Instant Pot Chicken Curry Broccoli Casserole–creamy mild curry-flavored rice with chunks of tender chicken, florets of broccoli and lots of cheddar. A family favorite casserole recipe perfect for any weeknight.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot Chicken Curry Broccoli Casserole
I had a reader, Kelsey, reach out to me. She asked if I could come up with an Instant Pot version of her favorite Chicken Curry Casserole from 100 Days of Real Food. I looked at the recipe and realized it was a healthier version of one of my favorite childhood casseroles.
The casserole has brown rice, chicken, curry powder, broccoli, sour cream and cheddar. The only problem with the original casserole is that it calls for cooked rice and cooked chicken and steamed broccoli. So it’s a lot of prep and steps. I decided to cut down on all the steps by using my Instant Pot and just cook it all at the same time. I think you’ll appreciate my method. Sure it’s not the “baked in the oven” casserole you’re used to but it’s still really tasty.
The rice is creamy, almost like risotto. You won’t even be able to tell that it is brown rice. The curry powder flavors the whole dish but doesn’t overpower it. The broccoli adds nutrition and can be as noticeable or non-noticeable as you decide you want it. If you’re a fan of broccoli casserole you’ll love this!
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli Rice
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Instant Pot Pesto Chicken Risotto
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken Curry Broccoli Casserole 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.
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Instant Pot Chicken Curry Broccoli Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Creamy mild curry-flavored rice with chunks of tender chicken, florets of broccoli and lots of grated cheddar. A family favorite casserole recipe perfect for any weeknight.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 large yellow or white onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice
- 4 cups chicken broth, divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 4 tsp yellow curry powder
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (frozen is okay)
- 1 pound broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 cup grated cheddar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Saute. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute function. When the display says HOT add in the butter. Swirl the pot around until the butter is melted. Add in the diced onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add in all the rice and stir for 1 minute. Add in 1 cup of the broth and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add in. Add in the remaining broth, the salt, garlic powder and curry powder. Nestle the chicken into the pot.
- Broccoli choices: for totally mushy broccoli that just falls apart (sort of like what’s in broccoli cheddar soup) you can place 1/4 cup of water in a pan that fits inside your Instant Pot and pile large broccoli florets inside of the pan. Cover the pan with foil and place it on top of the chicken and rice mixture. For broccoli that remains in the shape of florets, steam it on the stove top or place it in a microwave safe dish and microwave it with 1/2 cup of water for 4-5 minutes and then add it in after the rice has cooked. You can also stir in a bag of frozen broccoli at the end of the cooking time. It’s up to you.
- Cook. Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes on high pressure. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the sour cream, cheddar (and cooked broccoli that has been drained of any water). Salt and pepper to taste. Scoop onto serving plates and enjoy!.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
This recipe is GLUTEN-FREE! Just check your broth to be sure it does not contain gluten.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 597
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 859 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Carbohydrates: 41 g
- Protein: 53 g
Keywords: casserole
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Made this last night. Came out perfect! After rice and chicken were cooked, there was some extra liquid. I strained it and added a little flour to thicken. I added my cooked broccoli at the end and then added the extra broth. Might add carrots next time also.
Thanks for sharing your tips! I love the idea of adding carrots.
Awesome recipe. We’ve enjoyed it many times. I usually add mushrooms and chopped carrots. I cook the broccoli separate. Tonight I used rotisserie chicken which I added with the broccoli and yogurt after cooking the brown rice vege mixture. Scooped it into a greased casserole dish and topped with the cheese. Thank you for another household favorite.
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear it Marji! Thanks for the 5 stars!
For someone counting calories….what equates to “a serving”? 1 cup? 6 oz? 1/2 cup?
1 cup is a serving
Thank you Karen, for all your wonderful recipes.
I made this last night. I enjoyed the flavors of this dish but I found the texture way too mushy. I think the brown rice gets ‘lost’ and the consistency came out like porridge. Is it possible that the 22 minutes on high pressure is too long? I do love risotto but I am not looking for that texture for this dish.
You could try 18 minutes…that might help with the rice and texture.
Finally, after adding liquid twice I was able to finish this dish without getting a burn notice. Then after all of this, the rice was mushy. The flavor of this is good, but probably won’t try any more recipes where the rice is cooked with the food in the Instantpot.
★★★
I’ve tried this twice now and both times the rice scorched the bottom of the pan, I tried adding more liquid this time but still I had the Burn Notice on the pressure cooker and the rice was very difficult to clean off the bottom of the pan, I have decided not to try any recipes that ask me to put rice or pasta in the instant pot because all recipes I’ve tried with those ingredients have scorched and I don’t have the energy to clean the pot properly when it happens
I tried a chilli recipe the other day and it was perfect so I’m definitely not going to use rice or pasta in the instant pot anymore!
Check your measurements? I just made this tonight and followed the recipe Exactly! It was absolutely fantastic! I’ve been using my instant pot for two years now and have never got the burn notice. Sounds like a liquid issue. When making these recipes, you need to use the “manual“ setting. Anyone else reading these reviews… Definitely make this one!
★★★★★
I wish you would use an actual measurement for ingredients like onion rather than saying “large”. It’s hard to know how much you actually used in the recipe and my “large onion” might be a very different measure than yours – it’s subjective! I usually make recipes “as printed” to begin with then adjust to our taste, but it would help to have a measurement to begin with. Thanks
Good point. thanks. will try to do better.
Do you have a picture of what this looks like when cooked in the pressure cooker (and dished from pressure cooker – rather than put in a pan and cheese melted on top). thanks
Ha ha! I should have taken a picture but I was giving this casserole away to a friend so I put it in a dish, took pics and brought it to her. Here is a short video clip of what it looked like: https://www.facebook.com/365dayscrockpot/videos/284050805722836/
Hi you use white rice how much cups would you need how long would pressure it. By the way love your recipes
If it’s short grain rice it will be like 7 or 8 minutes and if it’s long grain rice then 4 or 5 minutes.