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This Instant Pot chicken and rice is just absolutely dreamy. It’s rich and creamy but SO quick and easy to make. The whole family will love it, and it’s a true one-pot meal! With Parmesan cheese and a splash of lemon, this weeknight family dinner recipe is inspired by my favorite risotto recipe but with none of the hard work required!
Before You Get Started
- This recipe requires long-grain white rice. Do not use brown rice, instant rice, or minute rice!
- What to Expect: This Instant Pot chicken and rice will not have the texture or consistency of fried rice or rice pilaf. It’s more similar to a risotto – but it’s not quite a risotto, either. It’s thick and creamy, so if that’s not what you’re looking for, I’d recommend a different recipe.
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Saute and Sear.
With the Instant Pot set to Sauté mode, melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, then add minced garlic and chopped onion. Sauté the aromatics for 5 minutes or so, until the onions are soft and translucent. At that point, add the bite-sized pieces of chicken and sear them, stirring occasionally, until they’re opaque on all sides.
Pressure Cook.
Pop the lid on the Instant Pot (make sure the vent is set to the “Sealing” position!) and set it to Manual High Pressure mode with an 8-minute cook time. The pressure cooker will take a few minutes (up to 15 depending on how full it is) to pressurize and then the cook time will begin.
Natural Release.
When the 8-minute cook time ends, Natural Release the pressure from the Instant Pot for only 2 minutes.
Cheryl’s Tip: If you let the pressure Natural Release for more than 2 minutes, you’ll end up with overcooked rice that has a “gluey”, sticky texture. Time it very carefully!
Quick Release.
After 2 minutes, immediately Quick Release any remaining pressure. Be careful, though – all the steam that escapes from the Instant Pot will be really hot and can burn you!
Stir and Adjust.
Stir the mixture well, then add parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. You can add a little more lemon juice, too, if you like. When you’re happy with the flavor, divide the chicken and rice into your preferred portion sizes and serve warm!
What I Love About This Recipe
- Thick and creamy rice, with melty Parmesan, tangy lemon juice, and perfectly cooked chicken. This recipe is the ultimate comfort food.
- This chicken and rice is so rich and delicious, but so easy to make! Seriously, this is absolutely one of my favorite Instant Pot chicken recipes.
- This recipe only needs a handful of ingredients that you may already have in your house. So simple, nothing complicated.
Recipe Variations
- For Firmer Rice: Use 3 cups of chicken broth if you want a chicken and rice that’s a little firmer, with more-separate grains. It won’t have the texture or consistency of fried rice or rice pilaf, but it won’t be as wet as if you used 4 cups of broth.
- For Creamier Rice: Use 4 cups of broth if you want a creamier, soupier consistency and softer grains of rice. It’ll be more similar to risotto than if you use only 3 cups of broth. (It won’t be risotto, though! If you’re looking for a risotto, try my Instant Pot Risotto or my Best EVER Stovetop Risotto.) I typically use 4 cups of broth when I make this recipe, and the photos in this post show the Instant Pot chicken and rice made with 4 cups of broth.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Dreamy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Equipment
- 6-quart Instant Pot
- Large wooden spoon or silicone spatula
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts approximately 2–3 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup chopped white onion approximately 1 medium onion
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic approximately 4 large cloves
- 1 ½ cups long-grain white rice rinsed, see Notes
- 3-4 cups chicken broth see Notes
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice juice from approximately 1 large lemon
- 1 cup shredded fresh parmesan or grated, at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper more or less to taste
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Add 4 tablespoons unsalted butter to Instant Pot insert and let butter melt completely.
- When butter has melted, add 1 cup chopped white onion and 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic to insert. Stir to incorporate, then sauté aromatics approximately 5 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.
- Add 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts to insert. Sauté chicken pieces, stirring occasionally, approximately 5 minutes or until chicken pieces are opaque on all sides.
- Add 1 ½ cups long-grain white rice, 3-4 cups chicken broth (3 cups for firmer rice; 4 cups for softer, soupier rice), and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice to Instant Pot insert. Stir to fully incorporate ingredients, making sure to scrape bottom of insert to loosen any stuck bits of onion or garlic.
- Secure lid on Instant Pot with valve in Sealing position. Set Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure mode and set cook time to 8 minutes. Instant Pot will pressurize and then 8-minute cook time will begin.
- When 8-minute cook time ends, Natural Release internal pressure 2 minutes. Note: Do not release pressure longer than 2 minutes or rice can overcook.
- After 2-minute Natural Release, carefully Quick Release any remaining pressure and remove lid. Use caution as any escaping steam will be incredibly hot.
- Stir chicken and rice mixture well. Note: If mixture contains excess standing liquid after pressure cooking, set Instant Pot to Sauté mode and stir mixture until excess liquid has fully incorporated into rice.
- Taste mixture and add 1 cup shredded fresh parmesan, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Stir until additions are well incorporated, then taste mixture again and add more parmesan, salt, pepper, or lemon juice if desired.
- When satisfied with flavor of chicken and rice mixture, portion mixture into preferred servings. Garnish with additional parmesan cheese if desired and serve warm.
- Chicken Broth: For a firmer rice and more-dry/less-creamy consistency, use 3 cups of chicken broth. For a softer rice and soupier consistency, use 4 cups.
- Rice: Be sure to use white rice for this recipe! Brown rice is not recommended since it would take about 10 minutes longer, which would overcook the chicken. Do not use instant or minute rice.
- Regarding the Texture: This recipe will not give you rice with a texture like fried rice or rice pilaf. It will be more similar to a risotto.
- Overcooked Rice: If your rice has a sticky or “gluey” texture, you likely overcooked the rice, probably by letting the pressure Natural Release for more than 2 minutes.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @40aprons on Instagram and be sure to leave a review on the blog post!
Other Instant Pot Recipes You Have to Try
- Instant Pot Black Beans
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- 45 Incredible Vegan Instant Pot Recipes
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love the recipe
Good!!! 🙂
Great recipe. First, I am not a cook.
Second, I am a father of a 15, 10 and 8 year old. I made it for my family yesterday and they all loved it…which is a miracle. The kids all like different food and my wife is an EXCELLENT cook and eats my cooking because she loves me (not the food I make). They loved it so much that when one kid was eating the leftovers today, there was much discussion about who would get which bites…so I ended up making another batch just now. Thank you for a great easy recipe! We call it “grandmother’s hug” based on someone else’s comment.
John, we’re so glad this recipe worked out for your fam! 😉 This recipe’s a perfect example of a “grandmother’s hug”. 🙂
Any way to do this without the can of chicken soup?
Hi! There’s actually not any can of chicken soup in this recipe. Do you mean the broth? If so, the broth is a pretty important component to this recipe. 🙂
I got this confused with another recipe. So sorry. I’m making this tonight!!
Holy Cow!! Just made this with stuff on hand in the kitchen. Super easy, quick and delish! It came out just like you all said. I used 4 cups of broth too…The whole fam loved it. We’ll be making this again for sure!
Excellent! This recipe is really good and super easy and fast when you didn’t plan dinner and need something at the last minute. Plus, I always have the ingredients on hand. We only eat whole grains when at all possible and it’s almost impossible to overcook chicken in the IP so I subbed brown rice and cooked 15 mins with 5 mins NPR. Turned out great! I also added a huge bunch of kale at the end before adding the cheese, salt and pepper. I used 4 cups of broth but if I wasn’t adding veggies, I probably would use 3 cups as it was a bit too soupy for us at baseline. Will definitely make again!
I see many 5-star reviews here, to no surprise. This recipe is now my favorite go-to comfort-food. It’s like getting a hug from Grandma. I’ve not yet tried variations (except the one time I was short on parmesan so substituted finely grated cotija cheese – worked beautifully), because we loved it as is. I’m passing this on to my siblings, nieces and nephews who enjoy cooking. Thank you for posting!
Aw, thanks for the kind review! We’re so glad you enjoyed it.
Is there a way to add a veg to this recipe? Like broccoli? It sounds so tasty!
THIS is my go-to recipe for chicken thighs-bone-in. Super easy and delicious. I use the rice for future meals as it makes a lot! LOVE this recipe. THANK YOU!
We are so glad you like this recipe! 🙂
So I have an instant pot, begrudgingly. This was the first recipe I made. Used some great Parmigiano Reggiano, what a good base, but felt it lacked something, maybe mushrooms? I’m still not sold on the instant pot, but this recipe nailed it. Chicken texture was soft but not dry. Rice was as described, similar to risotto.
Thanks for the awesome review! Mushrooms would certainly be a great addition. 🙂
This was amazing and SO easy! Are the nutritional facts for the whole recipe or per serving?
The nutritional facts are for one serving. 🙂
Hi, I want to make your recipe but only have chicken tenderloin can I use it instead of the breast? And will the cooking time change?
Thanks! I am nueve on the InstaPot world.
Hi! The cooking time should remain the same, although we always recommend using a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is at least 165° F. 🙂