Spicy Cajun instant pot chicken and rice is PACKED with flavors and cooked in one-pot (instant pot). One of the simplest weeknight dinner recipe you can think of. It’s quick, easy and needs minimal ingredients.
Cajun seasoned chicken, rice all cooked in instant pot and it all comes together in so less time, making this dish perfect for busy weeknights.
If you start craving for spicy chicken then make this instant pot chicken and rice spiced with cajun seasoning for dinner.
It’s marvelous, comforting, packed with protein and carbs, and the instant pot chicken and rice recipe is a keeper! Why? Because it takes very little prep work, even lesser hands-on cooking as it’s made in Instant pot.
Instant pot chicken and rice is full of flavors from Cajun spice mix and it’s loaded with fresh vegetables. Everything cooks in one pot, you’ll love how easy it is to cook this meal.
You can really dump everything into the pot and done! But like always I like to fancy things up a little bit all the time. So decided to blacken or roast the chicken thighs for few seconds first.
You see those gorgeous golden brown crust on the chicken steals my heart every single time. If you are like me, like to serve simple meals a little fancy, do roast the chicken first before adding it to the pot.
Trust me, you’ll love that golden brown crust and color on the chicken. And no the crust is not going to stay crispy or anything. Because later chicken is cooked with rice in liquids so it does not retain it’s crispiness, but the color! YES it’s beautiful!
Chicken thighs – BIG FAN! Perfect cut for instant pot recipes. Not just the chicken stays moist and juice but also takes in flavors and seasoning well. Chicken thighs with bones is great, without bones is also great.
So if you don’t mind slowing down, enjoying your dinner little extra time, taking it all the flavors, taste and texture and going slow – use chicken thighs with bones. LOL .
Homemade Cajun Seasoning
Grab your measuring spoon, we are about to make simple homemade Cajun seasoning. And take my word, make a big batch and store it in a jar, because you’ll be using it more than you imagine.
Simple yet robust flavors goes into Cajun seasoning. Cajun seasoning is definitely one of my fab go-to’s. You can tweak a bit and make it your own.
Extra spicy – That’s me! It’s sooooo good!
For my version of Cajun seasoning you’ll need –
- 3 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 2 tablespoon cayenne pepper (I like it extra spicy)
- 1 tablespoon fine kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon white pepper
Mix all together. Store in air tight jar. Give it a taste before you add it to season your meat or seafood.
Please adjust the spice level as per your choice. Adding salt to the seasoning makes it easy to use. You need just the seasoning mix to be added. No extra steps to add salt.
Cajun seasoning can be used to marinade chicken or seafood, it can be used with vegetables, to roast potatoes, add it to your soups, sprinkle on your salads…the list goes on.
I love everything about this spiced Cajun chicken, but that rice!!! Isn’t it perfect! It makes me jump with joy just looking at how beautifully rice is cooked.
And this is long grain rice, called basmati rice. Chicken and rice instant pot recipe is a meal put together in under 15 minutes. Including making your own homemade Cajun seasoning.
Instant Pot Long Grain Rice (Basmati Rice)
I cook a lot of rice and we eat rice almost everyday. Don’t ask me about my waist line now. Actually eating rice regularly never hurt by waistline.
Now with age and metabolism going down I try to reduce my rice intake but I cannot give up on rice. There – that’s my weakness.
If you love rice – hey we can be friends! And you are not confident to cook rice cause it never turns out great for you, then you must read on.
To get perfect cooked rice in instant pot or pressure cooker is not rocket science. You need to remember tips and follow tricks to make perfect rice in instant pot.
We have mentioned all the tips and tricks for perfectly cooked instant pot rice (both white and brown) in this post. Do not forget to check that out.
Rice Water Ratio For Basmati Rice in Instant Pot
Today I’ll share with y’all on how to cook perfect basmati rice in instant pot.
For 1 cup basmati rice you’ll need 1.25 cup liquid. We recommend to always rinse rice a few times until clear water runs and soak rice for at least 10 minutes before cooking.
Guaranteed fluffy, perfectly cooked rice with each grain of rice is separate. No more sticky, gluggy rice.
If you want to know more on water to rice ratio for different grains of rice, check this detailed post and this one too for instant pot.
Helpful Kitchen Tools:
What You Need For Cajun Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Homemade Cajun seasoning-
Scroll up to get the recipe for Cajun seasoning that is simple to make and use it in many dishes.
Chicken –
Chicken thighs without bones went in this recipe. You can use chicken thighs with bones too if you prefer. Chicken with bones always takes oomphs up the flavors a little more. Keep the thighs whole, that way you can serve a thigh per person. See easy to share and equal as well 😀
If you want to use chicken breast you might want to reduce the time in the recipe. I would sear chicken breasts a little lesser than I would with thighs. You don’t want over cooked, hard or rubbery chicken.
Vegetables –
This recipe calls for simple vegetables, bell peppers. And that’s enough. Go ahead a load it up with more vegetables if you prefer veggie loaded rice.
- Onions
- Bell peppers (red, yellow and green)
- Corn kernels
- Black beans
- Celery
- Green peas
Frozen vegetables works great.
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice – Step By Step Instructions
Step 1 : Season chicken thighs with Cajun seasoning. Cajun spice mix had salt in it, so I did not add extra salt. If you’re using store bought Cajun seasoning, make sure to taste spice mix to check for salt.
Step 2 : Select SAUTE option on instant pot. Allow the pot to turn hot. Sear or brown chicken thighs in hot olive oil.
Add chicken in one layer and brown on each side for not more than 2-3 minutes.
Step 3 : Flip and brown on other side. Remove browned chicken onto a plate.
Step 4 : Add more oil into pot. Cook garlic and onions.
Note: Chicken bits and pieces were stuck to the instant pot. To avoid anything burning or BURN warning I removed the pot, clean and used to saute vegetables and rice.
Pro-Tip – If using the pot as it is, with bits and brown pieces stuck to pot, be absolutely sure to deglaze the bottom of the inner liner of your instant pot. BURN error is dreadfully scary 😀
Step 5: Saute garlic, onions in olive oil. Add chopped bell peppers.
Step 6 : Stir in rinsed and soaked basmati (long grain) rice. Add salt to taste.
Be sure to use correct amount of liquids.
Step 7 : Place back browned chicken pieces.
Pro-Tip: Add more flavor to rice by cooking it with chicken stock. Also oomp up it’s flavors by adding about a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning to rice.
The result will be spicy Cajun chicken and Cajun spiced rice. If you can’t handle too much spice, you can leave cook rice the way I did (did not add cajun seasoning to rice).
Step 8 : Close lid and cook for 8 minutes using PRESSURE COOK option.
Step 9 : Once cooking time is done allow natural pressure release for 5 minutes and then manual release pressure by turning pressure knob to RELEASE position.
Step 10 : Open lid, stir gently
Serve rice and chicken on top.
Sprinkle freshly chopped parsley for garnish.
Love instant pot ? Check out our other favorite instant pot recipes –
INSTANT POT BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
EASY-TO-PEEL INSTANT POT HARD BOILED EGGS
INSTANT POT GENERAL TSO CHICKEN
HOW TO BOIL PEANUTS IN INSTANT POT
INSTANT POT CHICKEN PARMESAN MEATBALLS
INSTANT POT CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
CREAMY INSTANT POT CHICKEN MARSALA
INSTANT POT SPINACH AND CHICKEN CURRY
CREAMY INSTANT POT MAC N CHEESE
HOW TO COOK RICE IN INSTANT POT
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Spicy Cajun Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs boneless
- 3 tablespoons cajun seasoning
- 1 ¼ cup white basmati rice long grain rice
- 1 ½ cups water or chicken stock
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ½ red bell peppers chopped
- ½ yellow bell peppers chopped
- ¼ cup frozen sweet corn
For garnish
- Fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Season chicken thighs with Cajun seasoning. Cajun spice mix had salt in it, so I did not add extra salt. If you’re using store bought Cajun seasoning, make sure to taste spice mix to check for salt.
- Select SAUTE option on instant pot. Allow the pot to turn hot. Sear or brown chicken thighs in hot olive oil. Add chicken in one layer and brown on each side for not more than 2-3 minutes. Flip and brown on other side. Remove browned chicken onto a plate.
- Add more oil into pot. Cook garlic and onions.
- Note: Chicken bits and pieces were stuck to the instant pot. To avoid anything burning or BURN warning I removed the pot, clean and used to saute vegetables and rice.
- Pro-Tip – If using the pot as it is, with bits and brown pieces stuck to pot, be absolutely sure to deglaze the bottom of the inner liner of your instant pot. BURN error is dreadfully scary 😀
- Saute garlic, onions in olive oil. Add chopped bell peppers.
- Stir in rinsed and soaked basmati (long grain) rice. Add salt to taste.
- Be sure to use correct amount of liquids.
- Place back browned chicken pieces.
- Close lid and cook for 8 minutes using PRESSURE COOK option.
- Once cooking time is done, allow natural pressure release for 5 minutes and then manual release pressure by turning pressure knob to RELEASE position.
- Open lid, stir gently
- Serve rice and chicken on top.
- Sprinkle freshly chopped parsley for garnish.
Video
Notes
- While browning chicken, if chicken bits are stuck to the pot, you can remove it completely before continuing with cooking rice to avoid BURN warnings. I removed the pot, cleaned and used to saute vegetables and rice. Or simply deglaze the pan well with few tablespoon of liquid.
- Want to flavor the rice? Add cajun seasoning to rice as well. This might make the dish as a whole a bit spicy.
- Make sure water to rice ratio is correct to get perfectly cooked rice.
Nutrition
“PIN IT” for later
Christa
The food tasted great but had to rate lower because the instructions and prep time are nit thorough or accurate. When you jump to the recipe, as most busy moms do, it doesn’t say what the ratio of water to rice is. Also, the ingredients list corn and then the directions never say when or how to cook them?
Cintia
How much time if using chicken breasts? 6 minutes or less?
Jyothi Rajesh
Haven’t tried this exact recipe with chicken breasts, but I would use 6 minutes for chicken breasts. Note – if chicken breasts turns overcooked or too dry, please reduce the time next time.