Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Rice–brown rice is cooked with garlic, onion, lemon juice and juicy chicken thighs for an easy one pot dinner that’s low on effort and high on taste.
Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Rice
Although the pictures of this recipe look sort of monochromatic it is a really delicious dinner! My husband scraped the pot clean. I love the brown rice and the chicken thighs and how they cook until tender. The lemon juice and lemon zest give a bit of brightness and flavor but it is not overpowering.
Serve the chicken and rice alongside some steamed broccoli and you have a complete dinner.
I haven’t tried this yet with chicken breasts or with other types of rice. I think chicken breasts would work okay but possibly get a little dry because 22 minutes is just too long to cook chicken breasts. If I tried this with other types of rice I would follow the recommendations found on the chart in this post.
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Tarragon Mustard Chicken
Instant Pot Greek Chicken Lemon Rice Soup
Instant Pot Creamy Lemon Parmesan Chicken
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Lemon 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.
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Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Rice
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
Brown rice is cooked with garlic, onion, lemon juice and juicy chicken thighs for an easy one pot dinner that’s low on effort and high on taste.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cups long grain brown rice
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice, divided
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 3 tsp lemon zest
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add in the onion and stir. Saute the onion for about 3 minutes and then add in the garlic cloves. Saute the garlic for 30 seconds and then add in the chicken broth.
- Add in the rice, salt, 2 Tbsp of the lemon juice. Nestle the chicken into the pot and sprinkle with the lemon pepper seasoning.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes on high pressure. When the time is up let the pot sit there for 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the butter, parmesan and 1 Tbsp lemon juice and lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Scoop onto plates and serve.
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
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It was so tasty! Family loved it.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the 5 stars Elaine!
Hi Karen, I have a friend I am trying to convert to the IP dark side…LOL…Can this be made with frozen chicken breasts? She has a family of 4 and all the kids will eat is lemon chicken and rice but she always has frozen chicken breasts on hand.I saw you replied to someone it can be done with frozen breasts vs thighs but would that change the pressure time?
I already told her about your site but want to actually demonstrate a recipe for her and this would be perfect with those slight changes
Thanks Karen!
Also, what about white rice vs brown rice?
If you use the brown rice you could use the frozen breasts and cook the same cooking time as stated in the recipe. If you want to use white rice it will only need a 5 minute pressure cooking time with a 10 minute natural pressure release. That is not enough time for the frozen chicken breasts so they’d have to be cut into chunks. Or she could use chicken tenders with a 5 minute pressure cook time.
What kind of brown rice am I suppose to use with boneless thighs. I have success white rice in a bag. Would this work?
I am a nanny for a family and I also prepare their dinners. They have an IP and I made this dish for them one day. It was so delicious!! I would really like to make it again for myself but I do not have an IP. Do you know if and how this dish could be made in a slow cooker?
★★★★★
I haven’t tried it in the slow cooker yet but this is how I would do it:
1. Heat a pan on stove. Add in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add in the onion and stir. Saute the onion for about 3 minutes and then add in the garlic cloves. Saute the garlic for 30 seconds. Add to slow cooker.
2. add in the chicken broth, rice, salt, 2 Tbsp of the lemon juice. Nestle the chicken into the pot and sprinkle with the lemon pepper seasoning.
3. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours.
4. Stir in the butter, parmesan and 1 Tbsp lemon juice and lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste. Scoop onto plates and serve.
Let me know how it works out if you try it!
This had excellent flavor. The rice was a bit chewy so may try cooking it for 23 minutes and using a 10-minute stand time. I’ll also substitute 2 of the thighs with a large chicken breast next time. All in all, it was wonderful.
★★★★★
okay good to know! Thanks for sharing!
I’m making this today! Is the chicken whole? I don’t see it well in the photo of the dish, though I’m on an iPad mini plus great eyesight is a thing of the past! Thanks.
Hi Beth, I used 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs in the recipe 🙂
Hi Karen – Yes, the recipe said six thighs – I realized that! I was asking if you used the thighs whole or cut them up! : ) I did make the recipe; my husband is eating it right now as a matter of fact, and we both agree it’s delicious! It was on Keep Warm for several hours and was still perfect.
Next time I might stir some veggies in at the end, maybe just frozen peas, unless you have another suggestion. If I do that should I switch it to Sauté for a couple minutes first, before letting it go to Keep Warm?
★★★★★
I used them whole 🙂
And peas sound great, they would cook quickly from the warm food or you could use the saute for even faster cooking.
I was looking in the comments to see if the whole-vs.-cut question came up and saw your answer to someone you took the chicken out whole and cut it up (to put it back in). That’s what I was wondering about, and did do that. They were so tender they basically fell apart even picking them up so there was little cutting.
Yum! I need to make this again. You just talked me into it.
Can you substitute quinoa for rice?
No not for this one. Quinoa only needs a 1 minute pressure cook time with a 10 minute NPR. So the chicken wouldn’t cook at the same rate as the quinoa. Unless you wanted to cut the chicken into bite size pieces and saute it a bit before pressure cooking.
So easy! Delish!!!!!
A favorite of mine!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Gail!
I’m trying this tonight. Have you ever added broccoli at the end?
No but that would be amazing!
Just made this and I wouldn’t change a thing, it came out perfect! Rice was not gluey, it was not soupy…it was very delicious!
★★★★★
Thanks for letting me know! Nice to hear.
What shall I do if I want to just use white rice? What would cooking time be instead?
I don’t suggest white rice for this recipe but if you’re set on it I would use a 1 to 1 ratio of rice to chicken broth and only just a 10 minute time and maybe cut up your chicken a bit so it will cook too.
We loved this recipe!!! My family, including the kids, couldn’t stop eating it! Only change we made was squeezing 1 whole fresh lemon instead of lemon juice. Definitely will make again!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it!
I have the Royal Blend Wild Rice blend that includes Texmati, white, brown, wild and red rice. Would you adjust the cooking times at all? Looking forward to making this for work lunches!
typically wild rice takes about 22-25 minutes to cook in the instant pot.
If I put in the instapot frozen is the time the same?
yes for this recipe it is.
I’m pretty new with the instant pot. I used chicken breast and white rice (because I didn’t have the brown) but followed everything else. . But I don’t suggest using white rice. Chicken was fine and the taste was great but the rice was very mushy with the 22 mins.
oh yes that would be way too long for white rice…bummer!
This looks delicious!! Could I make this recipe with boneless skinless chicken breasts and long grain white rice? What would you suggest for the cooking time? Thank you!!
use 1.5 cups of broth and 1 cup of white long grain rice. cut the chicken into bite size pieces. pressure cook for 3 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Thanks!! I made it tonight and it was amazing!!! Will definitely be making it again! 🙂
★★★★★
What would the time difference be if I used jasmine rice and boneless chicken?
I would do 1 1/2 cups broth to 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice. Cut the boneless chicken into bite size pieces. Cook for 4 minutes with a natural pressure release.
I made this but it turned out soupy, should I I cut the liquid down?
possibly! Try less next time. I would be nervous to cut it too much though or else the rice will be crunchy.
I’m loving the recipes you have posted and can’t wait to use them as I just got an early Yule present of an IP.
My question on this recipe, based on the picture above, when cooking the chicken are the thighs left whole and do you pull the meat from the bone, or are the thighs cut up? I ask this because the picture seems to show chicken pieces.
Thanks for everything.
I cut up the pieces after they were cooked.
Thank you so much.
I can confirm the same as others that there seems to be way too much liquid in this recipe. Isn’t the normal ratio 1 cup of brown rice to 1.25 cups of liquid? Regardless it still tasted really good but next time I will cut the broth to 1.5 cups as 2 cups was way too much.
We loved the flavor of the dish-chicken was super tender- but my rice was “soupy”! I used brown rice but turns out it was long grain brown Basmati (sold in the clear plastic box container). I’ve cooked brown rice in the IP before and it came out perfect. However, I don’t remember the dish or the ratio of rice to water but it was just “regular” brown rice. Your recipes always come out perfect so I was surprise the rice wasn’t quite right. I assume it’s because the rice was a Basmati-type brown vs “regular” long grain brown rice and the rice:water ratio was off. What do you think?
Yep I bet that’s what happened. BUMMER!
It was still delicious! I’ll just adust the rice:broth ratio next time if I use the Basmati brown rice.
Just done this dish tonight, my first go in the instant pot. Came out great and very tasty.
I’m so glad to hear this Eva!
Hi! After the 22 minutes is up do I turn off the InstantPot? And after the valve is moved to the venting position, how long for the air to be released before the lid can be opened?
Thanks! Looking forward to making this tomorrow!
You can just keep the pot on. It will automatically turn to the keep warm setting and start counting up. The pot will not let you open the lid until all the air is released. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for it all to release, depending on how full the pot is.
I would love to make this using chicken breasts. Can you recommend the timing to set if 22 minutes is too long? TIA
It’ll be fine. You’re cooking brown rice, right?
Excellent recipe!! Matter of fact, I really haven’t found one that I don’t like!!
Do you publish gluten-free recipes, Karen? I didn’t see that category on this website.
★★★★★
Hi Judi, I don’t really have a category for gluten free. Sometimes my recipes happen to be gluten free but I don’t really think about it since it’s not an issue in my house. I should be better at it!
Do you ever post ideas for the small IP? How would I convert the above
You can just cut everything in halve for the smaller pot. Make sure there is enough liquid for the pot to come to pressure though.
Hi, thanks for recipe. I need to double? Ok to do all at once or make 2 separate batches? Thanks
You could do it all at once!
We loved the flavour of the dish but found the rice had a glue texture. We don’t eat long grain rice often so wonder if that is just what it is like?
★★
By how much would I need to increase the cooking time if I were to use bone-in chicken thighs? Thanks!
I would keep the time the same.
Made this yesterday using boneless chicken breasts, it was delicious and very easy. Thank you for all your recipes and ideas.
★★★★★
How long did you set it for?
Can you use frozen chicken thighs?
Yes you can!
Could you please tell us how to convert this recipe to a slow cooker? Is there a formula for converting instapot to slow cooker? Thank you!
Not exactly a formula. Here is a resource that might be helpful to you https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-convert-a-recipe-into-a-pressure-cooker-recipe/
I haven’t tried this one in the slwo cooker yet but I will soon and let you know!
Can I use chicken breasts instead? If so, how many do you think?
BTW, love your recipes!!! 😉
★★★★★
I think chicken breasts would work okay but possibly get a little dry because 22 minutes is just too long to cook chicken breasts.