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.
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My husband and I LOVED this recipe. I read the previous comments and was concerned about the possibility of getting a burn message, but I followed the recipe as written and didn’t have any problem. The only change I made was using instant brown rice instead of long grain white rice, and it came out great. Thanks for a great recipe!
You are so welcome, Kayla! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I have a 6 quart Duo Plus Instant Pot. I followed the recipe exactly as written and it came out perfectly. I think it would have been too soupy if I would have added more liquid.
For my teenagers I served it with fried flour tortilla bowls I bought at the bakery with shredded lettuce on the bottom and the chicken on top. For the adults I served it alone. I will be making this again. It was easy and quick.
I followed this recipe exactly and used my Instant Pot, and it burned to the bottom of the pot. I kept getting the BURN warning, so I eventually had to just turn it off and the chicken wasn’t done, and I had a black crust in the bottom of the pot.
Same thing happened to me. Such a bummer 🙁 I even tried adding like 1 extra cup of broth but I still kept getting the BURN message and then it turned out like burrito soup. Sad.
The trick is to not stir in the rice, as mentioned in step 3. Simply add on top of the ingredients already in the pot and add the broth. If you stir and mix the rice into the other ingredients, it will burn. So sorry it didn’t turn out for you the first time around!
This recipe use regular rice not quick cook or minute rice, right? Thanks!
Yes, that is correct.
This was my 1st instant pot meal that I made I love your recipes. Because i am one of those that don’t really read the instructions (lol) I bought a large 1/2 chicken breast. so I just used my own taco mix added salt and pepper put it on the bottom of the pan and did the rest as instructed to do so. Kind of. Once I added the rice on top I then added the salsa and chicken stock afraid it would not have cooked I just wanted to make sure it was moist. Once it was done I took the chicken out and just shredded it! So moist!
I made this tonight and it turned out great! The rice was cooked perfectly and everything tasted delicious. I topped it with refried beans and lettuce and used Penzeys bold taco seasoning. Yum!
Made this last night. After reading comments I added 1/4th cup broth. Everything cooked perfectly, it was a little wet but that was my fault for being nervous and not just following the recipe as stated. I also used spices from my cabinet since I forgot to buy taco spice and kidney beans because I forgot to buy black beans as well. I will definitely make this again.
I’m new to instant pot cooking so followed this recipe exactly. My instant pot heated up and within one minute of cooking time I got a “burn” message. I checked the pot as per manual instructions and started again. Same thing happened. I ended up with a burnt pot bottom so removed the food, put it in a casserole dish and popped it in the oven. Can you give me any idea what might have gone wrong.
Marilyn, did you stir in the rice? It is very important for the rice to sit on top of the mixture. If the rice is stirred in and reaches the bottom of the pot, the rice will brown too quickly, which will signal a BURN message.
I actually stirred the rice and didn’t get the burn message. Who knows!
Omg I followed directions exactly and it keeps saying burn over and over again. This is so frustrating. I feel like all the food is wasted. Is there a way to finish cooking it in the oven?
I actually ended up finishing it up in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 min. Turned out great.
Angela, I am so sorry you are having such difficulty. What a bummer! Nothing should be burning if the rice is left on top of the mixture. May I ask what Instant Pot you used and what size?
Lots of the new versions of IPs actually burn things quite quickly. I really think that may be part of the problem here. I used to have one of the original models and it worked like a charm! It broke before the warranty was up and they replaced it with a newer version. The new version burns everything. Recipes that I made previously, burn for me in this one. I’ve learned that if I add 1/2 to 1 c. extra liquid it helps, but it’s still kind of an issue.
I think that you’re on to something here as I have seen the ‘followed everything exactly and still it burned’ comments on so many instant pot recipes now. One thing I want to encourage is for commenters who experience this to include the IP model number in their comment posts. (It’s right the at the top of the small label on the unit).
I have had this happen to many of the recipes I’ve tried and have taken to pot-in-pot when that’s doable. For the record, it’s a Duo, version 3.
Just made this in the Instant Pot. It was good. I had no problems with the rice being burnt or not done. Followed directions as written. Next time I will have avocado and black olives to garnish. Thanks for the delicious easy recipe.
I was very apprehensive to try this recipe (and others like it) due to the many comments of people receiving burn messages. However, I finally tried it and it worked out great! I added cayenne pepper and changed the green chilies to jarred jalapenos and used wild rice with long grain white rice, as that’s what I had on hand. I will make this again!
Thanks for sharing! We have cooked several of your recipes and they never disappoint!!
This recipe does not include enough liquid, completely scalded and burned the bottom of my instant pot. I would revise.
Leigh, the recipe calls for 1 cup chicken broth. It should be sufficient to avoid any type of burning.
These were so good! My picky 6 year old is begging me to make them again. He took the leftovers in a thermos to school the next day and was disappointed we didn’t have any later in the week! Thanks for another awesome recipe!
I have an 8qt and my friends, who had the same trouble, have 6 qts.
I did get it to cook by opening it, adding more liquid and cooking another 5 minutes and it really was good. Will try it again and add more liquid. Just wondering if you knew why it happened for the 3 of us.
It’s hard to say! I tested this numerous times both in my 6-qt Instant Pot and another 6-qt pressure cooker of a different brand, and I did not have issues with either machines.
This was great! I made exactly as instructed and it was my first time using my new insta pot. It came out perfectly.
Would love to see more instapot recipes.
Two of my friends and I tried this recipe, all with the same result….the BURN indicator came on. We followed the recipe exactly. Very frustrating! Loved the idea but it didn’t work for any of us.
Oh no – I am so sorry to hear that. Did you stir in the rice at all? If the rice is stirred in and reaches the bottom of the pot in any way, it will certainly burn. To avoid any kind of burning, the rice should sit on top of the mixture.
Didn’t stir the rice. Put it in last along with the 3/4 cup of water just like the recipe said and didn’t stir. The problem seemed to be that 1/4 cup of liquid wasn’t enough to avoid the burning. On the plus side, I got it all to cook through and the family loved it but I’d like to avoid the BURN warning next time! LOL!
Gotcha! What size Instant Pot did you use?
Hello, Did the recipe change? The recipe here calls for 1 cup of broth to be added to the chicken and taco seasoning, not with the rice, and then stirred. Water is not mentioned anywhere, and the rice was to be added by itself, not with any liquid. I am confused.
I had the same problem in my 8 quart duo. I ended up putting the mixture in a Pyrex bowl on the trivet and cooked it pot-in-pot. That was the only way I could cook it without the “burn” coming on.
I make some form of burrito bowls once a week but usually have tons of dirty dishes. This was a great way to make them quickly and lots less clean-up. Everyone liked the recipe. My son ate his in a wrap. Thanks!
I followed this recipe exactly and did not mix it the rice but instead put it on top with the last of the chicken broth.
When I opened the instant-pot everything was cooked except the rice. It was still hard as rock sitting on top of the cooked chicken. I even added and extra 1/4 cup of chicken broth because I didn’t think there was enough liquid to cook the rice. Any idea where I went wrong?
I had to mix the rice in and put it back on for another 10 minutes.
Oh no – what kind of Instant Pot are you using? Was the valve set in place?
Yep valve was in place. I am using the Instant Pot Duo V2 – 6 quart.
We had the same issue – rice was hard on top 🙁
I have found that it helps to make sure the rice is wet. Although I don’t stir it, I press it down a little with the spoon so all the rice is contacting some liquid. I also always rinse my rice first. Hope that helps!
Same thing happened to me!!!
I never have success with cooking rice in the instant pot at the same time as everything else. I just cook mine separately and add it in before serving. Works great for me!
I’m planning on cooking my rice separately too! Do you use less liquid in the instant pot when there’s no rice? Thanks!
I was soooo tempted to stir the rice since I was worried about it not being cooked properly, but I figured the recipe was written the way it was for a reason so I left it alone. I’m bummed to hear about everyone else’s experience with it, since mine turned out perfectly. I feel like maybe there isn’t enough liquid in some of these cooking malfunctions, as I’d imagine the steam from everything cooking inside is what cooks the rice.
I made this today–my first ever Instant Pot meal! It was almost too easy to assemble and the results were delicious. The only change I made was to omit the green chiles in deference to my husband and father-in-law, both of whom have issues with anything remotely “spicy”. I just added a little chipotle to mine and all was good.