Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About
  • Resources
  • Podcast
  • Blog
    • Health
    • Beauty
    • Mama Wellness
    • Natural Home
    • Natural Remedies
    • Organization
    • Travel
    • Reviews
    • Recipes
      • Beef Recipes
      • Breakfast Recipes
      • Condiment Recipes
      • Dessert Recipes
      • Drink Recipes
      • Pork Recipes
      • Poultry Recipes
      • Salad Recipes
      • Seafood Recipes
      • Side Dish Recipes
      • Snack Recipes
      • Soup & Stew Recipes
  • Newsletter
  • Shop
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
  • LinkedIn logo
  • YouTube logo
  • Instagram logo
  • Pinterest logo
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Wellness Mama®

Simple Answers for Healthier Families

  • About
  • Start Here
  • Resources
  • Podcast
  • Blog
    • Beauty
    • Health
    • Mama Wellness
    • Natural Home
    • Natural Remedies
    • Organization
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Reviews
  • Shop
  • Search
Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Classic Chicken and Rice Recipe (Instant Pot)

Classic Chicken and Rice Recipe (Instant Pot)

April 13, 2018 (Updated: July 30, 2019)   —  by Katie Wells

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Recipe

Reading Time: 3 minThis post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy.

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Chicken and Rice in the Instant Pot
  • But Wait... Grains?
  • Quick and Healthy Casseroles
  • Chicken and Rice Recipe (Instant Pot)
Jump to Recipe

Print Recipe

Chicken and rice casserole is as American as hot dogs and burgers. We all grew up eating it but know better now! While a hearty piping-hot casserole may be delicious comfort food (or not, depending on your mother’s recipe), they are notorious for being high-calorie and made with condensed soup from a can.

This healthier version of chicken and rice keeps all of the classic flavors while leaving out the soupy processed ingredients. It’s also a snap to make thanks to the use of an Instant Pot, my favorite kitchen tool these days.

Here’s how to make the best homemade chicken and rice you’ve ever had, with the least amount of time and effort!

Chicken and Rice in the Instant Pot

Pressure cooking is actually a healthy way to cook and the Instant Pot makes it safer and easier than the pressure cookers of past generations. My Instant Pot has a wide variety of settings for meats, soups, veggies, and even desserts. You can even make yogurt in an Instant Pot! There’s no guesswork, just push the button labeled for what you’re making and it does its thing.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet, here’s my review of the different models out there as well as some favorite starter recipes.

But Wait… Grains?

It’s true… I’m not a fan of a diet full of grains as they will never be as nutritious as a diet full of veggies. I also avoided all grains for a long time and even wrote a grain-free cookbook while healing my gut due to my autoimmune condition. Still, as the research evolves I’m convinced variety and paying attention to how your body feels on certain foods is more important than strict food rules. Kids also need more carbohydrates than adults do, so I keep white rice, sweet potatoes, and other starchy veggies in our meal rotation so everything stays balanced.

If you are avoiding grains (or don’t have an Instant Pot), here is a grain-free and oven-baked Chicken and Broccoli Casserole with broccoli and cauliflower in place of rice.

Quick and Healthy Casseroles

Looking for more one-pan thirty-minute meals for a family? Here are some classics, reinvented to use only real-food ingredients:

  • Cheesy Tuna Casserole Recipe (Kid Friendly & Gluten Free)
  • Easy Breezy (and Cheesy) Breakfast Casserole Recipe
  • Sweet Potato Casserole
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • Moussaka Casserole
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Recipe
Print Pin
4.29 from 7 votes

Chicken and Rice Recipe (Instant Pot)

Make this classic comfort food in a fraction of the time using a pressure cooker like the Instant Pot. Chicken and rice is a great fast weeknight meal and this one won't disappoint. 
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 46 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 470kcal
Author Katie Wells
The ingredient links below are affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy.

Ingredients

  • 4 large chicken breasts
  • 1  bunch fresh parsley
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1  onion (diced)
  • 2  cups white rice
  • 3 carrots (grated)
  • 3 stalks celery (grated)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp basil leaf (dried)

Instructions

  • Turn Instant Pot on "Saute."
  • Peel onion and rough chop. Add to IP with olive oil and saute. While cooking...
  • Grate the carrot and dice the celery and add to IP. 
  • Add rice, salt, pepper, garlic and basil and continue to saute. 
  • Blend parsley with bone broth and pour into IP.
  • Add chicken and turn off saute function.
  • Close the lid and turn the lid to sealing. Turn on manual for 8 minutes. 
  • When time is up, let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and release the pressure manually. 
  • Shred the chicken and serve immediately.  

Notes

Adjust spices to mix things up. Make a Spanish version with saffron, Mexican with cumin, or Indian with turmeric and curry powder. Delish!

Nutrition

Serving: 2cups | Calories: 470kcal | Carbohydrates: 52.8g | Protein: 33.5g | Fat: 7.9g | Saturated Fat: 2.2g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 280mg | Fiber: 1.7g | Sugar: 1.6g

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

How do you make chicken and rice? Any favorite family-pleasing meals to share? I’d love to hear what you’re putting on the table tonight!

FacebookTweetPinLinkedInReddit

Category: Poultry Recipes, Recipes

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder and CEO of Wellness Mama and Co-Founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a wife and mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

  • View All Posts
  • Globe icon
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
  • LinkedIn logo
  • YouTube logo
  • Instagram logo
  • Pinterest logo

It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Be Healthy…

Join the Wellness Mama VIP email newsletter to get the latest articles, recipes, podcasts, special discounts, and FREE access to my Quick Start Guide, 7 Simple Steps for Healthier Families, and 1 week real food meal plan!

[convertkit form=1001180]

Wellnesse Products is my very own personal care line created for my family and yours!

I couldn't find natural products that met my standards so I created my own. Wellnesse is the result of a decade of research and dozens of tests, and your family can now use them too!

Learn More

Wellnesse Products

You May Also Enjoy These Posts...

  • Coconut Curry Chicken (Quick Instant Pot Recipe)
  • Garlic Herb Pot Roast Recipe
    Garlic Herb Pot Roast Recipe (Instant Pot)
  • Instant Pot Butter Chicken Recipe
    Butter Chicken Recipe (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Option)
  • crock pot instant pot sweet potatoes
    Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe (With Slow Cooker Option)
  • Crock Pot (or Instant Pot) Meatloaf Recipe
  • Chicken Marsala Recipe - grain free and gluten free
    Chicken Marsala Recipe
Previous Post: «How to get started with cloth diapers Cloth Diapers 101: How to Get Started
Next Post: Do We Really Need Air Filters? (+ Reviews) Do we need air filters? And which ones I recommend.»

Reader Interactions

Discussion (26 Comments)

  1. Sabrina

    October 1, 2019 at 4:15 PM

    Do you make the rice first? Or cook it before adding it?

    Reply
    • Katie Wells

      October 4, 2019 at 10:21 PM

      Nope. Add it dry and everything cooks together in the pressure cooker.

      Reply
      • Lea

        October 5, 2020 at 6:51 PM

        1 star
        I use and love a ton of your recipes, food and home, but this one failed. The rice burned at the bottom, the instant pot gave a “burn” message with no beeping so we had no idea anything was wrong or for how long until walking over to check on it when it should have been done. Breasts didn’t finish cooking, rice did, other than the burning on bottom, and we had to turn it off, clean it out and put the chicken back in and heat the rice on the stove because of the undercooked meat. First time ever adding rice with meat, and last. I’m sick, hubby made it and assured me he followed directions to the letter. He uses the pot a lot, he’s no newbie. So disappointed.

        Reply
  2. Sally

    September 8, 2019 at 5:23 PM

    Haven’t tried this yet, but would like to – just purchased an IP! Could wild rice be substituted for white rice? I’m grain free, and wild rice is a grass seed, not a grain, so would like to try it with this. Would the cooking time need to be increased if it is substituted?

    Reply
  3. Brian

    March 28, 2019 at 7:27 PM

    I tried this recipe but kept getting the burn notice.

    Reply
  4. ML

    September 22, 2018 at 8:03 PM

    Did you soak the rice first?

    Reply
  5. Laura

    July 31, 2018 at 7:08 PM

    I was so excited about this dish but the chicken was very undercooked at 8 minutes. I tried to cook another 2 minutes, but got a burn warning. What did I do wrong?

    Reply
    • Sondra

      July 11, 2020 at 2:15 PM

      What about slow cooker? Do you add everything without cooking at the same time in there amd how long? I thought somewhere I saw a slow cooker version of this at one point

      Reply
« Older Comments

Join the Conversation... Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Please read the comment policy.

Recipe Rating




Footer

  • Sitemap
  • Start Here
  • Comment Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Full Disclaimer
  • Promo Guidelines
  • Contact
Wellness Mama®
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
  • LinkedIn logo
  • YouTube logo
  • Instagram logo
  • Pinterest logo

Site Footer

The information on this website has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease.

By accessing or using this website, you agree to abide by the Terms of Service, Full Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosure, and Comment Policy. Content may not be reproduced in any form.

Ads provided by CafeMedia Family & Parenting Network. Displayed ads do not constitute endorsement or recommendation by Wellness Mama.

Copyright © 2006–2021 Wellness Mama® · All Rights Reserved · Sitemap