Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is a delicious Spanish rice recipe made with bone in chicken thighs, rice, and spices, all cooked together for a complete meal! It's my new favorite instant pot dinner recipe!
It's a beautiful thing when you find the perfect instant pot recipe that also makes an all-in-one dinner. This recipe ranks right up there with my old favorites, Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls and Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta.
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
I am REALLY excited to share this instant pot chicken thighs recipe with you. It's truly a keeper; the kind of instant pot recipe that you are going to want to save forever.
Technically I should call this dish Arroz con pollo, which is Spanish for “chicken and rice” because we're making a Spanish flavored rice, that pressure cooks with chicken thighs in the instant pot at the same time. This not only saves you time and energy, but cooking the ingredients together in the pot allows the flavors to blend, resulting in a flavorful and delicious instant pot recipe.
Below I have answered all of your instant pot questions including how to substitute chicken breasts and brown rice as well as alternative methods for making this instant pot chicken thighs recipe.
Yes! Just use the minimum fill requirements for the liquid.
Yes. Check out my tutorial for Instant Pot frozen chicken thighs. You wont brown the chicken at the beginning and the skin will not get crispy, so you can remove the skin after cooking, or brown the skin in a hot skillet after cooking. Or see my tutorial for Instant Pot frozen chicken breasts.
Yes. To substitute brown rice in this recipe, add ¼ cup extra chicken broth and cook on high pressure for 22 minutes, with a 10 minute natural pressure release. I suggest using chicken thighs when cooking with brown rice, as chicken breasts are more likely to overcook and be dry when cooking for so long.
Yes! Follow the same directions, using a large skillet, over medium heat, instead. When everything is assembled, cover the skillet with a lid and transfer to the oven. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes, until the rice is cooked through.
I haven’t tested this recipe in the slow cooker, but yes, I think it could work. I recommend browning the chicken thighs and sautéing the veggies and spices before adding to the slow cooker, then adding your rice and chicken. This will take 3-4 hours on high or 4-6 on low for white rice and 5-6 on high or 6-8 on low for brown.
Ingredients in Instant Pot Chicken and Rice:
- Chicken thighs: I highly recommend chicken thighs, over chicken breasts, because I think they cook much better in the instant pot and are more tender and flavorful. If you want to substitute chicken breasts, cook on high pressure for 8 minutes with a 5 minute natural release.
- Rice: I use regular long-grain white rice. (If you want to use brown rice, see my cooking note above). Be sure to rinse the rice before adding it to the instant pot to remove the starch, and help keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- White wine: I’ve used white wine in this recipe to deglaze the pan and add great flavor to the dish. The alcohol gets cooked out. If you don’t want to use wine, just leave this step out and deglaze the pan when you add the chicken broth.
- Diced Veggies
- Spices
- Chicken broth
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice:
- Sauté. Add oil to your instant pot and sauté the chicken thighs for a few minutes on both sides. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and tomato paste to the pot and sauté for 2 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Add white wine to the pot to deglaze the pan, and cook for about 1 minute until most of the wine has evaporated. Add rice, chicken broth, and bay leaf and stir to combine. Place chicken thighs on top of the rice mixture and turn your instant pot off.
3. Cook. Set the Instant Pot to cook on manual, high pressure, for 15 minutes. When the timer beeps allow the pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes before removing the lid.
4. Add Peas. Remove the instant pot lid and pour the frozen peas on top of the mixture. Return lid and allow to rest for a few minutes.
5. Serve. Remove the chicken to a plate. Gently fluff rice with a fork, and serve garnished with chopped cilantro or parsley.
I doubt you'll have leftovers of this tasty dinner, but if you do, store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 2 months.
My family loves this meal served with warm cooked tortilla on the side, and I always add a drizzle of hot sauce over my rice. Yum!
I have lots of awesome Instant Pot Recipes. Some of the most popular include:
- Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Instant Pot Pasta and Meatballs
- Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls
- Instant Pot Ribs
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Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4-5 bone-in chicken thighs, with skin
- salt and pepper
- 1 onion , chopped
- 1 bell pepper , chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste*
- 1/2 cup white wine , optional*
- 2 cups long grain white rice , rinsed
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- cilantro or parsley , for garnish
Instructions
- *UPDATE 5/17/2020: I removed this recipe after many comments of readers struggling with the burn notice–then received a ton of backlash because so many of you love this recipe and– it works perfectly for me as well) so I am reposting it. Before cooking, PLEASE CONSULT your instant pot manual for the proper rice to liquid cooking ratio for your instant pot. I use a 1:1 ratio, but some require a 1:2 ratio, so you may want to add an additional cup of broth.
- *Prepare all of your ingredients and have them ready. This will help prevent too much liquid from evaporating during sautéing and help you avoid a burn notice.
- Turn Instant pot on sauté setting. Add oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Add chicken to the hot pot and cook for a few minutes on both sides, until the skin on the chicken thighs is golden brown and crispy. Remove chicken to a plate.
- Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and tomato paste to the pot. Stir well and sauté for 2 minutes. Remove everything to a plate.
- Add white wine to the pot to deglaze the pan, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until most of the wine has evaporated. Turn the pot OFF!
- Add chicken broth and bay leaf to the pot and stir. Add the veggie/spice mixture and stir to combine. Pour rice over everything and place chicken thighs on top, skin side up.
- Secure instant pot lid, with valve turned to the sealed position. Cook on manual, high pressure, for 15 minutes. When the timer beeps allow the pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes before removing the lid.
- Remove the instant pot lid and pour the frozen peas on top of the mixture. Return lid and allow to rest for a few minutes.
- Remove the chicken to a plate. Gently fluff rice with a fork.
- Garnish with cilantro or parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
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This is delicious, but I think there is a mistake in the recipe. With 2 cups of rice, there should be 4 cups of chicken broth. I believe that is why some people have reported problems with burning. Anyway, that is what I did and it turned out great!
Maybe your instant pot is different. Mine has a 1:1 ratio for rice and water.
Delicious and easy to make. Even my picky 12 year old loved it. So it’s a win from my family. We will be making this meal again!
My pressure valve didn’t go up but it said it was pressurized :/ I’m confused!
Hm.. that sounds like it may be an issue with your instant pot not sealing correctly. Here is a resource that might help.
The first time I made this the burn notice came on so I took out the chicken and finished it with new rice in the oven. Tonight I made it again this time with for pork chops. I fried the chops in a separate pan and then sauteed the veggies, spices, and rice in the pan. This time I used 3 1/2 cups chicken broth in the pot first with the bay leaf and then the rice, veggie, spice mixture with the chops on top. Copied on high pressure for 15 and let NR 15 minutes. It was perfect! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I will make this again with chicken thighs it pork chops.
I followed my ip recommendation for white rice 1:2 and still got 2 burn notifications. I gave up after that. What was supposed to be an easy meal after a hard day at work turned into scrubbing a thick crust of burnt rice off my pan.
I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you–I’m not sure what type of IP you have but for mine this recipe works perfectly.
I got the burn notice too, the rice was sticking to the bottom even though minimum liquid was met. May need more broth. I ended up finishing it on the stove.
Great recipe., I made a few changes to give it a Cuban flair. Change the wine to beer, add a Goya seasoning packet, make the rice Bastic or Valencia. Omg this was awesome!!!
Thanks for sharing your adaptions!
I did not make this exact recipe, but used the important cooking techniques mentioned. Thank you for such a detailed recipe. Sometimes process is more crucial than the ingredients. Cheers All!
I tried making this yesterday and I got the burn notification 🙁 It smelled really good but I couldn’t eat it. Any tips or suggestions so I don’t get the burn notification again would be great. Thank you
Hi Lisa, first I would check you IP manual for the minimum liquid requirements (the newer IP are more sensitive to the burn notice). Next I would make sure to rinse the rise really well. I would then spray the bottom of your pot really well with non-stick cooking spray before you begin. Hope those tips help!
Thanks for all the Thai recipes for the IP. Love Thai food and love your site.
Hands down my favorite IP recipe so far! It was easy to throw together and everyone devoured it!