Instant Pot Chicken & Rice / Arroz Junto con Pollo
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This simple Instant Pot One Pot Chicken and Rice or Puerto Rican Arroz Junto con Pollo is full of flavor and ready in less than 20 minutes!
Let’s begin!
First know that to make this Instant Pot Spanish Rice with chicken we used this Instant Pot, an Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1.
This means that when you press the rice button there are no minutes showing. It will stop once the rice is done. Which is pretty amazing!
Puerto Rican Rice and Chicken Recipe
This Puerto Rican Arroz y Pollo junto calls for sofrito and Sazon. You can purchase these items at your local grocery store or online.
Can you make Puerto Rican Rice without sofrito?
Yes, it happens! It has happened to me. When this happens, add about a tablespoon of chopped onions and cilantro while on sauté and taste it. Will it taste the same as sofrito? No, it won’t, but it will give it a very similar taste.
What kind of chicken should I use for Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe?
For this Instant Pot Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice recipe, we used chicken breast. We recommend that you brown the chicken cubes on Sauté mode before adding the rice. You want to make sure that the chicken is cooked before eating.
Cutting the chicken breasts into small cubes will allow the chicken to be fully cooked.
What type of Rice do I need for this recipe?
Rice is cheap and one of my 7 best pantry essentials for our budget to have! We use regular rice found at your local grocer. There is no need to buy Hispanic brand rice to make Spanish rice at all.
Can you use chicken broth instead of water?
For this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice, you can use chicken broth. It gives it a delicious flavor.
How to Cook Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Before we begin, let me just say that I have been an avid Instant Pot user for years and every Instant Pot seems to require some tweaks here and there.
What are the Ingredients to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice?
The ingredients to make Puerto Rican style chicken and rice are the following:
- olive oil
- chicken breasts, cubed
- sofrito
- Salt & Pepper
- Sazon
- tomato sauce
- diced tomatoes
- water or Chicken Broth
- White rice
Now that you have all of the ingredients it is time to make this rice and chicken recipe in the instant pot.
Follow the step below, please.
Hit the Sauté button on your Instant Pot and add the olive oil and the chicken.
Brown the chicken and stir until it starts to get brown on each side.
Next, add the sofrito and continue to stir for about four minutes.
Add salt and pepper, a packet of Sazon and continue to stir until for about 2 minutes.
Once you have stirred and the chicken seems browned enough, add the can of tomato and diced tomato and stir again until it starts to boil again.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir on last time before closing the Instant Pot.
Once you close your Instant Pot, turn the valve to sealing.
Press the Rice button and wait.
I let the Instant Pot natural release for a few minutes, about 10 minutes.
Your Instant Pot Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice Recipe is ready to serve.
Once you uncover the Instant Pot, stir the rice.
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Recipe
Now that you have all the information about making Puerto Rican style Chicken and Rice it is time to print the ingredients.
Puerto Rican Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 large chicken breasts, cubed
- 3 Tablespoons of sofrito
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 1 packet of Sazon
- 1 can of tomato sauce, 8 oz can
- 1 can of diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz - you can use Basil, Garlic, and Oregano flavor too!
- 2 cups of chicken broth or water
- 2 cups of rice
Instructions
Hit Sauté and add olive oil, chicken and sofrito and stir until meat is a bit cook (About 4 minutes)
Add salt and pepper and Sazon and continue to sauté for a few more minutes.
Add tomato and diced tomato and stir let it hit for another 2 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir one last time.
Close the Instant Pot, turn the valve to Sealing and hit the Rice button.
Notes
You can add 2 Tablespoons of Spanish olives if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 151Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 666mgCarbohydrates: 16gNet Carbohydrates: 0gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gSugar Alcohols: 0gProtein: 12g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 10/19/2019. We are not nutritionist and this calculations are for entertainment purposes only. Seek a licensed nutritionist for accurate calculations.
Love this recipe? Check out this IP recipe:
Arroz con Jamon/Spanish Rice with Ham
Instant Pot Sweet & Sour Chicken Wings
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wrap
Try our Arroz con Gandules Instant Pot recipe!
I really need to get on board with this Instant Pot thing! This looks absolutely delicious.
I just made Spanish rice in my instant pot yesterday! Next time I’m going to try it using your spices instead of just the cumin and chili powder I normally used. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe at our Instant Pot Link Party! Please join us again and link up more of your Instant Pot Recipes!
I need to try this. I would love to make it with tacos. I could get this started and prepare the rest of the meal. Easy peasy. Thanks for sharing at Instant Pot Link Up Party this last week!
I love Arroz con Pollo and Spanish rice! Your recipe looks delicious. I don’t have an InstaPot (yet) so now that you have made me crave arroz con pollo, I will have to play with your recipe on the stove top or in the crockpot!
I just tried this and it yielded a soupy mess with rock hard rice. I’m putting it under pressure for another 12 minutes to see what happens, but so far this is a fail.
Sorry to hear about it. May I asked where did you think it went wrong? What kind of rice did you use? Thank you.
I had a similar problem. I had mushy and hard rice. I used long grain white rice. The flavor was good. It just didn’t work for me in my IP. What did I do wrong?
Hi Joy! I think the style of rice might be it because Goya rice seem to required a bit more of liquid versus more regular rice. What I suggest is buy regular rice ( I switched to Aldi’s rice) and add a cup less of liquid. If you want more help email me at [email protected] and I will help you figure this out. 😀
I used the rice option and 12 minutes and it’s been going for about 20 minutes now. Not sure if this is correct.
Ana, it’s building pressure. Give it a few if not check your IP.
Delicioso! I used leftover cooked shredded chicken from 3 leg and thigh quarters, skipped the sauté part. Used 3.5 cups of water because my can of diced tomatoes was only 10 oz. 12 min in rice mode (low pressure) left to natural release. Awesome!
Gracias, Martha! We also made it with shredded chicken too!!
I made this and it just came out OK. It was very bland and not a lot of flavor. What can I do to add more flavor???
Hi Meghan! What type of sofrito did you use? Fresh or store bought? Also you can use chicken broth instead of water. Hope this helps.
I used store bought in a jar. They also had frozen kind but I didn’t know which was better. I’ll try chicken broth tonight.
Hi Meghan! Let me know how it turns out.
I will! If I want to cut the rice in half do I also cut the broth in half and the cook time? Last time I made it it was just wayyy to much for my family!
I’m making this tonight! For the rice measurement, is the 4 cups using the instant pot rice cup to measure? Or a normal measuring cup? Also, for the 3 1/2 cups water, did you use a normal measuring cup? When I make rice in the IP I usually use the rice measuring cup for rice and the lines in the inside of the pot for the amount of water. I just want to make sure I’m using the right measurements and it doesn’t end up watery.
Hi Laure! the reason I made it with Goya rice which seems to just get mushy so I reduced the water. Now when I started doing Puerto Rican rice the reason it came out mushy was because we add sofrito which can be l”iquidy” depending if its frozen or how it is made. We also add tomato sauce and diced tomato (which I didn’t drained the liquid) so keep that in mind. That’s the reason i tend to cut down the water. If you have any question message me in our FB page.
Burn Mode 2 times while making this. Have added 2 cups water and additional 8 oz of tomato sauce. Your water/rice measurements are incorrect.
Hi,Collen! Sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t workout for you. May I ask what type of rice and sofrito you used on your recipe?
Could instant rice be used? I only have instant on hand.