Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken and Rice—an easy one pot meal of saucy, cheesy chicken thighs with black beans, corn and rice.
Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken and Rice
This all-in-one-pot meal is perfect for a busy weeknight because it comes together easily. Besides sauteeing the onion and grating some cheese it’s really a hands off dinner.
We loved the boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. The chicken gets perfectly tender. I buy them in a big bag in the frozen section at Costco. Another good choice would be bone-in chicken thighs. I’m not a fan of the skin so I would remove that first.
If you’re wondering if you can use chicken breasts for this recipe you can. I would use thicker chicken breasts because of the long 22 minute cooking time. They won’t be as tender and succulent as the chicken thighs but they’ll work.
What about the rice? I used a brown rice because that’s what I like to feed my family. If you’re not a fan of brown rice you can probably use a white rice with success. Here’s what I would do: Use 1 cup long grain white rice and 1 ¼ cups broth. I would cut up the chicken into bite size pieces before adding them into the pot. Then I would cook for 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. By cutting the chicken into pieces you won’t get raw, uncooked chicken with the short 3 minute pressure cook time.
My favorite barbecue sauce is the Sweet Baby Ray’s original sauce. You can use whatever sauce that you and your family like best. I bought 5 smaller bottles at Smith’s last week for $5. Score!
I hope you like this easy one pot meal as much as my family and I did! We couldn’t get enough of the chicken. So tender!
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes…
Instant Pot Firecracker Chicken
Instant Pot Honey Mustard Chicken
Instant Pot King Ranch Chicken
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken and Rice I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken and Rice
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
An easy one pot meal of saucy, cheesy chicken thighs with black beans, corn and rice.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans
- 1 cup frozen corn (canned is okay too, drain it first)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat (you can also do bone-in chicken thighs)
- 3/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the onion and saute for 3 minutes. Add in the garlic for 20 seconds.
- Deglaze the pot with the chicken broth. Turn off the saute setting. Add in the rice. Then layer the beans, corn and chicken on top. Spoon the BBQ sauce on top of the chicken.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit there for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Top with cheese, tomatoes and cilantro and serve.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Recipe itself is fine, but the formation is obnoxious and leads to annoying deal with burn issues. Use the trivet and put in the chicken and bbq sauce first. Corns, beans, and rice on top. Put in the chicken broth in last.
★
I followed the recipe exactly. Got the BURN notice FIVE times!! Added at least another two or more cups of broth and it stilled burned. What a huge waste of time and food! I’m so upset 😭
I guess we’re going out to dinner
★
OMG! It’s happening to me right now. I really wanted this to be good too.
This is my second time trying this with only half the ingredients. First time I didn’t read the directions for white rice so I got the BURN message but it was salvageable. This time I cut the chicken breast up into smaller pieces and sauteed them first. Again I didn’t add the beans or corn. I let the sauteed chicken sit in the bbq sauce while the rice soaked for awhile. No burn this time but rice is wetter than I like… probably because I used broth instead of water. Flavour is good! I will continue to play with this recipe.
★★★★
Glad it turned out better this time Glenna!
Delicious! Another go-to to for dinner. I topped mine with a little sour cream too. Thanks Karen!
★★★★★
You’re welcome Cara!
Karen I love all your recipes! Haven’t found one we haven’t enjoyed! I did have trouble with some of the rice not getting done. I even cooked it little longer. I did drain the beans , just wondered if needed the liquid from the beans. Had a delicious taste except some of the rice was a little crunchy. Any suggestions? Thanks Martha Parker
★★★★★
Perhaps a longer cooking time and a little more liquid would have done the trick!
I think the Burn code is due to the Beans. I would recommend cooking the beans In separate Pan and everything else should cook without the burn code.
Can I use frozen chicken breasts?
yes that should work fine.
It was good with bone-in chicken thighs. Turned out nice and tender. I will add about 1/2 tsp. of salt and some pepper and perhaps an herb or a spice next time. Also may try either salsa or enchilada sauce instead of the bbq sauce.
★★★★
I like the idea of enchilada sauce!
Karen, do you have a suggestion for how to avoid the “burn” message when making this recipe in the 8 quart IP?
I’m wondering if it would be better to lay the chicken on top of the rice because it gives off a lot of liquid and will help prevent the burn message? I’m not sure on this, it’s just my hunch.
Could you use boneless skinless breasts for this?
I would use thicker chicken breasts because of the long 22 minute cooking time. They won’t be as tender and succulent as the chicken thighs but they’ll work.
I don’t have a instant pot. Is there a stove top method? If not , will the slow cooker work
Karen, I love your attitude. God bless you. But let me say your credibility went down the tubes. I followed your instant recipe to a tee and got the BURN code .
And you cost me money , time and a lot of I’m not happy with you girl.: But God bless you any way..,
I got a burn message too, but I am wondering if it is because I have an 8 quart IP. I quickly opened it up, caught it before there was any damage, added 3/4 C extra liquid. I had seen on a previous post someone note they increased the liquid for the 8 quart…
Well, it was still yummy 😋, but I got a burn message again. Good thing it tasted delicious, it gave me the strength to clean my pot!
I got a born message too, but I was able to salvage it! It was tasty but I won’t makecit again!
Sad. I’m sorry.
I haven’t tried this in the slow cooker or stove top yet. So I am not sure exactly!
What would be the cook time if I used white rice?
I used a brown rice because that’s what I like to feed my family. If you’re not a fan of brown rice you can probably use a white rice with success. Here’s what I would do: Use 1 cup long grain white rice and 1 ¼ cups broth. I would cut up the chicken into bite size pieces before adding them into the pot. Then I would cook for 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. By cutting the chicken into pieces you won’t get raw, uncooked chicken with the short 3 minute pressure cook time.
Tried with white rice and your suggestion. Would definitely add a few extra minutes as my chicken wasn’t cooked!
Is there a slow cooker version – Sounds tasty!
★★★★★
I haven’t tried it in the slow cooker yet but I really need to!
This looks good, I’m going to try it. I also want to know if there is a time change for using the chicken frozen. Also, I’m not a fan of cheddar cheese with chicken, IYO, should I just leave it out or replace it with something, maybe cream cheese, yogurt or sour cream?
no change for frozen chicken. Sour cream might be good!
I’m not well-versed enough to know the answer to my question. If using frozen thighs, how much longer to cook? Thanks.
keep the same cooking time for frozen!