Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice is a delicious, creamy, and flavorful cheesy chicken dinner with rice that comes together in about 20 minutes!
A simple, crowd-pleasing weeknight dinner that even kids love!
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This complete one-pot meal is so quick and easy to make. There’s no need to presoak the rice at all. Just toss everything into the Instant Pot and let it accomplish the work for you.
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice is nutritionally balanced—with lean protein from chicken breasts, filling carbohydrates from the rice, and plenty of nutrients from the mixed vegetables! The best part is, everything gets perfectly cooked together in the Instant Pot, which makes everything more flavorful. AND it you’ll only have one dish to clean at the end of it!
Using condensed cream of chicken soup is a great short cut to building a delicious, flavorful, creamy sauce. Since it’s condensed as the name suggests, that means it’s thick and creamy and the flavor is condensed too. Trust me when I say—you’ll love this recipe and want to make it again and again!
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice Recipe Video
Recipe Ingredients
Chicken – you can try this Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice recipe with chicken thighs, drumsticks, or even ground chicken as well. We suggest sticking with the breasts as they give a good flavor and take a little less time to cook.
Rice – you can use Jasmine Rice or Basmati Rice, whichever suits you best.
Cheese –you can use white or yellow cheddar. We prefer to use freshly grated cheese since it gives a smoother texture. However, this Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice recipe is more for a simple and easy way to go, so the choice is up to you. We won’t judge if you want to take a short cut 🙂
Condensed chicken soup – or sometimes called “cream of chicken.”
Mixed vegetables – I usually use frozen mixed vegetables, since they are already prepped for ease. Use the whole bag if it’s about 10 ounces! A little more or less won’t really effect the recipe.
Onion – you can leave out if there’s onion already in the veggie mix or if you don’t like onion. I normally use yellow onion, but red onion works too if that’s what you’ve got.
How to Make Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Gather the necessary ingredients for the recipe.
Set the pot on saute for 3 minutes and add oil & previously chopped onions.
Add in the diced chicken breasts and stir.
Once the chicken starts to become white and opaque, season with some salt and black pepper.
Next, you can add the uncooked rice.
Add some chicken broth to your Instant Pot.
Then add a cup of water and set the pot to High Pressure for 8 minutes.
Do a Quick Release.
Now add some Cream of Chicken Soup.
Add previously grated cheddar cheese.
Dish out & enjoy a delicious meal 🙂
Recipe Notes
- This recipe is easy to customize! Some things that work really well to change up the recipe are Rotel diced tomatoes, green chilies, and mushrooms. If you add something canned like diced tomatoes, you can add them at the same time as the broth. Mushrooms should be added with the onion and sautéed briefly.
- I would not recommend adding hard vegetables like squash or sweet potatoes to this Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice recipe, or it may affect the cook time. If you do want to add something like that, you can always precook them.
What to Serve with Cheesy Chicken and Rice
This Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice is a true one-pot meal! I truly don’t think I would add anything to it.
If you’re looking for a garnish though, fresh herbs never hurt a dish! For this recipe, I would probably go with basil or parsley.
Instant Pot One-Pot Meals
When you’re busy as a bee, what could be better than a one-pot meal? These recipes are all ready to go in 30 minutes or less, with minimal clean up!
Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta
FAQ About Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Do I have to cook the rice?
No. We are using uncooked rice so you don't have to worry about overcooking, sticking, and getting that dreaded burn message!
Can I take out the cheese?
Well yes. You can also make this Instant Pot chicken and rice recipe or the Instant Pot chicken and rice soup instead. Both of these recipes are gluten free and dairy free!
Can I use fresh vegetables?
Sure! Depending on what type of vegetable, you might want to precook them or cut them different to ensure even cooking. So frozen mixed vegetables are easier and will give you a more predictable result, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use up fresh veggies for this recipe if you have them.
Can I cut the recipe in half?
Yes – if you have a smaller Instant Pot or you’re just looking to make a small batch, you can cut all of the amounts in half for a half batch. The cook time will stay the same.
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 ½ lb chicken breasts diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cup rice uncooked
- 2 ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 can condensed chicken soup cream
- 2 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1 cup mixed vegetables about 10 oz
Instructions
- Press "saute" and add olive oil.
- Add garlic and onion and saute until golden.
- Add diced chicken an saute until brown.
- Add salt, pepper and rice and stir.
- Add chicken broth and water and stir.
- Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- When cooking time is complete, do a quick pressure release.
- Add Cream of Chicken Soup, grated cheddar cheese, and mixed vegetables and stir well.
- Serve and enjoy 🙂