This post contains affiliate links.
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.
Text me new recipe ideas!
Simple, tasty ideas sent once a week. No spam.
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe April 2019. Updated March 2026.
Tasty while one pot meal that we’ll make again, thanks.
Plan for an hour of total time though:
10 minutes prep (chopping, measuring, etc)
10 minutes combined saute times
15-22 minutes cook time (pressure cooker needs 7 minutes to get to fill pressure, plus actual pressure time)
15 minutes of natural release
5 minutes for peas
Two big take aways with this recipe:
1. The rice to chicken recipe is off, I recommend you double the chicken needed. I had a huge pot of rice.
2. I did not have burning but I did use a non stick pot in my instapot. I also didnt need to clear the bottom of my pan because of this.
3. I used chicken thighs from trader joes. The sharwma marinated ones and it turned out really yummy. Just wish I had used double the chicken or cut back on the rice by half. Just remember you will also have to cut back on the broth as well if you choose to cut back on rice.
This is a great, fast and simple dinner. I read the connects about the burn warnings. I have often had issues with this when making rice dishes. I find spraying the pot with non stick cooking spray prior to the state step works great. Just my experience. Enjoy
Hi there! I have made a number of recipes with my IP (mine is an 8-qt, IP Duo+), but I wouldn’t call myself ‘experienced’ with them. I have read a ton of articles on the use of the IP’s, which helped me understand that some of them are more finicky than others.
Of the dozen or so recipes I’ve made, I have had 1 burn notice and that was actually my husband’s fault. lol! No kidding. I asked him to pick up some spaghetti on the way home. Granted, I didn’t specify ‘NOT thin spaghetti’ and of all the choices at the grocery store, guess what he brought home? Sure enough, thin spaghetti. I didn’t know how to handle that, so I decreased the liquid just by what I thought was a little bit, and there went my burn notice. Well, Only a bit was burnt and it was done already. It turned out delicious and I’ve made that recipe a number of times, but using just spaghetti, not thin.
Sorry, I went off the rails there. Anyway, I think the problem the others are having is probably the deglazing process. I had all kinds of things stuck to the bottom of mine, but the wine really did the trick and I was able to scrape it all of quite easily.
I also did not remove the vegetables to a plate. The beauty of the IP is not dirtying up dishes. I just deglazed with the veggies in there and I think next time, we’ll go to skinless thighs, so I can just plop them in last.
Since I have a larger machine, I did make some adjustments. I increased the wine to 3/4 cups and bumped up the broth to 3 cups. It turned out almost perfect!
There were only two cons, that I found. The first was that the rice seemed a bit overcooked. I think next time, I’ll decrease the cook time by a minute or two. It’s that or decrease the liquid a bit, but I really think if I decrease the liquid, I’ll get the burn notice because it was pretty thick when it was finished.
The next is that the chicken-to-rice ratio seems off. I have no chicken left but only half my rice was eaten and we were all stuffed to the brim. I now have a good 2-3 meals of rice left over. I think next time, I’ll bump up the thighs to 6 and see if that works for us. I just want even leftovers for meals later.
Other than that, it was delicious! The chicken-to-rice ratio is probably a personal preference.
Great recipe and many thanks for posting!
Glad you brought it back!! I used 1 part rice and 2 parts bone broth. SO flavorful!!! Also, I used butter because of the lower heat point of olive oil. It’s smelled incredible while cooking and tasted like a really fancy dish. I had a frozen chopped white onion, garlic granules and frozen tomato paste in 1 Tbsp portions, so it came together very quickly.
Four hours and a bunch of wasted food I’ll never get back.
“Food Burn” … in 2 different pots! I even added 2 cups of water — in addition to the broth — and stirred the rice. The cooker never came up to pressure, the rice never cooked, and the whole meal was ruined.
I tried it in a third pot, but by then the rice was charred and mushy, and this pot reported a “loss of pressure” error code, even after mixing in an additional cup of water. I ended up with charred rice at the bottom, and almost a full inch of standing water at the top. The chicken was cooked, but by this time it wasn’t even thighs anymore: it was falling apart. Good for a shredded chicken recipe, but I was hoping to serve actual thigh pieces.
I’m sorry. Most of your recipes are good, but this one was a complete disaster. I should have heeded the warning when you said that you had removed it from the site, and why.
I followed it exactly, even measuring out the ingredients in advance just to make sure everything was ready in a timely manner.
I’m no beginner to Instant Pot: I have four of them, and use them frequently.
The problem was also not the rice: I’ve cooked the same rice in these cookers before, and know the rice/water ratio.
Again, most of your recipes are pretty good; but this one: never again.
I also got the food burn warning but it’s a skill issue on my part, the instant pot sat there for 20 minutes and never actually pressurized because I’m not familiar with how it works. I get this like every time I try to pressure cook.
Still absolutely delicious I’m 100% gonna do this again.
If it’s not sealing and there is liquid in the pot, check the seal on the inside of the lid. If it’s raised at all, that can cause sealing issues. Running your finger all the way around will usually seat it properly. Also make sure the valve is set to closed, either pushed backwards if it’s a loose knob or sitting straight up and down if you’ve got a newer model.
This was delicious. I used boneless thighs and shredded the meat and mixed with rice before serving ( I still cooked for 15 minutes , came out fine). I also added about 5 chopped carrots and substituted baby spinach for frozen peas. I made sure to deglaze properly with wine and I did not get a burn notice. Great recipe thanks!
I own a 3 Quart Instant Pot Duo. Had a hard time getting measurements which typically are for 6 quarts. I own this one because I am only 1 person in the household. Chihuahuas don’t eat much. It turned out good but had to throw some stuff away. Any idea’s.
So this was my first instapot recipe and I imagine it gets easier if you have the desire to keep trying.
The chicken was super tasty and tender. I used my own curry powder from 27 spices. The rice was tasty but over cooked. It did not burn and the crispy rice bits were delicious. I would not cook it all for 15 minutes. Probably 12. And then I would allow only 10 minutes to rest. Step # 8 needs additional steps. In all probably should not use this as your first attempt but it was the most tender and tasty chicken I’ve had. Issue as I see it all instapot are not created equal so you need to learn your own. For someone who needs to follow a recipe exactly, use an enameled pot and finish in oven and skip the instapot.