This Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice recipe is creamy, delicious, and cooks all in one pot. With mushrooms, onions, lemon, and thyme, it’s an easy and healthy pressure cooker recipe that’s both gluten free and dairy free.
Easy. Fast. Little to no clean up. I’m all about that and I don’t know many cooks (especially moms) who aren’t.
If you fall into that category, then you’re going to love this easy chicken and rice pressure cooker recipe. Everything cooks up in the Instant Pot and comes out wonderfully creamy, almost like a risotto, but without any dairy.
Whether you’ve been cooking with your Instant Pot for a while, or are brand new to pressure cooking, this recipe is super simple to follow. I’ve broken down all the steps and provided pictures along the way to make sure at the end you’ve got a delicious meal for you and your family.
Let’s get to it. First up, the ingredients you’ll need.
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs – I prefer to trim the fat off each chicken thigh before cooking them, but you don’t have to.
- Long grain white rice – I typically use jasmine or basmati rice.
- Chicken broth – watch the sodium content as it can change how salty (or not salty) the dish ends up. I typically use the Kirkland Signature brand from Costco. You could also use chicken stock.
- Sliced mushrooms – I like to use baby bella or cremini as they impart a little more flavor than white mushrooms.
- Diced onion – white or yellow onion are my go tos, but you could also use purple onion. Or even a large shallot if you have one on hand.
- Lemon – Meyer lemons are great in this recipe as they have a tad more sweetness than regular lemons. If you’re making this dish during citrus season I suggest going with a Meyer.
- Kosher salt – I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which is a tad less salty than regular kosher salt and much less salty than table salt. If you want to learn more, or want to see how to adjust the ratios for this recipe to a different salt, click here read an article from Cook’s Illustrated.
- Spices – ground black pepper, garlic powder, and dried thyme. Make sure your spices are fresh, as the older they are the duller the spices become and you may need to add more to the dish (or season it more at the end).
- Oil – I like to use avocado oil as it has a very mild flavor. If you don’t have avocado oil, you can substitute olive oil or whatever you have on hand.
I’ve written condensed directions here including pictures so you can see how to make this recipe. The full set of detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Before you scroll through, there is important information throughout this post.
Louise
This was my first attempt at Instant Pot cooking and it was a great success! Thank you for the recipe!
I’m just wondering, if I wanted to freeze half of this for later, do you have any ideas on how best to do it? As there’s various different textures I’m not quite sure what would be the best way to do it…
Many thanks again in advance!
Louise
Taryn Solie
I’m glad you liked the recipe Louise! I haven’t frozen it before so I’m not sure the best method. My best guess is to let it cool completely, then to put it in an air tight container. Let me know if you end up freezing it and how it turns out!
Shelly
Hello!
Is it possible to double the recipe?
Taryn Solie
I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. If you did try it, you’d likely need to brown the chicken in batches since twice the amount of chicken wouldn’t all fit in one layer in the Instant Pot, and you’d need to extend the cooking time. If you do try it let me know how it goes!
Brittany
Yes, you do need to brown the chicken in batches if you double the recipe but it does not change the cook time. My family loves this quick and delicious recipe!
Stacia
Do any changes need to be made if I use short grain brown rice?
Taryn Solie
I haven’t tried it with brown rice, but I would think it would need to cook longer under pressure. You’d need to be careful not to overcook the chicken though. If you try it let me know how it turns out!
Laura
If I use bone-in chicken thighs, how might this change the cooking time?
Taryn Solie
They will need to cook longer, but I haven’t tried it so I’m sorry I don’t have the exact time!
Laura
We ended up doubling the recipe and used bone-in chicken thighs. We upped the time to 8 minutes on pressure cook, and they came out perfect! Excellent meal!
Louise
I actually assumed the chicken thighs were bone-in and have always done it that way. No change to the timings and the recipe worked perfectly! I suppose the IP might take longer to come up to pressure though.
Taryn Solie
Good to know – thanks for chiming in!
Joni
This is a keeper!
Taryn Solie
Glad you think so!
Suzanne Tappe
I loved this recipe. I am new to IP cooking and this was quick, easy and yummy. I am planning to try this as a side dish without the chicken and will double the rice and broth. Do you think it still needs just 5 minutes to cook?
Taryn Solie
I’m glad you loved this recipe! Unfortunately I haven’t tried this as a side dish without the chicken. I would look online for Instant Pot rice side dish recipes to see what cooking times are typically used. I hope that helps!
Colleen G
Simply delicious!!👍
Lanie C
I have basically stopped cooking for my family because my husband has to have gluten-free and fairly-free foods, and they typically do not appeal to the kids. THIS dish, however, pleased EVERYONE, and I was surprised at how easy it was to sauté the chicken in the IP. Thank you. I plan to try more of your recipes.
Taryn Solie
This makes me so happy to hear Lanie! Thank you for telling me and I’m glad everyone like the dish!
Hannan
Delicious recipe. I added some matchstick carrots for nutrition, color, and to use the end of the bag up, maybe 3/4 cup. I added Herbs de Provence seasoning and another salt-free Cajun seasoning. No salt was needed to be added for me – just due to chicken broth. I er on the side of low sodium diet for my family though. Thanks for this one – it’s a keeper!
Taryn Solie
Love those additions Hannah, and thanks!