No need to wait for take out delivery with this Instant Pot Pineapple Chicken and Rice. Even the rice steams in the pot at the same time the chicken cooks!
- Yield: 4
- Ready In: 32 mins
-
Prep Time:10 mins
-
Cook Time:2 mins
-
Extra Time:20 mins
-
Ready In:32 mins
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (diced (about 1 inch pieces))
- Salt & pepper
- 1 onion (cut into thin wedges)
- 1 can (8oz pineapple chunks or tidbits packed in juice, NOT drained)
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
- 1 red pepper (diced)
- 1 yellow pepper (diced)
For the Rice:
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
To finish:
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
-
Brown chicken: Set the instant pot to sauté. Add the oil and the chicken pieces. Season with salt and pepper and cook until browned. Add onion, stir, and cook for 1 more minute. Switch off the instant pot.
-
Mix sauce: Add the can of pineapple (juice AND chunks) to the chicken in the instant pot. Add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and diced peppers and stir well, making sure you scratch any browned bits from the bottom of the pot (or you’ll get a burn warning).
-
Add rice: Place the trivet over the chicken. Add the rice to a an oven-proof dish (metal or glass work) that fits into the instant pot. Stir in the water, oil and salt and place the dish on the trivet.
-
Cook: Close the lid of the pressure cooker and set the valve to the “sealing” position. Choose “pressure cook” on high for 2 minutes. Once the cooker indicates the end of cooking time, do a 10 minute natural pressure release (just unplug the instant pot and leave it alone), then manually release any remaining pressure.
-
Finish: Open the lid and remove the rice and trivet. Fluff the rice with a fork. Stir together the remaining 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, cornstarch and water. Set the instant pot to sauté. Stir in the BBQ sauce mix and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve over rice.
Step by Step Recipe Video
Nora’s Tips
A note about the firmness of the vegetables/pineapple:
- The pepper and pineapple will get soft and stir into the sauce (for so much delicious flavor!).
- If you want firmer chunks of pepper and pineapple in the final dish, stir 1 extra small can of pineapple chunks (drained) and 1 or 2 extra diced peppers into the chicken and sauce as you’re adding the cornstarch to thicken.
A note about the method to cook chicken and rice at the same time in the instant pot:
- Simply place a trivet over the chicken and sauce ingredients, then place a dish filled with rice and water on top of the trivet. You can use an aluminum dish or an oven-safe (!!) glass dish. Just make sure it’s deep enough to allow the rice to expand.
- I’m using a simple oven- and microwave safe food storage container. No need to buy any fancy equipment ☺️ If you want to eliminate any risk of a glass dish bursting all over your dinner, go for aluminum. I have never had the glass dish burst, but if you’re scared, don’t go for glass.
- I also just use the trivet that came with my instant pot, but it’s a play with fire because the chicken can stick to the bottom a little that way (cooking time is very short, so it won’t burn to a crisp, but I thought I’d note that down). If you have a trivet with slightly higher legs, that’s perfect.
Cooking Time:
- Since this is diced chicken, it cooks VERY fast. We’re talking 2 minutes of pressure cooking time. And yes, that’s really enough. I tried 5 minutes, 4 minutes AND 3 minutes before setting on the 2 minutes while I was testing this recipe.
- The rice cooks perfectly in 2 minutes, too, by the way, as long as you use a plain old long grain white rice.
Nutrition
Calories: 514kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 751mg | Potassium: 1014mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 1200IU | Vitamin C: 97.1mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1.8mg
Did you find this post useful? Want to get back to this page later? Save THIS PIN below to your Recipes board on Pinterest!