Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Rice Bowl–brown rice is topped with a savory asian-inspired sauce, tender pieces of chicken and bright green, barely cooked broccoli florets.
Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Rice Bowl
I love this easy weeknight dinner recipe for many reasons. One is that the chicken is thrown into the Instant Pot frozen. I always have a bag of frozen chicken thighs or breasts in my freezer and I don’t often remember to thaw. I prefer making instant pot and crockpot recipes that start with frozen chicken.
I also love this recipe because you can mix and match the starch and the vegetables. For example, I served the chicken and broccoli over brown rice but you can serve it over white rice or quinoa instead. I used a package of frozen broccoli but I was thinking how delicious a bag of stir fry vegetables would taste with this. We love buying the big bag of stir fry vegetables from Costco. My kids always fight over the water chestnuts. Weird, I know. You could also try plain peas or cauliflower or whatever you like as well.
This Instant Pot chicken broccoli rice bowl really reminded me of something you’d order at a Teriyaki Stix or a similar type of restaurant. Super fast and easy to get going, this recipe is perfect for a weeknight dinner.
More Asian-inspired Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Cheater Korean Beef with Brown Rice
Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
Instant Pot Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup from Table for Two
Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken from What’s Cookin’ Chicago?
What Instant Pot Did You Use?
For this Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Rice Bowl I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1. I also own the 6 quart Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker. They are both great pressure cookers! The first one I mentioned has a yogurt making function but other than that they are fairly similar. The price difference between the two is about $20.
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Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Rice Bowl
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes (plus time to come to pressure and time to release pressure)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Brown rice is topped with a savory asian-inspired sauce, tender pieces of chicken and bright green, barely cooked broccoli florets.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 lbs frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 (16 oz) package frozen broccoli florets
- Hot cooked rice
Instructions
- Combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and garlic powder in the Instant Pot. Whisk well. Add in the chicken.
- Secure the lid. Make sure valve is on “sealing.” Set the timer on the manual function to 18 minutes (for chicken thighs) and 15 minutes (for chicken breasts). When the timer beeps let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then remove the rest of the pressure by moving the valve to “venting.”
- Open the Instant Pot and remove the chicken to a cutting board. Shred or cut the chicken into pieces.
- In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the Instant Pot. Turn the Instant Pot to “saute” and let the sauce thicken. As the sauce is thickening stir in the frozen vegetables. When sauce is thickened and vegetables are warmed through stir the chicken back into the Instant Pot.
- Serve chicken, sauce and vegetables over hot cooked rice.
Notes
You can mix and match the starch and the vegetables. For example, I served the chicken and broccoli over brown rice but you can serve it over white rice or quinoa instead. I used a package of frozen broccoli but I was thinking how delicious a bag of stir fry vegetables would taste with this. You could also try plain peas or cauliflower or whatever you like as well.
- Method: Instant Pot
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Made a double batch and didn’t think ahead on if it could be frozen. Would it freeze ok?
★★★★★
Yes I think it would freeze just fine.
I made this tonight. I did not have oyster sauce so I substituted with fish sauce — otherwise I followed to the recipe to the T. Did Pot in Pot with the rice. Although the flavor was very good, I found this to be too salty. The chicken thighs were falling apart. If you can suggest a way to make this with less sodium, I would make it again. Very easy and quick clean up. Thank you.
I think it was the fish salt…here is what I got from google, “Much like soy sauce, fish sauce is a very salty, reddish-brown sauce that’s mostly used as a condiment. It has a strong ‘fishy’ flavour and watery, clear consistency. On the other hand, oyster sauce is much thicker, darker and far sweeter, with a subtle salty undertone.”
This was delicious!!! I used fresh thighs, timing them from a cookbook chart and florets from the Produce Department. Trimming the fat from the thighs was tedious so next time I’ll try using breasts, though they may not be as tender.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Marisa!
How would I need to change this up to make it in the crockpot?
Combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and garlic powder in the slow cooker. Whisk well. Add in the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. remove the chicken to a cutting board. Shred or cut the chicken into pieces. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker to high and let the sauce thicken for about 30 minutes. As the sauce is thickening stir in the frozen vegetables. When sauce is thickened and vegetables are warmed through stir the chicken back into the slow cooker.
Two questions on the recipe. I do not like soy sauce all that much and have tried the coco aminos and that is just as bad, what if I only put in a tablespoon of soy sauce? Second question, can fish sauce to substituted for oyster sauce?
You could try that. I don’t know if you’ll like it though. Soy sauce is sort of the base. And yes you can substitute with fish sauce.
I’ve made this twice. Absolutely delicious. Better than ordering takeout! Thank you very much for the recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you like it Lulu! 😊
in what settings you cook the chicken?
Do you use the pressure cook setting?
I just got the instant pot so I am learning how use it.
Hi, the pressure cook setting is what you should use. Please watch this video if you’re new! https://youtu.be/EJd6dC5d62U
We love this recipe. Question – what if I use fresh broccoli versus frozen?
★★★★★
You could add fresh broccoli florets instead of the frozen. But they’ll probably take a bit longer to get soft and cook since it seems like frozen broccoli has already been blanched.
Do you have a suggestion for replacing the oyster sauce? I really want to try this recipe, but I am allergic to shellfish.
Could you do hoisin sauce?
The sauce was fabulous! I baked the frozen broccoli separately because my kids would die if it touched any sauce 🙄. But I followed the sauce recipe and added 4 frozen chicken breasts and cooked on high for 18 minutes with immediate pressure release. Perfect. Delicious. Definitely making again. Thanks!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Lori and the broccoli comment made me laugh!
This was so salty it was almost inedible. I would halve the soy and oyster sauce
★★
Oh, Karen, your recipes are always delicious & easy too!
Could you cook the rice pot-in-pot since the chicken has to cook 15[or 18 minutes]?
Thanks,
Yes that would work well!
Loved this recipe ! Definitely a keeper
★★★★★
Glad to hear this Cyndi!
What is pot in pot? 2 pots? I have Crockpot Express and have never put another pot in besides the regular nonstick pot.
https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/pot-in-pot-method-explained/
I have an 8 quart Instant Pot and would love to try this recipe. Would anything need to be changed for an 8 quart??
★★★
You can do it the same way. Add 1/2 cup more broth to make sure it comes to pressure.
How much rice is used with this recipe? I saw 1 cup in the comments but that seemed like just an example. Thank you
I would make 1/2 cup a rice per person. So probably about 3 cups of rice.
This was really good! My chicken was not frozen and I did cut it up in chunks. I used boneless/skinless chicken breasts. I didn’t have oyster sauce either so I just added a little more soy sauce. Family loved it! Thanks!
How do I adjust the time for thawed chicken cut up into chunks?
I’d do 5 minutes with a 5 minute npr
Made this tonight and used frozen chicken breast and drozen stir fry veggies and added onion and pineapple with the juice. Super tasty and I only needed to add a little more starch for the sauce since the juice added more liquid. It was my first dinner in my new pot and I am excited to see what else this thing can do! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you found the recipe Karla!!
The flavor of the sauce is hands down the best of all the different Asian-inspired chicken and broccoli sauces I’ve tried. Definitely keeping this recipe and adding it to the regular rotation!
I will say however, that in my experience, 15 minutes is just right for frozen chicken. Anything more than that, and it comes out dry. Knowing this beforehand, I opted for a 15 minute cook time and it came out absolutely perfect.
★★★★
Good note on the frozen chicken. Thanks!
Made this last night and it was amazing! Could you make this with Shrimp? If so, how long would be the cooking time?
Shrimp cooks very quickly. I’d only cook it for 2 minutes!
Awesome meal me and the wife loved it we used a different frozen stir fry mix that had snap peas, carrots and broccoli to add a little bit more to it. Highly recommend!
★★★★★
Sounds awesome with the stir fry mix. Thanks for the idea!
Hi there! If I wanted to double the batch, how would that affect cooking time?
Just keep the cooking time the same!
This was awesome!!! I used my 3qt mini. I only used 1 chicken breast and served it over lo mein noodles. Definately a keeper on my pin list.
★★★★★
Easy and yummy. I never have oyster sauce, so I just used more soy. Also, you can reduce the cook time even further if you cut your chicken into smallish pieces or strips. This easy to do either with thawed chicken or still partially frozen. From there, it cooks through in 4 minutes on manual, and you can quick release the pressure. Any time I get the chance, I cut my chicken into smaller pieces, because that 4 minute cook time is just too awesome.
I agree!
I often buy the frozen chicken breast chunks for things like this.
What changes should I make to the timing if I’d like to use fresh broccoli? Thanks!
Cut the broccoli into small florets. Stir them in after the chicken has cooked. Let them cook through to desired doneness.
I put fresh broccoli into the microwave for three minutes and then stirred it into the saute so it would stay a little crisp
I’ve been cooking in the IP for about a month now, enjoying some decent recipes and enduring some terrible recipes, and this is hands down the absolute best recipe I’ve tried so far! I substituted soy sauce for oyster sauce and canola oil for sesame oil, but it came out absolutely perfect! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked it! Hopefully you will get more good recipes!!!
made this for dinner tonight, it was delicious! thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Nice! Glad you liked it Monika 🙂
AMAZING recipe. Thank you! I’ve already posted it in about 5 Facebook groups!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for sharing Susan! I really appreciate it. I’m glad you like this recipe 🙂
How long would I cook in the IP if the chicken isn’t frozen?
Same amount of time.
Is there a way to adjust this to be able to cook the rice in the instant pot too? Thanks!
Okay, I’m sure there is. I haven’t myself experimented with it yet so I can’t say for sure how it’d work. But if I were to try this is what I would do…put a 1 cup rice to 1.25 cup water ratio of brown rice in the bottom of the instant pot. Put the chicken and sauce in a dish that will fit inside your instant pot. Place it on a trivet on top of the rice. Cook on manual high pressure for 22 minutes.
I just cook the rice before hand, and just rinse the insert before starting the recipe. The sauce is hot enough to reheat the rice. I used 1 cup of rinsed brown rice and 1.25 cups water. Cooked on high pressure for 20 mins with a quick release. It came out the way I like it, but you may need to play with the time based on your preferences.
THANKS!
We tried this last night and would adjust two things in this recipe. First, 20 minutes and letting the pot depressurize on its own is much too long. The chicken was overcooked. Second, three tablespoons of cornstarch is also too much and gives the sauce a jello like consistency. More like 3 tsps cornstarch and water would have been plenty. Thanks
Hello! Can this be made in a slow cooker instead? Thanks!
yes, I think so. Just combine the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours. You then will thicken with cornstarch at the end.
This was great, thank you! A bit on the sweeter side, says hubby. But a hit all around – especially the toddler!!
★★★★
Awesome to hear Marcelia! Thank you 🙂
I had an issue with this dish I thought I’d share. It’s not the author’s fault since I’m sure she meant to put in the chicken you can buy in the store that are separated before they are frozen and then packaged.
We happened to buy two lbs of chicken breast from the butcher and put it in the deep freeze. So since I had the exact amount that was called for I didn’t worry about defrosting or separating the pieces. I put it in as one big blob.
After following the cooking directions exactly I opened my Instant Pot and the parts of the chicken breast that had been connected were still raw and frozen in some parts. I wasn’t sure what to do, so since some parts were still frozen I put it back in for 18 more minutes (quick release this time). It ended up overcooking the chicken.
The sauce was so wonderful it didn’t really matter though! It coated the chicken and everything tasted phenomenal, exactly like it would if you ordered take out! I did add some white onion!
I can safely say even with the mistakes I made we will be making this dish again! I will just know not to throw in a big blob of chicken next time! I may even try it with beef! Yum! Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Great comment! This is very helpful. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Yeah. You can’t cook chicken that is frozen together. They can be touching, just not frozen together. What I end up doing when I get a bunch of chicken is I wrap each chicken breast in clear wrap and then put them in a freezer bag together so I can just grab as many chicken breasts as I need.
This was super yummy! Everyone loved it (even the picky toddler) and it was very easy. We would definitely make this again!
★★★★★
Great!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Made for dinner tonight! I loved that I had everything on hand and some fresh broccoli that needed to be used. The family loved it! Quick and easy!!