Instant Pot nacho chicken and rice is a one pot meal of tender chicken, brown rice, nacho cheese, tomatoes and chili beans. When topped with tortilla chips, tomatoes, jalapenos, avocados and sour cream it tastes out of this world.

Instant Pot Nacho Chicken and Rice (+ video)
What do you make when you go to your pantry and you see rice, tortilla chips, chili beans, and nacho cheese dip? You make it into a one pot meal that’s a party in your mouth. Chicken and rice is taken to a whole new level with the addition of nacho cheese dip.
This is an easy dump and go recipe that you can make with frozen or fresh chicken. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs because that’s what I prefer. I find them in a big bag by the frozen food items at Costco. You can also use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or bone-in chicken pieces. The same cooking time will work.
If you choose to use white rice instead of brown rice the cooking time will change from 22 minutes to 5 minutes. And that means that you’ll need to cut the chicken into bite-size pieces to ensure that it cooks at the same rate as the rice. So no frozen chicken if you use white rice.
Some favorite toppings for this recipe include tortilla chips, sour cream, pickled tame jalapenos, diced tomatoes, diced avocados or guacamole, sliced olives, pico de gallo or salsa and grated cheese. Have fun and get creative!
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More Nacho Inspired Instant Pot Recipes…
Instant Pot Macho Nacho Casserole
Instant Pot Beef Nachos Casserole

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Instant Pot Nacho Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A one pot meal of tender chicken, brown rice, nacho cheese, tomatoes and chili beans. Topped with tortilla chips, tomatoes, jalapenos, avocados and sour cream it tastes out of this world.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (frozen is fine)
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp dried minced onion
- 1 (10 oz) can Rotel
- 1 (15 oz) can chili beans
- 3/4 cups Tostitos Salsa con Queso
- For topping: tortilla chips, sour cream, pickled tame jalapenos, diced tomatoes, diced avocados, grated cheese
Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle in the rice. Add chicken on top. Sprinkle the garlic salt, pepper and onion. Dump the rotel, chili beans and queso over the top of the chicken.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 22 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Remove chicken and shred or chop. Stir it back into the pot.
- Serve with desired toppings.
Notes
If you’d like to make this with white rice you can. Use a 5 minute pressure cook time and cut the chicken into bite size pieces.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. Make in the 8 quart pot with no changes. Make in the 3 quart by halving the recipe.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*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 saw this recipe yesterday morning, and knew that we needed it for our dinner….I made this dish “de-constructed” style….the chicken mixture was put into individual bowls with shredded cheddar strewn over for melting….I arranged all of your suggested toppings around the dinner plate, but instead of “tame” jalapenos, I used “Cowboy Candy”, which is a very spicy version of this chili. Raving over our dinner! Thanks Karen for another winner.
★★★★★
Perfect! I love the deconstructed style!
Can I use refried beans?
Sure! I bet that would be really tasty!
This is the first recipe of yours I didn’t love. Wonder if it was the beans, I used pinto beans because i didn’t know what you meant by chili beans. I did not get a burn notice.
★★★
How come it wasn’t good? Not enough flavor? The chili beans have a sauce that is flavorful so maybe that was the difference??
Okay that is why I asked what chili beans were, that must be it. I did reheat leftovers with extra salsa and cheese and it was good.
Oh yeah, salsa would be good!
Can you use jasmine rice rather than brown?
Also can the recipe be doubled?
If you’d like to make this with jasmine rice you can. Use a 5 minute pressure cook time and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Yes the recipe can be doubled.
thanks Karen.
I will let you know how is goes
We loved the taste of this dish. We really enjoy many recipes from your website. Sorry to say this is the only recipe I have cooked in the IP that gave me the burn notice. I followed directions and did not stir. I used brown rice that did not need 22 minutes so I salvaged the dish. I may try again with white rice or move to the Western Meal in One.
Oh shoot! I hate when that happens. I am not sure why it happened. 😢
I will make this but cook my rice separately and add it in. Always get burn notice when cooking rice in IP as part of a recipe. There. A solution for people!
Thank you so much! I wondered how I was going to cut frozen chicken in pieces . Problem solved!
I keep getting the “burn” notice, what could I be doing wrong????
Are you stirring the ingredients? They need to be layered, without stirring.
I have a million chicken recipes, but my husband is requesting some more ground beef ones. Would I be able to use lean ground beef in this recipe? If so, how would you alter the cook time?
Use the same cooking time and brown the beef. Should be great! Here are more beef recipes: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/recipes/?fwp_method=instant-pot&fwp_ingredient=beef-dishes
Hi, Karen. I was excited to make this recipe. I’ve made several of your recipes and my family has really enjoyed them. I had trouble with repeated burn notices last night. I followed your recipe to the letter, swapping out brown rice for basmati and frozen chicken for fresh diced chicken. I do believe I stirred the ingredients, though. Could that be why the rice stuck to the bottom?
yes that is probably why! say no to stirring. You need to keep that barrier.
Very helpful. Thanks! Best wishes and keep those great recipes coming!
Somehow I made a mess of this in my instant pot. Could you tell me how to just bake this? Thanks
I haven’t tried it but I would try baking for an hour at 350