Spanish-Style Chicken and Rice
Spanish-Style Instant Pot Chicken and Rice is a healthy and easy one-pot meal with lean chicken breasts, red bell pepper, and fluffy rice spiced with paprika and cumin.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This quick Instant Pot recipe is a complete and satisfying dinner in one pot. It’s full of Spanish-inpsired flavor with just a bit of heat to please parents and kids.
We’re all about one-pan dinners here at Pressure Cooking Today. Whether it’s Instant Pot Chili Mac or One-Pot Tortellini, if we can cut back on time and dishes and get a healthy and flavorful meal on the table, you can sign us up!
This Spanish-style chicken and rice is our latest favorite one-pot pressure cooker dinner that we’re excited to share with you!
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken & Rice
This Spanish-Style Chicken & Rice recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
The flavor in this chicken and rice recipe somes from a few dried spices:
- Paprika, which is a classic Spanish seasoning made from dried peppers. It’s also called pimenton. You can use sweet or smoked paprika for this recipe, depending on your taste preferences.
- Garlic powder. This adds a nice savory element to the rice. You can also use fresh garlic if you prefer. 2 minced garlic cloves will work.
- Cumin. This is a nice nutty and warming spice to round out the sweetness of bell pepper and onion.
- Oregano. For a nice bit of fresh, herby flavor. If you’re out of oregano, you can replace it with parsley, cilantro, or marjoram.
Can I Use Chicken Thighs?
Yes, if you prefer the flavor of chicken thighs to chicken breasts, you can make the swap. Just dice the boneless, skinless thighs into bite-sized pieces and follow the recipe as written.
Serving Suggestions
You can certainly serve this chicken and rice dish as-is. I love it as a simple rice bowl. But my kids prefer it served with some crunchy and cooling toppings like:
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Cheddar cheese
- Tortilla chips, for scooping
Storage
You can store leftover Spanish-style Instant Pot chicken and rice in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. It makes a great lunch!
You can also freeze leftovers for up to three months. Let the meal defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave or in the instant pot.
More Chicken and Rice Recipes
Try these other healthy protein and grain recipes for easy weeknight dinners next:
- Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole is a creamy and hearty dish with tender broccoli and juicy chicken breasts.
- Green Chili Chicken and Rice is a slightly spicy Tex-Mex inspired dinner with a fresh and crunchy corn salsa on top.
- Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup from Barbara Bakes is a lovely light but satisfying dish with Greek flavors.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
Leave us a review below to tell us why!
Spanish-Style Instant Pot Chicken & Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into ½-inch pieces (about 2 breasts total)
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1¾ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- Toppings as desired, for serving
Instructions
- Select sauté to preheat the pressure cooking pot. When hot, add oil and cubed chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the paprika, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and tomato paste and stir to coat everything in the seasonings. Add the peppers, onions, and rice and stir to combine.
- Add chicken broth and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 3 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 7 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve as is or with your favorite toppings, as desired.
Nutrition
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I just made this Spanish style chicken & rice. I followed the recipe to the t. It turned out great & both my husband & son love it. You are right, it was more than enough for the 3 of us. I served it with fresh cucumber on the side & the cucumber went very well with the Spanish chicken rice. Thank you very much for this recipe.
Thanks Mary – so nice to hear you loved it! Sounds like a great way to serve it.
What’s the serving for this recipe & will it be enough for just 3 persons? If i use 2 cups rice, should i increase the liquid? I would love to cook this Spanish chicken rice. Thank you for this recipe.
Mary Tee
Hi Mary Tee – yes, it will be enough for 3 persons. It has 4 to 6 servings. If you want to double the rice, you should double all the ingredients. Enjoy!
How do I adjust for 8 qt Instant Pro Crisp
There’s enough liquid in this recipe that you won’t need to make any changes for an 8 quart. Enjoy!
This was an easy dish. My modifications: used chicken thighs instead of breast, cut the smoked paprika in half (still too smoky for my liking) and used 1 cup of water. I make a lot of instant pot chicken & rice dishes and the ratio of 1:1 rice to liquid always works. Finally, I cooked for 6 min and quick released pressure.
Hi Sabrina – glad you enjoyed the dish. Thanks for sharing your changes.
I subbed 1/4 cup of white wine for the chic broth, and added a generous handful of frozen peas after cooking. Yummy, fast and easy.
Thanks Julie – sounds like tasty changes.
I wanted to like this one —great spices and ingredients we love but following the directions perfectly, this came out with the long grain white rce altogether too “wet” and gummy. It was more like a wet risotto in texture. I stirred it, tasted it for rice “doneness” (it had a bit of tooth and “firmness” still). I resealed the pot, reset for two minutes and then allowed six minutes of natural release and opened to slight burning on pan bottom and “still” too mushy. Note; Rice is fresh within two weeks of purchase and stored in sealed container. Tips, please, for success??? I want to like this!!!
In line with the previous comment: Step 2 of the instructions mentions adding the tomato paste, but there is no tomato paste listed in the ingredients.
Hi Gayle – since the initial comments last week, I did correct the post, and tomato paste is listed in the ingredients right below oregano. It’s just a little bit to add some color and sweetness. Enjoy!
I did this recipe tonight but used brown rice. What I did was saute the chicken and then mix in all the spices. Removed the chicken/spice mixture to a bowl. Then cooked the brown rice for 18 minutes. Did a QR. Mixed in the chicken and the veggies. Cooked again for 4 minutes with a 10 minute NR. Added the lemon juice. It turned out to be very good. Maybe my timings were off, but…..? Also, fyi, also added in a jalapeno pepper. Sans the seeds. Kicked it up a notch. Good recipe.
Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Deb – yes, you can double this recipe with no change in cooktime.
Hello, do you think I could use orzo instead of rice and if so would that decrease the cooking time?
We only use brown rice. How would you adjust the recipe?
Hi Judy – brown rice and cubed chicken don’t have similar cook times, so if you want to use brown rice, it’s best to cook the chicken separately – perhaps saute it until it’s cook through and remove it to a plate and then cook the brown rice with the other ingredients. Brown rice has a 22 minute cook time https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-brown-rice-and-a-giveaway/ and needs a little more liquid. Then stir the chicken back in after the natural pressure release time. Let me know how it goes if you try it.
Thank you. I will try it that way.
How much tomato paste? Thank you.
Hi, I noticed tomato paste is not in your list if ingredients but u say to add it in your instructions and was wondering how much tomato paste should be added.
What kind of rice is used? The cook time seems too short for long grain rice, for example.
Mary – long grain white rice does cook in 3 minutes as long as you include the 7 minute natural pressure release. Long grain white rice is what a cook most often in the pressure cooker https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/ It’s perfect every time. Enjoy!
There is no tomato paste listed in the ingredients list, but it is included in the instructions. How much tomato paste is used? The recipe sounds easy and delicious!
Thanks Debbie! I’ve updated the recipe to include the tomato paste.
I don’t see tomato paste in the ingredient list but it is mentioned in the instructions. How much is needed?
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve updated the recipe. You’ll add 1 teaspoon.