Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

This Chicken and Rice I make in my Instant Pot is a huge hit in my home. Extremely easy to make and super delicious! I love making this for weeknights when I want something a little extra special and comforting. Perfect for meal prep as well.

How amazing it is to cook a delicious, cozy meal and not have to wash many pots, right?

Ingredients info and substitutes:

I know the ingredients list looks long. But trust me, they are very easy to find, and most of you probably already have them in your pantry. If not, let me provide you with some ideas for substitutes and Amazon (affiliate) links for you to purchase.

I use this 6-quart Instant Pot for this recipe.

Spices for Chicken:

I keep this simple. I only use salt, pepper, granulated garlic and granulated onion, and paprika. You can substitute granulated garlic and onion with garlic and onion powder. Paprika is mild, so if you'd like it spicier, you can use cayenne pepper instead. Or any powdered chili would work for this.

If you want to make it even simpler, just use some salt and pepper to season chicken, and it's still delicious. I did this when I was following a low FODMAP diet a few years back and it was one of my favorite meals of the time.

Spices and Herbs for Rice:

For this, I only use cumin powder and dried oregano. If you don't have cumin powder, a mild curry powder is a good substitute.

You can substitute dried oregano with dried thyme or Italian seasoning for a similar flavor profile.

The Aromatic base:

I use finely chopped green pepper, red pepper, onion and garlic. In case you are following a low FODMAP diet, you can use red and yellow pepper and celery as the base.

Other flavorings:

Tomato paste is very concentrated and helps to add the necessary tangy, umami flavor. If you don't have tomato paste, use one medium fresh tomato, chopped up. But make sure to cook it down with onions before you add bell peppers. Otherwise, you'll have too much moisture.

I use chicken broth. You can use chicken bouillon powder as well, or use Better Than Bouillon to make a broth.

Instant Pot settings

To make this chicken and rice, we use two Instant Pot presets: the 'saute' function and the 'rice' preset. For all the searing and sauteeing, we use the saute function, but you need to adjust the temperature to medium. Otherwise, the pot would turn too hot and could burn the spices and aromatics. If you feel like the ingredients are sticking too much to the bottom, especially when you are cooking the onions and peppers, turn off the pot and keep sauteeing. The moisture from the onions and peppers usually helps to deglaze the pot. You can also add a little bit of water to help deglaze.

To make rice, I simply use the "Rice" preset. I always use this to cook rice, especially basmati and jasmine rice, and they always turn out perfect. The only requirement in my experience is that you need to ensure the rice is washed for this function to work perfectly. There is no need to opt for a custom setting, as some people do. If you don't have this preset, set the pressure to low and time for 12 minutes.

Serving Ideas for Chicken and Rice:

This Instant Pot chicken and rice is so good, as it is. I usually serve it with some grilled/roasted/steamed vegetables to make it a complete meal. If you feel like adding a sauce, you can use a yogurt sauce or a hot sauce, or a salsa of your choice.

A nice, simple spring salad or a Mexican-style salad would also go amazingly with this. I love corn salsa as a side.

The recipe given is enough for 4 - 5 servings.