A hearty one-pot meal with an Asian twist! This Instant Pot chicken and rice is super easy to make and so delicious. The tender rice, juicy chicken, and colorful peppers are cooked in a savory garlicky broth. It’s perfect for dinner or if you meal-prep your lunches. {Gluten-free adaptable}
The biggest reasons I enjoy using my Instant Pot to cook dinner are:
- You can put everything in one pot
- It requires very little prep
- You don’t need to monitor the cooking process like you do with stovetop cooking
- The cooking time is shortened
For example, I’ve made chicken noodle soup, curry beef stew, and chicken congee in the past. Every time I’ve been surprised by how well the results turn out, despite the simple cooking process.
Why this recipe
1. No browning required
When I develop Instant Pot recipes, I try to keep the steps as easy as possible. Although most Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipes require you to brown the meat, my recipe does not. Here is why.
It’s true that when you cook meat on the stovetop, you usually brown the meat to seal the juices and make the meat taste richer. This is not the case when using the pressure cooker.
The pressure cooker raises the boiling point of the water in the pot. The extra-high heat not only speeds up the cooking process, but also promotes caramelization and browning in a different way. Your chicken will be caramelized in the liquid without actually browning it with oil. Your chicken rice will have a deep and complex flavor.
2. Fast cooking
You only need to lightly saute the aromatics, then layer everything and leave it to cook. Yes, you might argue that an Instant Pot takes time to add and release the pressure. But this is passive cooking time, which allows you to do other things instead of standing in front of your stove. It takes 7 minutes to add pressure, 10 minutes of cooking time, and 10 minutes to release the pressure. You can still get dinner ready very quickly!
3. Create bold flavor using the Asian approach
I enjoy the classic version of chicken and rice seasoned with parsley, thyme, and paprika. But if you’re looking for a change of pace, you cannot miss this Asian seasoning combo.
My recipe uses onion, garlic, ginger, cumin powder, soy sauce, and a drizzle of sesame oil to create a savory gingery, garlicky base that is bursting with nice aromas. Of course, if you like to spice up your chicken rice, a squeeze of Sriracha sauce at the end is perfect!
More Instant Pot recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Curry Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Chicken Congee
- Instant Pot Eggs
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Asian Instant Pot Chicken and Rice (A Pressure Cooker Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 ml) uncooked jasmine rice
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1 lb / 450 g), or 2 chicken breasts (*Footnote 1)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or olive oil)
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger (or 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder)
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 carrots chopped (yields 2/3 cup)
- 1 bell pepper chopped (yields 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onion for garnish (Optional)
Instructions
- Place the jasmine rice in a big bowl and add a few cups of water. Gently rub the rice with your fingers a few times, then drain the water. Repeat 2 times, drain the rice and set aside.
- Sprinkle salt and ground black pepper on the chicken. Let marinate while preparing other ingredients.
- Add peanut oil to Instant Pot and press “Saute”. Preheat for 5 minutes or until it shows “Hot” on your Instant Pot Screen. If using a pressure cooker, heat oil over medium heat on a stove until hot. Add the onion. Cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and cumin powder. Cook for 30 seconds to release the fragrance.
- Turn off “Saute” function. Add chicken broth. Use a wooden spatula to release any brown bits that are stuck on the bottom. It’s important to do this step before adding the rice, so the hot pan won’t scorch the rice.
- Add the carrot and pepper. Spread the rice in the pot as evenly as possible. Top with the chicken thighs without overlapping. Drizzle soy sauce in the pot without stirring.
- Close the lid and seal the valve. Set to “Manual” for 10 minutes. For pressure cooker, cook sealed over medium heat until pressure is added, turn to medium-low heat immediately. Cook under pressure for 10 minutes.
- Once done, let the pressure release naturally for 8 minutes, then use fast release. Shred the chicken with two forks.
- Drizzle with sesame oil and add the sesame seeds and green onions, if using. Mix everything well and serve hot as a main. (*Footnote 2)
Notes
- The cooking time stays the same if you’re using chicken breasts. If the chicken breasts are on the large side, slice them in half before adding them to the Instant Pot.
- The bottom of the rice will brown a little bit because of the soy sauce in this recipe. It is quite normal.
I’m super in love with this. It’s absolutely perfect for weekday lunches or dinners. The pressure cooker is such a wonderful thing. I love that dinner can be ready so fast. And I had no idea that meat caramelized while pressure cooking. Great info!
Thanks, Danielle! I was amazed at the caramelization that happens under pressure, as well. One of those mysteries of science that I get to enjoy throughout Maggie’s experimentation in developing recipes 🙂
To cook this dish in a conventional pot what are the procedures
Can;t get any more fulfilling and satisfying than chicken and rice. Thanks
I have an 8qt instant pot- will I be able to double this recipe? Really excited to try it!
I’ve never used an 8qt Instant pot but I think you could double the recipe.
I ended up getting the stacking order mixed up, so the rice and veggies were mixed together on the bottom with the chicken on top. The rice was to die for as the veggies broke apart beautifully when the rice was mixed. The chicken lacked flavour, but that’s on me. The flavour of the rice was unreal. While there are Asian components, I find cumin always reminds me of Latin cuisine… I might try it again with 1 tsp of cumin vs 2 to make it make the Asian flavours shine. Again though, as written is delicious as is! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
This happened to me too. I’m currently waiting on the results but I would like to suggest that the recipe be a little more specific – it says to remove the brown bits and how its important to do before the rice is in, but it doesn’t say that you need to put the rice in. I know it seems a little obvious in hindsight, but it would be nice if that edit could make it more specific. Many thanks for this recipe and all your recipes for the instant pot, I am really enjoying them.
I’m confused by the nutrition info. Serving size is 4 grams. Correct?
Hi Shelly, the serving size is one of the four portions generated from this recipe, not 4 grams. Sorry about the confusion.
Thank you for the recipe, I’ve made it twice already! Just thinking, if I were to double it, would I just double all ingredients?
Not sure about the size of your Instant Pot so it’s a bit hard to answer. Basically you can simply double everything to double this recipe. But I remember you shouldn’t fill more than 2/3 of the pressure cooker (after the congee is cooked), because the congee is quite starchy and can clot the valve. I used the standard 6-quart Instant Pot and I remember the congee has filled up half of the pot. If you use the 8-quart, you should able to double the recipe without any problem.
Hello. I want to try this recipe. Since my Instant Pot only has Manual low and high heat settings, how could I do medium or medium low as your recipe states? Thank you in advance.
Hi Sue, you should use the high heat setting!
Was really great! Better than a restaurant! You should try it. Easy recipe.
Hey, Maggie!
I want to try making this recipe with brown rice. I was wondering if the ratios would be the same for the chicken broth or should I add more?
This turned out so good! Perfect for me to make for lunches for the week. It was far more flavorful than I expected. I used frozen breast tenders, and added 1 minute to the cook time. It was perfect.
I have chicken thighs that are skinned, but not boned. Would it change the cook at pressure time?
Hi Katherine, I think the bone-in thigh can be cooked in 10 minutes. If you want to be extra safe, you can increase the pressure cooking time to 12 minutes.
Delicious. PS don’t sub broccoli for carrots like I did. 😁 It blends in with the rice too much. I also added a bit of hoisin sauce to give sweet background notes
Delicious. PS don’t sub broccoli for carrots like I did. 😁 It blends in with the rice too much. I also added a bit of hoisin sauce after cooking to give sweet background notes.
My instant pot kept giving me the “food burn” notice, I’m now trying to cook it on the rice setting. Should the rice not be on the bottom of the pan?
My Instant Pot is an older version and doesn’t have the burn notice, so I cannot point out exactly what’s causing the issue.
It’s tricky to cook rice with soy sauce because the sauce will caramelize and potentially burn the bottom. Maybe it’s a better idea to add the soy sauce once you cooked everything and mix it in at the end.
If the burn notice appeared during you cook the rice, it might be because you’re not using enough liquid. Jasmine rice uses less liquid than long grain. For long grain rice, you need to add 1/2 cup more broth.
Flavour very good. Might be tastier with glutinous rice.
Instant pot technical execution was not good. Got the dreaded burn notice twice. Granted, used pumpkin instead of carrot and pepper and luckily, the chicken was cooked.
Hi! I only have medium grain rice. Do I do 1.5 cups liquid instead of 1?
You should use 3/4 cup water instead of 1 because jasmine rice requires more water.
PS: usually it’s 1:1 rice water ratio for medium grain in the instant pot, but since the chicken and veggies will release liquid, and you will use liquid seasonings like soy sauce, 3/4 cup should be plenty.
The chicken tasted good but the rest was pretty bad. There are so many other ways to make this dish taste good and for the same amount of time. I also don’t think it works with a newer model of instant pot. Mine struggled with the burning bottom and overcooked everything. Maybe there is a different setting but “manual” pressure cooking will not give you what you see in these photos.
Thrilled to try out this recipe. However, I was wondering what changes I would need to make if I want to double the amount of chicken breast? How much water would I need to add then? Thank you!
The only thing you need to do differently is to sprinkle some more salt and pepper to season the second chicken breast.
You might want to reduce the water by 1 to 2 tablespoons, since the second chicken will release more juice into the rice and makes it a bit soggy.
Hi! I’ve made this before in an instant pot and loved it! However, my instant pot broke and i want to make it again. How would I make it on the stove? Thanks!
I think it’s the best to refer this recipe: https://omnivorescookbook.com/chinese-chicken-and-rice/ (it’s a bit hard to directly convert an Instant Pot recipe)
It’s a different recipe but I like it a lot for one pan chicken rice. You can add the peppers too.