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
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Hi Natasha,
why did you pick Jasmine rice for risotto? I’ve read in a couple of places to avoid Jasmine rice if possible as it doesn’t have enough starch and risotto might become too mushy. Medium- or short-grain rice is the best, like Arborio. Thank you.
Hi Anna, this isn’t a true risotto but it is much easier with a lovely creamy texture.
Followed directions to a “t” but it turned out to be just a big bowl of mush. Will try again another day and reduce cooking time significantly
I’m so sorry to hear that! I have not had that experience. Was anything altered in the recipe?
I had the exact same issue! Followed the recipe. I think I’ll reduce by 1 cup of liquid at least next time.
Make sure you are not using “instant” rice (Minute rice or similar parboiled rice).
all I can say is OMG !!! fantastic made it tonight, thank you Natasha
Isn’t the flavor amazing! Thank you for the wonderful review, Ronnie!
Hello, I would like to make this dish with brown jasmine rice. When i cook brown jasmine on its own, I put it on high pressure for 24 minutes with a 10 minute decompress time. If I used your recipe but with the brown jasmine, would cooking it on high pressure for 24 minutes +10mins for decompress over cook the chicken?
Thank you for sharing that with us Ben. I haven’t tried brown jasmine rice to advise so I can’t really tell. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
I ended up cooking the rice separate from everything else and mixed everything together when it was done. It took longer but worth it since the chicken was cooked perfectly. Great recipe for sure. Thank you
Thank you so much for sharing that with me and for giving great feedback. I hope you love every recipe you try!
This was the first time that a recipe I followed worked perfectly! She is awesome and so is this dish. My family LOVED it!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me and for giving great feedback, Stacee. I’m glad that your family loved this recipe!
Anxious to try this recipe as it looks doable and tasty. Curious, though, it says serves 8 as a side dish. What would one serve with it?
Hi Pat, we like to serve this with the main course meat like chicken or beef. You can also serve it alongside a nice crisp salad.
Making this today. Can I put whole chicken legs in? That is what I have.
Hi Ann, I haven’t tried this with bone-in chicken, so I would suggest removing the meat from the bones and using just the meat.
Hi Natalie,
Love your videos and recipes.
Tonight we tried our Instapot for the first time and cooked the chicken and rice dish and we loved it!
The only change I made was I added a can of cream of mushroom soup and I decreased The liquid by 1/2 cup . I wanted to add fresh mushrooms but was worried about the amount of liquid in mushrooms. Your recipe was delicious and I squeezed out the garlic and added it back in…yumm
I’m so glad you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing those changes with us.
This was east, and came together quickly. I followed the recipe exactly, and it looked like it was going to be amazing. It was sort of bland though. I added salt and cracked pepper to the individual plates to help.
I wish it had been more flavorful because I would make it often.
Thank you for sharing that feedback Rachel!
This looks So good! I want to try this but use cauliflower / cauliflower rice instead of regular rice.
ALSO Thought of adding some broccoli pieces. I’m very new to Ipmp, do you have any suggestions?!?! I love cheese, and have cut both back with the fat, so am glad to see this is cheesy but not focused all on the cheese!
I bet broccoli would be delicious Blair. But yes, more vegetables should work great.
what about cooking time for cauliflower rice? I know i could just add premade cauliflowr rice in at the end, but how would that affect cooking time for the chicken and such?
Hi Blair, I haven’t tested this with cauliflower rice but I suspect it would turn to mush.
My whole family loved it! Kids didn’t even know there was onions in it and they hate onions. Thank you for another great recipe.
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great, Gabrielle!
This was yummy! I made it with brown rice since that was all I had on hand — and increased pressure cook time to 20 minutes.
I also added chopped kale when I added the rice to increase the veggie content.
It didn’t look as beautiful as Natasha’s but it tasted good! (the kale was not bright green anymore, like the uncooked parsley was)
I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Concerning the instant pot chicken and rice recipe; can the recipe be halved in the pot and still work and would leftovers be freeze able?
Hi Karen, I have not tested halving this recipe in a 6qt pot. One of our readers was planning on testing it in a 3qt pot. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I tried this recipe last night. When it was done I had to leave on warm for close to an hour before we ate. The rice got mushy and the chicken was dry. Was this because I left it on warm? Or did I do something else Wrong?
Hi Carolyn, it is possible it was overcooked during that time. Did you alter anything else in the recipe? I’m happy to troubleshoot but it is hard to say without being there.
Same here! Flavor was great, but my kid’s disapproved due to the mushy rice.
Hi Rosanna, if using a different type of rice or letting it sit too long before releasing pressure, you do run the risk of it becoming mushy. I hope that helps for next time.
Hi, can this recipe be frozen?
Hi Melissa, 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 have found that chicken tenders reheat the best of all the different types of chicken meat. I’m not sure why but we like it best reheated comparted to chicken breast or thigh meat. I hope that helps.
Hi Melissa, 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.
was a hit in our house! Thank you. Just remember to dig the garlic out before you stir it will get lost:)
also remember to take the leaves out!–
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Michelle!
This recipe was delicious! I followed the steps exactly and my husband and I loved the result. I’d like to try with brown jasmine rice next time. How should I adjust the time? Thanks again for your delicious recipes!
Thanks for your good feedback. I haven’t personally tried jasmine rice so I can’t really tell but if you decide to experiment, I would love to know how it goes.
I added a shallot and Jalapeño while sautéing. Also Instead of slicing the head of garlic and squeezing out the bulbs at the end, I just minced it up and added it at the last step before adding the pressure.
The rice has the consistency of risotto.
This is a crowd pleaser.
Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad, Jeff! Thank you for that wonderful review!
3 1/2 to 4 stars. Turned out really well. I recommend adding @ 1/4 cup of white wine to the broth to make the even 4 cups as well as a mixture of aromatic herbs after the cooking. Herbs de Provence or whatever other mixture one prefers. Definitely add Rosemary.
Thank you so much for sharing that feedback with me, Brian!
This was amazing! So easy! My kids loved it! This recipe is a keeper.
I’m glad to hear it, Angela! Thank you for that awesome review.
Foolproof recipe! Since I am severely lactose intolerant, I could not follow the directions, exactly, but I was determined to try it. I found vegan parmesan shreds at the grocery (Follow Your Heart), so grabbed them. I put a bag of frozen thighs into the fridge to thaw last night…but when I went to cook this evening, they were still frozen. Undaunted, I cut the frozen chicken up, and threw it in the pot, anyway. Also, it was a 2 lb. bag, I threw it all in and sauteed until all was white on the outside. I used Basmati, since I didn’t have jasmine rice. And I only had a red onion. Other than these major diversions, I did everything else as directed. And it turned out wonderfully. Just delish. Thank you for a really good recipe. And for your very helpful video. It let me know what to expect. And as you said, there is not a trace of onion to be found, despite my using a red one. Now, I have to keep myself away from the leftovers, or the yield on this will be one serving!
Sounds like you found a new favorite, Debba! Thank you for stopping by with that awesome review.
I’m going to try this tonight. Im sure my fussy 4 year old will love it! Just wondering how smoked paprika would go in this recipe??
Hi Carla, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.