Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is the perfect one-pot dinner recipe. A delicious comfort food to enjoy all year round! Make either chicken breast and white rice or chicken thighs and brown rice.
Save on time and dishes with this quick and easy recipe made entirely in the electric pressure cooker. Two of my most popular Instant Pot recipes are Instant Pot Rice and Instant Pot Chicken. So I decided to combine the two and make a one-pot meal out of both.
The advantage of a pressure cooker is that water doesn’t evaporate. Grains like rice and chicken can be cooked together perfectly because you use less water for the rice while the chicken sits on top and gets cooked with just the steam. The result is a super-duper tender and juicy chicken and fluffy rice.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot though, you can still enjoy this delicious recipe by making regular 1-Pot Chicken and Rice on the stove.
Instant Pot Chicken Breast and White Rice
The original recipe initially was for chicken breasts and white rice cooked together in the Instant Pot. After extensive testing, I found the right amount of cooking time to achieve fluffy rice and juicy chicken. After 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.
It’s important to note that if your pin drops before the 10 minutes, the pot most likely didn’t get to high pressure and the chicken might be undercooked. Double-check before you start that the sealing knob is in the sealing position, and no air or steam comes out of the knob.
Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice
Some people asked me for versions of the original recipe but using either brown rice instead of white, or chicken thighs instead of breasts. After what feels like a million test trials, I finally got the formula. Yay!
Brown rice takes triple the time to cook than white rice and would dry out the chicken breasts in the process. The secret is to use bone-in chicken thighs with brown rice. The result was absolutely amazing.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken – use chicken breasts or chicken thighs. I recommend using chicken breasts no bigger than 6.5oz (180g). If too big, cut them into 1” cubes to ensure they cook through. If using chicken thighs, go for bone-in skinless thighs.
- Cilantro – you’ll need 1 whole bunch of fresh cilantro to make the flavorful cilantro water for the rice. I suggest you don’t replace it, but if needed, you could use parsley. Just keep in mind that it has a slightly stronger flavor.
- Avocado oil – I recommend using a high-smoke point fat, such as avocado oil, ghee or bacon fat. This is important so the fat doesn’t burn at the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Onion – use one small white or yellow onion.
- Garlic – you will need two cloves.
- Rice – use white basmati or brown basmati rice depending on what piece of chicken you’ll be cooking. I don’t recommend using any other type of rice because they need different cooking times on the Instant Pot.
- Carrots – a staple in many rice recipes. 1.5 or 2 medium carrots should yield a cup when chopped. You can also use baby carrots.
- Celery – when cooked, celery adds great flavor. For this chicken and rice recipe, you will need 2-3 celery stalks.
- Red bell pepper – the more veggies the better. I love red bell pepper for its color and texture. Orange or yellow bell pepper work great too.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Season Chicken – add sea salt and pepper generously to both sides of chicken breast or chicken thighs. Set aside.
- Prep Veggies – peel and dice the carrots. Deseed and dice the red bell pepper, and dice the celery. Also, finely chop a medium onion and two cloves of garlic.
- Prep Cilantro Water – add a bunch of cilantro and 1 cup of room-temperature water into a blender. Blend until completely smooth and no bits of cilantro are left.
- Preheat Instant Pot – press the “Sauté” button on the panel to preheat the pot.
- Sauté Onion and Garlic – once the Instant Pot display says “hot”, add a drizzle of oil or fat and then add the chopped onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent.
- Add Remaining Ingredients – this is a very important step and you need to work fast! Once the onion and garlic are ready, add the rice, season with salt and pepper, then add the cilantro water. Give a quick stir, then add the diced vegetables on top of the rice (make sure not to mix them in). Then, place the chicken on top of the veggies and close the lid immediately. The reason for this is to avoid too much water from evaporating so you don’t get the nasty “burn warning” on your Instant Pot. (See my tips to avoid the burn warning below).
- Set the Instant Pot – Seal the pot lid and turn the pressure valve to the “sealing” position. then press the “Cancel” button. Now press the “Manual” button and select 6 minutes high pressure if you’re cooking chicken breast with white rice. Or select 22 minutes high pressure if you’re cooking chicken thighs with brown rice instead.
- Release Pressure – once the Instant Pot beeps, wait for full natural pressure release. This can take anywhere from 15-25 minutes until the safety pin drops on its own.
- Shred Chicken and Serve – when the Instant Pot chicken and rice is finished cooking, open the lid and shred the chicken using two forks. Then mix everything together and serve immediately. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro on top and dive in!
Tips To Avoid The Burn Warning
Sometimes Instant Pots can be finicky and give you the Burn Warning even when you think you made everything right. After some trial and error, I found some tips that will help you avoid the burn warning:
- Don’t skimp on the fat for sautéing the onion and garlic. Be generous.
- After sautéing the onion and garlic, make sure there are no burnt bits and pieces stuck to the bottom of the pot. If necessary add a splash of water and deglaze the bottom with a wooden spoon to scrape everything off.
- Have ingredients already measured out and ready to go so no time is wasted. This is especially important for the diced vegetables. Have them chopped and all in one bowl ready to add.
- Once you add the rice, add the cilantro water immediately and stir. Do not let the dry rice sit on the hot bottom of the pot without liquid for more than 5 seconds.
- Do not mix the vegetables and chicken in the cilantro water. Let them sit on top of the rice.
- Put the lid on quickly. The longer it takes to close the pot, the more liquid evaporates. This increases the chance to get the burn warning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! As long as you choose the right cooking time to ensure either are well cooked through it is perfectly safe to cook both at the same time.
Yes! As long as you make sure chicken reaches 165F internal temperature it is 100% safe to add to the Instant Pot.
If you add dry or rinsed rice to an already preheated or hot Instant Pot and don’t add liquid to it at the same time or very quickly after your rice will immediately stick to the bottom and start burning.
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Equipment
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 2 5oz / 10 oz chicken breasts / bone-in skinless 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 or avocado oil
- 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 with salt and pepper on both sides and set aside.
- Peel and dice carrot, dice celery, deseed and dice bell pepper.
- Add cilantro and room-temperature water into a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Peel and chop onion and garlic.
- Preheat Instant Pot by pressing the “sauté” button.
- Once the Instant Pot's display says "hot": add fat or oil, chopped onion, and garlic, and sauté until translucent. Stir often. Make sure no burnt 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 scrape with a wooden to remove all bits from the bottom.
- Now work fast: add rice, salt and pepper to Instant Pot and then pour in cilantro water and give it a quick stir. Add diced vegetables on top in one layer (do not mix in!) 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 6 minutes high pressure for chicken breast / white rice version OR 22 minutes for chicken thigh / brown rice version.
- Wait for full natural pressure release. This means once the pot beeps don't do anything. Don't touch the valve and instead just wait for the safety pin to drop on its own. This can take anywhere from 15-25 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 about what to pay attention to in order to succeed to avoid any error messages from the pot.
- nutritional info is for white rice and chicken breast.
Nutrition
Monika says
This was so good ! . I have a picky husband and he loved it (went back 3 times for more). I used chicken breast and cooked it for 7 min- it was perfect . The rice is the real winner here – so flavorful . The cilantro is a must .
Lorena says
I’m soooo happy you and your husband liked it :D It’s definitely one of my favorites, too
Omar says
I tried to make the following recipe, and I was trying to lower the calorie/gram count and made the following modifications. I made the recipe the first time with no modifications and it worked wonderfully. I’m obviously not upset that it burned, that’s the risk you take when you modify the recipe but maybe you can lend me a hand to avoid the burn notice:
-2 chicken breasts skinless, boneless
-2 bunch cilantro
-1.5 cup water
-sprayed the inside of the pot with oil instead of ghee/bacon fat (I used olive oil the first time when it worked)
-1 medium onion
6 cloves garlic (I used four the first time when it worked – love garlic)
-1.5 cup rinsed basmati rice
-2 heaping cups diced carrots
-2 heaping cups diced celery
-2 people cups diced bell pepper
-1.5 tsp salt
-0.75 tsp pepper
Essentially, I did not use oil/ghee/fat and used spray oil instead. Otherwise I basically 1.5x the recipe and doubled the veggies. I suspect it was the lack of oil that did me in and I got a burn notice with the rice having stuck to the bottom of the pot burned.
PS: I have an 8qt Instant Pot – and yes I know the minimum is 2 cups of rice, but i’ve been making 1 cup for a while and thats never been an issue.
Thoughts?
Lorena says
Hi Omar, hm, so I honestly don’t think the oil/fat is the problem. I make one cup of rice with one cup of water in the post along, no oil at all, all the time and it never burns so I doubt that’s the reason. I do wonder though if the burn message (not only for you but anybody) MAYBE happens because since the pot is already pretty hot once the onions/garlic are browned and the rice/water are added to the hot hot pot too much water evaporates by the time all other ingredients are added and the lid closed. I was told by friends and family that I work very fast and efficient in the kitchen and I’m starting to wonder if maybe people that work a little slower have too much water evaporating and then it’s basically too little water in the pot for when it’s time to pressure cook. Here is a tip and I hope it works. Keep your recipe as is and after frying your onion and garlic with just the cooking spray, once it’s fried, add a splash of water to deglaze it all (lift off ALL the bits stuck to the pot) and then turn off the instant pot, remove the insert (with oven mits), add all ingredients at whatever pace you want, then put the inner pot back, put on the lid, turn valve to sealing at set as you usually would.
Omar says
Hi Lorena,
I tried a and made sure sure there was nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan and I tried increasing water amounts but it still burns when I muck about with the prescribed recipe. I can’t seem to get it to work with the new modifications and I’ve tried several times.
Lorena says
Did you remove the inner pot from the Instant’s Pot Heating plate and add all ingredients, then put the inner pot back into the instant pot, sealed and set to high pressure and get the burn warning??? Is there anything stuck to your heating plate of to the outside of your inner pot? This darn burn warning is driving me nuts. I’m so frustrated. I wish I could teletransport myself into everybody’s kitchen to watch the process and finally find out what’s going on. :(
Ellen says
Just made this in my Instant Pot Mini- not sure what went wrong as I followed the recipe to a T including deglazing (white rice/chicken breast) but before it got to pressure I got a burn error, took the lid off, added more water, tried again and got BURN. Tried a third time, it never got to pressure but was still cooked somehow? The chicken was all cooked through and the rice was just slightly underdone.
Tasty still! Not sure what went wrong, the rice was all burned on the bottom.
Lorena says
Ellen, I could scream out of frustration. I just CANNOT understand why some people get this message with this recipes. I have tried to recreate the problem and no matter what I do I NEVER get the burn message. Even if I let the onions seriously burn in. I’ve tested and retested and retested the recipe to make sure I’m really not forgetting to add any information. It is a complete mystery to me and the most frustrating recipe on my blog. People who succeed love it, which is why I haven’t deleted it but I will seriously start crying if I can’t eventually get to the bottom of this. I am so sorry it didn’t turn out for you :(
Cyma says
Ive made this several times now, and each time it’s delicious! I follow the brown rice/legs version to the tee (just add some spices to the chicken). It’s great. Thank you so much for taking the time to share
Lorena says
I am so happy to read you were successful with the recipe!!!
Darren says
Absolutely delicious! This recipe is a keeper. I used chicken broth instead of water, and rinsed my rice, but otherwise followed the instructions as posted. I was concerned that the chicken would turn out bland, but it turned out perfect. I will definitely be trying more of your recipes!
Lorena says
I’m so so happy to read that Darren!
Lucy says
New instant pot 6 quart and tried their recipe for a dinner party. Unfortunately, it was a fail because the rice burned. I stirred the liquid as suggested in the beginning. Also, stirred and scraped off the bits that was burning because the warning kept coming on. Eventually, I took out the chicken breast, added more water, and tried to cook the rice. The rice was mushy and overcooked and I had to cook the chicken separately. Very disappointed. :(
Lorena says
I am so so sad to read this Lucy :( Have you already tried another recipe with your new instant pot? I have been in contact with Instant Pot directly to find a solution to this problem and it seems some individual pots heat more than others and always get the burn warning. Could you try cooking simply rice in it? 2 cups dry white rice with 2 cups water on high pressure for 3 minutes and then complete natural pressure release? That’s a recipe that has gotten exclusively 5-star reviews on my blog and seems to work for everybody that has a correctly functioning Instant Pot. If this one gets the burn warning, too I suggest you request getting your Instant Pot replaced by another one. It might be faulty.
Vanessa says
Hello! I just tried this recipe and my husband and I loved it!
I got the burned message at the beginning but then I opened it and stirred it a little bit and it worked perfectly after that. I don’t know if it is because I have the smallest version of the instant pot? Anyways, I will definitely re make this recipe! It is super flavourful!
Lorena says
I’m so so happy to read that you both liked it AND that you were able to make it work despite the initial burn warning. I really wish I knew why some pots get that warning while others don’t. It’s such a mystery!
Nancy says
Thanks for sharing your experience with the MINI Ipot… I was not going to use this Mini after reading some of the comments here of those who tried and got the Burn msg…but…I think now I will… honestly…I feel it is to Instant Pot’s advantage and good graces to share with us things like this that only they would know overall about diff’t Ipots…it’d save so much stress and confusion..perplexities for the Host doing the sharing/presenting of their wonderful recipes they had success with…hoping each and everyone of us would have the same… !!
Claudia says
Wgat about the cilantro. I did 1 bunch and a little more of cilantro for 2 cups. Not sure how it will come out since it’s coming as we speak. This recipe is a big dish in my country, Peru :)
I did it once on stove but I love my instant pot because it’s easy, everything in one pot. Just not sure how it will come out. Also if I’m doing chicken breast and brown rice how long on on manual? Thanks so much!!
Lorena says
Hola Claudia, no te recomiendo cocinar arroz integral con pechuga de pollo. El arroz integral require mínimo 22 minutes y en ese tiempo las pechugas de pollo terminan super secas. Es por eso que recomiendo muslo. El muslo no se seca en ese tiempo.
Nancy says
Pls put response in English as we are asked to read ALL the comments..to learn…and we can’t know what your advice was if it isn’t in English-if question was given that way… I believe we learn from every question asked & response given & then results shared when tried…pls…questions are never for one user….I do know that the question has been answered more than once in this thread that the person asked above…but followers need to embrace all that is given..it’s what helps us to follow you… I share this humbly…I am new to your channel(today…) but I read every post given…every feedback…and I’d like to have chance to read what you shared with individual who posted above…thanks you for considering this. Best ~ Nancy
Lorena says
Translation: Hello Claudia, I don’t recommend cooking brown rice with chicken breast. Brown rice requires at least 22 minutes and in that time the chicken breasts dry out. This is why I recommend thighs. Chicken thighs don’t dry out in that time.
Mandy says
Will frozen chicken breasts dry out with the brown rice at 22 min? I’m also adding frozen vegis.
Lorena says
Hi Mandy, I’m sorry, I’ve never experimented with frozen chicken so I can’t tell. The frozen veggies will be mush after 22 minutes because frozen veggies are mostly already cooked through or at least blanched.
Claudia says
What if I wanted to use 2 cups of rice. How much water?
Lorena says
2 cups of water. Here you can read all about how to cook instant pot rice.
Nancy says
I’ve sauteed veggies and added rice many times, along with a meat, and this is the first time I got a burn error. So sad! And I can’t figure out what I did wrong, since I’ve done several times before with zero problem. My Instant Pot is actually less than 2 months old.
Lorena says
Oh Nancy I’m so sorry to read that and unfortunately I just cannot understand why this happens to some people :( I’ve made this recipe sooo many times and never got the burn message (I actually have never gotten it ever with any recipe) and I just don’t know why some people do. It’s so incredibly frustrating to me to not be able to tell and help trouble shoot.
Naya says
Made this tonight. I used regular short grain white rice. I also just eyeballed an amount of dry cilantro since I didn’t have fresh on hand. It was delicious! It’s so simple yet so flavorful.
Laura G. says
To double the recipe, do you double the cook time, or is it scaled? Excited to try the recipe tonight!
Lorena says
Hi Laura, you keep the time as is. Double the recipe but keep the minutes as stated in the recipe. The pot will take longer to get to pressure and it will take longer to naturally release pressure but the high pressure cook time stays the same.
Flo says
Just got an instant pot…going to try this for my first recipe. Dumb question…use instant brown rice or not instant?
Lorena says
I’m so excited for you!! You will love your pot. Re rice: never use instant anything other than “Instant Pot” ;)
Hae says
Hi,
Thanks for the great recipe. My instant pot keeps saying “burn”. I used the exact ingredients (I doubled it though to make it 8 portion) and not sure what I did wrong. I even took all ingredients out, washed the pot and put it again for high pressure but still no luck… any ideal what went wrong?
Lorena says
Hae, I just saw that you also left a comment on the Instant Pot Beef Stew recipe and reported problems with smoke. How long have you had your Instant Pot? Do you still have warranty on it? I would exchange it. I’ve had many reports of people saying they got a “burn” warning and after lot’s of back and forth with readers I’ve been able to pin point it to two things. Either they left burnt bits of onion at the pan and didn’t deglaze OR their Instant Pot was faulty. I have tried to recreate the “burn” situation with my 2 instant pots by purposefully bruning onion and what not and leaving it in without deglazing and still never have had that warning pop up on my display.
H says
Thanks Lorena. You can tell i’m absolutely new to the instant pot world and your recipe is the reason i got one! :)
It’s a brand new pot. After onion, i washed the pot but it still shows “burn” when i put everything back in. When i take the pot out, the bottom of the pot was darkened again… i will try one more time and see. Thanks again!
Lorena says
I’m so happy you got one because of my recipes!! That your pot darkened despite you washing it really is weird. I would try and exchange it for a new one if possible.
Patrick says
I do not like cilantro. What else can I substitute for it.
Thanks😃
Perry Townsend says
Celery Leaf
Lorena says
You can use basil in this case. It’s soft, mild and green :) Parsley can become quite bitter in large quantities like this one. You can also just leave it out completely and use cajun seasoning instead for example. I’ve never tried celery leaf as replacement as Perry suggests but if could work, too :)
Andrea says
Made this tonight with the brown rice and chicken thighs. Super delicious! However, definitely not “quick”, but worth the time. Also, I used olive oil instead of ghee or bacon fat but I won’t do that next time. The flavors were great but needed that little something extra that I think the ghee would provide.
Overall excellent and will certainly make again.