I left the chicken thighs whole in this recipe, and I browned them on the sauté setting first. This locks in the juices and helps the chicken pre-cook a little.
Instant Pot chicken and rice Recipe
Instant Pot chicken and rice is a delicious and simple supper that you can make all in one pot. It is SO delicious and easy!
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (up to 1.5 pounds works)
- cooking spray (I used avocado oil spray, but a tablespoon of oil of your choice works)
- 3 small shallots diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves medium fresh garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked white jasmine rice rinsed and drained (Do NOT skip the rinsing. Rice will likely scorch if not rinsed!)
- 2 cups chicken stock or broth divided ( I use 1/4 cup for deglazing the pan)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped and divided (or 2 teaspoons dried)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Generously salt and pepper your chicken thighs.
- Using the sauté setting (normal level), preheat until the display reads "hot."
- Use tongs to put chicken in the pan (watch out for oil splatter!)
- Sear chicken thighs, 4 minutes on each side.
- Remove and set aside chicken on a plate.
- Add 1/4 cup broth to deglaze the pan, scrape the bits with a wooden spoon (do not skip this step!). If there are any stuck on spots, be sure and lift those away from the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Add shallot, mushroom and carrots, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add garlic, and continue to cook for another minute.
- Add remaining chicken stock, rice, thyme and stir together.
- Place the chicken thighs on top of the mixture, and do not stir them in.
- Place the lid on, and lock it, setting the valve to sealing.
- Cook on manual high pressure for 8 minutes, and allow the Instant Pot to release naturally (do not use the quick release lever) for 10 minutes. Quick release the remaining pressure.
- Once any remaining pressure is fully release, remove the lid carefully.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken, and stir the pot.
- Serve immediately.
- Do not skip rinsing the rice first! This will remove some of the starch, and will prevent scorching/ sticking to the bottom.
- Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
- I do not recommend using frozen chicken for this recipe.
- If you want to substitute types of rice, make sure the substitute you choose has a similar cook time to white jasmine rice (ex: White basmati should work well in this recipe.)
- If you are using very large chicken thighs, you may want to cut them in half. Just for reference, my thighs were about 4 thighs equaling 1 pound of weight (about 4 to 5 ounces each). It doesn't have to be exact, but I just wanted to give y'all a heads up, since I have seen some really huge thighs at the store (ex of huge: 2 thighs equaling 1 pound of weight).
Recipe adapted : Instant Pot chicken and rice @ apinchofhealthy