Okay, so I made this Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice for myself the other day just as an experiment and not for the blog. Luckily, I decided to snap some photos of the process “just in case” it turned out good. Well, let me tell you, it turned out better than good. This Pressure Cooker version of the Chicken and Rice is “stuff your face” good. Like, I wanted to eat it ALL.
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What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
I used the Instant Pot 7-in-1 cooker for this recipe, but there are several other manufacturers that make similar multi-function pressure cookers (Magic Mill, MaxiMatic, Power, GoWise). If you have a single function pressure cooker, but still want to make the rice in the pressure cooker instead of on the stove top, here are some directions from HipPressureCooking.com.
Pressure Cooker Alternative
I know pressure cookers can be expensive, but this recipe can also be made with a slow cooker and I’ve provided those instructions right along side the pressure cooker instructions below. The only difference between the two methods is the type of cooking vessel and the amount of time needed. The pressure cooker is simply faster.
How Long Does it Take to Cook Chicken in a Pressure Cooker?
Boneless cuts of chicken only take about 10-15 minutes (not including pressurizing and depressurizing time) to cook in a pressure cooker. Bone-in chicken takes longer to cook, whether in a pressure cooker, in an oven, or on a stove top. In a pressure cooker, you’ll want to cook bone-in chicken for about 30 minutes to make it fall-off-the-bone tender. That doesn’t include the time needed for the vessel to pressurize and depressurize.
Other Spice Blends
Not only is this one of the easiest and best tasting things I’ve ever made, you can use just about any spice blend you like with this method. I used a Creole seasoning blend this time, but you could do a curry powder, Greek seasoning blend, lemon pepper, Caribbean jerk, or even a dry BBQ rub. Just take note of whether or not your seasoning blend contains salt. Mine contained a decent amount of salt, so I did not need to add any additional salt along the way.
What Type of Chicken Should be Used?
Split or whole chickens are usually some of the least expensive cuts of chicken at the grocery store, but they also happen to give the most flavor to this dish. You can use any cut, but whichever cut you decide to use, make sure it is bone-in and skin-on. That’s where the flavor is.. I bought cage-free organic chicken because my budget allows it and that’s important to me, so my prices may be higher than what you’re used to.
Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 whole split chicken (3-4 lbs. total) ($10.79)
- 2 Tbsp (approx.) seasoning blend of choice* ($0.60)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 1.5 cups long grain white rice ($0.72)
- Handful parsley (optional) ($0.20)
Instructions
- Season the chicken well on both sides with your favorite spice or seasoning blend. If your sblend blend does not contain salt, season the chicken liberally with salt as well.
- Add two cups of water to your pressure cooker or slow cooker, then add the chicken pieces (they do not need to be fully submerged).
- Secure the lid, set the pressure cooker to high pressure. Once it reaches full pressure, cook for 30 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally. If using a slow cooker, cook on low heat for 8-9 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours.
- Once the chicken is finished cooking, carefully lift it out of the cooker and place it on a baking sheet. Adjust your oven rack so that the top of the meat will be 6-8 inches from the broiler. Turn the broiler on to high, place the chicken in the oven, and let it broil for 5-7 minutes or until the chicken skin is brown and crispy. Keep a close eye on the chicken while it’s under the broiler, as it can burn quickly.
- While the chicken is broiling, pour the remaining liquid (broth) from the pressure cooker through a sieve to strain out any bone or skin fragments. Measure the broth to see how much was left behind. You’ll want three cups of broth. If you have less, simply add enough water to make three cups of broth total. Taste the broth and adjust the salt if needed.
- Add the broth plus 1.5 cups of uncooked long grain white rice back to the pressure cooker. Secure the lid and select the rice function. Once the rice had finished cooking, allow the pressure to decrease naturally, open the cooker, then fluff with a fork. If your pressure cooker does not have a “rice” function, you can find manual instructions here. If using a slow cooker, simply cook the rice in the broth on the stove top, following the package instructions.
- Serve the tender chicken pieces over the cooked rice, with chopped parsley as a garnish (optional). The pressure cooker (or slow cooker) creates extremely tender meat, so the split chicken can be easily broken into pieces (breast, legs, thighs, wings) for serving.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Chicken and Rice in an Instant Pot – Step by Step Photos
This recipe starts with a split chicken weighing about 3-4 lbs. total. I used a split chicken because I find them a little easier to handle than a whole chicken. You can definitely use this same technique on a whole chicken or even chicken pieces (breasts, legs, etc.). Season the chicken liberally on both sides with your favorite spice blend. If your spice blend does not contain salt, you’ll want to add salt at this point (just sprinkle it on liberally).
Place two cups of water in your pressure cooker or slow cooker, then add the seasoned chicken pieces (they do not need to be fully submerged). Secure the lid on the pressure cooker, then cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, and allow the pressure to decrease naturally. If using a slow cooker, cook the chicken on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-9 hours.
At this point the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender and a lovely seasoned broth has been created in the bottom of the pot. Carefully lift the chicken out of the cooker and transfer it to a baking sheet.
I like to cover my baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup. Now adjust your oven rack so that the top of the chicken will be 6-8 inches from the broiler. Turn the broiler on to high, place the chicken in the oven, and broil for 5-7 minutes or until the chicken skin is brown and crispy…
Like this. Keep a close eye on the chicken while it’s in the broiler because broilers use an open flame that can quickly burn food. You may want to rotate the chicken half way through to make sure it browns evenly. (I also added my parsley garnish at this point.)
Meanwhile, you’ve got this insanely delicious broth left in the pot that you will NOT want to throw away. Strain the broth through a mesh sieve to remove any pieces of skin or bone that may have fallen off the chicken. Measure the broth to see how much you have. I started with 2 cups of water, but ended up with three cups of broth. If you don’t have 3 cups, you can add a little water to make up the difference. Now taste the broth and make sure it is adequately salted. Add it back to the pressure cooker along with 1.5 cups long grain white rice. Secure the lid and turn on the “rice” function. If you don’t have a rice function on your pressure cooker, here are instructions for making rice with single function pressure cooker. If you have a slow cooker, you’ll simply need to make the rice with the broth on the stove top according to the directions on the rice package.
Once the rice is finished and the pressure in the pressure cooker has come down, remove the lid and fluff with a fork. This is seriously the best tasting rice I’ve ever eaten. It’s already fully seasoned and even has a little chicken fat which gives it a rich flavor and great texture.
And that’s it! Just serve the chicken pieces over the rice and add some chopped parsley for garnish, if desired.
I’m not kidding when I say that I’ll probably make this pressure cooker chicken and rice once per week and try a new seasoning each time. It’s just so delicious and too easy to not make it often. :)
Long time user of this site, absolutely LOVED the results of this recipe! I did it with chicken quarters and it was perfect. My only star has been knocked off for not including how long the natural release might take- this really increases the cooking time. Same comment for the rice function- overall the time taken for the natural release is about 30-40 mins. Totally worth it though, will make again!
Cannot wait to try more recipes!
A tip I figured out is to use the metal trivet in the bottom of the pot. It still cooks perfectly but pieces are a little more consistent in their tenderness and it’s so much easier to transfer to the baking sheet for broiling as the pieces don’t fall apart as bad.
My chicken turned out a bit dry because I didn’t know how long to naturally release the pressure. From what I’ve read, the chicken continues to cook while the pressure is being naturally released. Same with the rice. Those are important details that weren’t included in the recipe. Otherwise the flavors were great and the moisture of the delicious rice made up for the dryness of the chicken.
Easy and tasty but be warned, the time does not take into account the time for natural pressure release of your pressure cooker.
I don’t own a pressure cooker or slow cooker- how would I make this recipe in the oven? Thanks!
Unfortunately, I haven’t tested this recipe in the oven so I can’t offer instructions.
Try poaching it on the stove. Keep boiling it until it’s fork tender and then proceed with the recipe. This might take longer and will definitely require attention.
This was absolutely incredible. Perfection. My new favorite comfort food. I used several spices to create a light schwarma / Mediterranean flavor: cumin (not too much!), paprika, cinnamon, onion powder, garlic powder, sumac, S&P, Emeril’s Essence, dried parsley and ground mustard. I also cut up a small onion and tucked it around the chicken for the broiling step. Squeezed fresh lemon juice over the chicken and in the rice before serving. Both the chicken and the rice were very rich in flavor and wonderful!!
Can I make this with chicken tenders ?
Sure if that’s what you have on hand.
Absolutely amazing recipe! I’ve never left a review on a recipe before, this one definitely deserves it! I followed most of it exactly as the recipe states, except for I used chicken broth instead of water, and 2 cups of rice and 3 1/2 cups of the chicken broth. I used a pepper/paprika/garlic powder/salt seasoning mix on the chicken. The rice was definitely the best rice I’ve ever made and my kids agree! This will definitely be in our weekly rotation!
Thank you leaving a review Niki! We love hearing from readers! Even better when it’s a hit with the kids. :)
I’ve honestly made it five times so far and it’s not getting old! Thank you sharing this great recipe :)
I made this the way Niki suggested and wow, it is AMAZING!!!
I made this last night, and it was so good! It’s really easy with the instant pot, but you do need to factor in that natural pressure release timing. The chicken took about an hour in the instant pot before I broiled it. This might be the best chicken and rice I’ve ever made. I did a seasoning blend of onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, oregano + salt. The chicken was super juicy and the rice cooked in the broth was too good…couldn’t stop eating it.
This is fabulous!! I used a garlic and herb seasoning on my cut whole chicken. I cooked mine for 25 minutes because mine was pieced out and I used chicken broth instead of water.
After the chicken finished it was perfection and I broiled it. I decided to use couscous instead of rice. I poured out the liquid into a mixing bowl, put 2 cups couscous in and 2 1/4 cups juices then put lid back on with it set to “keep warm” for 5 minutes.
Both couscous and chicken finished at the same time… Awesome dinner. What a keeper!!
Hi – Can this recipe been made with frozen Cornish hens? Thanks!
Probably! I’m not sure how the cook time would need to be adjusted, though.
Hi I have the new ninja all in one its called ( NINJA FOODIE ) it is so awesome my hubby got it for me for Christmas I love it it dose EVERYTHING in one pot . My question is how can I do the rice n chicken at one time do I still use # 2 cups of water for # 1 cup of rice I’m wandering because the exes water frome the steam will make it watery so how would I do it if anyone can help I would appreciate any ideas please ty to all Nancy
This is a great recipe! I also substituted bone in skin on chicken thighs and only cooked them in the instapot for 20 min and they turned out perfect, the meat was falling off the bone. I didn’t season them as much as I could have, I’m always worried about over-spicing something, but it still tasted amazing.
The rice was a bit too rich for my taste, but it was still very good. Next time I would probably do 2 cups of broth and one cup of water to cut the richness. This takes a while to come together (cooking the chicken, then cooking the rice, letting the instapot come to pressure and the natural release) but it’s all worth it in the end because you don’t have to clean ANYTHING up! It’s all in the instapot and IMO that’s a perfect dinner.
I’ll definitely be making this again!
If you use frozen chicken, does it change the cook time?
It won’t change the amount of time that you have to set the pressure cooker for, it will just take longer for the pressure cooker to come up to the correct temperature and begin the set cooking time.
I just got an up & want to try this. Can I use brown rice instead? I made a or roast first thing but the bottom was burned. I think I didn’t have enough liquid. Even though I followed a recipe that came with it.
If you use brown rice you may need to increase the amount of liquid and cooking time.
I have made this in the slow cooker countless times but finally got an IP so excited to try it in that tonight!! My only concern–you call for the 1:2 ratio for the rice, which is normal, but my IP wants me to use 1:1. I cooked rice in it last night using 1:1 and it came out great, if a little dry. When it comes time to cook the rice (chicken is currently in there), I may try 1:1.5 and see where that leaves me….
Best measurement for liquid while making rice is the first knuckle line of your middle finger. This is old Japanese Style. Rest the tip of your fingers on top of the rice, when the liquid line is flush to your first knuckle line palm side…I guarantee perfect rice every time.. provided you’re going for traditional Asian style rice. This works the same for most rice. Some call for a tad bit more liquid. Enjoy! Best & easiest way to cook perfect rice everytine…. is stove top. Use above measurement. Bring to a boil with lid on. Once it comes to a frothy boil LID ON! Turn the burner off and leave alone 20 minutes. DO NOT REMOVE LID. Voila! Perfect rice!
Tried this with my pressure cooker with frozen thighs. Came out delicious with the rice, I used poultry seasoning and garlic.
This will be a go to recipe for sure!
I am also broiler-less for reasons. Is the only point to the broiler to crisp the skin? Would another method like searing on a griddle/skillet suffice?
Yes, the broiler just browns and crisps up the skin. I think the chicken would be too delicate to do it in a skillet, though. It’s really fall-apart tender after pressure cooking.
That looks delicious!!!! I love this! The best part though, is that it is healthy and holiday friendly!
Thanks for the recipe.
Going to make this in the upcoming days.
Do you think I could do this with drumsticks?
Yes, I think that would work fine. :)
Made it tonight with drumsticks, it was amazing! First time using my pressure cooker! Thank you so much
Hi! Could I substitute boneless chicken breast (if I’m currently out of bone in chicken)? If so do I need to change the time?
You definitely won’t get as much flavor or the wonderful texture with the rice if using boneless chicken breasts because it doesn’t have the fat or connective tissue that breaks down into gelatin when cooked. I don’t know the cooking time for boneless breasts off hand, but I believe there is a table in the booklet that comes with the IP.
This is one of my (and my husband’s) favorite Instant Pot dishes OF ALL TIME. I just love how tender & juicy the chicken is and how wonderfully kind of fatty & rich the rice is. I’m such a fan of how easy the recipe is and how few dishes there are for clean-up. Thank you!
The fatty rich rice is what makes this my favorite, too! There is so much flavor in it!
Sigh. I have an old-fashioned gas oven and the broiler is a drawer under the oven. My ancient knees will no longer let me use it, since I have to kneel down and bend over to see inside. This version will have to wait until I can get a convection oven. If I make it soon, I think I’ll just remove the skin from the chicken after I take it out of the instant pot.
If you don’t mind heating up the oven you could probably get a similar result by preheating the oven to 450F or so and putting the baking sheet in for 5-10 minutes rather than using the broiler.
If I was going to double the amount of chicken pieces for a large group, would I also need to double the amount of water in the pressure cooker?
I would, since you probably want to double the rice as well and you want to make sure that you have enough broth to flavor all that rice.
I made this tonight for just me. I try new things while my wife is out of town to get an idea of how long prep and cooking will take and to see if everything comes out as expected, or to make notes for future use. I don’t understand why you want a liberal amount of salt used, I just had a kidney transplant, and I am on a low sodium diet, and have been for years. Also, as a society, we use way too much salt in our diets. I didn’t use water, instead I used no sodium added chicken stock, still used 2 cups. I make my own seasoning, and yes, it has a little salt, but very little. Everything turned out awesome. Also, I only used 2 cups of the stock that was left when the chicken was done for the rice. I only ever use 1.5 cups of liquid to 1 cup of white rice. I think next time I will try brown rice. Oh, I used about 5 pounds of leg quarters this time. When I do this recipe for my wife, I will use a whole chicken quartered. and will double the rice recipe as well. I love my rice :D
Made this in the Instant Pot using 4 skin-on bone-in legs with back attached. I also used Creole seasoning. The chicken was really amazing with crispy skin after going under the broiler. For some reason my rice didn’t cook the first time through, but after a second round on the rice setting it was great. My only criticism was that the rice was a bit greasy. I think I will skim the top layer of fat off the broth before using it to cook the rice.
What I instantly appreciated about the recipe is that you used limited number of ingredients, all of those which were readily available and cheap and turned them into a beautiful dish. I tried the recipe last weekend and it turned out amazing. Everyone absolutely loved it!
Can you brown the chicken first in the pressure cooker?
If you do, the skin will just get soggy again when you pressure cook it, so it’s best to just broil it at the end.
This was unbelievable! The chicken was literally falling apart tender and throwing it under the broiler made the skin absolutely perfect. I found chicken quarters at the store for a better price (leg and thighs, still connected) and three fit in my instant pot no problem. All the times you give were spot on, except I don’t use the rice button I always just set it manually for 3 minutes on high pressure w/natural release for white rice. More tender and flavorful than chicken I’ve made in the oven and there’s almost no way for them to come out dry. These IP things really bring it, it’s kind of no joke.
Just got a Power Pressure Cooker XL and made this recipe to try it out. I used a little over 3 pounds of chicken leg quarters, sprinkled them with Goya Adobo seasoning, and WOW, was it delicious! My fiance said this may be his favorite dish I have ever made for him (and I cook A LOT)! Thanks for the recipe!
My daughter has one and brags , so thought I’d try one for myself !!!
Can you use a whole chicken in this recipe &, if so, does the cooking time in the IP need to be adjusted?
As long as it fits without going above the max fill line, you probably could. I just don’t know how much you would need to adjust the cooking time as I have never tried a whole chicken. I would check your pressure cooker’s manual to see if there is a suggested cooking time for a whole chicken and try that first.
This was simple and delicious! I am looking forward to adding this to my regular rotation.
I recently got an IP and this is the first thing i made. My SO said, it’s the best thing i have ever made (Thank you Thank you) which brings the count to at least 5 best things, all of which came from Budget Bytes. This was delicious, and it tasted like we cheated and went to some restaurant for this meal. And the rice? OMG! so good!
forgot to rate!
I’m new to pressure cooking. What if broccoli was set on top of the rice prior to cooking?
I think the only problem you’d encounter is that the broccoli would be very over cooked. Vegetables only take a few minutes in the pressure cooker, but the rice cooks longer.
Roast the broccoli on foil in the oven while you are cooking in the IP with oil, salt, pepper, and garlic! When it is done, lay down a new sheet of foil for the chicken and you are ready to go!
My pressure cooker has been on for 45 mins now and still hasn’t gotten to pressure. I am afraid to cook it longer. As I was typing this it finally came to pressure and started counting down the cook time.
My pressure cooker took a long time as well, but them the cook time was pretty short, took about 50 to 60 minutes total. I used twice aa much chicken, (boneless breasts ), and an extra cup of water, my cooker direction’s said that it may take up to 40 minutes to get to the pressure needed depending on the weight and temperature of the food
I was looking to see if anyone used boneless breasts. I have a smaller pressure cooker (not IP brand) 2 quart, and want to try this recipe, but with boneless breasts/tenders. Did you adjust the time at all?
Boneless breasts will definitely cook faster, and tenders even faster than that (you may want to check your pressure cooker’s manual for suggested cooking times for those cuts). The only issue is that you will be missing the fat and flavor from the bones and skin, which add a LOT to the final texture and flavor of the rice.
Love this recipe! Cooking is so much easier for me when it’s done in one pot. The fact that the chicken AND rice are both pressure cooked is a real time saver.
We have jasmine rice here by the tons. It works just as well in this recipe.
Just wanted to thank you for this recipe. Amazing as written!!! Can’t believe with how few ingredients. I couldn’t stop eating. Whoops. I subbed the white rice with jasmine rice and kept all proportions the same. It was great.
I’m glad someone else loves it as much as I do! I’ve also started doing mashed potatoes with the liquid instead of rice. It’s equally as awesome!
Trying a double recipe version of this right now it smells amazing can’t wait to sink my fork into it!
This was very good. I used chicken leg quarters cuz they’re super cheap here and everyone was pleased.
We make this probably 3-4 times a month now. The only thing different we do is drain a bit of the fat out just because the chicken we’ve been getting lately has been extra greasy. (Good for chicken, not great for rice texture.)
Thanks :)
Turned out awesome
This recipe looks great and so easy! With a family of six, I will need to adjust the serving size…. hopefully it will still fit in the instant pot!
We also have a family of 6 mak8ng this nummy sounding recipe right now, so excited
This was wonderful- the only thing I did differently was do a quick release after the rice finished, put broccoli florets in over the rice on the steam tray, close up and restart the rice then turn off as soon as it reached pressure, doing a natural release for a few minutes. It was all just perfect. Thank you for a delicious recipe.
This looks delicious. Can I use brown rice instead of white rice (using the same quantities)?
No, you’ll need to change the amount of liquid and the cooking time. I’d need to test it to know how much/how long exactly.
By chance, did you ever figure out the ratio difference for brown rice. I want to try this dish tonight. Looks absolutely scrumptious!
I haven’t, unfortunately. :( This website has all sorts of charts and tables for cooking with pressure cookers, though. I bet they have the brown rice to liquid cooking info somewhere!
I’ve found with brown rice in my pressure cooker I want 1:1.25. So one cup of brown rice needs one and a quarter cup of liquid. I do that on a manual setting at 22 minutes, high pressure, 10 minutes of natural release. I hope you see this and it helps!
Does cooking the chicken for 30 minutes tend to dry it out?
Because pressure cookers are a closed cooking environment, they maintain all moisture, so it doesn’t dry out like it would in an oven. :)
There are two aspects to meat becoming “dry”. One is water or moisture, the other is collagen and oils/fat. It is common for the “white” meats to dry out, not due to loss of moisture, but due to loss of collagen and oils. A chicken breast boiled in a pot of water will have pleanty of “moisture” but will taste dry, tough and rubbery because the collagen and oils were boiled out of it. Bottom line? Best not to over cook it even in a pressure cooker.
Would this work with Boneless Skinless chicken Breasts? My family isn’t a fan of bone in chicken.
It won’t quite flavor the rice the same way, unfortunately. The bones and skin add a LOT of flavor and even texture (thanks to gelatin and fat) that the boneless skinless breasts will not provide.
I made tonight using boneless, skinless breasts. I just added four bouillon cubes to the water. It added back the flavor lost by not using bone-in chicken. End result was just as flavorful!
Just found with boneless set the timer for 15 min instead of the 45 min the recipe calls for, chicken was still very dry. This was my first use of pressure cooker, I will learn as I go. Cutting the chicken up for Caesar salad instead!!
If you don’t cook the chicken long enough it doesn’t have time to break down the collagen and connective tissues, so the meat will seem very tough.
I would suggest substituting the water with chicken stock ( contains more essential fats than broth as well although a little broth can be a nice touch ). With the stock you get the flavors of the whole chicken without the bones, skin and actual fat and the chicken breast will be more tender and juicy. It flavors the rice more as well.
This looks great! And easy, too! What do you do with the chicken while the rice is cooking? Do you wait to broil unti the rice is almost done so everything is hot? Also, any other specific seasonings/blends that you find particularly good? Thanks!
You can put it on the baking sheet and cover it with foil to keep it warm. The rice cooks very quickly, so it shouldn’t get too cold. Broil it right at the end. :)
Not rice people. Could it work with noodles?
I haven’t tried doing pasta in the pressure cooker yet, but I suspect that it would get very mushy.
You can do noodles – there are lots of recipes out there for using pressure cookers to make noodles. It’s the only way I do mine now.
This is just crazy good. I’ve made it about 3 times so far and my husband and I have loved it every time. As has…hmmm…ok, I’ll just come right out with it. My dog loves it, too, hee hee. But in all seriousness, he’s a picky eater and on a vet-approved home cooked meal plan. I add a couple of pieces without seasoning to our batch in the instant pot and he leaps on it! Good and good for him. What’s not to love?
Hahaha, I love it! :)
Made this tonight, and it was excellent!! Just got my instant pot, and this was the second thing I tried, after hard-boiled eggs. The breasts weren’t as flavorful as the rest-but that is to be expected; I think next time I will just buy everything but breasts. So delicious, and the broth/rice is phenomenal. Thank you so much for this!!
Amazingly delicious recipe and great during a hot day when you don’t want to work with a hot oven.
This is wonderful, and so easy. I’ve made it twice now, using the 7-in-1 Instant Pot. The first time I did it exactly as you said, and it was very good but hard to transfer the chicken pieces because they were falling apart. The next time I reduced the cooking time by 5 minutes and that worked much better. Thanks for this!
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lol
Making this tonight! I always do a quick release on my instant pot. Will it make a difference to do the natural release on this recipe?
Natural release just lets it cook a little bit longer, which can help make it extra tender. :)
I added a can of cream of mushroom soup to the rice while cooking and it was spectacular.
How long does it take to “naturally” release pressure after cooking the chicken? Will comment again after eating dinner:)
It really just depends on the contents of the pot and the ambient temperature in the room. I’d say about 15 minutes minimum, though.
In the rice ratio white long grain 1.5 is 1 C water why do you use 3C broth? If I’m using brown rice what would I do differently?
You can use anywhere between 1.5 to 2 cups liquid for every one cup of dry rice, depending on how soft or firm you want it. I went with the 2 cup liquid to one cup rice ratio for this. You can use slightly less if you prefer.
I stumbled across this recipe while looking for something quick and easy to make for my family. I used Montreal chicken seasoning and bone in breasts because that is what I had on hand and it turned out amazing. This was a huge hit in my house and my 10 year old son even asked for seconds. This will definitely be made again in my house.
Any idea how to adjust this recipe if I am using frozen chicken tenders? Brand new to the Instant Pot
I don’t remember how long the IP suggests to cook boneless chicken, but you can check the tables in the instruction booklet. That being said, it won’t be quite as delicious because the fat and bones provide a lot of flavor for the broth that the rice is cooked in. Chicken tenders are much more lean and don’t have as much flavor, unfortunately.
Let me preface this – huge fan of all the great work being done here on BudgetBytes, the recipes consistently deliver on value, ease, and most importantly – flavor!
However, this one (as written) was a big miss in my book. I was skeptical at the 30 minute cook time for the chicken, and my instincts proved right. Ended up with almost 3 3/4 cup liquid…and dry chicken. Even some of the smaller dark meat pieces were dry. The breast meat? No bueno.
The rice? Awesome. Cooking rice in a flavorful broth-stock liquid is always a winner.
But the chicken…it just was overdone.
I’ll be coming back to this one but definitely considering shortening that cook time to 25, or even closer to 20, minutes. Also, do make sure to season your chicken well – I did a few pieces at different seasoning levels, and definitely make sure to give the chicken a good coat.
Again, I hate to leave a critique, but I just feel like this is a solid recipe that suffers from too long of a cook. It also has me wondering how (if at all?) can I combine the rice and chicken steps to save some time? By the time the chicken cooks, and then the rice, it’s a long’ish meal to make and one could almost roast chicken pieces in the oven. Hmm…
Thanks for all that you share, I really do appreciate it!
I (and other readers) appreciate honest feedback like this! It’s a good thing to see how following the same directions can sometimes yield very different results. There are so many variables in cooking that results can never be guaranteed. I wish I knew why yours came out so differently than mine, though!
I had the same issue. I couldn’t find a split chicken at my grocery store, so I approximated with some bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and thighs. The rice is fantastic, but my chicken is really dry and overcooked. :(
I have what I think is a 7 function Instant Pot.
With the smaller chicken pieces you may need to reduce the cooking time a little.
New dinner rotation for my 6 person family
Okay, I have a strange question. I want long grain rice that looks like yours…but all the long grain rice I’ve ever bought isn’t as long-grained as yours. What brand are you using? Sorry…told you it was a strange question! Hahaha!
I think in these photos I actually used some leftover long grain basmati that I had. :P But I’ve done it with plain long grain white rice as well and it’s fab!
If I want to double this recipe, what adjustments will I have to make? Obviously, twice the ingredients, but I’m interested in the time and settings. What if anything, will need to be there?
It’s likely that your pressure cooker will just take a bit longer to come up to the cooking temperature and pressure. Once it reaches that, though, the cook time will be the same.
This looks great and right up my alley as I am trying to learn simple recipes to make use of our pressure cooker. Question: doesn’t this leave the chicken done a little too early? My pressure cooker says rice will take 3 minutes at pressure, plus about 10 minutes to depressurize. And that doesn’t include coming up to pressure to begin with, nor sieving and measuring the broth to get the rice prepped in there to begin with. So we’re talking closer to 15-20 minutes on the rice, but the chicken under a broiler will only take 5-8 minutes to brown under a broiler. How did you bridge that gap? Or am I missing something? Really want to try this, but don’t want to leave my chicken lying around waiting. Any advice most welcome.
You can wait to put the chicken under the broiler until the rice is almost done. :)
I would like to buy a PRESSURE COOKER.
Thank you! I just made this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! This is only my second time using my Instant Pot since it arrived last weekend, and the recipe was quick, easy, and foolproof. I had a 4.2 lb chicken, and I cooked it for 23 minutes and then broiled it. It came out perfect, and the rice was to die for! I served it with a quick side of green beans. I will use this recipe often. Thanks so much!
I know this is a silly question but I wanted to see if you knew the answer; I have a package of legs (about 3.5 lbs worth) in the freezer and would like to use them in this recipe. Will I need to adjust the cooking time at all for a smaller cut of meat?
I haven’t experimented with my pressure cooker enough to say exactly how much you could reduce the time by, but I’m sure smaller pieces would not need quite as long.
Major time saving hack I attempted tonight: cook the rice and the chicken in the Instant Pot at the same time. If you use brown rice, it takes as long to cook as the chicken does! I put 2 cups brown rice and 2.5 cups water in the bottom, and my seasoned chicken on top. If you’re worried about keeping the chicken and rice separate, put a steamer basket on top of the rice before you put the chicken in. Then cook on high pressure for 20 minutes and let release naturally for 10, before releasing the rest of the steam and taking out the chicken to broil it. I served mine with roasted lemon pepper broccoli. The brown rice was some of the best rice I’ve ever made, thanks to all the chicken goodness dripping down into it.
Nice!! Thanks for sharing that!
I wasn’t sure which button to press on my instant pot. I ended up pressing the “poultry ” option and it was preset to 30 and high. Was this correct? (I hope so or we’ll be ordering pizza for dinner, ha ha).
Yep, that should work. The poultry button is really just a preset timer, so 30 min with the poultry button should be the same as using the manual button set for 30 min.
Made this a few times, definitely my favorite recipe for my pressure cooker!
This was very easy to put together and delicious. This is the first recipe I tried in the Instant Pot – I was a little wary, because I thought the chicken might get overcooked and stringy (one of the reasons I don’t make chicken in the Crock Pot), but this turned out great. And the rice – oh my goodness, the rice. Cooking it in the broth brings it to a whole new level for me. Will definitely make this one again!
Curious if meat has to be on the bone? And also, why not use the ‘browning’ feature of the Instant Pot at first, instead of moving to broiler/oven?
Yes, you definitely want chicken with the bone for maximum flavor. I like to broil afterwards to get the skin crispy. If you brown first it will get soft again during the pressure cooking cycle with all the steam. :)
This was wonderful. So easy and very flavorful. This makes great leftovers as well, and freezes well (I took the chicken off of the bone to freeze). Even my picky child liked this one. I did have some frozen peas and carrots that needed to be eaten, so I added those to the rice. Will make again!
I used bone-in split chicken breasts for this and it was so easy and tasted amazing. This will become a regular meal! Please keep the instant pot recipes coming!
I made this yesterday with Garam Masala – amazing! Thanks!
While these relatively high tech “instant pots” are pricey, you can probably find an older pressure cooker at a garage sale or thrift shop for about $5-10. My old pressure cooker has been in service for about 35 years, and my sister uses the one that my mother picked up about 1950.
I bought the Instant Pot for my boyfriend last Christmas. It was well worth what I paid We use it on a,regular basis and has been the best cooking investment I have ever made. Trust me you will never use a conventional pressure cooker ever again. It never leaves our counter top!
we can not wait to try our pressure cooker on this recipe, ty for sharing
Chicken breast is what I have on hand. Would it be just as tasty since there’s not s much fat?
The breasts in mine were quite tasty, but I think the key is to have bone-in chicken. The bones provide a lot of flavor to both the chicken and the broth that is used to cook the rice.
If I am broiling the chicken, how long does the rice need to cook?
It depends on your pressure cooker. Mine has a button specific to rice and it will adjust the time according to how much is in the cooker. If yours doesn’t have that, there are directions for manually cooking rice in a pressure cooker on hippressurecooking.com (link also listed in the directions above).
Hi Beth!
Thanks for this easy chicken & rice recipe! :)
We love our pressure cookers as it really makes cooking so much easier & faster.
We actually make a lot of different variations of chicken & rice in our pressure cooker, gotta add this one to our to-try list!!
Pinning this one now!!! :D
Amy
Gonna try this tomorrow with lemon pepper seasoning in my slow cooker on the high setting. You reckon I could toss in some veggies with the chicken about halfway through the cooking time? I have a feeling some potatoes would be tasty but not sure when to add due to the liquid.
Hmm, I think I would add the veggies with the rice instead of the chicken. I think that vegetables need a lot less time than the chicken does, so if you put them in with the chicken they might over cook and turn to mush.
I was thinking the same with using veggies instead of rice..Maybe some potatoes and carrots..Did you try it with the veggies? How did it come out? How long did you cook it for?
Very excited to try this. Just got gifted an instantpot and need stuff to make in it. Please post more pressure cooker recipes!
This recipe looks amazing. I don’t have a pressure cookie YET, but have looked at them. I’m leaning towards a stove-top pressure cooker vs. the electric model. But I will keep this recipe to try for use when I get my pressure cooker. Thanks for taking the time to share it.
Thanks for the recipe–can’t wait to try out that tasty looking rice in broth. I’m slowly adding to my collection of pressure cooker repetoire..
Have you used your Instant Pot to do eggs, yet? I love how I can pop five or six in for 4 minutes while I’m preparing a salad. They come out perfectly every time and the bonus is they’re so easy to peel. No more pockmarked eggs. =)
I haven’t, but I definitely should! I love eggs. :D
I have never used a pressure cooker before, but have always been so intrigued by them especially because I’m often crunched on time and am always looking for more ways to be efficient!
You will LOVE your pressure cooker!!!!! I can’t believe how quick it is to get a meal together. Got my mom her “dream” pressure cooker for Mother’s Day (yes….and I still splurged on the traditional hanging basket) and she is thrilled. Going to send her the link to this recipe.
I love your recipes. I’m not a cook but my husband is and I have talked him into doing some recipes and the family loves them. In regard to “fluffing” with a fork. We used to have the perfect plastic trident fork that we used for fluffing rice and working with noodles. However, it broke and we cannot find another trident plastic fork. We like the plastic so it doesn’t scratch our no-stick pans. We would rather not use metal. Any suggestions? Thanks and keep up the awesome work.
Hi Joleen,
Not sure if you live near an Ikea but I just bought these. They’re a compact size compared to regular kitchen utensils. At that price, you could buy multiples to put away in case they break. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20239425/
If you live near store that sells asian kitchen products you could look for something called a shamoji (Japanese) rice paddle in bamboo or heat resistant plastic.
I use a wooden utensil with a flat edge to stir up my rice. No scratches to the pan.
I have a wooden pasta fork that I got as part of an inexpensive set of wooden utensils at the grocery store and I think that would work great! :)
Yum! I was wondering if this could be made with chicken breasts or if I need to get over my fear of bone-in chicken.
You definitely need bone-in chicken for this one to get the good deep complex flavor of the broth for the rice. :)
This looks so easy and so awesome! I would love to see more pressure cooking recipes!!
This looks so yummy, I’m going to give this a try.
The preparation kind of reminds me of Hainanese chicken rice – I’m sure this would be delicious with those seasonings (garlic, ginger, etc.) and a dipping sauce on the side for the chicken…
In regards to the broiler, are you using a gas oven? In my gas oven, the drawer at the very bottom is for broiler access and every time I cook something with it it burns crazy fast. I feel like the drawer is way too close to the flame but theres no was to adjust.
However! I did just realize i have a high/low temp button for the broiler. Issue may be resolved. :)
Yep, mine is gas. The gas oven in my last apartment had the broiler in the bottom drawer, too, but it did still have an adjustable rack. The adjusting part was kind of confusing. It was like a peg system in the side walls.