How To Make It
Ingredients For Creamy Chicken And Rice Pressure Cooker:
- ChickenBreasts You can use boneless chicken breast or thighs that are fresh or frozen
- Salt and Pepper
- Onion or onion powder
- Chicken Broth We like using low sodium chicken broth or chicken stock. You can use a diluted cube in water
- Cream of Chicken Soup You can even use cream of mushroom soup.
- White Rice We usually use white rice but you can also use long grain rice or brown rice
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Notes And Adaptations For Creamy Instant Pot Chicken And Rice:
- I use homemade cream of chicken soup, because its a cinch to make and it really adds a lot of flavor. However, you can substitute a can of cream of chicken soup mixed with a can of water if you prefer.
- I liked having the shredded cheese melted into the chicken and rice, but if youre counting calories, you can omit the cheese and it will still be very flavorful.
- If you want to add a topping , just transfer the chicken and rice mixture to a baking dish after it has cooked, top as desired, and pop it in the oven until the topping is crisp or melted.
- Leftovers can be frozen! Just transfer any leftovers to a freezer safe container, cool to room temperature, and freeze.
- You can substitute pulled rotisserie chicken if youd like .
- I wouldnt recommend using brown rice, because it takes a good bit longer to cook than white rice. The white rice has a similar cook time to the chicken, making them ideal to cook together. If you cook the chicken and brown rice together, the chicken will be overcooked by the time the brown rice is finished. Youd have to cook them separately, and that kind of negates the convenience factor of this meal!
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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.
A Pressure Cooker Is A Must
I am using an 8 quart Instant pot but you can use a 6 quart. I personally have an Instant Pot and so far I am loving it. If you have been putting off trying an instant pot, I highly recommend going ahead and biting the bullet. I love pressure cooking when I am short on time.
It is perfect for frozen food or meals that normally take a while. You can toss everything in and have dinner ready in no time at all. Those days when you forget to take something out of the freezer or wait until the last minute for dinner, the instant pot is your saving grace.
I am not exaggerating when I say it truly has changed meal time around here. My instant pot has become my favorite kitchen appliance.
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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 This Recipe Works
This instant pot chicken and rice is so simple to make, its an awesome one-pot meal for busy weeknights or when you dont feel like hanging out in the kitchen for hours just for a homemade dinner. Its as easy as toss, saute, and cook.
Chicken and rice pair so well together. Theres chicken broccoli rice casserole and of course, chicken fried rice to name a couple of super popular dishes using the two ingredients. But being able to throw them together and let the instant pot do all the cooking brings this recipe to a whole new level!
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Why I Love This Southern Instant Pot Chicken And Rice Casserole
These days, I often make some of my favorite comfort food in the Instant Pot, because it saves time and keeps life simple.
Ive made Instant Pot chicken pot pie, Instant Pot chicken with noodles, Instant Pot chicken and stuffing, and pressure cooker chicken and dumplings, so chicken and rice was a must-have, too!
The best Instant Pot chicken and rice recipes are the ones that are easy to make yet bring about a sense of warmth and comfort when you eat them!
Chicken and rice casserole has been one of my favorites over the years, and while there are many different variations, they all are based on the same premisewhite rice and tender chicken wrapped in a creamy sauce.
Sometimes its topped with crushed crackers or cornflakes, sometimes its topped with shredded cheese that gets melted to perfection.
This recipe for chicken and rice in the Instant Pot uses cream of chicken soup and shredded cheese to make that delicious sauce.
A few months ago, I came across this crock pot chicken and rice recipe from Julie at Back to My Southern Roots. If you dont follow her already, you totally shouldshe has so many southern goodies on her site.
I decided to convert the slow cooker recipe into a pressure cooker recipe, and made some adaptations to the recipe along the way.
But let me tell you, the final result was delicious!
Best Instant Pot Chicken Recipes:
These 45 Easy Instant Pot Chicken are easy to make and some of our favorites. Easy ingredients are needed and you can have dinner on the table in no time.
Instant pot Recipes Chicken dinners will allow your family to sit and have a meal together before heading to practice. These recipes are quick and easy and perfect for meal prepping with.
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Tips For Storage And Reheating
Any dish with cooked rice should only be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, as any longer can cause bacteria to grow. However, Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is also suitable for freezing and can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- To Refrigerate: Allow the chicken and rice to cool slightly and then transfer it to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Allow the chicken and rice to cool fully. Transfer the cooled mixture to a freezer-safe airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: If needed, allow the chicken and rice to defrost overnight in the refrigerator. Transfer the mixture to a heat-safe container and cover it with a damp paper towel. Heat in the microwave in 1-minute intervals until warmed through, fluffing with a fork after each minute. If you find the rice to be dried out, add 1-2 tablespoons of chicken broth before reheating.
More Instant Pot Chicken Soup Recipes
Here are more of our favorite hearty chicken soup recipes to warm up with:
- The BEST Chicken Noodle Soup is our go-to if anyone in the family is feeling under the weather.
- Spicy Chicken Soup has a bit of a kick thats great for spice lovers.
- Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken and Orzo is slightly sweet and totally satisfying, thanks to orzo pasta and pureed butternut.
Do you LOVE this recipe? Leave us a review below to tell us why!
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Instant Pot Chicken Breast And White Rice
The original recipe initially was for chicken breasts and white rice cooked together in the Instant Pot. After extensive testing, I found the right amount of cooking time to achieve fluffy rice and juicy chicken. After 5 minutes high-pressure and 10 minutes natural pressure release, the chicken is JUST cooked. It wont be dry but it shouldnt be pink at all, just white.
Its important to note that if your pin drops before the 10 minutes, the pot most likely didnt get to high pressure and the chicken might be undercooked. Double-check before you start that the sealing knob is in the sealing position, and no air or steam comes out of the knob.
Quick And Easy Instant Pot Chicken And Rice
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is the perfect one-pot dinner recipe. A delicious comfort food to enjoy all year round! Make either chicken breast and white rice or chicken thighs and brown rice.
Save on time and dishes with this quick and easy recipe made entirely in the electric pressure cooker. Two of my most popular Instant Pot recipes areInstant Pot Riceand Instant Pot Chicken. So I decided to combine the two and make a one-pot meal out of both.
The advantage of a pressure cooker is that water doesnt evaporate. Grains like rice and chicken can be cooked together perfectly because you use less water for the rice while the chicken sits on top and gets cooked with just the steam. The result is a super-duper tender and juicy chicken and fluffy rice.
If you dont have an Instant Pot though, you can still enjoy this delicious recipe by making regular 1-Pot Chicken and Rice on the stove.
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This Chicken And Rice Recipe:
- Wont trigger your Instant Pots burn error
- Made with budget-friendly, fresh, healthy, pantry ingredients
- Yields tender juicy chicken with flavorful rice
- Rice comes out fully cooked, plump, and soaked with tasty flavors from the chicken, tomatoes, carrots, and aromatic herbs. No more dry or undercooked hard clump of rice.
To Cook Perfect Rice Below Are A Few Tips
- Wash rice under running tap, until water runs clear.
- Measure water. As a general rule for every part of rice, you need two parts of water. But while cooking in Instant Pot because there is no evaporation of water, the amount of water you would need is less. The rice to water ratio would be 1:1.5
- Always add rice to warm water.
- While water is warming up, soak rice for 10 – 15 minutes.
These tips are for regular white rice, long grain Basmati rice and Brown rice. But rice varieties are not only limited to this. With my 20 years of experience in cooking rice, these few tips have always worked for me. But cooking perfect rice also depends on the quality of rice.
If the rice is of the starchy kind, you will have to adjust the quantity of water and time. The age of the rice grain also determines the end result. The older/aged the grain, the better it turns out.
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Instant Pot Chicken And Rice With Cream Of Chicken Soup
You guys will love this instant pot cheesy chicken and rice! Its so simple and quick to whip up, stores well & freezes well too. The leftovers taste even more delicious.
You can make this Creamy chicken and rice pressure cooker recipe with frozen thawed chicken breasts or thighs and simple pantry staple ingredients you probably already have in your house.
The cream of chicken soup adds a whole new level of irresistible creaminess to this recipe. Youll love it! The secret is when you add it! This is one of our favorite instant pot chicken and rice recipes.
Tips From The Pillsbury Kitchens
- tip 1 While precut bagged broccoli florets make an easy shortcut, you can also cut your own. One large head of broccoli will provide plenty of florets for this recipe.
- tip 2 We used chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts in this Instant Pot® cheesy chicken and rice recipe so that the chicken is still tender by the time the rice is cooked through.
- tip 3 Swap the cheddar cheese in this recipe for your familys favorite easy-to-melt cheese: Swiss, Colby-Jack or provolone are all great options.
- tip 4 Have you fallen in love with your multi-cooker? Try this Instant Pot® Chicken and Dumplings for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
- tip 5 This recipe for One-Pot Cheesy Chicken, Rice and Broccoli makes it easy to cook a filling family meal without the mess.
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Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken And Rice Will Be A Hit
It is the best comfort food and the melted cheese with the rice taste amazing! My kids call it cheesy rice and I love that everyone enjoys this meal so much. We like to serve these Delicious Roasted Green Beans with Cheesy Chicken and Rice.
Another good side is steamed broccoli. Did you know you can steam broccoli in the microwave for a quick and easy side dish. This recipe is so good that the kids dont even seem to mind eating their veggies when paired with this tasty dish.
The instant pot makes this recipe so simple and easy that even on crazy days, I can easily throw this meal together. It helps so much having recipes like this to cook during hectic seasons of life.
A Versatile Burrito Bowl In 20 Minutes
Just as with a traditional burrito, this recipe is super versatile. Dont skip making it because you dont have one of the ingredients on the list. Besides the salsa, theres a good chance anything on the ingredient list can be omitted or swapped for something else.
Vegetable broth or even water can be used in place of chicken broth, while pinto, white, or kidney beans can easily be used in place of black beans. Have a pack of boneless, skinless breasts already in the fridge? Go ahead and use that in place of chicken thighs. None of these swaps will affect the cook time or finished burrito bowls.
For a Faster Dinner, Embrace the Meanwhile
My go-to tactic for making dinner prep as efficient and speedy as possible is to embrace the meanwhile. This means that instead of prepping all the ingredients at the onset , you should work as you go. This is largely a dump-and-go recipe, but theres still some room to embrace the meanwhile for more efficient and faster prep. Get started by prepping the onion and garlic, and having the spices and broth ready. While the onion sautés and simmers, cut up the chicken and rinse and drain the black beans.
More kitchen shortcuts: Sara Moultons Kitchen Shortcuts
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How To Make Instant Pot Chicken And Rice Pilaf
I like to dice chicken breast in 1×1 inch cubes. Season it with salt, black pepper and cajun. Set your Instant Pot to Sauté on high heat by pressing sauté button twice. I like to brown the chicken in two batches, not to overcrowd the pot. Otherwise, your chicken will boil in released juices instead of sautéing to achieve a beautiful golden color. So, sauté each batch of diced and seasoned chicken for about 5 minutes until it has a beautiful golden color. The chicken doesnt need to be cooked through, since we are going to cook it again with rice.
After the chicken is browned, scoop it out to a different bowl. Now it is time to sauté onions and carrots. It also will take about 5 minutes, until the onion gets a nice golden color and carrots soften. Turn off the sauté function, by pressing the button cancel.
Add chicken to the pot and mix it together with vegetables. Add chickpeas on top, DO NOT STIR. Then add rinsed rice on top of the chickpeas, DO NOT STIR!
Cut off the bottom of the garlic head and press in into the rice. Add chicken stock, and season with a little bit more salt and pepper.
