon reviewing my recipe they don’t understand themselves why some people get the burn warning
Wade says
I have made this many times before seeing this recipe and I get the burn warning when I have too much chicken and too much rice. Cooking in smaller portions 2 cups of Rice and no more than 4 thighs prevented my burn notice
Lorena says
Thank you sooooo much for the tip. That’s one thing I haven’t considered yet. Ha! That’s crazy!
Twojay Dhillon says
Fantastic recipe! I ended up using pre-marinated chicken thighs (they were on special at the grocery store) and popped a sliced Fresno pepper in there for a *tiny* kick.
I am actually rotating through three of your recipes (this, the white chicken chili, and standard chili) during the weekdays and then grilling on the weekends. Your IP recipes are pretty much perfect for meal-prepping. Thank you so much.
For anybody not getting the results from this recipe: it really is all about getting the lid on ASAP. Prep your ingredients and have them next to the IP so you’re not fussing about while the steam escapes.
Lorena, if you update your website anytime soon, could you please separate your Instant Pot recipes from the others :)
Lorena says
I’m so happy you like my Instant Pot recipes and yes, you’re spot on with the putting the lid on FAST. I suspect that is the main thing that’s causing issues. Thanks for the feedback on getting my blog organized. This is definitely something on my to-do list. I’m just trying to find out how to do this the best way to not jeopardize my website traffic. I will figure it out eventually. For now I recommend entering “instant pot” in the search bar and that way all the instant pot recipes will be listed.
jyn says
I admit I am a novice at using the InstaPot, but that was the very reason this recipe interested me. It was a tried and true supposedly fool proof dinner if I followed the instruction, which I did to the letter. I did chop the veggies larger as it was clear they would be mushy if I did a small dice. Perhaps the chicken breast white rice recipe works better, but the the short grain brown rice/chicken thighs did not work for me at all. I eat a lot of cilantro for health reasons and like the flavor, but this just tasted weird. The veggies were mushy. The rice was undercooked and the whole meal which I expected to be chicken with fluffy rice was a soupy under cooked mess. I really did follow the recipe perfectly and I let the InstaPot cool down for 20 minutes on its own before I let the rest of the steam out. In a mad effort to salvage the dinner, I took the chicken out (which was perfectly cooked) and added another cup of white basmati rice, set the cooker to 7 minutes and will let it cool down for 10 on it’s own before I let the rest of the steam out. Just opened the container and unfortunately it was a no go. Just a gluey unpalatable mess. Sorry did not work at all for me.
Lorena says
Jyn, I’m so so sorry to read this. I’ve had a couple of people have trouble with the chicken breast/white rice version because their Insant Pots would show burn warning but never anything like you’re describing. I’d love to trouble shoot with you. What kind of Instant Pot do you have and how much rice and how much water did you add? Also, how long did you set the Instant Pot to? Did you make sure “high pressure” was on, not low pressure? There should absolutely be NO water left after the natural pressure release. If the rice to liquid ratio is 1:1 the rice should absorb absolutely all liquid if enough high-pressure cooking time was set. Undercooked rice means too little cooking time or not enough pressure or both at the same time. I don’t quite understand why you added white rice. Did you brown rice not stick to the bottom and burn then? Did you watch the video instructions?
Lily says
Mushy veggies. Rice okay. Chicken was flavorless. I would definitely recommend a large chop for the veggies over anything that resembles a small dice, otherwise they are just so super mushy. I also recommend (highly) using chicken or veggie broth rather than plain water to give the chicken flavor. I also feel that this recipe kind of misses the boat in the sense that I go to my instant pot for easy, low cleanup meals. Needing to use a blender, as well as all of the chopping and whatnot, made this a pretty big hassle for little payout. I could get better and easier results from a $1 packet of seasoned rice from the store.
In the end, this wasn’t very cheap, wasn’t very easy, and wasn’t very good. Pass.
Lorena says
I’m sorry to read this Lily. I definitely don’t recommend cooking any of my recipes, non of them compare to $1 packet of seasoned rice.
Linda says
Made this last night and it turned out great, thank you so much for this great recipe! I followed the directions exactly, except I made the recipe one and a half times in my 8 quart IP, using brown rice and chicken thighs. I always love sauces for garnish, so I made a healthy green goddess sauce ( Avocado, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic, green onion, salt and pepper ), and it was a perfect addition to pile on top!
Lorena says
I’m so so happy you like it :D
Mary says
Hi, so I made an alternate version of this for my kids; but instead of laying the cubed chicken breasts on top I mixed them with the rice then added the water. Does that make a difference?
Thanks!
Lorena says
As long as all the rice is submerged in the water it should be fine. The reason I place the chicken on top is so all the rice is submerged in liquid and cooks through properly.
Eddie says
Can I double the thigh/brown rice recipe in one Instant Pot or will it be too crowded to cook well/evenly? Making for a potluck party
Lorena Graeter says
In a 6-quart or 8-quart you can definitely double it.
Tammy says
Is it ok to use chicken broth/stock in place of water. And I am using long grain brown rice. Should I adjust cooking time. Thanks
Lorena says
Absolutely! You can use broth interchangeably with water. No need to adjust anything.
Tracy says
What about boneless, skinless chicken thighs? Could I substitute those for the bone-in?
Lorena says
Hi Tracy, yes those work fine, too. As long as it’s brown chicken meat it’ll work.
Betty says
Can I add more chicken breast without adding g more water?
Lorena says
Yes, absolutely. No problem at all. Make sure to add all in one layer. If you stack the chicken you’ll have to increase the cooking time a little.
Lana says
I don’t have an Insta Pot but I do have a pressure cooker so I followed your recipe but used the pressure cooker and the only thing I found was it needed more spice. It came out absolutely delicious! Thank you for helping me make dinner something new.
Lorena says
Yay, I’m happy you liked it :) A fantastic spice that goes with this is “ají amarillo”. It’s a Peruvian chili and like no other chili in the world :)
Gigi says
Thank you so much for this easy and healthy recipe. I made the brown rice/tights combination and I have never had made a brown rice as soft and tights sabe juicy as this recipe. I made 1.5 cup rice, seasoned thighs with my sofrito and added a small can of carrots and peas because I didn’t have carrots on hand. To the people complaining not all the instant pot are the same, if you don’t know yours then you’ll have to play a little bit to find the perfect way to make the recipe. I follow the instructions and I Hasbrouck marvelous results. Even my hubby loves the food. He usually don’t like brown rice and he even went for seconds.
Lorena says
I’m so happy to read this Gigi! I’m so glad everything worked out fine and your family enjoyed it :)
Becky says
I can’t find short grain brown rice. If I use regular brown rice, do I need to adjust the time?
Lorena says
No, you’ll be fine. It should work the exact same way :)