Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is creamy and cheesy with tender morsels of chicken. You will fall in love with the flavors and our garlic secret. This is the quicker and easier version of our wildly popular stovetop chicken and rice recipe. Watch the video tutorial below and you’ll see how easy this is.
We love our instant pot because it produces the same great results in a fraction of the time so you can enjoy dinner fast! Some of our favorites include Instant Pot White Chicken Chili, Instant Pot Bone Broth, IP Corn on the Cob and the quickest Tender Ribs.
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The Secret to the Best Instant Pot Chicken and Rice:
The texture of this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is almost like a risotto but doesn’t require the tedious stirring for 30 minutes. The flavor is truly memorable and yet this recipe calls for simple ingredients. How? The secret is in using an entire head of garlic.
This Will Transform Your Rice: The garlic head is cut in half so the garlic cloves are exposed. The flavor infuses the rice and then you can remove the head of garlic if you want to, or squeeze the cloves into the rice. The garlic cloves will be melt in your mouth tender and so tasty. We used the same trick to make Instant Pot Beef and Rice (Plov).
Ingredients for Chicken and Rice:
You can use any kind of chicken here: chicken breast, thigh meat or chicken tenders. We prefer chicken tenders because they require very little prep (minimal trimming of fat), and reheat really well. They are also the most tender. We often use the chicken we have on hand.
The best rice for this recipe is jasmine rice (white, long-grain rice). You could also use Basmati or Texmati without adjusting the cooking time. Brown rice like we used in our Instant Pot Rice with Beef (Plov) recipe, would require a longer cooking time.
How to Cook Chicken and Rice in an Instant Pot:
We used a 6 Quart Instant Pot to make chicken and rice. This recipe moves fast so have all of your ingredients prepped and ready before you turn on your instant pot. Chop your onion, grate or julienne your carrots (here’s the julienne slicer we love), half your garlic head.
- Set your instant pot to sautee on high heat, add 2 Tbsp oil and 2 Tbsp butter.
- Add onion, carrots, and salt and saute 5 min.
- Add chicken and salt and saute 5 min.
- Pour in broth and rice and stir. Place halved garlic head cut-side-down.
- Cover with lid and set the lever to sealing position. Cook on manual high pressure 10 minutes with manual pressure release.
Tips for Using an Instant Pot:
First-time users: always read the users manual for your specific instant pot prior to starting since your machine may not operate or look exactly like ours.
- Make sure the rim and rubber seal on your instant pot are clean for the seal to form properly.
- Stir the rice together before turning on to avoid the “burn” notice.
- Remember to set your lever to the stealing position for pressure to build.
- When manually releasing pressure, wear an oven mitt and keep your face away from the hot steam vent.
- I keep a paper towel ready to shield the vent in case it sputters liquid while venting/releasing pressure.
- Always check the pressure indicator on your machine to ensure that the pressure has fully released prior to opening the lid.
- Follow timing instructions precisely and set timers. With pressure cooking it easy to over-cook something if you forget about your pot.
Easy 30-Minute Meals You Will Love:
These are our go-to 30-minute meals that our family-friendly (our kids go back for seconds), and they require minimal prep. These are our favorite, easy chicken dinners for busy weeknights!
- Chicken Pesto Pasta – easy 1-pan dinner
- Beef and Broccoli – with the best sauce
- Philly Cheesesteak – the authentic way
- Chicken Fried Rice – a great way to use leftovers
- Zuppa Toscana – famous restaurant copycat
Watch Natasha Make Chicken and Rice (Instant Pot Style):
This Instant pot chicken and rice recipe will transform dinner for you. It’s one of the easiest and tastiest dinners you’ll make and there’s minimal cleanup because it all comes together in the instant pot!
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Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, thickly grated or julienned
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, or thighs, or tenders (trimmed and cut into 1" pieces)
- 2 tsp sea salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, ground
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups Jasmine rice, un-rinsed
- 1 head garlic, unpeeled, cut in half crosswise
- 1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped, plus more to garnish
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
Instructions
- Set a 6 Qt Instant Pot to saute on high heat and add butter, oil, chopped onion, grated or julienned carrots, and 1 tsp salt. Sautee, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until soft and golden.
- Add trimmed, chopped chicken, another 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Sautee, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
- Add 4 cups chicken broth and 2 cups rice and stir to combine. Cut whole garlic head in half through the cloves and parallel to the base. Place garlic halves on top, cut-side down. Cover and cook on manual high pressure for 10 minutes then quick release remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and stir in 1/2 cup parmesan with 1/3 cup chopped parsley. Serve with more cheese and garnish with parsley if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
I feel like it’s obvious but you should specify to remove the garlic (unless you don’t which would be a bit weird since it’s un-peeled)
Hi Natasha
I love this recipe but I find sometimes the chicken is a little tough, I use chicken breast as my kid does not eat chicken thighs. Is there anything I can do to make the chicken a little more juicy and tender
Hi Chris, this truly is best with chicken thighs, make sure you’re also not cutting the breast too small so its not over cooking and getting tough.
This was good…very good flavor and the texture is like risotto. I did want more vegetables so I added broccoli and cauliflower after adding the cheese.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This was the first recipe cooked in my new instant pot rio and it was great! And so easy! Made some adjustments to the seasoning and didn’t have carrots but I’m making it again within the same week! Your meatloaf recipe is our favorite so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with any other recipe of yours! Thank you!
Hi Sheila! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you so much for sharing.
I just made this. I did not use carrots, but used the onion and garlic. I used the same ration of rice and liquid. I put a half jar of hot salsa in and cooked per directions. I did a hard release and added some sour cream, cheddar cheese, and a splash of milk to loosen thing up. Was delish.
Thanks for shairng, Margaret. We’re glad that you loved it!
Thank you for the information
It is true that the recipe used is very delicious because it has very delicious spices
that’s why I was addicted and made it again
Great to hear that you enjoyed it!
I made this recipe many times and it never fails. The entire family loves it. It’s quick and very easy to put together during work days!
That’s great to hear, Ana!
I want to make this for a crowd. If I double the recipe do I still keep the same cooking time?
Hi Loretta, I haven’t doubled it, but my readers have, here’s what they had to say: “my kids love it and it doubles easily if you have the bigger cooker. If you don’t have the cheese it still makes a tasty dish. It can also be easily modified. I substituted diced chuck roast, beef broth and upped the cooking time to 15 min. It came out tender and perfect, it is like a quick version of your beef plav.” I hope that helps.
No where in the recipe directions (between step 3 and 4) does it say to take the garlic out of the pot. It just says to open the lid and stir! This reminds me of rice-a-roni style rice and if people think this rice will be Chewy, they might consider it over cooked. Just FYI. THE FLAVOR IS DELICIOUS!
Hi Rhea, we like to leave it in, but we have this note in the recipe “The flavor infuses the rice and then you can remove the head of garlic if you want to, or squeeze the cloves into the rice” I hope that helps.
could i use an 8 qt. instantpot,and would i need to adjust anything
Hi Barbara, I haven’t tested this in an 8 quart, but I assume they would be the same. If you try it out in your 8 qt pot, I would love to hear how it goes.
This recipe is a wonderfully simple yet delicious comfort meal that is perfect for a cool fall day 😊
My one question is can beef be used in place of chicken for this recipe?
Hi Carl, I recommend trying our Instant Pot Beef and Rice (Plov).
Looks good, can’t wait to try this recipe, wonder if I can make it with my ninja foodi. Anywho I will give it a try.
I didn’t have fresh parsley so added small pieces of broccoli (with the carrots) for some green color and the entire dish came out delicious!! Also omitted the cheese since we’re dairy free but it was still scrumptious.
Thanks for sharing, Emily! I’m glad you loved the recipe.
Very disappointed, got a burn notice with this even though I deglazed the pan after sauteing the veg and chicken. Instant Pot doesn’t do well with creamy sauces for me.
Hi Sylvia, as mentioned in the post above, I highly recommend you stir the rice together before turning on to avoid the “burn” notice. If you prefer, this recipe also works great as a stovetop Creamy Chicken and Rice.
Love this dish, Natasha. I made today exactly as written and it’s wonderful. Question for you, my son and his wife are vegetarian. Do you have suggestions for this recipe to be converted to a meatless dish that would be (almost) as flavorful? Thank you.
Hi Angela! I’m so glad you enjoy that recipe. I have not tested a chicken substitute to advise. I haven’t tested it without the chicken but it can probably be adjusted easily with some experimentation.
Also- you may want to check out the Classic Risotto Recipe. It’s creamy and delicious without the meat.
You can even try to substitute with vegan Parmesan cheese.
Can I use a crockpot to make this recipe? Would I have to change the directions to make it in a crockpot because I don’t have an InstaPot.
Hi Pam! I don’t have instructions for that but you can use the stovetop version of Creamy chicken and rice recipe.
Hi, I’m not sure what an Instant Pot is?
Could I use a slow cooker, or regular saucepan?
Thanks!
Hi Karen! I have the creamy chicken and rice stovetop version recipe.
Instant Pot is the brand name. It is a pressure cooker. 😊