This Instant Pot Chicken and Yellow Rice recipe will have you screaming “WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER”!
It’s so easy and convenient when you have zero time to cook and need dinner on the table fast. Bonus points, one pot clean up. Yipee! And that’s why the IP is one of my top gifts for the modern mama and simple for making chicken breast in the instant pot.
Update – I gave in and ordered a 6 Quart Instant Pot on Amazon Prime Day (this a link to the one that I use for this recipe) earlier this month and have successfully cooked this Instant Pot Chicken and Yellow Rice recipe at least once a week.
Because cooking chicken breast in the instant pot is pretty amazing and life changing. I’m one of those people that wait until the last minute to decide what’s for dinner. Enter Instant Pot and more Instant Pot Chicken Breast recipes. Woot woot!
How long to cook chicken breast in Instant Pot?
For this recipe, the chicken breasts will cook for 25 minutes. Always make sure to refer to the recipe card for chicken breast cooking time in the Instant Pot. Watch our recipe video for visual prep instructions and tips!
How to cook frozen chicken in Instant Pot?
Exact cook time will depend on the thickness of the chicken breast. When I use frozen chicken breasts, I generally cook them for about 12 minutes. To ensure they’re cooked through, they should be at least 165 degrees F.
The Instant Pot is also my new favorite way to cook shredded chicken. You’ve gotta try my Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe. Seriously though, theres nothing better than tossing frozen (or fresh chicken breast) into this nifty kitchen gadget and having chicken for days! Goodbye slow cooker, hello Instant Pot.
Why I love my Instant Pot?
My old stove top pressure cooker died a few years back. I always enjoyed using it but I just never replaced it. It wasn’t a kitchen essential in my book and was somewhat scary to use. That is, until I met the Instant Pot. I love this appliance because it’s more than just an electric pressure cooker…
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it’s a slow cooker
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rice cooker
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yogurt maker
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steamer
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has a sauté and warm function
And it’s actually pretty intuitive to use, thank goodness!
One of the big pros is that you can sauté in the pot. Have you ever wanted to sauté up your veggies or brown your meat before tossing it into the slow cooker?? My hand is raised high.
I would generally skip that step in the name of NOT DOING THE DISHES even though I know that is what helps to lock in the flavor on pot roasts and develops more depth in dishes that call for onions.
Also because of the fact that I hate dishes. So the IP now saves my life.
I’m definitely a minimal dish type of gal because, honestly, the last thing I want to do after a long day is wash a bunch of dishes!
And I’m thanking my friend Jo for making this Cajun Vegetable Rice and convincing me to Amazon Prime this IP.
In case you were wondering how to use all that shredded chicken on hand, check out this post for 10 Ways To Use Shredded Chicken for Easy Weeknight Meal
Can’t wait to see what all I come up with using my Instant Pot! Stay tuned.
If you need an Instant Pot this is the one that I recommend and use!
More IP Chicken Breast Recipes:
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Instant Pot Chicken and Yellow Rice
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
This Instant Pot Chicken and Yellow Rice will have you screaming winner winner chicken dinner. It’s so easy and convenient when you have zero time to cook and need dinner on the table fast. Bonus points, one pot clean up. Yipee!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, small diced (1 cup chopped or 160g)
- 2 cups brown basmati rice (363g)
- 1 3/4 cup 33% reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup thinly sliced fresh carrots (150g)
- 1 cup frozen peas (146g)
- 1 cup frozen corn (141g)
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp saffron
- 1 teaspoon packed fresh oregano leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon thick crystal kosher or sea salt (divided)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (divided)
- 1.25 pounds raw chicken breast
Instructions
- Using 6 qt Instant Pot, turn on to SAUTE mode on NORMAL heat. Heat olive oil and sauté onions until translucent, 3 minutes. Press CANCEL to turn off Instant Pot.
- Add broth and brown rice to the pot and mix with onions. Stir in carrots, frozen peas, frozen corn, turmeric, saffron, oregano, bay leaf and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. IMPORTANT: Stir the rice and veggies to make sure to fully incorporate vegetables with the rice.
- Arrange chicken breasts on top of rice mixture; season with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- IMPORTANT: Push chicken down into the rice with some veggies on top of the chicken.
- Secure lid on Instant Pot, and turn nozzle to SEALING. Cook on MANUAL setting with HIGH PRESSURE for 25 minutes.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: It takes 15 minutes for this dish to reach pressure!! Don’t worry, it will get there.
- Once time is up, allow pressure to go into KEEP WARM mode for 10 minutes to allow the pressure to release some naturally. Then press CANCEL on the Instant Pot and twist the steam release handle on the lid to the VENTING position.
- Once steam has released and fully depressurized, open Instant Pot lid to shred the chicken and gently fluff into the rice mixture with a fork. Be sure not to “overmix” chicken and rice mixture. Carefully remove the inner pot to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom. Serve warm.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 recipe
- Calories: 424
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 533mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1mg
- Trans Fat: Og
- Carbohydrates: 66g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 34g
- Cholesterol: 55mg
Keywords: instant pot chicken recipes, ip chicken, ip chicken breast recipes
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Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links to products we believe in, which means that even though it doesn’t cost you anything extra, Love & Zest will receive a small amount of money from the sale of these items.
Hi I’m Kristina LaRue, RD (registered dietitian nutritionist), Peloton addict and mama to two active and hungry boys. On Love & Zest, you’ll find healthy-ish recipes that fuel the whole family. I’m all about veggie-filled breakfast, meal prep recipes, healthier sweets, and easy weeknight dinners made in the Instant Pot or sheet pan.
Did you make one of my recipes?? Leave a review in the comments and tag @loveandzest #loveandzest on Instagram!
If you’re a modern mama– I’d love for you to join my Facebook group A Modern Motherhood Collective!
This looks so good! I love that it is made in an instant pot! My family is going to love it!
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I love this combo so much! I’m already noticing the days getting shorter and the need to get dinner on the table faster. Isn’t it interesting how much the sun has an affect on our schedules and sense of time? Adding this to my weeknight dinner repertoire because it looks hearty but also healthy for fall! Thanks!
Wow, this looks so yummy and so easy! I need to get an instant pot asap!
I really need to get an Instapot to make delicious looking recipes like yours! This looks great!
I just got an instant pot and my friend has been hounding me to make recipes to share with her. We’ll be meal planning this week and I can’t wait to add this recipe to the rotation!
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High five to the Instant Pot! I still don’t have one yet but I am slowly considering it. These one pot meals are a life saver and this one looks delicious!
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I’ve finally been getting some use out of my instant pot and I’m in love with it! It’s making meal prep so much easier. We’re gonna try this recipe ASAP!
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I really need to get an instant pot! Seeing such tasty recipes like this one always makes me question myself why on earth I do not have one yet! Yellow rice is favourite in our house, and your version looks so delicious!
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I guess we are the only one left without an instant pot 🙂 . The recipe seems great, though, full of flavors!
This looks like a great weeknight dinner that would make everyone happy at the table! I am loving your beautiful pictures on the blog!
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I love yellow rice and the combo sounds amazing! This looks so delicious. Will try this recipe soon.
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Instant pot club for life! I love how easy it is to make delicious meals like this with a little bit of everything. Chicken, veggies, rice…this is a crowd pleaser!
This was just ok. The color was great but flavor wasn’t too exciting. I used white rice (to satisfy picky kids) and the instant pot had the “burn” error on it. It came to pressure but didn’t seem to do a good job on the chicken which was bland and tough. I may try a version of this that seasons the chicken in a rub for a few hours before making, and adding some garlic and other herbs for better flavor. The rice did get a little brown on the bottom and technically burned but not to ruin the dish. It was just so-so.
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Made this recipe twice with great succes! Once with basmati brown rice, the other with regular brown rice. The water content from the chicken, frozen peas, and frozen corn was enough to make up the difference in liquid. Be sure to mix the rice and frozen veggies together to prevent any rice from sticking to the bottom!
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SO good to know that you tried with different types of rice and it worked great. Thanks for the helpful comment.
Delicious recipe! I followed this recipe exactly – not subbing, adding or leaving anything out – and it came out perfectly!! Instant pot recipes maybe aren’t the time to play iron chef in the kitchen. 🙂 follow the recipe and it’s a family pleasure for sure!!
Thanks Layne! SO happy that you enjoyed the recipe girl.
Do you know if this works with bone-in breasts? I love using bone in for the extra flavor.
I haven’t tried but would be careful if a bone fell out into the rice it may be hard to find. Wouldn’t want someone to choke.
Ugh…I wish I would have read the comments before starting. I followed the instructions exactly and ended up with the lovely “burn” message on the instant pot. I realized after the mess that you stated in the comments that you use a 3 qt, I really think you should make that more prominent in your directions as most recipes are for the 6 or 8 qt. So thankfully I have 2 IP’s and I transferred what I could salvage and put it in the other one and hoping it turns out edible. after adding additional liquid. Other than that I’m hoping it tastes good the recipe does look amazing!
oh gee. I hate that happened to you. I just added a video to this recipe so check that out to see if there are any details in there that are helpful. I read through the comments and it looks like the 3qt comment was from a reader. I actually use a 6qt instant pot and I made that note in the recipe (thank you for the suggestion to specify that). One of my friends told me she used her 3qt IP with the exact recipe here and it turned out great for them so I’m not sure what happened. I know sometimes cooking rice/pasta in the IP can be finicky. I’ve made this recipe so many times and tried to be super specific and detailed in the recipe to help with troubleshooting, and we also added the video for that reason too. 🙂
Where do you get the pot
★★★★
I got my Instant Pot on amazon 🙂
Tried to make this in my 6 quart instant pot and it was by far the worst instant pot recipe I’ve tried. I restarted it three different times, adding more water each time, because each time it started the countdown without creating any steam at all or ever coming to pressure. By the time I gave up I had 3.5 cups of water in it. Rice on the bottom was completely burned fast while the rice on the top was still dry.
Hm, I made this recipe exactly as directed, using exact ingredients, and it burned to the bottom of my IP and never came to pressure, just started counting down and the rice was hard and chicken uncooked. Smelled great though. I salvaged it in other ways but was disappointed- and had to scrub my IP for 15 minutes 🙁
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I made this last night and used the basmati rice, with the 1 3/4 cups chicken broth and all other ingredients and it didn’t have any flavor, but it did look beautiful. However…the bottom was burnt? What went wrong? I did use Turmeric Powder? Is that why? My family loves yellow rice, I was really excited about this recipe, because I love the basmati rice.
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Mine burnt on the bottom too but tasted wonderful
Hey curious– did you happen to use long grain brown rice or brown basmati rice?
Used brown basmati rice and added a little extra liquid and still got “burn” notice within 10 minutes of cooking… bummed.
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Oh that is a bummer. Guessing you used a full cup of all the veggies as it calls for in the recipe, right? I did post a “how to” video on my Instagram account, if you want to check it out.
I’m not sure if it has been modified but the 1 3/4 cup (1 can) of chicken broth is perfect! I like the idea of adding some bell peppers, I have to try that next time!
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Hey Amanda– sorry about that! The recipe was updated a week or so after it posted last year bc it had a typo. However I’m guessing the original pinterest image doesn’t update :/ if you found this post though pinterest.
Just made this. I had some yellow rice so I used that instead of making it with the brown rice. I will do that next time.
Chicken was tender and shredded easily. The rice and carrots were over cooked. Carrots not too bad but the rice was mushy. I like my rice slightly dry. It did end up NPR for 19 minutes instead of 15 minutes. I got tied up and let it go over. Maybe that’s why. I will definitely do it one more time. Any ideas as to what happened?