One pot chicken and rice is a family-friendly busy weeknight dinner.
Don’t miss 75 more one pot meals your kids can cook for your family.
The school year and all its busy-ness is almost here! I love hands-free one-pot dinners for busy sports practice nights. Anything I can dump into my pot and then ignore for 30 – 40 minutes is heaven-sent.
This summer during an attempt to clear out my freezer, I’ve been experimenting with using my usual stash of chicken in new ways. I love the cold and refreshing Asian chicken pasta salad I posted a few years ago. It’s perfect for hot summer days.
Since cold weather will be here before we know it, I thought it would be fun to try a new twist on that dish and serve it as a hot and cozy one-pot chicken and rice comfort dish instead.
I wanted to try out my new rice cooker. This thing is awesome! Besides cooking perfect plain rice for side dishes, it comes with a steamer basket so you can cook chicken, fish, or shrimp while the rice and veggies cook below.
I measured out the jasmine rice with the scoop that came with the machine and rinsed it in the steamer basket before adding the rice to the pot.
Then I added a little marinade with the chopped veggies to the rice and stirred. I placed the raw marinaded chicken in the steamer basket on top and shut the machine.
The chicken cooked perfectly tender without any additional oil. The rice was fluffy and flavorful.
We garnished it with green onions and sesame seeds. I bought some pineapple to toss into the pot too, but my girls still don’t like hot pineapple. WHY?? I don’t know, I love it! If your kids are the same way, you could just serve the pineapple as a fun side dish with this meal.
Simple variations on this Asian one-pot chicken and rice dish:
You could also mix in any of the following yummy ingredients to make it your own:
- slivered almonds
- cashews
- pea pods
- broccoli
- baby spinach (stir this in after the rice has cooked and let the heat just wilt it before serving)
savory asian marinade
A simple savory asian-inspired salad dressing or marinade for chicken.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 6 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- Sprinkle of salt & pepper
Instructions
Mix all ingredients for the marinade/dressing together in a small bowl.
instant pot asian chicken and rice
This easy weeknight dinner comes together in a pinch. Assemble the chicken and marinade ahead of time and stash in your freezer for a quick dump and go one-pot meal.
Ingredients
- 1 batch of prepared chicken and marinade from the Asian Chicken recipe
- 3 scoops of jasmine rice (use the scoop that came with the rice cooker for proper measuring)
- 3 cups of chicken stock
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 green onions, chopped
- Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
- Fresh (or canned) pineapple for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Rinse the rice in a colander, drain and add to the bowl of your Instant Pot.
Add 3 cups of chicken stock and 3 tbsp of the reserved marinade to the pot, stir to combine.
Add the chopped carrot, pepper, and onion to the pot. Stir to combine.
Place the marinated chicken on top of the rice.
Close the Instant Pot and set to HIGH pressure for 5 minutes.
Let the pot rest for an additional 5 minutes before releasing the pressure once the cook time is done.
Fluff the rice and garnish with chopped green onions, sesame seeds, and pineapple before serving.
Blueberry lemon muddy buddies are ready in a pinch: No Waste!
temple run
The food is very attractive. I really like this chicken. quite strange and special. Thanks for sharing.