Southwestern Instant Pot Chicken and Quinoa
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A complete meal that’s made in one pot and is ready in 30 minutes, healthy, and full of flavor — this Instant Pot chicken is a weeknight lifesaver!
Admittedly, this recipe isn’t the prettiest thing in the world. However, on my reader survey, it was pretty clear what most of you wanted. More healthy recipes! More 30 minute meals! More Instant Pot recipes. Boom — this one covers all three.
You guys weren’t so much into special diet recipes and guess what? This definitely isn’t Whole30 compliant and it’s not dairy-free or vegan. It does happen to be gluten-free (which surprisingly most of you aren’t into at all), but it’s purely coincidence. How do they call it? Naturally gluten-free? That’s this recipe.
Also, I know you’re not all owners of an Instant Pot — it’s okay! There are plenty more non-Instant Pot recipes in the days to come.
If you’re looking to purchase an Instant Pot, this is the one I have. I initially used it mostly for food prep such as boiled eggs and shredded chicken breasts but have found that it does so much more than that! I’m expanding my repertoire of Instant Pot recipes to include more dinner recipes – you all know how much I love a dinner that’s made in one pot/pan/dish!
More about this Instant Pot Chicken:
This Instant Pot chicken recipe is basically magic. You put all the ingredients into the Instant Pot and seal it and about 30 minutes later, BOOM. DINNER IS SERVED. Chicken, quinoa, vegetables, everything you need. You all know how much I love toppings, and this recipe is perfect for toppings. Cilantro, green onions, avocado, tomatoes, sour cream, whatever your heart desires.
I can’t wait to hear what you all think of this one! Make sure to come back and rate the recipe after you make it. If you do make it, snap a photo and post it on Instagram – make sure to tag me and use the hashtag #RachelCooks — I LOVE seeing what you’re making in the kitchen!
Want to kick this up a notch and make it a little more unique? Learn how to pickle red onions (you won’t believe how easy it is!) and sprinkle a few on top!
More healthy Instant Pot recipes
- Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
- Fall Instant Pot Shakshuka With Butternut Squash
- Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
- Instant Pot Pasta with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes
- Instant Pot Chili
- Healthy Chicken Piccata in the Instant Pot
- 21+ Easy Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes by Creme de la Crumb
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (1 cup) chicken broth
- 1 can (15oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes with their juice
- 1 bell pepper (any color), diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1-2 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- In the bottom of your Instant Pot, stir together chicken broth, quinoa, beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion and one tablespoon of taco seasoning. Place chicken on top and sprinkle with remaining taco seasoning. Secure lid of Instant Pot and turn valve to seal.
- Set Instant Pot for manual (or poultry) for 10 minutes.
- Turn valve to “vent” to quick release pressure. Chicken should be at 165 degrees Fahrenheit or above. When pressure is released, remove lid and sprinkle cheese on top. Place cover back on for 1 minute or until cheese is melted.
- Serve chicken immediately with quinoa mixture.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Janet Stuckrath says
I am just learning to use the 3 qt mini. Do I just cut the recipe in half for the smaller Instant Pot?
Rachel Gurk says
Hi Janet – I haven’t tested it in the 3qt but I think halving the ingredients would work out great! Let me know if you try it!
David says
This is the second time I have made this for the family, and we agree it’s a keeper! Lots of “Mmmm”s while we ate. Thank you for this terrific recipe!
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment – it means so much to me!
Brendan says
I got the burn as well, and it sucks because I was really excited to try this! I read mixing the ingredients prior to would cause a burn. I have the Lux mini, and I even put water and chicken broth into it to dilute it in hopes it wouldn’t burn, but to my dismay it didn’t work. 4 stars because this recipe is awesome!
Rachel Gurk says
Oh no! That’s strange, I have never had that happen. So sorry to hear that.
Scott Milstein says
Just made for wife and self. Absolutely great recipe. Tweaked it a little. Because taco seasoning is usually salty, I used a lo-sodium variety. I also used RoTel diced tomatoes with green Chiles (2 cans for 20 total ounces). Again, a simple, flavorful dinner. 2 thumbs up.
Rachel Gurk says
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear this was a hit! Thanks for taking the time to come back leave a comment!
Miko says
When I made it before, I almost forgot the tomatoes so threw them on top at the last minute & it was fine. Today I made it again and the only difference was I mixed the tomatoes in with the other wet ingredients & I got the dreaded overheat/burn alert. I Googled it and apparently it’s fairly common for thick tomato-based sauces to cause this. I’d suggest people add the tomatoes on top of everything at the end (and don’t stir!) to prevent this. Maybe that’s what happened to the other commenters who also got a burn alert.
Miko says
Made this tonight with bone-in chicken thighs (12mins). Absolutely delicious. The only slight niggle is that the base of the pan was charred a bit, though it didn’t affect the flavour. I will definitely make again; next time I’ll try boneless breasts or thighs to see if that stops the charring.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so happy to hear that you liked this recipe! It would be great with thighs, I bet! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Lindsay says
I feel like I should know the answer, but do you mean to let it naturally release for 10 minutes after cooking before doing the manual, or do you mean manual release immediately after the 10 minutes cook time is done?
Can’t wait to try this – looks amazing!!
Rachel Gurk says
The way I have the directions written is a little confusing, I’ll reword them. You can release the pressure immediately when the cook time is done. Thanks for asking! I hope you like it!
Alana says
Do I need to change the timing if I double this?
Rachel Gurk says
I haven’t tried it — do you have the larger size instant pot? It might overflow otherwise. I typically need to increase cooking time slightly when doubling recipes so I would start by increasing by maybe five minutes and seeing how that goes. I can’t make any promises because I haven’t tested it that way, but let me know if you try!
Brock says
This recipe is amazing. I have made it many times now. It’s so tasty and super easy to make. I was wondering what to change if I made this without the chicken. I know chicken provides alot of moisture and I’ll have to lower the cook time. But I have know idea how much liquid to add or how much less I should cook it. Any tips? Either way thanks for this great recipe.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so happy you like this recipe! Thanks for coming and leaving a comment! I haven’t tested this without chicken, but I actually think it would work pretty well with the measurements as written, minus the chicken. I can’t make any promises, but I’d love to hear back from you how it turned out! I think it would fully cook in five or six minutes.
Brock says
This recipe is amazing. I have made it many times now. It’s so tasty and super easy to make. I was wondering what to change if I made this without the chicken. I know chicken provides alot of moisture and I’ll have to lower the cook time. But I have know idea how much liquid to add or how much less I should cook it. Any tips? Either way thanks for this great recipe.
Peter Hahn says
I got a BURN message on my IP. Had to finish it in a regular pot. I googled BURN on IP and there are a lot of problems when there are so many ingredients getting sauted first. Any help would be appreciated as this recipe is delicious, even though I had to finish it without the IP.
Rachel Gurk says
Hmm, I have not had that problem! What size IP do you have? There are actually no ingredients sautéed in this recipe, so I don’t think that would cause a BURN message (unless you mistakenly sautéed something). Did your remember to add the full amount of liquid? I’ve never encountered this issue so I’m not sure what caused it.
Ron says
I’ve heard that the BURN message is a common occurrence with the larger InstaPot.
Rachel Gurk says
Good to know! I’ve never used the larger size.
Ruth Draeger says
I just made it with the 8 Qt size IP but I chose to saute a small amount of onion first, then seared the chicken breasts cut in strips till starting to tun golden on one side (worried I would make it tough). I then removed the seared chicken strips, added every ingredient Rachel listed for the recipe ending with chicken on top to make the recipe. When I pressed Poultry, it put 15 minutes on the clock, I reduced this to 10 min as they were strips and partially seared. It was just perfect! Tender yummy chicken!! Served with avocado slices, cilantro and fresh tomatoes. Everyone had seconds!!
Ruth Draeger says
Oh, and no one thought it was ugly food!!! :) My quinoa was a mixed type with dark and light colors so the black beans blended in well. Sooo yummy!
Rachel Gurk says
Oh good! That’s a relief! :)
Rachel Gurk says
This comment makes me so happy! I’m so glad everyone liked it! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Cammy says
Re: chicken – do you cut it up or whole boneless breast?
Rachel Gurk says
I used whole boneless skinless breasts, but cutting it up would work great too and turn out more like a casserole – delicious!
Maria says
I used salsa instead of a can of tomatoes. It was awesome!
Rachel Gurk says
Great idea!
Ana Lee says
What adjustments should you make if cooking chicken from frozen?
Rachel Gurk says
You’ll need to increase cooking time by about 5 minutes. Make sure to check the chicken when you’re done to make sure it’s at an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Enjoy!
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
I’m really getting into using my pressure cooker too lately! Excited to see more recipes! It’s kind of magical!