Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is incredibly delish and ready in … well, an instant. Tender shredded chicken and rice in a creamy mushroom sauce is the ultimate one pot comfort food!
When you are looking to get a delicious comforting meal on the table, let Instant Pot Chicken and Rice come to your rescue. There has been so much love on my 4 Ingredient Chicken Rice Casserole (um because it’s super amazing) but I’ve also had tons of requests to make it into an IP meal… so here we are! (If you’re new to the Instant Pot, start here).
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Casserole
Not only is it quick and filling, it’s absolutely delicious! This easy chicken and rice recipe uses ingredients you likely have on hand already; white rice, skinless boneless chicken breasts, and a few veggies. Toss it all in the Instant Pot for the perfect quick casserole recipe!
Tips for Fluffier Rice
White rice has a tendency to get overly sticky, especially when cooked in a casserole with other ingredients. To prevent this happening, you can rinse your rice first to remove most of the excess starch. (This step is optional).
How to Make Fluffier Rice:
- Fill a bowl with cold water and swish the rice around until the water turns cloudy.
- Discard the water and repeat the process 2-3 times, until the water washes clear.
- Drain rice in a strainer.
How to Make Chicken and Rice (Instant Pot)
This chicken and rice recipe is super easy, but be sure to add ingredients in order for the best results (and to avoid the dreaded “burn” notification on the IP). Here’s all it takes to get this 30 minute meal on the table:
- In order, add mushrooms, onion, rice and chicken to the Instant Pot.
- Top with chicken broth and finally put the mushroom soup on top.
- Set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 10 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle is done, let the Instant Pot depressurize naturally for 10 minutes. Release any remaining pressure.
- Remove the chicken. Stir the rice and mushrooms.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken. Stir back into the rice and serve.
Once cooked you may notice some liquid on top of the rice. Remove the chicken to shred and stir this into the rice. The Instant Pot is hot and it will continue to absorb while shredding the chicken.
More Instant Pot Meals
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup – Hug in a bowl.
- Instant Pot Beef Stew – Classic stew recipe!
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos (Pressure Cooker)
- Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese – Personal favorite!
- Instant Pot Ribs – Crazy good and tender!
Broccoli Lovers Rejoice
Just like in our favorite Crockpot Chicken and Rice or stovetop version, we love to add veggies to this recipe! One alternative version of this recipe is an Instant Pot chicken broccoli and rice casserole. If you want to try it, keep in mind that broccoli is really quite a delicate vegetable, and cooks super fast. It’s really easy to overcook broccoli into a mush, especially in the Instant Pot. So if you’re making this variation, make steamed broccoli separately and then add it in just before serving.
Cheese Please
If you want to up the comfort quotient on this dish even more, try cheesy chicken and rice! For this variation follow these steps:
- Grate 8 oz. of extra sharp cheddar, or your favorite cheese, or use packaged, pre-shredded cheese.
- After shredding the chicken, add a couple handfuls of cheese to the Instant Pot and stir.
- Or sprinkle grated cheese over the top and melt under the broiler until the cheese bubbles and browns slightly.
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh mushrooms sliced
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 3 chicken breasts 7-8 oz each
- 1 ¾ cups low sodium chicken broth or water
- 10 ounces cream of mushroom soup condensed
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Grease inside of a 6QT instant pot. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste. Rinse rice under cool water until the water runs clear.
- In order add mushrooms, onion, rice, chicken breasts to the Instant Pot.
- Pour broth over chicken breasts. Spread mushrooms soup overtop of chicken breasts. Do not stir.
- Set instant pot to MANUAL. Choose HIGH PRESSURE for 10 minutes. (The Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to reach pressure).
- Once completed, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 10 minutes. Release any remaining pressure.
- Open the Instant Pot and remove chicken. Stir rice and mushrooms. Shred chicken and return to rice and mix well.
- Garnish with parsley if desired and serve.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I have had stomach issues for a week and just finished nothing but clear liquids and then the brat diet for 2 days. This was bland enough for my first meal and it was delicious! My husband enjoyed it too. He said it tasted like my homemade chicken and dumplings. Easy to make and didn’t wear me out. Also 106° outside and I didn’t have to heat up the kitchen! Win, win chicken dinner!
Can I use cream of chicken soup instead of mushroom
Absolutely! You can use any cream of soup in this recipe and it should work just fine. Enjoy Hillary!
Hi,
Do the leftovers freeze well?
Thanks
J
I haven’t tried freezing this but it should work just fine. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Can this recipe be converted to crockpot pot instructions , not a different recipe but directions to make it in a crockpot please .
Hi Maureen, I haven’t tried this exact recipe in the Crock Pot, but I do have a similar chicken and rice crock pot recipe here. I hope this helps!
Tried this recipe back when my daughter was busy high schooler – saved us many times between softball, karate, school club activities, and both parents working full time. Nothing fancy, common ingredients always on hand, and quick! Now daughter is junior in college (WHAT???) and she still loves this when she comes home to visit! I may or may not be known to have traveled 10+ hours with the pressure cooker to college campus to make this very recipe…
Hello, is there any alternative way of creating this recipe without the instant pot
We make this chicken and rice casserole in the oven or this one with chicken and wild rice.
I just made this for a quick lunch for my husband and I working from home on a snowy Friday, and it’s so yummy! I added broccoli florets and wish I’d added some sweet corn, but will next time. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
Hey thanks for all the awesome recipes! You the real mvp! Will this recipe work with frozen chicken breast? Tysm
I would recommend thawing them first Jo, but other readers have had success using frozen chicken.
This turned out GREAT! I did make a few changes…..
1) I doubled the recipe.
2) I used FROZEN chicken breast tenderlions(shredded it with my mixer)
3) I used 1 can of cream of mushroom and 1 can of cream of celery. I also used chicken broth instead of water.
4) I used dried onions and jar minced garlic.
5) Cooked for 14 min.and it came out perfect. IT WASN’T MUSHY AT ALL!
4) Threw in a cup of peas and carrots.
I had worked late and needed to throw something together quickly and the was perfect.
Hi, what if the chicken breasts are frozen?
I would recommend thawing it first Ann, but other readers have had success using frozen chicken.
I don’t suppose you’d know how much time I’d need if I were to use brown rice, do you?
Hi Jeff, we have not made this recipe with brown rice so I can’t say for sure. Other readers have tried and mentioned it does require a few extra minutes to fully cook the brown rice though. Hope that helps.
This will be my first attempt using an instant pot. Fingers crossed.
Constant burn notices when made as directed. I kept adding more water to try to get it to not burn. Eventually I gave up, threw it on the stove top and added enough water to make it a stew and simmered it as such. Super disappointing. I don’t know how this recipe has such good reviews.
That’s so disappointing Ken. Sounds like you salvaged dinner at least. We made this recipe multiple times before publishing and loved it. We add the ingredients as listed in the recipe which helps to prevent the burn notice and used a 6QT instant pot. Using a different size instant pot can affect this recipe! I hope that helps.
If my family is not a fan of mushrooms can I sub corn? If so how much would you suggest, thanks!
I have only tried this as written so I can’t say for sure how it would work out.
We love this recipe! I also have subbed the condensed soup for beef gravy and used stew meet with mushrooms and carrots. Or another is condensed cheddar cheese soup with broccoli and carrots. This is a great recipe to modify for your families preferences. Just keep your ratios. I use jasmine or basmati rice and never had an issue with mushy rice.
I loved this recipe! I did make some minor adjustments though based on others comments and my own preferences. Here are my changes:
1. I cut the mushrooms into smaller chunks, mostly because I don’t like to eat big chunks of mushrooms.
2. I also added a couple cloves of garlic (minced) because you can never go wrong with garlic.
3. The big thing I did though was based on comments about the rice being mushy I decided to do the pot in pot method for cooking the rice. Basically, I didn’t add the layer of rice to the main mix but used a trivet and put rice in water in a container above on the trivet (I did a 1-1 ratio for water and rice). This works out well because 10 minutes is the perfect amount of time for cooking the rice above, whereas 10 minutes directly in the instant pot is too long.
One thing I would change is that I like a lot of rice compared to the amount of chicken in a recipe, so next time I’ll make it with more rice (and another can of soup for moisture).
All in all, the recipe had great flavor and was super simple! I will definitely be making this again soon.
I love your suggestion Sarah and I’m going to give it a try. Thank you for sharing!
I made this exactly as written and I wanted to love it but like some of the others, the rice was mush. I rinsed it really well.
I haven’t had luck with rice in the Instant Pot.
Chicken was tender though!
I loved this recipe and I’ve made it before using another recipe. Every time the rice is mushy. How can I fix that problem. Does anyone have any hints or tips?
We haven’t had problems with mushy rice for this recipe Kris. Enjoy it!
I would recommend trying the pot in pot (PIP) method where you use a trivet and put the rice in a separate container at the top with equal amounts of water. Do the same cooking time and once it’s done dump the rice in the mixture. It makes a couple extra dishes (though I always use the rice dish to store leftovers) but I didn’t have mushy rice.
Great suggestion Jenny, thank you!
Delicious! How would I adjust this recipe for an IP 3qt. Mini? I have destroyed almost everything I’ve made in this thing. A friend brought this dish for lunch yesterday and I loved it so much I’m willing to try again
So glad you love this chicken and rice Karen! I have only made this recipe as written, but maybe another reader has tried it in a 3 quart and can offer some suggestions.
Would it be possible to adapt this recipe for the IP mini 3L to serve 1 person?
I haven’t cooked in the IP mini but I do think it would work. I would suggest consulting the manual to get an idea of ratios.
10/10 – my whole family absolutely loved this!
I have a 8l instant pot so just adjusted slightly by adding 2 cups of broth and it was perfect. No burn message and the chicken was cooked to perfection.
I also added a knob of butter on top of the rice, and marinated the chicken breasts for half an hour beforehand with a chicken marinade. Beautiful!
Wonderful recipe that I will absolutely be using again!! Thank you!!