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
Did you make this recipe?
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I followed the recipe exactly. The instant pot signaled “burned” before pot came to full pressure. Will not cook this again.
I love the burrito bowls but often get a burn message on my instant pot. Please help!
Made this as my first instant pot recipe in a 3 QT duo mini second handed to me, it turned out amazing.
Used uncle ben’s long grain white rice and left out the chili’s. The bottom was a bit watery during first portions but was soaked up by the rice when going back for seconds.
I stirred the ingredients very well before topping with the rice and last portion of stock before closing the lid.
Do you drain the corn and beans before adding?
Yes.
Hi! This looks delicious but I can’t have white rice. Any idea how to make it with brown rice?
Thanks!!
I personally have not tested this recipe with brown rice but a fellow reader here mentioned that he cooked for 24 minutes with great results! 🙂
I’m cooking this right now and I keep getting burn notices. I think there are too many ingredients?! I have an 8 quart and I have used a full quart of chicken broth now. First recipe I’m having trouble with! What am I doing wrong ?
Koy, the recipe calls for 1 cup chicken broth, not a full quart.
What if I want to make this and not use any rice? Do I need to adjust the cooking time?
Made this last night and it was delicious! I used brown rice and did cook it for the 24 minutes mentioned in the comments, but it was not quite enough time. I will definitely make this recipe again with brown rice, but I will add a few more minutes.
Great!
About how many people does this serve? It looks amazing!!
About 4. 🙂
what is the nutrition?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and some new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
Not gonna lie, I was petrified to try this because, 1. I’m an instant pot newbie and I’m 1000% sure it’s going to explode each time I use it. 2. The other comments about getting a burn code. But I tried it anyways and stared at the pot for the entire 20 minutes someday I’ll get over this fear.
I couldn’t follow to the T. I didn’t have salsa on hand, so I used a can of diced tomatoes. I also made my own taco seasoning. My chicken wasn’t completely defrosted, so I cut smaller. I did however, NOT mix the rice as stated a million times in the comments. Thanks for reiterating it.
This recipe is absolutely delish! I live alone so it will definitely be going into portioned containers in the freezer. Also, my pot didn’t explode or burn. Safe for another day!
Thanks for sharing with us, Jessica! So happy to hear it came out great for you!
Can I do this with frozen chicken breast?
It is best to use thawed chicken breasts with the timing listed in the recipe.
After reading all 174 posted comments, I must admit that I was somewhat skeptical about this recipe. However, I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome! I followed Ryan’s advice for a 24 minute duration using brown rice. The results were terrific. Hardly any of the ingredients were even stuck to the bottom the IP pot. To that end, I had no issues with burn notices. I’m using IP Duo 6QT.
The kids (1 and 3 year old) couldn’t shovel enough of this dish in! All in all, this was a great success and I was sold on Damn Delicious recipes after 0.497295 seconds. Thank you all.
So happy it worked out for you!
Could I make this with frozen chicken breasts? If so, how? Always forget to thaw first :/
Thanks!
It is best to thaw the chicken prior to using. 🙂
Made this recipe for the family for lunch today and it turned out just fine. I used closer to 1 1/4 C chicken broth (rather than the 3/4 C in the recipe) just because I know how my pot particular pot cooks. In the end I probably could have gotten away with one cup.
For folks having trouble with burn notifications, I wonder how accurately the rice is being measured – a flat measured cup of rice vs a full rounded cup would make a difference in a recipe will relatively small amounts of liquid, particularly with space being taken up by other ingredients and interfering with the rice being able to make contact with and absorb adequate amounts of liquid. That could easily result in a burn notice. That’s why you wouldn’t stir the mixture once the rice is added. It needs to remain in contact with as much of the liquid as possible.
One other possible issue may the size of the cut up chicken. The chunks need to be of sufficient size and amount so the rice sits on top of the chicken, more or less, and not fall through the spaces to the bottom of the pot where it wouldn’t have adequate liquid to cook properly. That scenario could also product a burn notice.
In the end, the recipe does work as written. And as with everything else I’ve made from this site, is very tasty. Thanks for sharing!
Unfortunately, I got the burn message… that always disapoints me when I get that message.
Hello, what model of instant pot is good for making this recipes ? Duo 7 in 1 6 qt. or 6 in 1 6 qt the old model ?
And most of your recipes are using which model of instant pot please ?
I use the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt.
What adjustments should be made, if using an 8 qt. Instant Pot?
The timing should stay relatively the same. It would just take a little longer for it to come to pressure.
Hello I was wondering if I should go by the video or the recipe as written. The recipe states to add 1/4 cup of the broth with the chicken and 3/4 at the end with the rice. The video shows the full 1 cup of being added in the beginning with the chicken.
Either option should work just fine! 🙂
I tried this recipe for my bible study group. I even double the recipe. Turned out lovely and delicious. I will be using it again. I love the video of it. It helped me to figure out what I needed to do to get it perfect. I have many of your recipes and I have never been disappointed. It makes me seem as if I am a good cook. Thanks
Great!