Instant Pot Chicken Breast and Rice – Spanish Style dish cooked in 10 minutes from scratch!
Chicken and Rice is a recipe with so many variations in both ingredients and cooking methods. Unlike my baked Chicken and Rice Casserole (I shared the recipe with you some time ago), this time it is all about the method. I used my electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) to make this quick and easy meal.
This type of weeknight dinner is often made in a slow cooker (Crock Pot). I know that slow cookers are very popular and they do have certain advantages, but somehow I prefer to use pressure cooker. In my opinion, pressure cooker has two major advantages over slow cooker:
1) you can saute/brown in the same pot,
2) the dish cooks in minutes instead of hours.
They say that slow cooker is for lazy people, while pressure cooker is for impatient people. I’m definitely impatient! I don’t understand why would I wait for a dish to cook for 6 hours if it can be made in 30 minutes? I’ve seen recipes for Hot Chocolate made in slow cooker which took 2 hours to make. Two hours!?! And you can make it on your stovetop in 5 minutes!
On top of that, the quality as well as texture of ingredients is more preserved with pressure cooking.
All in all, I’m very satisfied with the way my Instant Pot Chicken Breast and Rice turned out. I can hardly wait to do it again!
Click “Play” button to see complete step-by-step process video:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups (1 lb; 500 g) chicken breast, cubed
- salt , pepper, thyme, oregano, a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 onion , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , choped
- 1 cup peas , fresh or frozen (or any other vegetables you like)
- 1/2 cup red bell peppers , cut into stripes
- 1 1/2 cup long-grain rice (I used parboiled)
- 1/8 tsp safron , steeped in 3 Tbsp warm water
- 2 cups chicken broth
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Season chicken breast cubes with salt, pepper, dry thyme, dry oregano and some cayenne pepper (if using).
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Press "Sauté" button on your Instant Pot. Pour olive oil into the pot. When it heats up, add seasoned chicken and stir until it changes color.
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Add onion and garlic and continue cooking until wilted, stirring from time to time.
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Add all other ingredients. Cover and lock the lid. Press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button on the Instant Pot to stop sauteing process. Press the "Multigrain" button to begin the pressure cooking, then "Adjust" button to set it to 10 minutes.
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When cooking is finished, press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button to stop the pot from switching to the “Keep Warm” mode. Allow the pressure to release naturally (it will take about 15 minutes).
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Open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve garnished with chopped cilantro or parsley and stuffed olives (optional).
Recipe Video
More chicken and rice recipes:
Oven Baked Chicken Skewers and Rice
So you’re saying that using your sponsors super duper ” instant pot ” this will take around 25- 30 minutes from start to finish
I can Cook it in a pan on the drive in roughly the sane time OR MAYBE A LITTLE LESS
Its no great time saver
No, this is not a sponsored post. I’m not affiliated with any company and I don’t work with any sponsors at all. I just shared my experience, that’s all.
Great as usual ! Delicate and profound photography in every single detail ! Thank you so much !
Very efficient method of cooking. Hope to get an instant pot in the future.
Does anyone know if it takes longer using regular long grain rice (not parboiled)
I’ve found on this site really useful chart for pressure cooking various rice varieties:
Rice Pressure Cooking Times & Liquid Ratios.
Took more than 10 minutes though, but the effort was worth it. I literally licked my plate. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. 🙂
Different types of rice need different cooking time. It is all trial and error until you find perfect time for your favorite rice type.