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
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My family was asking for your beef plov recipe and I had chicken on hand. I made this instead and it was a huge hit!! We love everything that I have made of yours! Please publish a cookbook!!
Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Leah! I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes. Stay tuned on that book; we have something in the works.
Love your recipes!!
This recipe was very delicious and wanted my mother to try it in her new instant pot she got for Christmas. But she has an 8 quart. This recipe specifically says 6 quarts. Is there any way for her to b able to make this?
Hi Christina, 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 do it in the larger instant pot- had no problems. Tonight I added celery and mushrooms in the veggie mix. I had no parsley so used frozen peas. Amazing
I make it in an 8 qt. just as written, I’ve even made half the recipe in my 8 qt and it is fine.
Is there anyway of making this with instant rice?
Hi Kim, I’m not sure how to do that without the rice getting soggy. I haven’t tested it with instant rice.
Sooooooo good! Creamy and flavourful !! Everyone loved it !
Thank you for that great feedback, Marie!
What do you do with the garlic after it is done cooking?
Hi Karen, please see this section in the recipe “This Will Transform Your Rice:” You can choose to leave the flavorful cloves in your rice, or you can choose to discard them.
This recipe is a staple at our house and we love it! I’m visiting my sister and need to make it for more people. Is there a way to double this so I don’t have to cook it two times? Thanks!
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tested doubling this, but if you are doubling the recipe and using a larger instant pot than 6qt, that should work fine to double the ingredients and not the time. Let me know how it goes doubling it.
I made this last night and it was outstanding!!!!! I’ve tried about a dozen of your recipes and everyone is a hit!!!
That’s just awesome, Melissa! Thank you for that great review!
Just made this for the first time yesterday. Great recipe, and super easy! I look forward to my meal times now.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Jess!
It was 5:30 PM and one of those “what the hell am I going to make for dinner” nights so went recipe searching based on the meager ingredients on hand. I had the breasts, a bag of shredded carrots, and a beautiful wedge of aged Parmesan, but improvised with jarred minced garlic and Arborio rice. EVERYONE LOVED IT! IMO it was a little gummy because of the Italian rice, but DEFINITELY will be making this again. I think next time I will add a small bag of frozen peas after the quick release, but this is a keeper. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks
Sounds awesome! I’m happy to know that you loved this recipe. Thanks for sharing your comments and feedback Jody. Appreciate it!
If wanted to use brown Jasmine rice. Do I need to adjust the time?
Hi Christina, brown rice like we used in our Instant Pot Rice with Beef (Plov) recipe, would require a longer cooking time. One of my readers wrote: “I made it with brown rice since that was all I had on hand — and increased pressure cook time to 20 minutes.” I hope that helps!
It came out perfect and the garlic was such an amazing touch! My 4 year old, husband and I finished our bowls. It was great! My husband even got seconds. I will definitely be making this again soon.
That is the best when the family loves what we moms make. That’s so great
Does this recipe freeze well?
Hi Addie, you could freeze this since rice does reheat pretty well.
Delicious! I am wondering how the cooking time would change if using brown rice instead?
Hi Meri, I haven’t made this one with brown rice, but one of my readers wrote: “I made it with brown rice since that was all I had on hand — and increased pressure cook time to 20 minutes.” I hope that helps!
Family of type 1 diabetics here. FYI, if you include a nutrition label…some people actually rely on them to dose insulin and survive. No serving size? Useless info. 43 carbs in what? 1 cup? 2?
Hi Kristen, the number of servings is listed towards the top of the recipe card. This recipe serves 8. We don’t have it divided into cups however.
Quick, easy, and so tasty! This was really a winner in my house. It’s creamy and flavorful. I’m adding this to my go-to list!
Love it! Thank you for your good comments, Tiffany!
I was so excited to make this recipe but I ended up getting the dreaded burn notice in my new instant pot! I did everything exactly as in the recipe and it didn’t work and the rice was burned on the bottom. I was nervous about it because I tried another recipe with rice and it did the same thing. I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ve heard the new instant pots sometimes do this. Does anyone have a workaround? Cook the rice on the stove and add later?
I ended up just dumping it all in a dish and it’s now cooking in the oven. Not sure how long it will take. I’m sure it’ll taste great, just bummed it didn’t work as I was hoping in the instant pot. 🙁
Hi Leslie, there is enough liquid in the recipe where it shouldn’t normally give a burn notice. Make sure to stir to combine after adding the broth. I do have a stovetop version of this chicken and rice recipe as well.
I made it again tonight. I live in Melbourne Australia. Love this recipe. The first time I made a rice dish, I got the burn notice too. Leslie, after you sauté the chicken….add the stock and make sure you scrape up all the bits that have stuck to the bottom. Then pour the rice in and don’t stir it in….then put the cut garlic halves on the top. I cooked it for only 7 minutes…and I used brown basmati. So delicious, please try it again. This is the best chicken rice recipe and it is so simple. Good luck and happy Christmas. Keep on playing with your instant pot.
Soo good! Made it with brown basmati rice and increased the liquid to 6 cups of chicken bone broth since that’s what we had on hand and cooked it with the brown rice setting which is 23 minutes. Delicious the entire family loved it! Thank you
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Susan!
Wanted to report, so you have the information, that I made this again, last night, but this time I halved the recipe. I use an 8qt Instant Pot. There was no burn message and everything came out as wonderful as if I’d made the full recipe. FYI
Sounds awesome, I’m glad the end result was so good. Thanks for sharing, Debba!
Oh mylanta! This was SO DELICIOUS!! My little one has celiac disease and this easily replaces the creamy pastas she liked before. Even without adding the Parmesan cheese it was still amazing. This is my new Sunday night quick recipe to make. THANK YOU!!
I am so happy that hear that, Erin. Thank you so much for your great comments and feedback!
Hi natasha! I recently started following om face book after coming across your cheesy broccoli soup recipe. And might i say that it looked delish and will be making it for my family at a Christmas get together this season.
My question to this post was, I have a foodi ninja instesd of an instant pot. And they both function the same, actually I think the foodi ninja has a few added features but I was wondering if I coulf replicate this recipe in my ninja. It has saute feature and pressure cook feature. Well thank you for your videos im very much enjoying these recipes and they are so easy to make im starting to enjoy my variety at the dinner table!
Hi Liliana, I don’t have a Ninja, but if the features are similar, I imagine that could work! If you do experiment I would love to know how you would like that.
Shouldn’t be a problem.
Hi! I see others have noticed the missing white wine in the IP version. Is there a particular reason for omitting? I make risotto in my IP all the time and use white wine. If I try using it for the IP version, would you suggest maybe using 1/2 cup and adding at the last step before pressure cooking? And maybe reduce the chicken broth amount by 1/2 cup? Thank you!
Hi Melissa, The wine doesn’t have a chance to cook out under pressure so we omit it and the results are still amazing. You won’t miss it!
Thank you for the recipe.
Merry Christmas to you.
I didnt havenenogh chicken stock, so made up the difference with veg. stock, used mirepoix to start.
Added 1/2 c white wine(Vouvray)
Forgot to replace ring in lid, oops.
So it simmered without pressure for a few minutes, til I got the lid right. Reduced pressure time to 8 min. Turned out lovely in spite of my fumble.
Thanks again,
Lisa