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
I would not recommend it. Some people have had good luck with this, but I have had mixed results. For best results, I recommend fully thawed chicken.
Yes, as long as it has a similar cook time to jasmine rice. For example, white basmati rice should work well in this recipe. Brown rice may not work as well since it typically has a longer cook time.
I probably would not recommend it. Why? Chicken breasts have a significantly lesser cook time, and they would likely dry out.
Yes! I have many recipes that do this. For this particular recipe, I recommend the sauté as written in the recipe instructions. This will give you best results.
Of course! The dish is already delicious as is, so don’t worry if you do not have any. But if you want to add some, it will be delicious.
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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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!
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
-
Generously salt and pepper your 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.
-
Place the chicken thighs on top of the mixture, and do not stir them in.
-
Place the lid on, and lock it, setting the valve to sealing.
-
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.
-
Once any remaining pressure is fully release, remove the lid carefully.
-
Use two forks to shred the chicken, and stir the pot.
-
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).
Note: Instant Pot chicken and rice originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy 11/4/2016.
Oleg Kobozev says
Argh. Got burn. I think key issue is mixing rice. It probably should be added almost last and stay on the top, just under chicken… without mix and going to bottom and burning….
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
If you try it with rice on top, let me know how it turns out. I’d love to help you and others troubleshoot getting that burn message.
Alycia says
i love this recipe, but it’s definitely touch and go. About 50% of the time I get a burn message and even after adding more liquid I can never get it to pressure.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
🤔 Are you using a 6 quart model?? Thanks for the feedback Alycia! I’d love to help you (and others) figure out why sometimes you get a burn error.
Rico says
¡Excelente weeknight recipe! First one to taste it was my two year old and first thing said was” I like it!” BTW, it was also my very first instant pot recipe.
Sincerely,
happy father
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Yay Rico! I am so glad you enjoyed it.
Elizabeth Moellmer says
have you ever doubled the recipe? I have a 6 quart, but there seems plenty of room. I’m feeding a crew tonight.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
I am sorry I didn’t see this any earlier. I have not tested this doubled. I would guess it would need less pressure cook time, since the pot would take longer to heat up. But I’m not sure how much less, maybe decrease pressure cook time by 3 or 4 minutes would be my guess.
Tracy says
I love this recipe and have made it a ton of times. I kept getting the ‘burn’ message and finally figured out how to make it stop doing that. my fix was to NOT stir in the rice. just dump it on top of the stock and veggies. then spread it around a little so it’s not a big pile but do not stir it in. place the chicken on top of that. everything seems to distribute pretty evenly while it’s cooking. went from burning it pretty much every time to no more burns.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
This is a great tip Tracy! Thank you for sharing with us! And glad you like the recipe.
Nicia says
Not sure what’s going on. When I made this the first time it was great! The second time and now again, I am getting burn messages on my instant pot.
The first time it didn’t come out, the rice was partially cooked, but the bottom was burned. I took everything out, washed the pot and tried another 3 minutes – again right after pressurizing I got a burn message. I ended up finishing it in the oven per a similar recipe. This time I got the exact same thing. The only thing I’ve done differently is sub celery for the mushrooms because I don’t have any and my husband doesn’t like them anyway. Would their absence change the total amount of water that drastically?
I have a 6qt pot. I’m thinking 2c of water is not enough for 1.5c of rice? Help! I really do love this recipe and want it to work in my instant pot. Thx!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Yikes! I am not sure why this is happening for some people. It is difficult for me to troubleshoot from a distance. Thank you for including the size of your IP. Simply a guess, but perhaps try adding a little more liquid next time? I plan to re-test this recipe on low pressure and see if that makes any difference, if the chicken is done, etc.
P. Michael Moffa says
I made this recipe tonight for the first time. It was simple and was a delicious meal. The only thing I would do next time would be to add a little more broth. I like the rice more moist. My wife thought the rice was fine. Five stars
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Yay! Happy to hear y’all liked it.
Caprine Agrotech says
It tasted really good!Thank you for the wonderful recipe
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
So glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
Caprine Agrotech says
Thank for sharing these
your blog is the inspiration for foodies…:-))
Kay Hutchison says
I made it tonight and it turned out pretty good. It has a mild flavor. I used more mushrooms, onion, garlic and chicken broth than it called for. I have a Crockpot Express and it was fine. I might try mushroom stock next time in place of chicken for flavor.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Hi Kay! If it tastes bland, I would recommend adding more salt, to taste. Many people use low sodium broth. And even regular broths can vary greatly in flavor and saltiness. Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback!
Becky says
I have the crockpot express also but can’t figure out how to do the manual mode. Do you just put it on poultry or rice/risotto mode?