Instant Pot Garlic Herb Chicken And Rice
This Instant Pot Chicken and rice is a wholesome dinner that the entire family will love. Garlic Herb Chicken and Rice made in the Instant Pot results in fluffy buttery rice and Juicy Chicken thighs.
I am really obsessed with this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe. This Garlic Herb Chicken and rice have so much flavour in it from the butter, lots of garlic and herbs.
Crispy Juicy Chicken thigh with perfectly seasoned rice is one of those family-friendly recipes that you can make on any day. It is easy, healthy and made in an Instant pot in just about 15 minutes.
It turned out to be perfect with amazing flavours. If you ask me, there is nothing like a one-pot Chicken and rice dish. It is always filling and satisfying. You can easily double the recipe for a larger crowd.
I have been exploring my new Instant Pot in every possible way. So far I am really loving the pressure cooker. After trying Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry, I tried making rice in the Instant Pot. Cooking rice in the instant pot is easy with an amazing result.
So, what was the result that simply wowed me? Perfect grains of rice every single time. A person like me who has been eating rice all her life was very happy with the result.
Serving And Making In Advance Recommendations
Serving: We serve as is. Some readers said they prefer more flavor and have added chopped cilantro and green onion. I guess it all comes down to individual taste buds.
Storing in the fridge: Leftover chicken and rice can be refrigerated right in inner pot with silicone or glass lid for up to 5 days. Or in airtight container, try leftovers in teriyaki chicken meal prep, easy lunch!
To reheat: You will notice chicken and rice will thicken in the fridge into a block. Thats because fat. Reheat with a splash of water or broth breaking into pieces and stirring in a pot. Use lid to steam it through. Always reheat only desired amount to keep leftovers fresh.
Freezing: I understand some of you do not feed a small army like me. Yes, you can freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then follow reheating instructions above.
Why This Chicken And Rice Instant Pot Recipe Works
- Im showing you how to make chicken and rice from scratch with simple ingredients.
- You can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs. The choice is yours!
- You can cook everything in the Instant Pot you can sauté the veggies and chicken, and then pressure cook them with the rice. Add some grated Parmesan at the end to make it a cheesy, comforting meal!
This recipe is so easy and so good youll want to add it to your dinner rotation. My family loves it!
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Why This Recipe Is So Good
- Thick and creamy with melty Parmesan, a tang of lemon juice, and perfectly cooked chicken and rice, this recipe is the ultimate comfort food.
- This chicken and rice is so rich and delicious, but so easy to make! With just a few steps in the Instant Pot, this is the perfect easy but filling meal. Its absolutely one of my favorite Instant Pot chicken recipes!
- This recipe only takes a handful of ingredients that you may already have in your house! We love how simple the ingredients are but how amazingly rich and cheesy this chicken and rice is.
Why Is Congee So Good For You
This hearty chicken congee recipe is brimming with lean protein, and is gluten-free and dairy-free. The soft rice porridge is easy to digest, and is considered good for gut health! Best of all, it keeps you feeling full and satisfied for several hours, so you arent running back to the fridge shortly after eating.
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Instant Pot Chicken And Rice Recipe Tips
- Be sure to rinse the rice well before cooking.
- When you add the broth to the pot, be sure to scrape up any bits stuck to bottom of your Instant Pot with a spoon or spatula before adding the chicken. This will ensure that you dont get the Instant Pot burn message during the pressure cooking time.
- If you want more veggies, try adding a chopped bell pepper along with the carrots. To add broccoli, stir in some steamed broccoli after pressure cooking. The broccoli will get too mushy if you pressure cook it along with everything else. Or stir a few handfuls of chopped fresh spinach into the finished dish.
- To learn more about cooking rice in the Instant Pot, see my recipes for Instant Pot Rice and Instant Pot Brown Rice.
Tips To Avoid The Burn Warning
Sometimes Instant Pots can be finicky and give you the Burn Warning even when you think you made everything right. After some trial and error, I found some tips that will help you avoid the burn warning:
- Dont skimp on the fat for sautéing the onion and garlic. Be generous.
- After sautéing the onion and garlic, make sure there are no burnt bits and pieces stuck to the bottom of the pot. If necessary add a splash of water and deglaze the bottom with a wooden spoon to scrape everything off.
- Have ingredients already measured out and ready to go so no time is wasted. This is especially important for the diced vegetables. Have them chopped and all in one bowl ready to add.
- Once you add the rice, add the cilantro water immediately and stir. Do not let the dry rice sit on the hot bottom of the pot without liquid for more than 5 seconds.
- Do not mix the vegetables and chicken in the cilantro water. Let them sit on top of the rice.
- Put the lid on quickly. The longer it takes to close the pot, the more liquid evaporates. This increases the chance to get the burn warning.
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Tasty Enough To Give Mama’s Classic Casserole A Run For Its Money
If you are still on the fence about buying a multicooker, this delicious chicken and rice recipe will convince you that you need one in your kitchen right now. Just like slow cookers and food processors earned a place of importance in the kitchens across the South, the Instant Pot has quickly become a popular go-to cooking appliance for making everything from cornbread to lasagna and, if you can whip up a weeknight meal in less than an hour, what’s not to love? This multicooker recipe is just as flavorful as Mom’s oven-baked chicken and rice you grew up enjoying, only it comes together faster and uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which means there is no waste. A true weeknight classic made even easier. Serve alongside a tossed green salad or your favorite green vegetable. This Instant Pot dish makes great leftovers simply store any remaining chicken and rice in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to one week.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
Here are more chicken recipes you can make in your IP!
- Chicken Alfredo is another comforting dinner that is so easy to make!
- For taco Tuesday, you have to try my easy pressure cooker Chicken Tacos.
- Crack Chicken Sandwiches get their name for a reason they are so good! Make the chicken in your IP for a quick and easy dinner.
Looking for even more ideas? Be sure to check out all of my Instant Pot Recipes!
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Instant Pot Chicken Thighs And Rice
Some people asked me for versions of the original recipe but using either brown rice instead of white, or chicken thighs instead of breasts. After what feels like a million test trials, I finally got the formula. Yay!
Brown rice takes triple the time to cook than white rice and would dry out the chicken breasts in the process. The secret is to use bone-in chicken thighs with brown rice. The result was absolutely amazing.
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken And Rice
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What Goes Into This Chicken Rice Soup
Olive oil – You can use a mix of olive oil and a bit of butter to saute the veggies in.
Onion, carrot and celery – This mix of veggies is the perfect flavor base for this chicken and wild rice soup. If you want to be able to feel chunks of carrot or celery in the soup, dice them larger.
Chicken breast – Cut the chicken breast into 1-inch pieces. You can also substitute with boneless chicken thighs or turkey breast.
Garlic – Freshly chopped garlic is always best in soups.
Herbs – Both fresh and dried thyme and rosemary are good choices in this chicken wild rice soup.
Rice – I used a wild rice blend, which is easier to find and more affordable than 100% wild rice. Long white rice or brown rice are other great choices.
Chicken broth – You can use homemade or shop-bought chicken stock in this soup.
Fresh parsley – Add some freshly chopped parsley at the end for extra brightness and flavor.
How To Make Stovetop Rice Porridge
No pressure cooker? No problem! This classic congee recipe is easy to make on the stovetop, too.
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Optional: Brown Chicken In Instant Pot
First, press Saute button to Sauté More function to heat up Instant Pot.
Itll switch to ON on the screen.
Wait until it says HOT on the screen .
Amy + Jackys Tips!
Pat dry the chicken with a paper towel. Then, season one side of the chicken generously with salt and black pepper.
Add 1 tbsp olive oil in Instant Pot. Swirl the inner pot to ensure the oil covers the whole bottom of the inner pot .
Add the chicken in Instant Pot , then brown this side for 5 minutes.
Lightly season the other side of the chicken with salt and black pepper. Then, flip and brown this side of chicken for another 5 minutes.
Finally, set aside the chicken thighs.
*Note: If youre skipping this browning chicken step, add the chicken in Step 4.
Add in sliced onions and 1 tsp tomato paste, then saute for two minutes.
Add in a pinch of dried oregano and dried basil, then saute for another minute.
Add in minced garlic cloves, then saute for another 30 seconds.
Mexican Chicken And Rice Instant Pot
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What To Serve With Chicken And Rice
This recipe is total comfort food, a simple meal for chilly fall and winter nights. It’s really a complete meal by itself you dont need to serve anything else alongside! It makes four generous servings, and is easily doubled for a larger crowd.
You could also add a simple side salad or some roasted vegetables to round out the meal.
How Long To Cook Rice In The Instant Pot
Then comes the important part, cooking time. You could use a pre-set option for cooking rice. But I prefer cooking it in manual mode, by setting a timer.
After a lot of trial and error, I settled on 8 mins of high-pressure cooking and 10 minutes of natural pressure release.
While sauteing the instant pot heats up. And because of using soaked rice and warm stock, the overall cooking time reduces significantly. The Instant Pot goes to full high-pressure mode quickly.
Once you set the manual mode on and close the lid, it takes about 4-5 minutes to build pressure. And then the countdown begins. You would see no air coming out of the valves.
After 8 minutes the Instant Pot goes to standby mode. Switch it off and let it release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Then realise pressure manually, using the back of a spatula.
I know once you open the lid, it is very tempting to scoop out the rice. But if you are not in a hurry you can let it rest for 10 minutes after opening the lid and then using a slotted spoon or fork separate the grain gently. Using a fork or a slotted spoon helps in keeping each grain of rice separately.
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How To Make Chicken And Rice
This chicken and rice recipe is super easy, but be sure to add ingredients in order for the best results . Heres all it takes to get this 30 minute meal on the table:
Once cooked you may notice some liquid on top of the rice. Remove the chicken to shred and stir this into the rice. The Instant Pot is hot and it will continue to absorb while shredding the chicken.
How To Make Chicken And Rice In Instant Pot
There is detailed recipe card below.
- Saute onion and garlic first, just until fragrant. I like to do so under a hood fan with a stove off, of course.
- Press Cancel and add dried herbs: Thyme, oregano, cumin and cook another 30 seconds. This step will make them fragrant.
- Add remaining ingredients in the following order : Chicken, carrot, rice, water, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Do not stir to prevent Burn.
- Cook on high pressure: For 10 minutes with white rice, for 22 minutes with brown rice.
- Release pressure using Quick Release, so pretty much right away.
- Stir gently and discard bay leaves.
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Why This Recipe Works
I mentioned this Instant Pot chicken breast and rice recipe checks alllll the cold-weather boxes. Why? Well, here are just a few reasons!
Instant Pot We all have those days when were just in a super hurry to get dinner on the table. Or, maybe you just simply dont feel like turning on your stove and getting out the pots and pans. Instant Pot to the rescue! Quick, easy, fast, and cleans up in a snap!
Browning chicken You might want to skip this step, but quickly browning the chicken in the Instant Pot is your only chance to sear in the herby flavors and oil, locking in the juiciness of the chicken for optimal flavor.
Simple spices No need to run to the store to flavor this chicken and rice dish. This meal is flavored with pantry staples like paprika, garlic, onion powder, and an Italian blend.
Amazing leftovers This Instant Pot chicken and rice keeps for up to 4 days in the fridgethat is, if it lasts that long!
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Variations
- Flavor add-ins: Change the flavor of Instant Pot Chicken and Rice by adding different seasonings and herbs. Garlic powder, onion powder, cilantro, rosemary, or paprika would all add amazing flavor.
- Veggies: You can also add ingredients like frozen veggies. Try adding broccoli, carrots, peas, or corn to the instant pot. Or, slice some fresh bell pepper, celery, or mushrooms to add.
- Rice: You can make this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe with different kinds of rice. Try brown rice, jasmine rice, long-grain brown rice, long-grain white rice, or basmati rice. Any of these types of rice taste amazing with chicken recipes.
- Chicken Breast: Try making this recipe with chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. Brown the chicken breasts before pressure cooking them just like you would with the chicken thighs.
- Cheese: For an easy cheese topping on the pressure cooker recipe add some Parmesan cheese to the top right before serving. The Parmesan cheese will melt nicely over the top of the hot meal. You could also do another cheese like mozzarella, cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Gouda.
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How to Store
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