Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

Instant Pot chicken and rice is a delicious and simple supper that you can make all in one pot. 👉🏻Pin this recipe here.👈🏻

Don’t worry, internet friends! If you do not have an Instant Pot, I already have stove top instructions for this recipe here: one pot chicken and rice.

But if you don’t have an Instant Pot yet…why not? You should really look into getting one. See my full Instant Pot product review video here. But in short, I am loving mine. #NotSponsored

This post may contain affiliate links, which pay a referral fee to me at no additional cost to you. My full affiliate disclosure can be seen here.

Okay, back to this Instant Pot chicken and rice. It is such a quick and easy dinner!

And it’s a complete one pot meal with your protein, starch and veggies all in one pot. True comfort food!

How to make Instant Pot chicken and rice

First, gather your ingredients. For tastiest results, always use the best quality ingredients you have access to.

Ingredients

To make this Instant Pot chicken and rice recipe you will need the following:

• boneless skinless chicken thighs
• cooking spray
• shallots
• carrots
• mushrooms
• garlic
• uncooked white jasmine rice
• chicken stock or broth
• fresh thyme leaves (half the amount of dried works well as a sub)
• salt and pepper

Cooking on sauté

Instant Pot chicken and rice is every bit as good as the original stove top recipe. I did have to strategize a little to get the cooking times for all the ingredients to line up. Here is how I did it.

Generously salt and pepper the raw chicken thighs. Spray the inner pot with cooking spray, or add the oil. Using the sauté setting (normal level), preheat until the display reads “hot.”

Use tongs to put chicken in the pan (watch out for oil splatter!) Sear chicken thighs, 4 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside chicken on a plate.

Add 1/4 cup broth to deglaze the pan, scrape the bits with a wooden spoon (do not skip this step!). If there are any stuck on spots, be sure and lift those away from the pan with a wooden spoon.

Add shallot, mushroom and carrots, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic, and continue to cook for another minute.Add remaining chicken stock, rice, thyme and stir together.

Add chicken on top of the mixture, and do not stir them in.

Pressure cooking

Close the lid and lock it, setting the valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes, and allow the Instant Pot to release naturally (do not use the quick release lever) for 10 minutes. Quick release the remaining pressure.

Once any remaining pressure is fully release, remove the lid carefully.

Use two forks to shred the chicken, and stir the pot. It is really tender and will basically fall apart.

Serving tips

Sprinkle with some additional fresh thyme or parsley, if you prefer. Serve immediately. You could leave the chicken thighs whole if you prefer, as shown above.

Or you can do what we do at my house and shred them with two forks. Since they are so tender, they are pretty easy to shred.

Preventing scorching

Heads up, I did revise this recipe as of 8/20/2018 after several complaints about scorching and/ or not coming up to pressure.

The remedy? In the revised instructions below I added some additional chicken stock, and I cut off the NPR (natural pressure release) time at ten minutes by quick releasing any remaining pressure, rather than letting it depressurize fully.

It worked out great for me, three times in a row. So I am considering it blog worthy to publish these updated instructions.

I love that this worked so well in the pressure cooker! Y’all let me know if you try it.

FAQ’s for Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

More Instant Pot Recipes You May Enjoy

• Instant Pot whole “rotisserie” chicken
• Instant Pot “baked” sweet potatoes
• Instant Pot classic beef chili
• Instant Pot red beans and rice
• Instant Pot chicken breasts
• Instant Pot chicken thighs
• Instant Pot pasta e fagioli soup
• Instant Pot hard boiled eggs
• Instant Pot spaghetti (one pot)
• Instant Pot chicken recipes
• Instant Pot oatmeal (pot in pot method)

See ALL of my Instant Pot recipes here.

Tools Used to Make This Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links, which pay a referral fee to me at no additional cost to you. My full affiliate disclosure can be seen here.

• Instant Pot – my favorite electric pressure cooker
• Cutting board
• Chef’s knife
• Wooden spatula and/or wooden spoon

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4.17 from 87 votes

Print

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

Instant Pot chicken and rice is a delicious and simple supper that you can make all in one pot. It is SO delicious and easy!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword instant pot chicken and rice

Prep Time 12 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Time to come to pressure 8 minutes

Total Time 32 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 340 kcal

Author Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (up to 1.5 pounds works)
• cooking spray (I used avocado oil spray, but a tablespoon of oil of your choice works)
• 3 small shallots diced
• 1 cup carrots diced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 cloves medium fresh garlic minced
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked white jasmine rice rinsed and drained (Do NOT skip the rinsing. Rice will likely scorch if not rinsed!)
• 2 cups chicken stock or broth divided ( I use 1/4 cup for deglazing the pan)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped and divided (or 2 teaspoons dried)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Generously salt and pepper your chicken thighs.

2. Spray the inner pot with cooking spray, or add the oil. 

3. Using the sauté setting (normal level), preheat until the display reads “hot.”
4. Use tongs to put chicken in the pan (watch out for oil splatter!)

5. Sear chicken thighs, 4 minutes on each side.

6. Remove and set aside chicken on a plate.

7. Add 1/4 cup broth to deglaze the pan, scrape the bits with a wooden spoon (do not skip this step!). If there are any stuck on spots, be sure and lift those away from the pan with a wooden spoon.

8. Add shallot, mushroom and carrots, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

9. Add garlic, and continue to cook for another minute.

10. Add remaining chicken stock, rice, thyme and stir together.

11. Place the chicken thighs on top of the mixture, and do not stir them in.

12. Place the lid on, and lock it, setting the valve to sealing.

13. Cook on manual high pressure for 8 minutes, and allow the Instant Pot to release naturally (do not use the quick release lever) for 10 minutes. Quick release the remaining pressure.

14. Once any remaining pressure is fully release, remove the lid carefully.

15. Use two forks to shred the chicken, and stir the pot.
16. Serve immediately.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Do NOT skip rinsing the rice first! This will remove some of the starch, and will prevent scorching/ sticking to the bottom.

Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.

I do not recommend using frozen chicken for this recipe.

If you want to substitute types of rice, make sure the substitute you choose has a similar cook time to white jasmine rice (ex: White basmati should work well in this recipe.)

If you are using very large chicken thighs, you may want to cut them in half. Just for reference, my thighs were about 4 thighs equaling 1 pound of weight (about 4 to 5 ounces each). It doesn’t have to be exact, but I just wanted to give y’all a heads up, since I have seen some really huge thighs at the store (ex of huge: 2 thighs equaling 1 pound of weight).

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

Amount Per Serving

Calories 340 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Cholesterol 86mg29%

Sodium 109mg5%

Potassium 496mg14%

Carbohydrates 51g17%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 22g44%

Vitamin A 4430IU89%

Vitamin C 8mg10%

Calcium 54mg5%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Note: Instant Pot chicken and rice originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy 11/4/2016.