We’re giving this classic dish a flavor twist and making it in a snap. Instant Pot Southwestern Chicken and Rice is sure to be a family favorite.
Southwestern Chicken and Rice is the ultimate one-pot meal. Everything gets thrown into the Instant Pot and dinner is ready in about 30 minutes for a tasty weeknight meal.
This chicken and rice recipe is so easy and comforting, with all the Southwestern flavors that my family loves. It’s simple to see why we keep coming back to this Instant Pot chicken recipe!
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Why Cook Dinner In The Instant Pot?
I love using my Instant Pot because I can cook things quickly while still developing lots of flavor. While sometimes I just use it for one part of my meal, like prepping chicken breasts for other dishes, it really comes in handy when I can make an entire meal in it!
Before getting my wonderful pressure cooker, I used the slow cooker all the time. I still do when I’m in the mood for one of these slow cooker chicken dinners. But let’s face it. Fast is the name of the game these days.
Ingredients For Southwest Chicken And Rice
Southwestern Chicken and Rice takes all those flavors you love, like beans, corn, rice and chicken. I used jasmine rice here, because it cooks quickly and stays fluffy. You could use another long grain white rice like basmati rice, but be mindful of timing if straying too far as brown rice takes much longer. For my meal, I used kidney beans, but you could substitute black beans or your favorite. I like to use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this meal because they shred up nicely after cooking.
For the vegetables, we’re using onion, frozen corn, and diced tomatoes and green chilis, such as Rotel. This adds great flavor to the instant pot meal with very low effort.
This all gets seasoned with taco seasoning, store-bought or homemade taco seasoning both work well here. Then it all gets cooked together for an easy meal perfect for busy weeknights.
Topping Your Chicken And Rice
One of my family’s favorite parts of this meal is the toppings. Some of our favorites are diced tomatoes, jalapeños, salsa, cilantro, and lime wedges. Sour cream, Cheddar cheese, and avocado are also great additions, but you can totally top with your own favorite go-to’s. The kids will love being able to create their own bowl.
More Easy Dinners With Rice
Instant Pot Southwestern Chicken and Rice Recipe
Try topping your chicken and rice bowls with sliced jalapeños, cherry tomatoes, salsa, green onions, cilantro, or lime wedges.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup white jasmine rice
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 (14 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chilis
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
- 1 lb. chicken breasts
Instructions
- Add rice, corn, onion, beans, tomatoes, and water to Instant Pot and stir to combine.
- Place chicken in mixture, making sure to cover some with the liquid.
- Sprinkle seasonings over chicken, rice and bean mixture.
- Close lid, set vent to seal. Set to pressure cook on high 12 minutes.
- Allow pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes and then turn the vent to venting.
- Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Place it back in the pot, stir to incorporate and serve with optional toppings if using.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
This post originally appeared in September 2018 and was revised and republished in June 2023.
My family raved over this dish!!!
★★★★★
Love to hear that, Angela! Thank you.
Love this recipe! So delicious, and easy to make. Bonus!!
★★★★★
Karen, I’m so happy you like it! Thanks for letting us know 🙂
Have you ever doubled this? Also, can I make it without rice
Marcia, I haven’t doubled this before and I’m not entirely sure if it would work. I do, however, think that you can make it without the rice. If making the amount of chicken called for in the recipe, the cooking time would remain the same. If doubling the chicken, I’d try to arrange it more vertically so that the chicken breasts aren’t laying on each other. When chicken is touching in the Instant pot, it doesn’t cook in those places as quickly. If the chicken is arranged that way, I don’t even think you’d need to increase the amount of time in the Instant Pot. 12 minutes is probably good, but maybe do 14 just to be safe.