Instant Pot Garlic Herb Chicken and Rice

This Instant Pot Chicken and rice is a wholesome dinner that the entire family will love. Garlic Herb Chicken and Rice made in the Instant Pot results in fluffy buttery rice and Juicy Chicken thighs.

I am really obsessed with this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe. This Garlic Herb Chicken and rice have so much flavour in it from the butter, lots of garlic and herbs.

Crispy Juicy Chicken thigh with perfectly seasoned rice is one of those family-friendly recipes that you can make on any day. It is easy, healthy and made in an Instant pot in just about 15 minutes.

It turned out to be perfect with amazing flavours.  If you ask me, there is nothing like a one-pot Chicken and rice dish. It is always filling and satisfying.  You can easily double the recipe for a larger crowd.

I have been exploring my new Instant Pot in every possible way. So far I am really loving the pressure cooker. After trying Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry, I tried making rice in the Instant Pot. Cooking rice in the instant pot is easy with an amazing result.

So, what was the result that simply wowed me? Perfect grains of rice every single time. A person like me who has been eating rice all her life was very happy with the result.

How to cook rice in the Instant Pot?

Cooking rice in the Instant Pot is easy. Rice to water ratio and the right timing is the key to perfect rice.

I cook rice in a pressure cooker or using the “cook and drain” method. When cooking rice in an open pot and drain the extra liquid you don’t need to worry about the rice to water ratio.

Because once the rice is cooked, you drain excess water. On the other hand, cooking rice in a pressure cooker needs an exact rice-water ratio.

To cook perfect rice below are a few tips

• Wash rice under running tap, until water runs clear.
• Measure water. As a general rule for every part of rice, you need two parts of water(1:2). But while cooking in Instant Pot because there is no evaporation of water, the amount of water you would need is less. The rice to water ratio would be 1:1.5
• Always add rice to warm water.
• While water is warming up, soak rice for 10 – 15 minutes.

These tips are for regular white rice, long grain Basmati rice and Brown rice. But rice varieties are not only limited to this. With my 20 years of experience in cooking rice, these few tips have always worked for me. But cooking perfect rice also depends on the quality of rice.

If the rice is of the starchy kind, you will have to adjust the quantity of water and time. The age of the rice grain also determines the end result. The older/aged the grain, the better it turns out.

Instant Pot Chicken And Rice With Butter, Garlic & Herbs

Making Chicken and rice in Instant Pot is easy and convenient. No need for cleaning multiple pans or spending hours in the kitchen. Make it in the instant pot from start to finish in just 20 minutes.

Start with seasoning Chicken. Seasoning Chicken well and browning helps in developing flavour. I have used chicken thighs but you can also use chicken breast instead.

Next is to caramelize onion and a lot of garlic in butter, which again adds lots of flavours. You can use  Olive oil instead of butter, but believe me, it will not be the same. So for once keep your worries about calories aside and use butter.

I have used a mix of herbs Oregano, thyme and parsley. But you can use any of your favourite herbs.

Using Chicken Stock instead of water makes the flavour robust.  Use water or a mix of water and stock instead.

How Long To Cook Rice In The Instant Pot?

Then comes the important part, cooking time. You could use a pre-set option for cooking rice. But I prefer cooking it in manual mode, by setting a timer.

After a lot of trial and error, I settled on 8 mins of high-pressure cooking and 10 minutes of natural pressure release.

While sauteing the instant pot heats up. And because of using soaked rice and warm stock, the overall cooking time reduces significantly. The Instant Pot goes to full high-pressure mode quickly.

Once you set the manual mode on and close the lid, it takes about 4-5 minutes to build pressure. And then the countdown begins. You would see no air coming out of the valves.

After 8 minutes the Instant Pot goes to standby mode. Switch it off and let it release pressure naturally for 10 minutes.  Then realise pressure manually, using the back of a spatula.

I know once you open the lid, it is very tempting to scoop out the rice. But if you are not in a hurry you can let it rest for 10 minutes after opening the lid and then using a slotted spoon or fork separate the grain gently. Using a fork or a slotted spoon helps in keeping each grain of rice separately.

Avoiding Burn Notification While Cooking In Instant Pot?

Getting burn notice while cooking on an instant pot is quite annoying, especially while you have a hungry family to feed. I have made this chicken and rice in the instant pot multiple times without any issue.

First of all, every time the pot is giving a burn notice doesn’t mean something has burned. It might be an indication that the bottom layer of the pot has some brown bits stuck. So it is very important to deglaze the pot to release any brown patches from the bottom. Like in the above recipe, Stock is added to deglaze the pan.

Another reason for the burn notice could be because of very little liquid in the pot. In the recipe, the amount of stock is enough for the chicken. Also when the chicken thigh gets cooked it releases liquid.

The last reason could be the Inner pot is very hot, while setting it to manual high-pressure mode. In this recipe, first chicken thighs are being sauteed followed by onion and garlic. If you tend to get frequent burn notifications in your IP, then after you saute the chicken thighs, switch off the IP and let it cool down a bit. Then again switch to saute mode and start cooking onion and garlic.

One of the readers has to say

Lauren says

March 17, 2019 at 4:03 am

I got the burn notice too. Followed the recipe exactly. Bit I’ve been reading that perhaps the newer pots are triggering the burn notice more easily. It’s very frustrating. Next time I’ll try with a half cup more broth.

• Lauren says

  March 17, 2019 at 4:41 am

  Update! The burn notice happened about 4 minutes after it came to pressure.so I let it sit until it naturally released, maybe 25 minutes. When I opened it, it was cooked perfectly. So good! There was a small scorched area, which caused the burn notice, but it was easily avoided. I really do think the new pots are getting too hot, and particularly in one spot. Have a 6-quart Ultra, purchased last fall. I get the burn notice with many recipes.

What The Readers Are Saying About This Recipe?

So many have tried making this Chicken and Rice in the Instant Pot. It makes me so happy to read through the feedback.

Val says

June 12, 2019 at 12:14 am

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