Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice

Easy Ninja Foodi pressure cooker chicken and rice recipe can be made in our Instant Pot or Crockpot Express too. The best classic Campbells creamy family favorite meal we love so much so that we have continued on with others like our Instant Pot Mexican Chicken and Rice too.

I love cooking everything together at once. Makes it easier on days when I am just spent and allows us to eat together more often which I appreciate as a mom, a total win win.

Instant Pot Chicken Breast and Rice

Adding vegetables to this quick and easy chicken recipe gives it great flavor, texture, and the more I include them in our dinners the more my kids like them. Of course you can omit if you wish. 😉

Seasoned with just some salt and black pepper, it’s so easy to throw together. I use frozen vegetables to make things easier. Now I generally use boneless skinless chicken breasts diced into bite size pieces. It’s the best way for this version, or our Instant Pot teriyaki chicken and rice dish.

with Thighs

If I find chicken thighs on sale I would use those instead. I find that thighs have more flavor and are more tender than the latter. I get lazy though and if bone-in is all I can find I will opt for whatever is boneless and a decent price. 

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice with Frozen Chicken

Frozen Chicken and Rice Instant Pot works too but has to be cut into very small bite size pieces beforehand. Those pieces need to be separated before adding too. In the event that this isn’t done you would need to first follow the directions in our frozen chicken in the Instant Pot. Drain liquid, chop up meat, and add begin directions below skipping the initial saute step since it is precooked.

If they are lumped together just run under cool water and break apart. If you add into one big clump the middle pieces won’t have enough time to cook all the way thru and that is important. As far as rice, I like Jasmine personally. It has a better texture than just the cheaper long grain version and less expensive than Basmati.

If you are totally opposed to adding vegetables, just leave those out. Only like frozen peas? Just add those and omit the others. Cheese is a really great add in but of course if you need it to be dairy free, then leave that out too.

If you have ever make this, the one you see here is very similar. BUT this is cooked in my Instant Pot so timing and a few more ingredients were added to it. I ate something similar A LOT growing up with everything just dumped in a pot on the stove top. I really loved it and was made often because it was cheap. Pretty healthy Instant Pot dinner recipe too.

Add any other spices you enjoy, I add just a few myself. If you want to use fresh green beans and baby bellas follow the directions here for our Instant Pot chicken mushroom casserole.

The first step is to add your meat and set to saute. All multi cookers have the function except some are labeled brown/saute instead. It is important that your meat is diced into bite size pieces so it cooks evenly and remains tender.

Pressure Cooker chicken and rice with cream of chicken soup

If you don’t have one of these multi cookers and are a busy mom I would HIGHLY recommend it. It’s a pressure cooker with 6 other functions so you can replace a lot of your other kitchen appliances too. I have a Crock Pot Express and Ninja Foodi. I use all three to make this. I’ve made lots of other dishes in my Instant Pot because it makes dinner time quick and easy.

Mine came out really well but several people had issues with them not cooking through. Or their pot did not reach pressure so I have revised this recipe.

Now the recipe reads with the chicken cut up into cubes so there shouldn’t be any issues any longer! A problem you may experience if you don’t follow the directions EXACTLY as they’re stated below is with the rice. Making Instant Pot white rice is the exception to this rule since there are no other ingredients other than water. 

At first I was intimidated because I had never used one before. Now that I’ve tinkered with it I use it every day and share new pressure cooker recipes each week. They are all yummy and super simple to do like this one.

Ingredient Notes

1. Cup of rice (not instant white rice, we like Jasmine rice)
2. Olive oil, use the good stuff (extra virgin)
3. Chicken breasts or you could use chicken thighs. If you want to use pork, you’d just need to dice small. Using precooked shredded chicken is possible too, just skip step 1 since it’s already cooked
4. Frozen vegetables are easiest, mixed, no defrosting necessary
5. Cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom could be used instead
6. Chicken broth or stock is best. You can use water but broth is so much better for this and our creamy Crock pot creamy chicken.
7. 1 – 1/2 cup Cheese (optional but so good, we like sharp cheddar). Season the chicken with salt and pepper and I do like some diced onion in their, either yellow or white.
8. Instant Pot or pressure cooker you’ll need. I have a 6 qt., I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot too!

I have used rotisserie chicken vs. raw chicken – just use 2 breasts and dice the chicken up, then skip the first step where the chicken is browned, just put it into the bottom of the pot . Add other vegetables and we have used are shared in our Instant Pot chicken broccoli rice recipe.

Below a quick step by step but I also have a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Put bite size chicken and diced onions into pot with some olive oil and set to saute. Cook outsides just enough so pink is gone (insides will still be raw and that is okay) Turn pot off now.

How to Cook Chicken and Rice in Instant Pot

• Sprinkle in seasoning, whisk together broth and can of cream of chicken soup together in a bowl – stir that in. Add frozen vegetables if you want at this time.
• Sprinkle in uncooked white rice but DO NOT stir in, just gently submerge into the liquid at the top.
• Close lid and steam valve and set to high for 9 minutes.
• Allow steam to release naturally for 3 minutes and then open steam valve to pressure release the rest of the way.
• If you do a quick release rice won’t be as perfectly tender.

I suggest the small natural release at the end to make the rice so tender and fluffy!  Chicken is always tender, flavorful, and who doesn’t love a one pot meal?? I haven’t made it with brown rice yet but others have, comments for that method are below.

FAQ

Can You Make Chicken and Rice Recipe with Noodles?

Yes!! If you want to make this using noodles instead of rice follow our pressure cooker chicken noodle casserole directions. Ready to make our cream of mushroom chicken and rice dish? Yes you can throw in quartered fresh mushrooms too!

Made with sausage

Add cheese now and stir so it melts (optional add in but it’s good). Serve topped with more cheese for added yumminess!! If you want to make this with a sausage link, try our Instant Pot sausage and rice recipe! Print the recipe below and enjoy!

Made in a slow cooker

Want to make crockpot chicken and rice?? We have done that too and is great to try both, though this one is faster. For both I modified the recipe I found here but adjusted some ingredients and the time as well for it to come out moist and ensuring the cooked rice was fluffy.

Other easy pressure cooker recipes with chicken you’ll love

• Cheesy Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole is a family favorite
  • Pressure cooker crack chicken casserole.
• Spicy honey Instant Pot chicken is a popular dinner idea
• Pressure cooker frozen whole chicken
•  White rice goes great with our Instant Pot spicy teriyaki chicken on top
• Find many other easy Instant Pot chicken recipes here

Want to make this in your Ninja Foodi too? Of course we’ve done that. The timing and high pressure isn’t any different. You use the lid that is not attached to cook and the pressure cook button.