I have about five minutes to write up this recipe post before throwing the kids in bed and pouring myself a giant glass of wine to curl up with something on Netflix or a book on my Kindle, but I HAD TO share this recipe for Instant Pot Lemon-Herb Chicken and Rice.
I got an Instant Pot* about a month ago, on a whim, in hopes that it would be the magic bullet kitchen item to help me start cooking again. With activities nearly every night of the week, a husband working over an hour away, and me working until 6, we were going out to eat at least four nights a week.
It got old, fast. Dan was like “man, I miss meals we cook here.”
(Same, Dan. Same.)
The first few times I tried cooking after resolving to stop going out to eat, I thought I’d lost my mojo. I made a pasta dish that tasted like nothing and actually said the words “I think I’ve lost my mojo.” It was scary.
I’ve seen the Instant Pot swirling around my online circles for over a year, but I’ve been scared to try it. What if I just spent that money, and it was a total joke? What if everything in it just came out as mush? What if it blew up in my kitchen!?
I’m happy to report that has not been the case. This has been an amazing addition to my kitchen gadget stash, and I use it at least twice a week. So far we’ve only had ONE meal that was a bust, and it was very highly rated on a blog Dan found, totally labeled “the best.” (It was not the best.)
We have this recipe for one-pot chicken and rice that we love, but the rice always comes out underdone or glued to the bottom of the skillet, even though the flavors are delicious. Tonight I decided I’d made enough of other people’s recipes, so it was time to try my hand at adapting my own recipe for the Instant Pot.
Since I know you guys don’t care about any of that ^^ up there, here’s my recipe for Instant Pot Lemon-Herb Chicken and Rice. (And I’d love it if you pin this. #shamelessask)
What You Need for Instant Pot Lemon-Herb Chicken and Rice:
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 c. Jasmine rice
- 2 c. chicken broth
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or diced
- 1-2 T olive oil
- 1 T + 1 t. Italian seasoning
- 1 lemon
- salt, pepper
- Heat your Instant Pot on Saute. While it’s coming to temperature, salt and pepper your chicken, and sprinkle with the teaspoon of the Italian seasoning. (You don’t have to use the entire teaspoon. This is very much to taste.)
- Once the Instant Pot is to temp, drizzle in your olive oil and saute the garlic just until fragrant. Place the chicken on top of the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes per side. Remove chicken from Instant Pot.
- Toss the rice into the Instant Pot and add chicken broth, the tablespoon of Italian seasoning, and juice from half the lemon.
- Gently place the chicken on top of the rice and broth and top with a few slices of the lemon.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual, High pressure for 12 minutes.
- Allow pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes and then quick release.
- Plate and serve.
- Enjoy!
My estimate is that this dinner was ready in under 30 minutes, start to finish, and that’s even with me doing a little mise en place with my rice, broth, and lemon slices.
This would be excellent with a side salad and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. A nice Belgian wheat beer would also be a great pairing. Sure, add a side of green veggies if you’d like. That’s a thing some people do. But not me because the entire point is that I’m only dirtying up one pot or pan. (I know, I know. I’m terrible. And lazy.
Let me know what you think!
*I sometimes use affiliate links to keep the lights on around here.
I’m kind of bummed. I tried this recipe and ended up ruining 6 cups of rice. It appears that there isn’t enough steam to actually pressure cook it. The rice has burned as well. Looks like another take out night.
Hi, Wendy! I’m sorry to hear your rice didn’t turn out right. Normally, my issue is dry chicken. It could be that we have different Instant Pots, so the size/timing could be off between our units.
I had the same problem. My rice burned. You didn’t specify what setting to cook it on. Perhaps it was Rice instead of Poultry?
I made this tonight, and it was delicious! Very quick from start to finish. I look forward to trying more of your pressure cooker recipes. Thank you!
I’ve tried the recipe twice and both times but pot never got a chance to pressurize before it got “burn”. The second time I added an extra cup of liquid just in case this was my problem but the same thing happened. I don’t know what to try as to not get the burned indicator. Any advice would be helpful.
Just finished dinner and my wife was very complimentary of the rice. Here are some tips:
1) After browning chicken if there are any burned bits on the bottom of the pot add enough chicken stock to deglaze bottom of pot otherwise pot will be unable to come to pressure later.
2) regardless of rice type you use, if attempting 1:1 rice to liquid ratio, rinse the rice until water runs clear
3) I used Mahatma long grain white rice; thus after closing pot I selected rice setting which is designed for white rice. If using different rice type consult manufacturer’s website for pressure setting, cooking time and natural pressure release time.
4) I let instant pot use natural pressure release for 5 minutes prior to performing instant release.
5) I purchase chicken broth in resealable cartons, keeping unused portion in refrigerator. I measured just over 2 cups (500 ml to be precise) and warmed in microwave oven using hot water function.
This was simple and amazingly delicious. I did not have jasmine rice nor did I have the drive to go to the grocery store so I substituted with white rice and did a can of cream of mushroom soup to create the 2 cups of liquid. I actually did a total of 2 1/4 cups of liquid.
It was perfect!
Personally I think 12 minutes is too long. That has always resulted in the chicken being way too dry for me. Usually 7 or 8 minutes is good for chicken breasts. If you’re having issues with the IP indicating “burn”, just add more liquid.
This was AMAZING..best chicken and rice I’ve had to date. Simple, tasty flavours really held in by the pressure. Rice was a bit gluggy/sticky but it actually gave it a nice smooth creamy texture. When I do this in the future I may use just 1 1/2 cups of broth to 2 cups of rice. But this is a winner for sure! Easy to make, healthy, tasty can’t ask for much more. Thanks 🙂
I also keep getting the Burn warning, even though the second time I did the sautéing in a pan on the stove, and used extra stock. Any comment??