Instant Pot Chicken and Brown Rice
Sometimes you need a simple dinner made with frozen chicken breasts. When I don’t have thawed chicken, I often make this Instant Pot Chicken and Brown Rice.
Why do you use brown rice?
You want to use brown rice because it takes much longer to cook than white rice. If you used white rice, it would be overcooked by the time the chicken breasts are cooked.
What kinds of brown rice?
I have used several different kinds of brown rice including long grain, short grain, brown basmati, and brown jasmine rice. They all work well, but my favorite is short grain brown rice because I like the slightly creamy and chewy texture you get.
Why do you use frozen chicken breasts?
I like to use frozen chicken breasts because they take longer than fresh chicken breasts to cook and they don’t get overcooked in the instant pot.
How do you freeze chicken breasts?
I like to take the breasts out of the package and put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I separate them slightly so they freeze as individual breasts. I place the sheet in the freezer overnight and the next day I take the solid individual frozen chicken breasts and put them in a zip bag for longer storage.
It is nice to have individual breasts because I can pull out the amount I need for a recipe without thawing a large clump of chicken.
Instant Pot Chicken and Brown Rice
This is a great dinner for busy nights. Everything goes into the Instant Pot and is ready to serve 35-45 minutes later.
It uses frozen chicken breasts which makes it great for days when you forgot to thaw the meat.
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Brown Rice (See Note)
- 1 Pound Frozen Chicken Breasts
- 1 Tablespoon Coarse Sea Salt
- 3 1/2 Cups Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
Instructions
Place the rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cool water for one minute to remove excess starch.
Place rinsed rice in the bottom of the instant pot.
Place the frozen chicken breasts on top of the rice in the instant pot.
Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of coarse sea salt over the chicken breasts in the instant pot.
Pour the chicken broth into the instant pot.
Check the sealing ring, place the lid on the instant pot.
Cook on manual setting for 22 minutes.
Let pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes. (You can let it totally release naturally if you wish.)
After 10 minutes, you can manually release the pressure.
Using two forks, shred the chicken into bite-size chunks. Mix with the rice, and serve.
Notes
I tested this recipe using a 6 quart instant pot. If you are using a different size you may need to adjust the amount of broth.
I have also tested it in the Cuisinart electric pressure cooker.
You can use any type of brown rice you prefer. I have used long grain, short grain, basmati, and jasmine. They all work well, but you do not want to use white rice. It will be overcooked following the recipe.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 244Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 1438mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 28g
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and may not be completely accurate.
