Instant Pot Southwestern Chicken and Rice! Throw everything in the instant pot and walk away. You’ll have a delicious, satisfying, healthy dinner 30 minutes later!
You really just throw everything in the instant pot and let it cook. It makes for a satisfying, healthy and budget-friendly meal with no clean-up.
Have you jumped on the Instant Pot train yet? I caved and bought one on cyber Monday when they were a smoking deal last November.
I know a lot of people who also bought an instant pot 2 weeks ago on Amazon Prime Day. Why is it so hard to pass up deals on Amazon?
All I know is I’m glad I made the leap and bought one. I use my instant pot all the time to make my favorite sprouted brown rice as well as quinoa to go with all kinds of dinners.
It also works great for any recipes where you’d usually use the slow-cooker.
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How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
This Slow-Cooker Moroccan Apricot Chicken turns out great in the instant pot!
You can use the saute function to brown everything and then select the slow-cooker function or cook it all in 30 minutes on high pressure. I love the versatility!
This Instant Pot Southwestern Chicken and Rice is my very favorite instant pot recipe to-date! When I showed my husband how easy it was to make his mind was blown.
Instant Pot Southwestern Chicken and Rice
I love making this with the sprouted brown rice I mentioned earlier. I also like eating this with tortilla chips, hot sauce and sharp cheddar.
The leftovers from this meal are delicious and highly coveted at my house.
You can also freeze any leftovers (see instructions in the recipe) for easy meals/lunches later.
If there is one recipe to convince you to buy an instant pot it should be this one. I’m planning on sharing more of my instant pot favorites regularly! For another favorite chicken recipe try this chicken fajita marinade!
FAQ
Can I use frozen chicken?
Yes frozen chicken will work great! Just be sure it does not exceed 1lb of frozen chicken. If you’re using 2 chicken breasts be sure they are frozen separate and not in one big clump. I find this works best with one large frozen chicken breast instead of 2.
Can I use white rice?
This recipe was designed for brown rice. It will burn if you use white rice and keep the cook time/liquid the same. The longer cook time is to insure the brown rice gets fully cooked. This is my favorite brown rice on Amazon!
Help! It burned on the bottom.
There can be a number of reasons for things burning in the instant pot. If you’ve used brown rice and not too much frozen chicken (white rice and too much frozen chicken can cause this to burn) if is probably because your instant pot didn’t seal correctly. Make sure the inner ring is clean and the valve is set “sealing”.
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Instant Pot Southwestern Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice I like using this Sprouted Brown Rice best
- 3/4 cup salsa any kind you like
- 15 oz can kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup frozen corn
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 chicken breasts about 1 pound
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- chips hot sauce and more cheese for serving
Instructions
- Place the brown rice, salsa, kidney beans, corn and chicken stock in the instant pot. Stir to combine.
- Nestle the chicken breasts (leave them whole so they won't get dry during cooking) down in the rice/liquid mixture. Sprinkle the chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and salt partly over the chicken and partly over the liquid/rice mixture. Spread out the spices and mix some in with the liquid with spoon. (This doesn't have to be precise. Just get some in with the rice and some on the chicken.)
- Secure the lid and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 24 minutes (select Manual and then dial up or down to get to the correctly number of minutes; the IP will start on it’s own).
- Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes and then quick release the rest of the pressure. Remove the chicken breasts and shred into bite-sized pieces. Fluff the rice with a fork and mix in the chicken and shredded cheese.
- Serve topped with cheese, hot sauce and chips for dipping. Enjoy!
If I dump fresh raw cucumbers and mushrooms in with the ingredients, would I need to adjust any part of this recipe (e.g., liquid amount, cook time, pressure release type, etc.)?
Would you advise on sauteeing first in pot before putting in other ingredients or do you think it would be fine if I just did a literal dump of all ingredients and cooked together?
I don’t think this would be good with cucumbers and mushrooms honestly! They would get mushy during cooking and wouldn’t go with the flavors.
If I do 1 cup of brown rice does it change the cook time? thanks.
Would black beans work in place of the kidney beans?
Yes that will work great!
Do I need to make any changes to double the recipe? Extra time?
Thanks!
I’ve heard several people double it and keep the cook time and everything else the same. Should work great!
I made this tonight. I didn’t have brown rice so I used white rice. After reading the reviews i decided to add extra stock in hopes to avoiding burning. It came out a little mushy but had great flavor and did not burn. This recipe is a keeper.
Thank you
I just tried this recipe and made some changes since I had different ingredients!
I didnt want to go to the store for the “exact” items and needed to have lunch done in less than an hour.
I used basmati rice, canned corn, canned black beans, chicken broth instead of stock, fresh garlic and fresh onions instead of the originally listed ingredients (…sorry). I also added an additional 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Everyone lived it!
The rice was slightly overcooked so my only recommendation would be to change the cooking time by 4 or 5 minutes when using basmati rice.
Thank you!
Made this for dinner tonight and it turned out perfectly. We served it with chips, fresh avocado, and cilantro. Thanks, great recipe.
So glad it turned out for you! 🙂
I just made this tonight for a friend get-together, and everyone loved it. I think I may have sold them on the wonders of pressure cookers too!
I’m so glad it worked out for you!
Can I make this with black beans instead of kidney beans.
I made this tonight in my IP.. my goodness, it was delicious! Nice and simple too. The chicken comes out tender. It burned to the bottom of the pot, I’ll try spraying some pam on the bottom next time. Thanks for the yummy recipe. I’m going to try your pumpkin steel oats next
If I take the rice out and lower the cook time will this recipe still work?
This recipe will not work without the rice. The liquid ratio would be all off.
Hi, I tried to make this, it burned. I used white rice, would that have been the issue? Thank You
This happens to almost everyone who tries to make it with white rice. White rice absorbs the water too quickly and doesn’t need such a long cook time. This recipe was tested and designed to be used with brown rice.
I can only get my family to eat white minute rice, and after reading through all the comments I know better than to use it… if i were to omit the rice all together, what would be the proper cooking time? Thanks so much – looks delicious!
Hmmm I don’t think this would work with no rice at all. The cooking time and liquid ratio would be way off. Sorry about that!
Hi Erin,
Excited to try this recipe tonight! Could I use black beans instead of kidney beans? Would I need to adjust anything if I did so?
Thanks!
That will work and should be an easy swap! You can keep everything else the same.
Can you suggest a ratio of rice/broth if we would like to reduce the amount of rice in the recipe to 3/4-1 cup or rice? Would the cook time have to change?
Thank you!
This was amazing ! I followed the recipe exactly. Everyone loved it!
Anyone have any experience just adding more chicken and leaving the recipe otherwise the same?