Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Our Instant Pot creamy chicken and rice recipe is delicious! Use raw or rotisserie chicken and Rice a Roni for dinner! Like Campbells casserole but made faster, without cream of chicken soup.

I was experimenting as usual and came up with this fun meal. It was meant to be chicken and wild rice soup but it came out much thicker and creamier than I had intended. Actually, we all agreed it was perfection, so I thought I’d share it with all of you! Listed as one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes we hope you like it too.

Ninja Foodi Creamy Chicken and Rice

If you want to use this pot you see here you use the lid that is not attached and the pressure button on the front of the machine. Nothing else changes. There is no need to use the lid that is attached on your Ninja Foodi for this one.

It is a family favorite meal because you can make the side dish and main protein all in one pot. Use dark or white meat, whatever you have on hand or you prefer. Love veggies too? You could add 3/4 of a cup of frozen mixed vegetables into the mix as well! If you loved our Crockpot creamy chicken but want it faster this is it.

Looking for chicken rice casserole with no soup with no can needed, this is it! Many recipes call for cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom and those can be tricky when you pressure cook.

We actually made something similar years ago. It wasn’t quite as dump and go as this one and used white rice instead of boxed. BUT if you want to make pressure cooker chicken and rice without the creamy part we have directions for that too. Some used brown rice with this method and had luck.

Ingredient Notes

Chicken should be boneless skinless breasts or thighs cut into bite size pieces. Leftover chicken or rotisserie diced into small pieces works too in this case really.

Chicken broth adds more flavor than water so I do recommend this but you could opt for beef or vegetable stock instead.

For the grains believe or not we used a box of Rice a Roni chicken or wild rice versions!! If you never made rice a roni in Instant Pot before you are in for a treat. This is yet a heartier version.

Olive oil or avocado oil is necessary to saute initially real quick if you use raw meat. If meat is precooked or leftovers you can leave this out.

As for seasonings I added in a bit of Basil and parsley, black pepper optional.

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream is added if you want to make it creamy at the end. Without it follow our Instant Pot cheesy chicken and rice recipe instead. Cooking time is quick after you throw everything in and set to high pressure!

Can you add vegetables?

Yellow or white Onion diced adds flavor and texture in a cheap ways but is optional. Another vegetable that I sometimes add is diced up carrots and celery. Since it is cooked at high pressure they all get super soft so kids usually don’t notice they are in there. You could use a cup of frozen vegetables too.

Chicken and Rice Casserole with Frozen Chicken

If all you have are frozen breasts or thighs that is okay. You would first want to separate them from one another. You can do this by running them under cool water to break apart. Then follow our frozen chicken in Instant Pot directions to cook initially. Remove, dice, drain water and continue on with the below recipe without sauteeing first.

Tips

Make sure you quick release right when it is done. A natural release will make the rice quite mushy. Keep in mind this is a casserole style dish so the rice is creamy and very soft. If you like it a bit firmer then use precooked meat and set to 20 minutes with a quick pressure release at the end. 1/4 cup parmesan cheese could be stirred in at the end for EXTRA creaminess too!

This is what it looks like once you add the cream though. It continues to thicken as it sits. If you want to thin it out just add some water but we loved it as is. It’s now been added to our favorite June recipes you should try. Other recipes you should try after making our Instant Pot chicken and rice casserole

Substitutions

I used leftover smoked beer can chicken we had for the protein. This is a great leftover chicken recipe I tell you. I hate wasting food so I love having a few of these in my back pocket in order to use everything up.

We make a lot of Instant Pot casseroles because everyone just seems to love them. With all the veggies, meat and either rice or noodles together it’s a one pot meal.

Other easy family friendly meals you’ll love

Green chile rice is amazing with some chicken thrown inside. Make our pressure cooker sausage rice casserole in your pressure cooker too. Creamy chicken breasts in your Instant Pot. If you want Instant Pot cream of mushroom rice that is fantastic too.

Now if you do not want to add a grain or carb in with your meat we do have a recipe without that in our Instant Pot creamy chicken recipe here. Great if you would rather have it on top of egg noodles instead or don’t have rice on hand.