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This easy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe delivers tender, juicy chicken thighs with perfectly cooked Spanish-style rice in just 30 minutes, making it the ultimate weeknight dinner solution. It has bold spices, colorful vegetables, and everything is cooked together in one pot!
This Instant Pot Arroz Con Pollo is my kind of easy meal!
This is one of those meals that just makes dinner ridiculously easy! The chicken always comes out so tender it falls off the bone, and the rice soaks up all those amazing flavors from the chicken, spices, and broth. It's completely hands-off once you close that Instant Pot lid. I love that I'm getting protein, grains, and veggies all in one easy instant pot chicken and rice recipe.
Don't miss my other Instant Pot recipes, like Instant Pot Chicken Thighs, Instant Pot Fettuccine Alfredo, Instant Pot Spaghetti, Instant Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup, Instant Pot Short Ribs, or Instant Pot Ribs!
How to make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice:
Sauté: Push the sauté button and pour a little oil in the instant pot. Sear the chicken thighs for a few minutes on both sides then remove to a plate. Dump in onion, bell pepper, garlic, spices, and tomato paste then stir and cook for 2 minutes.
Add Ingredients: Pour white wine in the pot and deglaze the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until most of the win is evaporated. Dump in rice, chicken broth, and bay leaf then stir. Place chicken thighs on top of the rice mixture then turn the instant pot off.
Cook: Push the manual button, high pressure, for 15 minutes. When the timer is over, let it naturally release for 15 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure and taking the lid off. Pour the frozen peas on top then put the lid back on for a few minutes.
Serve: Remove chicken to a plate then gently fluff rice with a fork then garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley and serve! My family loves this meal served with a warm cooked tortilla on the side, and I always add a drizzle of hot sauce over my rice. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I make this in a 3 quart and/or 8 quart model instant pot? Yes! Just use the minimum fill requirements for the liquid.
Can I use frozen chicken? 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.
Can I substitute brown rice? 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.
Can I make this Chicken and Rice on the stovetop? 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.
Can I make this Chicken and Rice in the Slow Cooker? 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.
Instant Pot Arroz con Pollo
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.
- Brown chicken: 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.¼ cup olive oil, salt and pepper, 4-5 bone-in chicken thighs
- 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.1 onion, 1 bell pepper, 6 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 Tablespoon tomato paste*
- 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!½ cup white wine
- 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.2 bay leaves, 2 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth, 2 cups long grain white rice
- Pressure Cook: 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.
- Finish: 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.1 cup frozen peas, cilantro or parsley
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe April 2019. Updated March 2026.
This was good. I made a couple of tweaks. I used chicken breasts that I cubed and shook in a bag of the seasoning and I added a dash of cayenne for a kick. I browned the chicken and sautéed with the bell pepper and onion. Added a can of rotelle and tomato paste (I can’t bring myself to only use a little and have to toss the can. It’s a waste). I had little over a cup of chicken broth and I poured that in and sprinkled parboiled rice over the top. Do not stir the rice. Cooked for 15 min and let sit for 15 min then decompressed. And topped with cheese. Turned out perfect and everyone loved it!
Still burned, I am very disappointed with my instant pot.
Your recipe still burned even though I had more liquid.
I made this last night and it turned out perfect! I used chicken breasts because that’s all I had and preasure cooked to 8 minutes. I used an extra quarter cup of chicken broth to ensure no burning.
I didnt use the green pepper but added some 1/2tsp curry and tumeric as additional spices along with a can of mushroom soup. Was going for a somewhat sticky gooey result and the result was awesome and flavorful. also had to use chicken wings which worked out well.
Skip this recipe in the Instant Pot. The rice mixture sticks and gives a burned food warning and shuts off. I had to continue cooking in the oven.
This is, by far, the BEST chicken and rice we’ve ever eaten. I’ve made it for family & friends, and it’s always a HIT..! It’s our go-to during sick season because of the chicken! I use my homemade broth and I always use complete seasoning in place of the salt.. It adds a little more salt and some cilantro which goes over surprisingly well! I will say that I’ve only ever gotten it to work in the instant pot once! LOL! I’m thinking it has to do with how well you’ve rinsed your rice. Either way, I can throw it all into a Corning Ware dish with it’s glass lid and finish off in the oven with no problem! I just wanted to give a big high five and thumbs up for the flavor profile alone! The only differences or changes I’ve made other than the broth/complete seasoning is that I throw an entire can of drained sweet peas in with everything for the entire baking or pressure cooking process and I have found that I/we as a family prefer the canned diced tomatoes(Hunt’s Fire Roasted Garlic) over the tomato paste and I also use the entire can. Regardless, THANK YOU FOR MY NEW RECIPE !!!
I never write reviews but this turned out delicious! Followed her brown rice instructions 25min pressure cook/ 5min natural release. I did 1/2 green pepper and 1/2 red bell pepper. And added more seasoning including Sazon tropical. Perfect and family enjoyed.
We thought this was great! Adults added hot sauce to their own portions. I followed exactly except I used my 8qt so I adjusted for size as follows for anyone interested. The time worked exactly as listed.
8 small bone-in, skin-on thighs
3 cup rice (Lundgren jasmin)
3 cup stock
Heeped the seasoning
(My onions/bell pepper sauté deglazed just fine so I just left in pot and splashed with wine to save the extra step needed to remove veggies).
I might double the seasoning next time instead of heeping but otherwise will repeat.
Cooked it in a 3 Qt IP first time; no problem. Next time used a 6 Qt IP and kept getting burn notice. Used 1 cup rice and 1 1/4 cup of broth and 4 large bone-in chicken thighs. Wonder if weight of larger thighs pressed down too much on the rice/onion/spice mixture and caused the burn notice. Will change to 2 cups rice and 3 cups of broth in future to see if that works better. Also, what about putting the chicken on the trivet to keep pressure off the rice/veg/spice mix??
1 cup rice 2 cups liquid. Standard directions for cooking rice. Stove, oven or instapot. Mine never burns.
Doesn’t work. This is a good way to ruin your pressure cooker pot. Not enough liquid to cook the rice before it starts burning at the bottom. Never reaches pressure due to thermal protection because the rice is burning at the bottom of the pan.
I had the same thing happen to me.