Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Brown Rice

An unbelievably savory dish of perfectly seasoned brown rice with tender and juicy chicken thighs. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes to make in the Instant Pot. In fact, whenever people ask me what they should make when they first get an instant Pot, this is the recipe I recommend.

Chicken Thighs are Perfect for Instant Pot Cooking

Chicken thighs are an excellent meal to make in an Instant Pot. They hold up great to pressure cooking and don’t need to be shredded to enjoy. For this recipe we use 4 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs with a simple seasoning mix that gives it a wonderful and traditional roasted chicken flavor. And we can enjoy the chicken with a knife and fork.

Make Chicken and Brown Rice at Same Time!

This recipe cooks the chicken thighs and the brown rice at the same time in your Instant Pot. Brown rice is different that white rice in that it is a whole grain, including nutritious germ, bran and endosperm. Don’t worry, these things are all good, and are which make brown rice the essence of a “whole grain”. Brown rice is considered healthier than white rice, which has had most of it’s nutritional parts removed. And because brown rice is a whole grain, we’re going to help it along in the cooking process by soaking it water before we cook it. This will allow the brown rice to cook to perfection at he very same time as the chicken thighs. We only really need to give the rice a soak of about 30 minutes. But more is fine too. If you want to rinse the rise and but it in a bowl of water in the morning before work, it will be good to go when you get home from work if you want to start the recipe right away.

Sear the Seasoned Chicken Thighs in the Instant Pot First

Another great thing about an Instant Pot is that you can saute. This means we can season our chicken thighs and seal in all the flavor before we pressure cook it. The chicken will be seasoned with some classic chicken seasonings – fresh thyme, paprika, garlic powder, salt and some lemon juice. Fresh thyme is such a wonderful herb to keep around for a variety of recipes, especially Instant Pot recipes. When using fresh thyme, just pinch the stem and slide your thumb and finger up the stem, removing the little leaves. You don’t want to chop up with the stems. If using dry thyme, use about half the amount. Mix the dry spices together with the lemon juice and rub into both sides of the chicken thighs. Feel free to get under the skin and on the sides too. Then we heat the oil on “saute” mode and when hot, we sear each side of the chicken thighs for 2-3 minutes each. When searing, don’t move them around, let that sear take place, especially when doing the skin side down. Leaving it alone will also help the chicken to not stick to the pot.

After we’ve seared the chicken thighs, we remove them and set aside and add some butter to the instant pot. Be careful to scrape up any browned up bits on the bottom of the pot too. Then we add our chopped onion and saute for 2-3 minutes or until they start to become translucent. Then add in the garlic and stir another minute. Don’t let the garlic saute too long. It will start to burn after about a minute or so.

 

Then we add our rice, fully drained to the pot and toss it with the onions, garlic and butter, still in saute mode, for about 2 minutes. Press cancel and pour in the chicken broth. Use a wooden and scrape along the bottom once again to get up and browned on bits. Then we arrange the chicken thighs on top of the rice, season with a little salt and pepper, secure the lid with the vent set to the sealing position, and pressure cook (manual setting on some pots) on high pressure for 18 minutes. After the 18 minutes are up, we let the pressure naturally release for 20 minutes. If, after 20 minutes, the pin hasn’t dropped, go ahead and release the rest of the pressure. There should be very little. Then remove the chicken to a plate and let the rice sit in the Instant Pot, with the lid off, for about 5 minutes. It will continue to absorb the liquid and thicken to perfection. Your chicken thighs and brown rice are now ready to serve!

As an option, you can place the chicken under the broiler of your oven for about 5 minutes to crisp up the skin. It’s worth the time!

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