Instant Pot Chicken and Rice + Video

You are going to want to add Instant Pot Chicken and Rice to your dinner rotation! An old fashion  family favorite comfort meal enjoyed by the whole family.

There is just something about an old fashion Instant Pot Chicken and rice recipe. Somewhere in between a rice and risotto dish with chunks of chicken this comforting recipe satisfies all the senses.

The flavor, texture, aroma and the visual or chicken and rice will warm your soul deep down and satisfy your inner child. Unlike the days of old, this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe cooks in a Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker and is ready to eat in under 25 minutes.

 

It is amazing how only a few ingredients produce such a great meal.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

• Chicken
• Chicken Broth (or water +  Better than Bouillon Chicken Base)
• Carrots, Celery, Shallots, Fresh Garlic
• Jasmine Rice or other Medium Grain Rice
• Salt, Pepper, This Old Gal Seasoned Salt {House Seasoning}
• Oil and Butter

The complete ingredient list and instructions on the recipe card below can be altered to your taste. For instance, if you want more carrots than indicated below, by all means, use more carrots!

 

Any time you want to sauté, sear, brown or toast in a stainless steel pot, you must first heat up the pot before adding the fat. This helps make the pot non-stick.

Why Use Oil and Butter?

• Butter burns easily and quickly. Oil, like grapeseed oil and extra virgin olive oil have a high burn temperature than butter. This way, you can still toast the rice in butter, but without the worry of the butter burning.

Why Toast Rice?

• Toasting the rice in butter will bring out the nutty flavor in the grain. This is true for most grains. For instance, in my Pressure Cooker Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats recipe, the oats are first toasted to bring out the nuttiness in the grains.

Likewise in any of my risotto recipes, such as my incredible Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto (Pressure Cooker) recipe. In the case of risotto, a shell is created around each grain and helps the rice absorb water slowly, so that the rice does not burst and become mushy.

Pro Tip: Arborio rice or Basmati rice can be used in place of medium grain rice. The texture of the rice will just be a bit different. The Arborio rice will render a creamier dish, while the Basmati rice may render a dryer dish, where the rice will have more individual pieces of rice and be more fluffy instead of the rice clinging together and not being fluffy.

 

Another handy and quick trick is to get the veggies diced up in a food processor.

Why Use a Food Processor?

• I do a lot of cooking and while I do enjoy taking my time and cutting up ingredients, often times, I am in a hurry and just want to get dinner on the table.
• When I am cooking recipes like this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice or Instant Pot Low Carb New Orleans Jambalaya, where it just does not matter how you chop the veggies, since they disappear in the food anyway, a good food processor is so handy.

I strongly suggest if you do not own one, to get one and I recommend this Cuisinart Large Food Processor. It chops well and has an adjustable slicer, which is really nice for getting thin, medium or thick slices of things like carrots and zucchini.

 

Can Onions Be Used in Place of Shallots

• Yes. The taste of shallots and onions are very similar, but also different.
• Instant Pot Chicken and Rice will be a staple in your home, so just use whatever you happen to have in the fridge.

This recipe is so delicious and easy to make and it is also super forgiving. Whether you use the shallots or swap them out for yellow onions, sweet onions or red onions, it just won’t matter one bit. The flavor from each onion is different, but the end result will be equally as delicious regardless of which type of onion you use.

The shallots and celery will completely break down and add to the creaminess of the recipe.

Pro Tip: Brown rice has a much longer cooking time than white rice and is therefore not suggested in this recipe. However, you could cook the brown rice half way and then mix in the the rest of the ingredients and cook according to recipe below.

 

The slicer accessory of the food processor is wonderful for slicing up the carrots really fast.

Carrots cook pretty quickly and why I don’t recommend sautéing them with the onions and shallots. Adding them right before pressure cooking will allow them to stay in tact.

We love making protein and rice recipes and throwing in some broccoli at the end for a one pot meal. My Instant Pot Rojo Fiesta Chicken [Pressure Cooker] and Instant Pot Asian Chicken and Rice are both one pot recipes and cook up quickly and easily.

 

Chicken will shrink down and release a lot of liquid. You may feel there is not enough liquid in this recipe, but trust me, there is! 

Can Chicken Thighs Be Used?

• Of course you can choose to use dark meat chicken. I only use white meat chicken in many of my recipes because Ed much prefers white meat. I prefer dark meat, but overall, I am not a huge fan of chicken and often eat around it, so for me, it doesn’t much matter. That being said, Air Fryer Hot Wings are one of my favorite recipes.
• As white meat chicken is much drier than dark meat chicken, I would suggest cutting the dark meat chicken or thighs a bit smaller than you would white meat. The dark meat takes slightly longer to cook than white meat chicken. So, cutting the chicken a bit smaller means the chicken will cook in the same amount of time a larger chunk of white meat takes to cook.

Why am I tell you this you ask? Because if you want to use both thighs and breasts (dark and white meat) chicken, make sure to cut the thighs smaller than the breasts.

 

Trick to Cooking Garlic

• A little trick to cooking with garlic is to take a sharp knife and  just cut the whole bulb of garlic in half and drop it into your pot last. Choose to use the whole bulb or just half. I like to use this J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife. [Would you believe that it is the same knife I have been using since 1985? My dad bought it for me, along with the rest of the set.]
• The bulb will remain on top and can be fished out later. The garlic will be nice and soft and can be squeezed out and mixed into the chicken and rice. Of course if you don’t want to do that, no need.

Pro Tip: Try squeezing the garlic and rub it on some toast and make a delicious Air Fryer Garlic Bread.

 

Can You Freeze Instant Pot Chicken and Rice?

• Yes. I recommend using a FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System for freezing the chicken and rice.
• But I wonder if you mean raw, not leftover. The answer is still yes.

This makes a really good plan a head freezer meal. I suggest cutting the celery and scallions very, very small, so that you can just add it all in to the pressure cooker and push the start button. This way, the veggies won’t be hard and you can turn this recipe into a dump and push start freezer meal recipe.

How to Reheat Chicken and Rice

• Add a cup of water to the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker cooking pot and add a trivet. Place leftover Instant Pot Chicken and Rice into a pan such as this Stainless Steel Pans and set the timer for 5 minutes.

Watch the video below as I walk you through every step and detail of this recipe. I’ve given you a ton of information above, but sometimes a live visual of the process helps so you can follow along. I have my own cooking show on my YouTube Channel, so be sure to check it out and subscribe!

Watch my video and then scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe card.

Tips and Tricks to Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

1. Hit the Saute button on the pressure cooker and then gather your ingredients. The pot will be nice and hot when you are ready to start.
2. Use a food processor to speed up the chopping.
3. Chop the shallots and celery very fine and package them up with the other raw ingredients for a freezer meal. Then just dump it all into the pressure cooker for a dump and push start recipe.

 

I know you are going to love this recipe as much as Ed and I do. Make sure you always have chicken in the freezer, so you can throw this recipe together at a moments thought.

Pro Tip: Cut up chicken into chunks and freeze into two pound packages.

More Old Fashion Comfort Food Recipes to Make:

• Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese [Instant Pot]
• Instant Pot Sloppy Joes (Pressure Cooker)
• Instant Pot Pork Chops in Mushroom Gravy [Homemade]
• Instant Pot Classic Pot Roast

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
• J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
• Cuisinart Large Food Processor
• di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set
• Porcelain & Bamboo Salt Box with Spoon
• Gravity Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
• Salbree 3 quart, 6 quart or 8 quart Steamer/Strainer Basket

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Here is your handy printable recipe:

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