Instant Pot 20 Minute Chicken Burrito Bowls
by Chungah
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These chicken burrito bowls comes together so quickly and easily in the Instant Pot! No fuss, no babysitting! And the chicken is so tender.
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 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 Instant Pot magic.
Why you’ll love these chicken burrito bowls
- All-in-one dinner. With the help of the 6-qt Instant Pot®, this is the best kind of dump-and-go dinner recipe. Also, there’s minimal prep 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 – there’s just 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.
How to make chicken burrito bowls in the Instant Pot
- Combine all ingredients. Stir in the diced chicken breasts, chicken broth, and taco seasoning in a 6-qt Instant Pot®. Add the corn, black beans, salsa, and green chiles, stirring to combine.
- Add the rice. Without stirring, sprinkle the rice on top in an even layer, pressing the rice gently so it is slightly submerged into the liquid.
- Cook on high heat. Close the lid and pressure cook for 10 minutes, quick releasing and carefully opening the lid.
- Add the cheese. Stir in the cheese until melted.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with cilantro.
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! Skip the cheese to make this a dairy-free chicken burrito bowl.
Yes! Skip the chicken, add an additional can of beans and use vegetable broth instead.
This typically means that some of the ingredients such as the rice or thick salsa has settled to the bottom of the pot, causing the Instant Pot to overheat. To prevent the burn notice for next time, always add the rice on top, gently patting it down.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Instant Pot 20 Minute Chicken Burrito Bowls
Video
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
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.
Equipment
Notes
- 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!
- Cut into uniform pieces. Cut the chicken breasts or thighs into even and equal 1-inch pieces to ensure even cooking throughout.
- Avoid using brown rice. Long-grain white rice such as jasmine or basmati rice is best. Brown rice will take too long to cook here.
- Never mix the rice. Sprinkle the rice on top in an even layer, patting it down slightly to absorb some of the liquid. Stirring in the rice will cause it to sink to the bottom, triggering the burn notice.
- Make it spicy. Add in 1 diced jalapeño for a kick of heat. For maximum heat, keep the inner white membranes and the seeds intact.
- 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, adding just before serving.
- Reheat with a splash of chicken stock. When reheating, add a splash of chicken broth or water.
Did you make this recipe?
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*Do not stir in rice – but make sure it is submerged by poking it into fluid, if you stir it in it can settle and create burn notice. I keep frozen chicken tenders on hand and throw them in and add 5 minutes. Also use frozen corn and after pressure is gone, I stir them in and wait a few minutes for them to heat through. I serve with shredded cheese and tortilla strips (like for salad) and sour cream. Always perfect! thanks!
Delicious! And so easy! I was out of uncooked white rice to add in, so cooked it without. I had a microwave pack of white rice, so when it was time to stir in the cheese, I stirred in that cooked rice and it worked fine. Thanks for such an easy and good recipe.
I want to make this tonight. Has anyone doubled the recipe? Any needed advice?
I’m doing that tonight and I was wondering the same. Did you make it and if so, how much did the cooking time change?
No need to adjust the time.
This Chicken Burrito Bowl recipe seems delicious and amazing. Always excited to try new recipes, thanks for sharing this recipe with us.
Easy to prep, turned out exactly as pictured. Will definitely make this again.
This is a family favorite! I use jasmine brown rice instead of white and a 1/4 cup extra chicken broth. I found if I don’t stir the ingredients the pot is prone to burn.
For healthier bowls, put cooked ingredients on top of a kale salad, top with avocado and salsa. So good!
I am going to make this tonight but wondered if anyone has tried making it with quinoa instead of rice.
I’m also interested in making it with quinoa. Did you have any luck? Did you make any adjustments?
so good! made this last night and used long grain brown rice, cooked 5 longer. yummy! even better the second day! think i might try this with steak and fajita seasoning. thanks!
The first time I tried this recipe, I stirred in the rice because I couldn’t see a good reason not to. Turned out perfect. Last night, I did *not* stir in the rice because I wanted to see how the recipe as written would turn out. Some of the rice did not cook. It was dry and uncooked.
This recipe is DELICIOUS. But stir in your rice.
Love this recipe but was wondering if anyone had tried it with ground meat (ground beef) instead of chicken? If so did you make any other adjustments?
I just read your comment. Did you ever make this with ground hamburg? I’m trying the chicken tonight.
I made it once with ground beef. It was okay, but I liked it better with chicken.
My mother is 83 and we went through the learning process of the Instant Pot. This was the first recipe we chose and let me tell you it did not disappoint. So, so delicious and EASY. The Instant Pot might actually be the next best thing since sliced bread smashing all cliches. Thank you.
This is so good and so easy! The only tweaks I made were to use fire roasted corn, fire roasted green chilies and jasmine rice. Followed the steps as written and did not get a burn notice. I guess I’ve been lucky that I have never gotten a burn notice in the year and a half that I’ve been using the instant pot. There is a first time for everything though.
Made this for dinner last night and both picky teenagers loved it. I was worried it would be too salty, so I made my own taco seasoning using half the salt (Allrecipes.com) and used brown rice, so added 1.5 cups water (not stock) and it came out perfectly. We served with salsa, sour cream, avocado, tortilla chips and it disappeared.
Did you add extra time for the brown rice?
If I could only use my instant pot for one recipe for the rest of my life, it would be this! I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made it. Not only is it so easy but it’s also inexpensive and healthy. And obviously delicious! It’s full of flavour and the leftovers are just as good as it is fresh. As a vegetarian I don’t use chicken but instead I add 1/2 an avocado per serving and I increase the liquid by about 1/3 cup.
This is a staple in our house. Very easy and leftovers and good. The only thing I do differently is once sprinkle the rice on top, I very gently push it down (not stir!) into the mixture just a little bit just to make sure every bit of rice is at least touching (not submerged) in the liquid. This helps makes sure the rice gets cooked all the way.
I serve it with avocado on top and extra cheese!
Damn Delicious! I added an extra cup of broth, made my own spice mix, and gently mixed before cooking. Served cheese, chopped onion, green and red pepper, cilantro and avie on the side. We will have this again!
Left overs were delicious as a dip with taco chips.
Thanks for a great and easy meal!
5 stars for flavor
5 stars for convenience
4.5 stars for recipe:
I made this recipe verbatim except I almost doubled the chicken, it’s delicious. I didn’t get a burn notice, but I did notice that, despite stirring well, the taco seasoning settled on the bottom and looked like it was trying to burn. I think it’s the cornstarch in the mix I have. So that made me sad because it looks like all that flavor didn’t make it into the meal. I’ll try my own taco mix next time, but that was my only complaint. 🙂
Yummy, but received burn notice. Only thing I omitted was the chilies, so I added another 1/2 cup water.
This recipe was DELICIOUS!!!! The only thing I did different was add 2 cups broth like I read in reviews and I made my own taco mix as I read alot of people were getting burn notice and I seen a post that making your own taco blend would probably help with that due to flour being in store bought blends.and when i put the rice on top i just patted it into liquid more . I never got burn notice and this was a HIT in my house definetly will make this again Thank you for such a great recipe
I also rinsed my rice well and used long grain white rice as that’s all I had on hand.
Just be sure to rinse the rice well. Too much starch otherwise and didn’t cook that well.