Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice—tender bites of chicken with smoky bacon, chopped spinach, parmesan cheese and creamy rice.
Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice
I love the recipe for chicken bacon ranch pasta so much that I decided to take all the awesome flavors from it and create a rice dish. It was seriously so delicious. Creamy and flavorful and not to mention easy to make. At my house we all scarfed this down and agreed that I should make it again.
Chicken: I used frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs. I buy them in a big package at Costco. You may also use bone-in chicken like thighs or legs. I loved how tender the chicken was. When I stirred in the parmesan and bacon the chicken broke apart with a spoon. You may want to know how chicken breasts would turn out. Due to the longer cooking time because of the brown rice they will likely turn out a little overcooked and dry. If you choose to go with chicken breasts I would use thicker, frozen chicken breasts (or switch out the rice as mentioned below).
Rice: I used brown rice for this recipe. It gets so creamy and tasty that you won’t even know it’s brown rice. If you’d like to try white rice I would use 1 1/2 cups rice and 2 cups broth. Then I’d use chicken tenders or chicken breasts that are sliced thinly or into pieces. Use a 5 minute pressure cooking time with a 5 minute pressure release.
Ranch dressing mix: the dry ranch dressing mix packets are found in the grocery store next to the salad dressings. This is a key to the flavoring of this recipe. I like the Hidden Valley brand and buy it in a big container at Costco. Some other recipes that I use dry ranch dressing mix for are Instant Pot Beef and Cheddar Ranch Potatoes, Instant Pot Ranch Mashed Potatoes, and Instant Pot Mashed Ranch Cauliflower.
More Instant Pot chicken and rice recipes…
Instant Pot Zesty Chicken and Rice
Instant Pot Ranch Chicken Taco Rice
Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Rice
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Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Tender bites of chicken with smoky bacon, chopped spinach, parmesan cheese and creamy rice.
Ingredients
- 2 scant cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or bone-in chicken pieces (frozen is okay)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix (I use Hidden Valley)
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup crumbled bacon
- 2 cups coarsely chopped spinach
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Layer broth, rice, chicken, garlic powder, ranch dressing mix, tomato sauce and cream cheese into the Instant Pot.
- Cover and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes on high pressure. When time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the bacon, spinach and parmesan. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken and rice.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken Ranch 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.
Want more tried and true Instant Pot recipes?
The 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking website has 3-4 new Instant Pot recipes a week! If you sign up for my emails (fill out the form below) you’ll receive an email each time something new is on the site. You can also join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group which is run by my husband Greg and myself. If you’re a visual learner consider subscribing to my YouTube channel where I share Instant Pot stuff with you weekly.
*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.
I’m allergic to nightshades (including tomatoes) and corn so as you can imagine finding good recipes is hard. I did a sub for pumpkin in for tomatoes in another recipe so I decided to try this for this recipe and I made my own ranch seasoning since packets all have corn. The recipe was a HUGE hit. My whole family is very much in the camp of white rice only and my 7 year old daughter hates spinach. She kept saying “I want to hate this but I love it!” If anyone else is nightshade free/allergic to tomatoes or just wants a slightly different profile, sub 1/2 can of pumpkin purée in for the tomato sauce. You may want to put just a little extra chicken broth in because pumpkin is thicker than tomato sauce. I didn’t but I will next time. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
★★★★★
Good to know! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Okay, what did I do wrong? I’m a new Instant Pot owner, but I followed the directions as they were written (I just omitted the spinach and bacon). When I took the lid off, it was apparent that my chicken was still partly raw. I used the recommended 1.5 lbs of chicken thighs. Why would this happen?
(Side note: When I realized the chicken wasn’t fully cooked, I made the mistake of putting the food back on pressure cook for 3 minutes — almost immediate burn warning! Totally dumb and avoidable, I know. So I was left with a dish that was both raw AND burnt! Just my luck lol. At least I know what *not* to do next time with that part!)
Did you cook for the 22 minutes? How thick was the chicken? Was it frozen in one big lump?
I used fresh, boneless/skinless chicken thighs, not frozen. They didn’t seem thicker than usual. I also tried to spread them out evenly around the pot (they weren’t overlapping in any way). Also, I pressure cooked it on high for 22 minutes and let it sit for the 5 minutes and then manually vented it.
I used fresh, boneless/skinless thighs, not frozen. They didn’t seem thicker than usual. I tried to spread them evenly around the pot so they didn’t overlap in any way. Also, I cooked it on high pressure for 22 minutes, let it vent naturally for 5 mins, then manually vented it.
That is so weird. 22 minutes should be way more than enough time for the chicken to cook. The rice was done, right?
Altitude? I live in Denver and instant pot recipes require 15% longer cooking times.
The flavor was really good. I used 6 frozen thighs, 3 with bone-in and 3 boneless). I cooked it for 22 minutes with 5 minute stand time,however, the rice was still a bit hard. What would you recommend for the next time?
★★★★
Maybe 25 minutes with 10 minute NPR
Would the time remain the same if I’m using thawed chicken thighs?
yes!
Loved the recipe! If I double or triple the recipe for a large group will the cooking time remain the same. I am using the 8 quart Instant Pot. I am new at this!
I would keep the same cooking time!
Slow cooker version available? 🙂
Sorry Melisa, I don’t have one for this recipe 🙁
Ok. Thanks. Perhaps yet another reason to invest in an instapot. 🙂 Appreciate you!
All the store had was Boil in a Bag brown rice, which I know is precooked to a degree. Would this shorten the cooking time any at all? I have chicken thighs to use as the meat. Thanks!
Yes I would only cook for 5 minutes and cut the chicken into pieces so that it cooks at the same rate. good luck!
My husband and I both absolutely loved this. However, after removing the lid I could see the cream cheese remained kind of globby even though when I layered it as the final step it was at room temp. Is that how it is supposed to be?
It should be really creamy and stir in nicely. I’m sorry that yours didn’t turn out. I’m not sure why. Was in low fat?
Could I use boneless chicken breasts in this recipe? My family only likes white meat.
Chicken: I used frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs. I buy them in a big package at Costco. You may also use bone-in chicken like thighs or legs. I loved how tender the chicken was. When I stirred in the parmesan and bacon the chicken broke apart with a spoon. You may want to know how chicken breasts would turn out. Due to the longer cooking time because of the brown rice they will likely turn out a little overcooked and dry. If you choose to go with chicken breasts I would use thicker, frozen chicken breasts (or switch out the rice as mentioned below).
Rice: I used brown rice for this recipe. It gets so creamy and tasty that you won’t even know it’s brown rice. If you’d like to try white rice I would use 1 1/2 cups rice and 2 cups broth. Then I’d use chicken tenders or chicken breasts that are sliced thinly or into pieces. Use a 5 minute pressure cooking time with a 5 minute pressure release.
I tried to follow your suggestion with the White rice, however I only had frozen chicken breasts.
I did 2 cup broth 1.5 cups rice but did the cook time at 10min (because your suggestion was for non frozen smaller pieces). It didn’t even get to the pressure (still was heating up) and it burned!!!
How would I cook this recipe with white rice AND Frozen chicken breasts?
Thank you!
I would use 2.5 cups of broth and see if that helps.
★★★★★
Would using right ride change the cooking time? My guess is yes…
I used brown rice for this recipe. It gets so creamy and tasty that you won’t even know it’s brown rice. If you’d like to try white rice I would use 1 1/2 cups rice and 2 cups broth. Then I’d use chicken tenders or chicken breasts that are sliced thinly or into pieces. Use a 5 minute pressure cooking time with a 5 minute pressure release.
Thank you for figuring out I meant white rice. 🤦🏼♀️
Ha ha I had to read it a few times.
The cooking time shows 5 min pressure but when I printed the recipe it says 22 minutes. Big difference!! Input please!
prep time is 5 minutes, pressure cooking time is 22 minutes with a 5 minute pressure release.
In Step 3, the recipe says to stir in the parmesan, but the parmesan is not listed on the ingredient list. How much parmesan cheese should be added?
I’m awaiting the answers to both questions: the quantity of parmesan and meaning of scant cup?
A scant cup is a cup minus 1 to 2 tablespoons.
A scant cup is meant to signify just a little bit less than a standard cup measurement of something
★★★★
Yes that’s right, thanks Carrie!
A scant cup is a cup minus 1 to 2 tablespoons. And it’s supposed to be 1/2 cup parmesan, I just corrected the recipe.
Judging from other recipes I have made comparing cream cheese, tomato products and parmesan cheese ratios… my guess is a 1/2 cup parm cheese. Looks yummy can’t wait to try it!
yes it’s half a cup, sorry about that!
Have you ever tried freezing this to use at a later date?
No but I bet it would work.
This looks so yummy. In step 3 you mention Parmesan but I don’t see it in the list of ingredients. How much do I need?
1/2 cup is what I meant to type out. doh!!
Not sure what went wrong…followed the recipe exactly but my IP released steam the entire cook time and much of the rice was cooked to the bottom and it’s very soupy
Sounds like your pot never came to pressure. Was the sealing ring in place?
I’ve seen it in half a dozen recipes, but what the heckorino is a scant cup lol 😂
A scant cup is a cup minus 1 to 2 tablespoons.
A scant cup is meant to signify just a little bit less than a standard cup. I didn’t want 1 3/4 cups or 2 cups so just in between the two 🙂