Chicken & rice cooked in one-pot takes the fuss out of family dinner. Cook this easy recipe your slow cooker or electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot).

PIN FOR LATER
This is the 1st of two chicken recipes you are going to see from me this week. I’m trying to use my Instant Pot more often these days so I can get a better handle on it. While slow cooking is easy for me, I’ve had a lot of pressure cooker fails. Including this chicken & rice recipe. Not doing any research, I assumed the pressure cooker would take the same ingredient measurements as the slow cooker. I was incorrect. Needless to say, this recipe went through a few rounds of recipe testing to get to the point where I’m finally ready to post it with the Instant Pot instructions.
What Type Of Chicken To Use?
Pretty much any cut of chicken that you want. I tend to use dark meat because I prefer chicken thighs but you can use white meat as well. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- If you use the pressure cooker and skinless chicken, you don’t need to brown the chicken beforehand.
- If you use the slow cooker and chicken breasts, lower the cook time by at least an hour. White meat cooks faster than dark meat so this will help keep the chicken from overcooking & drying out.
- If you use boneless chicken (breasts or thighs), when it’s done cooking you can shred it and mix it in with the rice.

before (Instant Pot)
What Type Of Rice To Use?
Long-grain brown rice. Not instant and not white rice. This recipe was created to use brown rice regardless of if you’re cooking it in the slow cooker or electric pressure cooker. Rinse the rice before adding it to the slow cooker to wash away any dirt or film. Since you’re using long-grain brown rice, it’s added at the beginning with the rest of the food, not stirred in at the end. If rice is left on a stove-top burner too long, it will overcook & burn. Using a slow cooker or pressure cooker is no different. Because of this, this isn’t a recipe that should sit on the WARM setting for too long. When it’s done cooking, I suggest you turn off the appliance.

after (Instant Pot)
Slow Cooker vs Electric Pressure Cooker
Since the slow cooker and pressure cooker function differently, the rice/broth ratio changes depending on which appliance you use. If you’re using the slow cooker, you will need more broth than rice. With the pressure cooker, the ratio is the same. For the pressure cooker, I only used 1 cup of rice but you can use more. The important thing is to keep the rice/broth ratio the same. So if you want to use 2 cups of rice, you will need to add 2 cups of broth. Also, if you don’t want or have broth just use water. It will still taste good!
Wet Rice?
After cook time has completed, if you find that your rice it too wet (excess liquid), the solution is simple – take the lid off. Seriously, uncover whichever appliance you used to cook the chicken & rice and cook it on WARM heat to evaporate the water.
Other slow cooker rice recipes you might enjoy:
Slow Cooker Mexican Beans & Rice
Slow Cooker Chicken & Seafood Paella
Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice with Sausage
When it came to picking the herbs, I grabbed the 1st ones I could find in my pantry which happened to be oregano & parsley. Don’t have parsley? Use basil. Or all parsley. Or an Italian seasoning blend. Use what you have.
I broiled my chicken when it was done cooking to crisp the skin. If you want crispy skin, you will need to do this regardless of if you’re using the slow cooker or pressure cooker. Remove the chicken from the appliance and place it on a baking sheet. Broil the chicken 3-5 minutes or until the skin is crisp to your liking.

{VIDEO} Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Chicken & Rice
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
-
2 lbs chicken
-
1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed
-
1.5 to 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (see note below)
-
1/4 cup onion, diced
-
2 garlic cloves, minced
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1 tsp oregano
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1 tsp parsley
-
1 tsp salt
-
1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp oil (for pressure cooker)
Instructions
Slow Cooker
- Add rice, broth, onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- Add the chicken on top.
- Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
Electric Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute. Once hot, add the oil and if you’re using skin on chicken, add the chicken skin-side down and cook until the skin is lightly browned. Approximately 3-5 minutes. If you’re using boneless, skinless chicken, go straight to the next step.
- Add the onion and garlic and cook a few minutes until soft. Add the broth, and deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
- Add the oregano, parsley, salt, pepper and brown rice. Stir to mix well.
- Add the chicken on top. Do not mix.
- Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook 22 minutes. Quick release pressure.
Optional step: If you’re using skin-on chicken and you want crisp skin, after it’s done cooking remove the chicken from the slow cooker and BROIL it in the oven. Approx 5-10 min or until crisp to your liking.
Notes
Slow Cooker – 1 cup brown rice, 2 cups broth
Pressure Cooker – 1 cup brown rice, 1.5 cups broth
I used 4 chicken thighs which ended up being a little under 2 lbs. I used a 6-quart slow cooker /or Instant Pot.
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