Instant Pot Pollo Loco Mexican Chicken–yellow spanish-style rice with tender bites of chicken, carrots and white queso dip.
Instant Pot Pollo Loco Mexican Chicken
This is an easy and flavorful dump and go Instant Pot recipe! You’ll love the yellow vibrant color of the rice and the creamy element added from the white queso dip. The chicken is well seasoned and stays tender. There are sadly no leftovers at the Petersen house!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts. You can also use 2-3 cups cooked rotisserie chicken, use the same cooking time.
- Olive oil or avocado, canola oil
- Kosher salt or ¾ tsp of table salt
- Garlic powder or 1 Tbsp of minced garlic
- Black pepper
- Dried oregano
- Turmeric or saffron
- Minced dry onion or 1 cup fresh onion, sauteed
- Chicken broth or water and Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Converted/parboiled rice or long grain white rice or jasmine rice
- Carrots
- White queso dip (optional)
Tips and Suggestions
How to get tender chicken? Make sure to cut the chicken across the grain so that the chicken can be as tender as possible. Slice across the grain. Then cut each of those wider strips crosswise into bite size cubes. All muscle has a grain to it. The placement of your knife to this grain will determine the length of the muscle fibers in an individual slice of meat, which in turn will have a profound effect on how tender or tough that meat is.
How do I avoid the burn error? Try sprinkling in the rice on top of the broth and chicken. Don’t stir. Also a tip is to have ALL your ingredients ready to go. Once you sprinkle in the rice pressure cook immediately. That way the rice won’t have time to make the water all starchy and get stuck on the bottom of the pot and cue the burn error.
Where can I find queso dip? Try looking in the “fancy cheese” section in the store. Or you may find it in the refrigerated section near dairy where you can find fresh tortillas, chorizo, cream cheese etc. Shelf stable cheese dips don’t taste good in this recipe. You can also make white queso dip from scratch.
What is converted/parboiled rice? Don’t confuse converted rice (or sometimes it is called parboiled rice) with pre-cooked or minute rice. Parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. Sometimes I buy it at Winco in the bulk section. I have also found it in the orange box (Ben’s brand) next to other rices.
What should I serve pollo loco with? Serve with steamed or roasted broccoli or another vegetable of your choice.
What Instant Pot to use? I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
Have leftovers? Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Dietary restrictions? For a dairy free version leave out the white queso dip. For a gluten-free version make sure the queso dip is gluten-free. For a low carb version of this recipe saute the chicken and carrots in the seasonings and oil (you may need more oil than 1 Tbsp) and stir in cooked cauliflower rice (no need to pressure cook).
What else can I make with turmeric? Instant Pot Bombay Potatoes, Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf With Chicken Sausage and Instant Pot Yellow Chicken Curry And Jasmine Rice.
More Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Recipes…
Simple Man’s Lemon Garlic Chicken (Instant Pot or Crockpot)
An easy Instant Pot or Crockpot recipe with lots of lemony flavor. Serve over rice to sop up all the delicious sauce!
Instant Pot Old School Casserole
A classic chicken and rice casserole that has an updated method of cooking…in the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Smothered Chicken and Rice
Creamy rice with chicken smothered in cheddar and bacon crumbles. An easy recipe that takes only a few minutes to prep and cook!
Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Casserole
The delicious flavors from chicken burritos made in the easiest way possible…a dump and go Instant Pot recipe. With chicken, rice, beans, corn and cheese you won’t miss a thing.
Instant Pot Farmhouse Casserole
A cheesy chicken vegetable and rice casserole that’s flavorful and easy to make.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Instant Pot Pollo Loco Mexican Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 14 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Yellow spanish-style rice with tender bites of chicken, carrots and white queso.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 Tbsp minced dry onion
- 2 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups converted/parboiled rice
- 1 heaping cup of sliced carrots
- 1/3 cup white queso dip (optional)
Instructions
- Cut your chicken across the grain into strips. Then cut it into cubes. Discard excess fat. I find this easier to do when the chicken is partially frozen.
- Add the chicken, olive oil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, oregano, turmeric, dry onion into Instant Pot. Stir to coat the chicken in the oil and seasonings.
- Pour the broth into the pot. Sprinkle the rice into the pot. Dump the carrots on top.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the queso dip. Scoop onto plates and serve.
Notes
Where can I find queso dip? Try looking in the “fancy cheese” section in the store. Or you may find it in the refrigerated section near dairy where you can find fresh tortillas, chorizo, cream cheese etc. Shelf stable cheese dips don’t taste good in this recipe. You can also make white queso dip from scratch.
What is converted/parboiled rice? Don’t confuse converted rice (or sometimes it is called parboiled rice) with pre-cooked or minute rice. Parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. Sometimes I buy it at Winco in the bulk section. I have also found it in the orange box (Ben’s brand) next to other rices.
- 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.
Can I use yellow rice?
yes I think that would work just fine 🙂
As written this recipe is simple and good. It’s on a twice monthly rotation at my house, which is high praise. We have always skipped the queso and instead doubled or tripled the carrots, cutting them in large chunks because they have very little texture after pressure cooking. I’ve also opted to use aged basmati rice and as long as it is soaked for 20 minutes and drained just before adding, the cooking time of 4 minutes high pressure and 8 minutes at pressure before releasing cooks the rice. The comment about the rice not being cooked made me a little hesitant to not use parboiled rice but I’m guessing that reviewer accidentally had their Instant Pot set at low pressure instead of high. Anyway, I recommend this recipe especially with aged basmati rice. With the turmeric it has more of an Indian vibe than Spanish and it also makes a nice companion dish to a chickpea curry.
★★★★★
I will have to try that aged basmati! Sounds so good. Oh and the chickpea curry too!
My family loved it! Hopefully will remember to make again!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the 5 stars Rebecca!
Does this recipe gets its color from the turmeric? We substituted cumin and used white rice and it has no color. Very yummy though!
Yep the turmeric is for sure where the color comes from!
this was very good! I used the parboiled rice and I love the way it separates
★★★★★
Yeah, me too. I love it.
can this be done in a slow cooker? I dont have a instant pot.
I haven’t made this one in the slow cooker yet!
The flavour was good but substituting white rice (confirmed as an option in a previous comment) was not successful. I’ve never cooked with parboiled rice before and am not familiar with how it aligns with the cook time for white rice. Maybe the results would have been the same. A 4 minute pressure cook with 10 minute elapsed release resulted in crunchy rice. Had to add another 0.5 cup of water, pressure cook for another 3 minutes and the rice was edible but the chicken was dry/tough. I may try to make the rice as a side dish but don’t think I’d attempt adding chicken again (not at $12/lbs. in my area).
★★★
I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t work out for you! my rice (white or parboiled) always cooks in 3-5 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. Not sure what the difference was.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I had used dark meat chicken so I wasn’t worried about overcooking. Because of Lynne’s experience with long grain white rice, I added about 1/2 cup of extra broth and set the Instant Pot for 8 minutes. It came out perfect! My husband even asked for the name of the recipe so he would know what to ask for 😂 Thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it and he liked it too! win!!
Can I use white rice in place of the parboiled. I now understand the benefits or parboiled but I have white rice at home.
Yes you can!
Thanks!