Instant Pot Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice

This easy Instant Pot Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice recipe is flavor-loaded comfort food without the work! Family-friendly and picky-eater approved. 

This easy Instant Pot Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice recipe is flavor-loaded comfort food without the work! Family-friendly and picky-eater approved.

What if I told you you could have this gorgeous dish in front of you in 30 minutes? You’d probably laugh right in my face, right? Well go ahead and laugh, because it’s true.

I have to give nearly all the credit to my Instant Pot, though. I’ve sung it’s praises before, and I’ll be signing them again, but I really do enjoy creating recipes for this little stainless steel beauty to cook right up to perfection.

For this recipe, I simply combined everything I love about Mexican food and tweaked it for cooking in an instant — pot. (Anyone else crack themselves up as easily as I do?) Chicken, ooey, gooey, cheese, nutty rice, plus all those chunks of tomatoes and limes and spices.

There is almost zero way this recipe + those ingredients could have gone any which way but amazing.

Could I Use a Slow Cooker?

I’ll be honest — I didn’t test this recipe in a slow cooker. However, that being said, if you are an aficionado of slow cooking or you don’t own an Instant Pot, please, go ahead and give it a go, and then come back and let us all on how it came out. I’d really enjoy hearing from you.

If you are going to try a slow cooker, then I can give you my suggestions: Follow steps 1 and 2, except saute ingredients in a regular saute pan, not an Instant Pot, and reserve the rice to the last hour of cooking.

Add the sauteed veggies, and the rest of the ingredients except for the rice into the slow cooker. Then set your timer for about 3-4 hours on high or 4-6 on low.

During the last hour, add your rice, and then add the cheese when it’s finished (or put the lid back on for a few minutes until it’s melted). It should melt right up in no time.

Can I Use Frozen Chicken?

Yes, you can use frozen chicken in an Instant Pot, but you have to increase the cooking time to about 20 minutes. From there, you can follow the rest of the instructions as stated.

Why Use an Instant Pot?

Instant pots cook meals in a fraction of the time it takes a slow cooker. I like it for this reason the most. Sometimes I forget to thaw my meat or to start the slow cooker before I walk out the door for the morning, and in these instances, it’s so nice to have a back-up plan (other than my drawer full of take-out menus).

Many Instant Pot models also will slow cook your rice, make your yogurt, saute your veggies and herbs, or even switch to “slow cooker” mode (potentially saving you room in your kitchen for yet another appliance). Once you figure out how your Instant Pot works, you’ll grow to love it as much as I do!

What Are Some Other Mexican Foods?

I feel like this is such a loaded question. Authentic Mexican foods include tortillas, mole sauce, corn, tamales, enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, guacamole, chorizo…the list could go on and on.

Now, while I’m sure you won’t find any Mexican abuela using her instant pot to make up this particular dish, I’m sure we can all agree that it’s the essences of Mexican food that we are often after. It’s the spices, sauces, textures, smells, and flavors of Mexican food that cause us to seek new recipes, new (and often quicker) ways to get those flavors right into our mouths and adapt them for a busy lifestyle. I think if you’ve been on my blog for any amount of time, you’ll notice how much I love creating and cooking Mexican dishes.

What Other Ways Could I Top This Dish?

In my recipe, I suggest you top this Instant Pot Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice dish with cherry tomatoes, avocado, olives, cilantro, or sour cream. However, feel free to add whatever toppings you love. You could use all of these plus some pickled onions or jalapenos, hot sauce, guacamole, or even a fried egg! Yum!