Instant Pot 20 Minute Chicken Burrito Bowls
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Comes together in less than 10 min prep! The chicken is so tender and the flavors are so good.
Featured Comment
This is a burrito bowl recipe I keep coming back to again and again. And this was the first Instant Pot (IP) recipe I have ever tested that converted me to the pressure cooker fan club. With one pot, tender, juicy chicken and perfectly cooked rice with the easiest clean up in the history of the world, I was completely hooked with the IP magic.
reasons to make instant pot 20 minute chicken burrito bowls
- All-in-one Instant Pot dinner. With the help of the Instant Pot, this is the best kind of dump-and-go dinner recipe. There’s minimal prep time here – no sautéing, no nothing. Throw everything right into the pressure cooker, set your time, and walk away. Dinner will be on the table in lightning fast speed, 20 minutes to be exact.
- Family-friendly. Burrito bowls are a guaranteed hit with the entire family, adding in as little or as many toppings as desired, a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy.
- Great for meal prep. This keeps for 2-3 days, ideal for making these ahead of time for meal prep and reheating as needed.
- Flexible, forgiving recipe. Most of the ingredients can easily be swapped out or omitted as needed. Don’t have black beans? Use pinto or kidney beans. Don’t have canned corn? Skip it or use frozen corn kernels. Want to use thighs over breasts? Give it a quick swap.
tips and tricks for success
- Use chicken breast or thighs. Both will work beautifully here – breast will be leaner whereas thighs will have more fat, yielding more tender chicken than the former. Not a fan of chicken? Ground beef is also a great swap!
- White rice is ideal. Long-grain white rice such as jasmine or basmati rice is best. Brown rice will take too long to cook here.
- Make it spicy. Add in 1 diced jalapeno for a kick of heat!
- Add your favorite toppings. Diced avocado, shredded Mexican blend cheese, cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, crispy tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips when you’re in a pinch are all great options.
- Reheat with a splash of chicken stock. When reheating, add a splash of chicken broth or water.
pro tip
Do not stir in the rice.
Adding in the rice at the very end without stirring will prevent the rice to sink to the bottom of the Instant Pot (this is what signals the dreaded burn notice). Layer and sprinkle the rice on top, patting down slightly to submerge. Do not stir. This will lead to burrito-goodness-flavored tender, fluffy rice.
what to serve with chicken burrito bowls
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
Instant Pot 20 Minute Chicken Burrito Bowls: Frequently Asked Questions
Black beans, pinto beans or kidney beans are all great here.
Absolutely! To make this a dairy-free chicken burrito bowl, skip the cheese.
Yes! Skip the chicken, add an additional can of beans and use vegetable broth instead.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Instant Pot 20 Minute Chicken Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning
- 1 (15-ounce) can corn kernels, drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup salsa, homemade or store-bought
- 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- Add chicken, chicken broth and taco seasoning to a 6-qt Instant Pot® and gently toss to combine.
- Stir in corn, black beans, salsa and green chiles. Without stirring, add rice.
- Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 10 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions. Stir in cheese until melted, about 1 minute.
- Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Video
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I was worried with the theory of newer Instant Pots having trouble with burning rice and I have a new 6 quart Duo Plusbut I cooked the recipe as close as I could. Canadian corn and black beans come in different sized tins but I used one cup of rice, one cup of broth and one pound of chicken and I did rinse the rice first and I pressed the rice in to the mix. It came out perfect. The rice was perfectly cooked and so was the chicken. I used white rice but next time I will try par boiled – fingers crossed. I don’t know why so many people have had troubles but I suspect some are trolls. Thank you so much Chungah for your website and your recipes.
not a troll, this is my daughter’s favorite recipe but i always end up transferring it to the stove due to multiple burn notices. this is the only recipe it has ever happened with and i have no idea why.
My thoughts are there is not enough liquid in every salsa and rice needs double it’s amount in liquid to cook. Extra broth may be the answer. I might try using 2 cups of broth and go from there. Good luck.
Thanks for the recipe! I was just gifted an Instant Pot and had tons of cans of black beans and corns lying around. It was really good. I used Nishiki rice and it still came out pretty well, although more wet than in your pictures above. I’m not complaining though, I liked the softer texture, maybe next time I’ll buy some tortilla chips to eat this with!
I made this with 1 cup of brown rice, put 1.5 cups of chicken broth, and put it in for 20 minutes and it came out perfect! I made sure the rice didn’t touch the bottom but was completely soaked into the liquid. Delicious!
This is first recipe I made with my Instant pot and although it had great flavor I think I should have used cooked rice. My rice was crunchy when I checked it so I added more broth and cooked it more. I will probably try again.
Can I use white rice instead?
Was super scared to try any rice-based dish in the IP because I kept reading so many bad reviews about burn notice. THIS WAS PERFECT. Followed this recipe exactly and it was delicious. Will definitely continue to make.
This is honestly my favorite meal to make. It takes such a small amount of time and is super cheap!! Its my go to for meal prepping now 🙂
Very disappointed. After cooking, I realized the photo on this blog CANNOT possibly be this dish made in the IP. If cooked as directed, why does the picture show the chicken separated from the beans and corn and rice? If made as directed, everything is mushed together. Not a huge deal but I wanted the food that appears in the photo, not the mush that came out of my IP. Second, like so many other people here, when I tried to make this, it burned badly on the bottom of the IP. Clearly there needs to be more liquid added. And again, final result looks NOTHING like the photo.
I’m so sorry you had so much trouble with this recipe but the recipe was actually cooked as written from start to finish and photographed accordingly. IT ACTUALLY IS POSSIBLE, AJ! This is a food blog of awesome recipes that we love to make for friends and family – let’s spread some kindness here.
Got the Instant Pot for less cooking time and every recipe I ever try burns. This one included. Followed the recipe to a T. Over an hour to troubleshoot and was never able to get it to cook on High. Now it’s on Low and I’m not too sure how long I’ll let this go for until I’m satisfied with how well the chicken is cooked. It’s taken over an hour to get to try is point for a recipe that should only take 20min. Another instant pot fail.
Adjustments: Add extra .5 cup of chicken broth. Gently press rice into liquid, but don’t stir. Natural release for 5 mins then quick release. Don’t mix in the cheese. Just put it on the table so each person can add their own. It’ll melt because the food is really hot. I also didn’t use any green chilies because I forgot to buy them. We are adding this to our freezer meal prep for sure.
I wish I had read some of the comments before cooking this. I think the hints of using a half cup more broth and covering the rice with some liquid so that it cooks through and isn’t crunchy is on point. I didn’t catch my husband before he poured the rice in and stirred it. The rice stuck to the bottom and luckily I caught it before the entire thing was ruined. I’m finishing on the stove and hope it is OK. I read the comments and saw the problem with the burn notice shortly after starting it, so thanks to those who made those comments It didn’t burn so badly that we couldn’t eat it. Thanks!
Followed directions exactly because it’s only my second time with the instant pot. Rice was kinda crunchy. But still great flavor loved it with a big dollop of sour cream.
I loved it. I added sour cream on the top when finished. I made the mistake of using basmati rice(that’s all I had)- I should have reduced the rice. Will definitely make again- easy, quick. I think I will add avocado on the top and use the correct rice
I have a 3 qt pot, so I halved the portions and then made two batches! It turned out great. So nice to have a little taste of Texas in NYC.
Used 1.5 times the amount of liquid in this recipe and it still burned. The measurements for this recipe need to be corrected.
This was delicious! My family doesn’t like black beans, so I substituted diced tomatoes. I also added a can of red enchilada sauce. I love cilantro, so I pressed that into the rice so it would cook in. It turned out fabulous!! I think next time I may add avocado salsa instead of red enchilada sauce – or in addition to it!
I made this for the first time tonight and they came out perfect! I have an 8qt InstantPot Duo Evo Plus, was worried about getting a burn notice, so I followed one of the suggestions and used 1 3/4 cups of the broth. I did make sure the rice was covered with the liquid before starting the pot. Cooked to perfection and were delicious 😀 I served it up in soft taco bowls and added guacamole and sour cream as a topping with the cilantro.
This turned out pretty well. I only had instant rice, so I just left it out until the end. Once the chicken was done in the instant pot, I threw the rice in and let it sit for five minutes and it turned out fine. I also used frozen chicken breast and just shredded it once it was done cooking (I upped the time to 25 minutes). I usually get the burn notice frequently in this instant pot, but since the rice didn’t go in until after it was done cooking, it wasn’t a problem. This wasn’t particularly spicy, so my kids ate it without complaints. I will probably make this again and use the same method as I did before.
Followed the instructions exactly. I didn’t mix the rice. I actually mixed only the chicken, taco seasoning, and chicken stock – then lightly mixed in the beans and corn. I washed the rice separately to get rid of the starch and then placed it evenly on top (did not mix it in). Did not get a burn notice. I mixed everything in the end after it fully cooked. Excellent flavor!!
It was delicious my whole family loved it! I added the water first (I added a extra half cup of water) then added chicken and seasoning I added a few garlic cloves and half a onion the corn and black beans I used a can of rotel instead of salsa and then I added the rice on top making sure the rice was submerged i did not sir at all until it was done then garnished with lime, rotel , cilantro and sour cream
Loved the recipe, I made it spicy and smoky with Chipotle Peppers instead of Green Chilies, Chili Beans, and Jalapeno Salsa-sticky rice too.
I got the burn indicator on my insta pot prior to it sealing, I kept opening it up and scraping the rice that had stuck to and was starting to burn on the bottom of the cooker. Eventually the rice cooked to a point where I didn’t have to keep scraping. Heard about this happening with jumbalaya to someone else.
When I do this again, I’m going to mix everything (apart from the garnishes) in the pot first then add the rice on top without touching it. I also don’t think a little extra liquid would hurt.