Rice-a-Roni Chicken Casserole | Instant Pot recipe
This easy Chicken Rice-a-Roni casserole is a one-pot meal made with just 5 ingredients, including tender chicken thighs that cook right on top of the rice-a-roni—perfect for whenever you need to stretch a meal.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe You get the convenience of rice-a-roni, but we make it a meal by adding protein. It’s a great way to make a budget friendly meal!
Rice-a-Roni is a staple we keep on hand because it’s a budget-friendly, easy side dish that goes with so many kinds of proteins. For this recipe, we wanted to make a full meal that was ultra easy, one-pot, with minimal ingredients.
We decided to go with chicken thighs, since we love the way they cook up with the little bit longer cook time for Rice-a-Roni. They also give this meal a lot of added flavor though the browning process.
This recipe is definitely a major step up from normal Rice-a-Roni.
Looking for other great one-pot meals? Try our Chicken Cacciatore, Tex-Mex Chili Mac, Ravioli from Frozen, or Chicken Pesto Pasta.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
This is an easy shortcut meal to pull together, with just 5 ingredients and no dicing or prep before you get started cooking!
- Chicken thighs: You can use between 1 and 2 pounds with no change to the cook time. I like to salt and pepper the chicken before sautéing.
- Butter: This adds a lot of flavor and is necessary for browning the vermicelli before cooking.
- Rice-a-roni: We use the regular chicken-flavored rice-a-roni in this recipe.
- Lemon juice: A splash of lemon juice after pressure cooking really brightens up this dish and makes it feel a little more homemade.
- Parsley: You can use fresh, dehydrated or dried in this recipe. We like to add it for a pop of green to make the finished dish look pretty.
How to Make Chicken Rice a Roni Casserole in an Instant Pot
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Use the Sauté setting to preheat the pot. While you’re waiting, season the chicken to taste with salt and pepper. Then melt the butter and brown the chicken on one side. (This is enough for the browning flavor to come through, but you don’t need to cook the chicken through.)
Transfer the chicken to a plate, then add the rice-a-roni until the vermicelli browns.
Note: The rice-a-roni really absorbs the butter when you add it to the cooking pot, so take care to keep stirring. You can also add another tablespoon or two of butter while browning the vermicelli if you’re worried about scorching.
Also, the browning of the vermicelli is more about looks than about flavor and finished texture, so you can do it for just a minute or two if you’re in a hurry.
Add the water and really scrape the bottom of the to make sure all the flavorful browned bits are incorporated into the liquid.
Stir in 1 or 2 seasoning packets. We prefer the taste of this dish with just one seasoning packet; two seasoning packets were too salty for our taste. If you purchased the low-sodium version, you may prefer using both.
Use a fork to gently lay the chicken thighs on top of the rice. Cook at High Pressure with a 7-minute cook time and a 5 minute natural release.
Dice the chicken into bite-size pieces. Add the lemon juice to the rice-a-roni and stir until it’s incorporated and the rice is fluffy. You can serve it by mixing in the chicken or layering the diced chicken on top of the rice, whatever you prefer.
Serve immediately. Keep in mind that the rice-a-roni will continue to thicken as it cools, so you may want to stir in a little water when you go back for seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions about Chicken and Rice-a-Roni Casserole
We recommend chicken thighs in this recipe because they held up better with the cook time and pressure release required for the rice-a-roni.
You can substitute chicken breasts, if you like, just be aware that the meat may cook up tougher than you prefer.
I feel confident that most other flavors of rice-a-roni will work with this simple recipe. (For instance, the Mexican style would work great with a splash of lime in place of the lemon.)
However, I would be hesitant to try this recipe with Cheddar and Broccoli or Creamy Four Cheese, just because creamy recipes can sometimes cause the burn notice.
Place leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge, and they’ll keep in for 3 to 4 days.
I don’t love the texture of this meal frozen and thawed, however, so I don’t recommend it.
MORE Instant Pot Recipes with Chicken Thighs
If you love to cook with chicken thighs in your Instant Pot, you might like:
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Rice-a-Roni Chicken Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 packages (6.9 ounces each) chicken-flavored Rice-a-Roni
- 4 cups water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon parsley
Instructions
- Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Select Sauté and preheat the cooking pot. When hot, melt the butter, then add the chicken and brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the rice-a-roni. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan as you’re cooking, until the vermicelli browns about 5 minutes. Add the water and scrape the bottom of the pot well, ensuring no browned bits remain. Stir in 1 or 2 seasoning packets, depending on your preference. Add the parsley if using dried.
- Place the chicken thighs on top of the rice, along with any liquid that has accumulated on the plate. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 7 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and dice into bite-size pieces. Add the lemon juice and stir and fluff the rice, then return the chicken to the cooking pot and stir until combined. Add the parsley if using fresh.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
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I made this last night in an 8 quart Instant Pot. The high sauté setting didn’t do a very good job of browning the chicken and the amount of butter seemed like too much. I think that I would put about 1/2 of it in, sauté the chicken, then put the rest in to sauté the rice/vermicelli mixture. Also, I felt that the rice came out a little gloppy even though I followed the cook time and release instructions to a “T”. The only deviation to the recipe was that I added the zest of the lemon I used for the juice.
Honestly, I would rather bone the thighs, leave the skin on, and either cook the chicken in the air fryer or convection oven, and serve it with Rice-a-Roni cooked in a skillet. It wouldn’t be as quick, but I think it would be tastier and more attractive.
Congrats to those who have made this recipe work for you.
Hi Steve – when searing in the Instant Pot, it’s important to wait until it says hot before adding the meat. Then you’ll get a much better sear. However, every recipe isn’t a great fit for everyone. Definitely important to cook using whichever method you prefer.
Thank you! My fussy husband just wandered into the kitchen for his second helping! He would live on red meat and skin-on weiners if he could, so this is surprising. I used two boxes of Aldi’s version of chicken-flavored rice and vermicelli mix, as I’m a devoted fan of that store.
Hello, quick question, bone-in or boneless thighs? I don’t see skin but can’t tell if bones are there or not!
Thanks
Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention! We use boneless skinless chicken thighs in the recipe. I’ve updated the post.
We really hope you like it! Let us know what you think!
I usually cook from scratch… about how much vermicelli( spaghetti ) and rice would equal a box of rice a roni? I love getting your recipes each week.
We’ve never made rice-a-roni from scratch. I’ve compared several recipes for homemade rice-a-roni, and they all seem to call for about a cup of white rice and 1/2 to 2/3 cup vermicelli.
Regarding the cook time, white rice usually cooks for 3-4 minutes with a 7-10 minute release, so you should be able to follow the rice-a-roni instructions with no change to the cook time.
As for what’s in the seasoning packet, this recipe lists seasonings that seem pretty similar to what’s on the ingredients list.
If you try it from scratch, let us know how it goes!
We’re so glad you love our recipes! Thank you so much for reading!
Your recipe for Rice-a-Roni-Chicken-Casserole sounds so delicious. Did you use bone in thighs or boneless thighs?
I’ve made many of your recipes. Thank you for them. Also I wait for your emails about your Pup!
Dogs Make Life Better
Thank you so much for catching that! We use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in this recipe. We’ve updated the recipe card.
We feel really honored to have a place in your kitchen! Thank you so much! (And thank you for following along with our adventures with Luna as well. She really does make our life better in so many ways!)
I make this in a large frying pan using pre-cooked and diced thighs and Rice-a-Roni herb and butter rice. It’s delicious. But I haven’t been able to find Herb and Butter rice for the past couple of months so thanks for this recipe.
Oh that sounds like a delicious shortcut meal! The herb and butter is out of stock out by us too—I wonder if they’ve discontinued it. I looked at the ingredients list, and it shows dried rosemary in that variation, so you could try adding a small amount of that (maybe 1/4 teaspoon to start?) to make the chicken taste more like the herbed.
We hope you enjoy this recipe!