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
Southwestern Instant Pot Chicken and Quinoa
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
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.
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!
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!!
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!
Do I need to change the timing if I double this?
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I’ve heard that the BURN message is a common occurrence with the larger InstaPot.
Good to know! I’ve never used the larger size.
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!!
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!
Oh good! That’s a relief! :)
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!
Re: chicken – do you cut it up or whole boneless breast?
I used whole boneless skinless breasts, but cutting it up would work great too and turn out more like a casserole – delicious!
I used salsa instead of a can of tomatoes. It was awesome!
Great idea!
What adjustments should you make if cooking chicken from frozen?
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!
I’m really getting into using my pressure cooker too lately! Excited to see more recipes! It’s kind of magical!