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!
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4-5 bone-in chicken thighs , with skin and bone*
- salt and pepper
- 1 onion , chopped
- 1 bell pepper , chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 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 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- cilantro or parsley, for garnish
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Turn Instant pot on sauté setting. Add oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
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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.
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Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and tomato paste to the pot. Stir well and sauté for 2 minutes.
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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.
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Add the rice and stir to combine. Add chicken broth and bay leaf and stir.
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Place chicken thighs on top, skin side up. Turn instant pot off.
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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.
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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.
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Remove the chicken to a plate. Gently fluff rice with a fork.
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Garnish with cilantro or parsley.
Recipe Video
*if using boneless, skinless thighs, cook time is 8 minutes on high pressure. Directions for frozen chicken or chicken breasts are above in the post.
**if you don’t have tomato paste you can substitute 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
***I use Chardonnay. Any dry white wine would work. 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.
You will find many answers to FAQ about the Instant pot above in the post!