Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice

Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Rice

Instant pot chicken thighs and rice is one of those quick and easy weeknight dinners that you can make on repeat. Boneless chicken thighs are seasoned with a dry spice rub, crisped in a pan, and pressure-cooked with white rice along with butter, onions, garlic, herbs, and lemon slices.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken and rice dinner, instant pot chicken and rice

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings

Calories 539kcal

Author Saima Zaidi

Equipment

1 frypan non-stick or ceramic
1 Instant Pot 6 quart duo

Ingredients

Seasoning/Dry Rub Ingredients

1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp smoked paprika regular paprika will also work
1 tsp cumin ground
1 tsp black pepper freshly ground
1 tsp sea salt adjust according to taste

Other Ingredients

6 chicken thighs boneless, skinless
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup yellow onions diced
1 tbsp garlic minced
2 chicken stock cubes
2 ½ cups water
½ lemon cut into slices or wedges
1 tbsp dried herbs parsley and thyme
2 cups white Basmati rice rinsed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Put the ingredients under seasoning in a bottle and shake until well-mixed.
Wash and pat dry the chicken thighs and rub the seasoning all over the meat.
Heat the butter and 1 tbsp cooking oil in a frypan and fry the chicken until browned on one side. Flip and repeat, two minutes per side approximately.
Switch on your instant pot to sauté (normal) and add the remaining 1 tbsp cooking oil to the steel insert.
Tip in the onions and garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Crumble the stock cubes and add to the pot. Fry for 30 seconds.
Pour the water, lemon wedges and dried herbs.
Finally, add the rice and chicken (with the drippings from the frying pan), stir everything, and cancel sauté.
Secure the lid and make sure the steam release handle is on 'sealing'. Press the pressure cooking button (high) and set the timer for 6 minutes. After the timer beeps, wait 5 minutes, then release the pressure by moving the steam release handle to 'venting'.
Open the pot and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve hot.

Notes

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Rinse it just before adding it to the chicken so that it doesn’t absorb too much water and becomes soft. Rinsing will rid the rice of the excess starch, but soaking may result in over-done rice.
Don’t discard the drippings from the frying pan after frying the chicken. They add a lot of flavor and taste to the rice.
If using thighs, opt for boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The cooking time will change if you have bone-in thighs. Add an extra 2 minutes pressure cooking for the latter, and do a quick release as soon as the timer beeps or the rice will be over-cooked.

Nutrition