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
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This was pretty tasty and I loved it was all made in the pot. The water to rice ratio was spot on. I think some commenters that had a problem with it may have used minute rice. I will make this again for sure, but may add some of the spices that commenters mentioned, such as worcestershire sauce, ginger, thyme, or curry.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Marcy!
My family loved this recipe! Thank you for posting it and for the easy-to-follow video too! We appreciate it!
You are so welcome, Jen. Thank you for your great review!
Dear Natasha,
I plan on making this Dish for my picky two year old son. However, I own the instant pot mini duo, which has a 3-quart container. Would this recipe work with that? Let me know, thanks!
Hi, a 3-quart would probably be too small for this full recipe. I haven’t tested it, but I think it would go above the max fill line. The cook time should be about the same.
Sadiya – I halved the recipe and that worked well. I think it would certainly fit in the 3 qt.
This was absolutely delicious! My husband loved it and went back for 3rds.(My son didn’t care for it due to the texture of the rice. He’s going through a face of only liking certain foods.) I will absolutely make it again! I didn’t have onions, so I used onion powder. So good! I highly recommend!
That is the best when kids and the family love what we moms make. That’s so great!
My family loves this recipe. I want to double it because I have a large family and we like leftovers. If I double this recipe is the cook time the same?
Thanks for sharing that with us, Amy. If you are at the recipe, click on Jump to recipe and click on the number of servings to adjust the ingredients. Hope that helps.
Hi we loved this recipe as did friends we shared it with! I am wondering whether this could be frozen and reheated?
Hi Sue, you could freeze this since rice does reheat pretty well. When reheating, I would suggest first thawing in the fridge overnight then add a little sprinkle of water when it’s heating up so it doesn’t get dry. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha, I hate to give you a lower rating as I do love your recipes, but for some reason the 4c liquid to 2c rice caused an extremely soggy result. I actually used 2.5c rice and 4c liquid too! Most other recipes I looked at do 1:1 ratio of liquid to rice, so I’m not sure what went wrong. The flavor was still good, and I tried to salvage by putting it on ‘dehydrate’ setting, but do you have any tips when something like this turns out too wet?
Hi Robin, I haven’t had that experience but I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Usually, a soggy rice result is due to using a different kind of rice. Between the veggies, chicken and rice, that amount of water should be just right and a different type of rice could require a different amount of water.
Can you use a 8 quart Instant Pot?
Hi Terri, 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.
I have made it in an 8 quart instant pot according to the recipe without any problems.
Enjoyed making this. Needed at least a little extra salt. What do you think about using a little Lawry’s Seasoned Salt?
Hi Rich, we love using Lawry’s seasoned salt. I think that is a great idea.
I cut the recipe in half. Cooking time was way too long. I thought it might be and scaled back to 6 minutes with 4 minutes natural release, but rice and veggies were still mushy and chicken a little on the overdone side but ok. I will try 4 minutes at high pressure next time with quick release.
Also thought it was lacking in flavor. Added southwest seasoning which helped.
Thank you for sharing that with me Nic!
This sounds so good. I want to make it for dinner tonight. I don’t have Parmesan cheese. Have you made it with cheddar cheese and do you think that would be a good substitute?
Finally tried this recipe last night and it was delicious. My husband liked it and brought left over to work.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for this awesome feedback Ana!
Hi, I’ve made this recipe a couple of times already and it was a hit, and my question is can I use buckwheat instead of rice, and if so do I have to rinse the buckwheat and how long should I cook it for In the instant pot? Thank you
Hi Natalia, I have not tested this with buckwheat to advise. If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
Hi,
Can I use short grain rice? Will this affect the texture or cooking time?
Thanks
I haven’t tried that but I imagine that should work, but the cooking time will definitely be different.
Fell upon the recipe searching “Instapot chicken and rice.” So happy I did! Simple ingredients that we had ready. Start to finish took about 40 minutes. And it is amazing! Printed the recipe to ensure that we use it again soon. YUMMMMMM!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Chris! Thank you for sharing that wonderful review!
can you use leftover chicken with this?
Hi Lynne, I have not tried this with leftover chicken to advise. If you experiment please let me know how you like that!
Hi there. I have the Instant Pot Duo Nova. Is there anything different that I have to do to this recipe?
Hi Veronica, that should work the same as long as you have the 6 quart one!
Absolutely love how easy and delicious this recipe is. Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Christa! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
I’ve made this several times now and love it! It reheats awesome so I make it and then have my lunches for work for a few days. I cube the carrot instead of shredding since I like the larger chunks of veggies. I make it with brown rice sometimes and set it for 30 minutes. I’ve also added a bag of frozen peas in at the end when I stir in the cheese. I like the added color and flavor of the peas. Thanks for such a wonderfully versatile recipe!
I love it, thanks for your feedback and for sharing this with us!
2 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: I tried your Chicken and Rice in my brand new Instant Pot. 1st meal in the IP. It was so good that I decided to invite my in-laws over Thursday (today) for dinner. I have an 8 qt IP and am hoping it will not go over the half way mark if I double the recipe, but I need to know if it needs to cook longer for a double recipe? Plus, I have some frozen chicken in the freezer. When I use that for this recipe, how much longer do I need to cook it and do I add all the other ingredients like it shows in your video or the chicken first so that it thaws. I love your cooking videos, Natasha!!! You are my favorite cook!! We loved your lasagna roll ups and your meatloaf!! Both were yummilicious!!!
I haven’t tried this in an 8qt or doubling it so I can’t say for sure, but it should be about the same cook time. I would thaw the chicken before cooking to keep the cooking times consistent so you don’t end up with mushy rice. If you test that out, let me know how it goes.
This. Was. Delicious.
Made it last night and it was a huge hit!!
Any tips on the best way to reheat leftovers? Reheating rice can give me trouble sometimes
Hi Lauren, When reheating, we like to sprinkle a little bit of water when it’s heating up so it doesn’t get dry. I hope that helps.
Thank you!!!
I made this Instapot chicken and rice once before and followed the recipe exactly and found that using chicken broth made the all over taste too chickeney (?) so today I replaced it with 4 cups of herb broth and then added 1 tablespoon of chili flakes. I find it a more balanced taste, but it also ocurred to me, that it is possible that my broth might have been stronger than yours.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Peter! Yes, some broth is stronger than others and that may have been the culprit. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Ohhh, and I totally forgot to mention that I also added a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce for some subtle ummmph! And it is a great recipe for quick crowd pleasing!