In less than 30 minutes, you can have an entire meal with tender chicken breasts, creamy risotto-like rice, and sweet carrots thanks to the Instant Pot.
How many times have you reminded yourself to take the chicken out of the freezer only to discover that, after you started doing 10 other things, you totally forgot? For me, more often than I’d like to admit.
I have written about cooking chicken from frozen in a post aptly named How to Cook Chicken Breasts from Frozen and one for Chicken Parmesan Using Frozen Chicken Breasts. Both of these recipes use the oven. The cooking times are based upon information from the USDA. Basically, it says you need to add about 50 percent more cooking time.
So, when I’m crunched for time and need to get a meal on the table in less than 30 minutes, I turn to frozen chicken breasts. And to make it even quicker, I put those frozen chicken breasts into the Instant Pot!
Making Chicken With Rice And Carrots In The Instant Pot
If you want to just cook plain frozen chicken breasts, head over here for the info. This is ideal for meal prep or for when you want plain chicken quickly.
If you want a full meal that starts with frozen chicken breasts, then turn to the recipe below. It uses frozen chicken breasts, uncooked rice, and uncooked carrots. That all goes into the Instant Pot and then blammo, you have a delicious one-pot dinner.
There is no fussing with multiple settings. All of the ingredients go in at the same time, you lock the lid in place, turn the vent to seal, and set the time. In the time it takes to round up the kids and set them to the task of setting the table, dinner is ready to be served. Supper saved!
Please read the notes in the recipe card, as some people have struggled with this recipe and others rave about it.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
More Chicken Dinner Recipes
Instant Pot or not, I turn to chicken for quick weeknight dinners all.the.time. I’m linking to some of my favorite easy chicken dinners below, but be sure to also have a browse through all of my chicken recipes here (there are over 100 of them!).
- Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
- One-Dish Italian Chicken and Cauliflower
- Chicken Pasta Bake With Creamy Alfredo Sauce
- Salsa Chicken
- Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas
Podcast Episode About Making Instant Pot Chicken Breasts From Frozen
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this chicken dinner, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintInstant Pot Meal – Chicken Breasts from Frozen with Rice & Carrots
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
IMPORTANT: This recipe has VERY mixed reviews in the comment section below. For that reason, I took the recipe down and retested it twice. It worked perfectly both times. While the recipe was down, I got the following in an email, “Hi there, I used a recipe off of your website last week in my new instant pot. I saved the link because my family liked it so much! However, I went back to make it tonight and the link no longer works. :-( Can you tell me where I can find a post of your “Frozen Chicken breast, rice and carrots” instant pot recipe?”
I do not doubt the negative reviews that this recipe has received at all. But given my own success with this recipe, and that email, and some other positive feedback, I have decided to republish the recipe. I’ll also tell you more about how I made it:
- My instant pot is an 8 quart one, this one.
- I used chicken breasts that were 6-8 ounces each. Larger chicken breasts might throw off the recipe. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect this.
- My chicken breasts are individually frozen, meaning that they were not frozen in a big clump. I either buy them already individually frozen or I bring fresh chicken breasts home and freeze them in a single non-touching layer on a cookie sheet before transferring them to a freezer bag. I’ve updated the recipe to reflect this.
- I have now tried this recipe both with rinsed and non-rinsed rice. This doesn’t seem to affect burning or sticking. There was a little bit of sticking with both versions. The latter resulted in a wetter finished rice. Either way, the rice was creamy and soft, like risotto almost. I’ve left the rice unrinsed in the recipe.
- Note that many commenters have said that they used an extra 1/2 cup of chicken broth (so 2 and 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups). I haven’t yet tried this but the comments seem to be positive.
I’m truly sorry to those of you for whom this recipe has failed. I’m afraid to recommend that anyone else try it at this point. But if you’re brave and do, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it went. Good luck!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups long grain white rice
- 2 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 4 (6-8 oz. each) individually-frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tsp. Italian herb blend, or your favorite dried herb blend
- 5 –6 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-in. pieces
Instructions
- Measure rice into bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Add chicken broth and salt and pepper, stir to combine.
- Lay the frozen chicken breasts on top of the rice. Season the chicken breasts with the Italian herb blend or your favorite herb blend.
- Lay carrots on top of the rice.
- Cover pot, lock on the lid, and set the steam release valve to Sealing
- Select Pressure Cook and make sure it’s set to high. Set the time to 9 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle has finished, allow the pot to sit for 5 minutes, and then do a quick release by moving the valve to Venting.
Notes
You can make this recipe with fresh chicken breasts as well. Set the cooking time to 7 minutes. Allow the pot to sit for 5 minutes, and then do a quick release by moving the valve to Venting.
This recipe was originally published in July 2018 and was updated in October 2019.
Staci R. says
It came out great!  I actually had 2 frozen chicken breasts and 2 thawed chicken breasts, so I put them all in. They came out pretty much identical. The fresh ones were not overly dry, but they were not juicy either. Overall, I’ve used this recipe several times and it’s worked out great for me each time. I’m not sure why it’s burning for some people, but I don’t think it’s the fault of the recipe.Â
Christine Pittman says
Thank you for sharing your results with us, Staci!
Katrina says
Made this tonight. Didn’t have carrots, so left them out. I also just eyeballed the water and bouillon powder to make about 2 cups of broth rather than measure but it turned out great!
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for letting us know, Katrina!
Gail says
Have a brand new (to me) Duo mini, and decided to try this as my very 1st recipe after that water thing.
Sautéed celery onion and carrot first with small amount olive oil.
Turned off sauté function, Added 1.5 c. Short grain rice unrinsed, 2c chicken broth & stirred all together. 2 large Frozen bone-in chicken breasts on top, with Italian herbs & pepper.
Lid on, valve sealed, 9 minutes on that little pad (hh:mm is the toughest for me/ keep wanting to use like the microwave).
Takes a bit to come up to pressure, but ran the nine minutes, maybe 7 minutes off to sit and opened to wonderful & perfectly cooked. The only issue was some minimal Bottom scorching – likely was short on broth… impressed- I now know what the hype is about.
Thank you
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for sharing such a detailed response with us, Gail! Glad it worked out for you. :)
Lori McNamara says
We made this tonight and it came out perfect! I had a huge chicken breast, was starting to thaw. I cut it into 3 pieces, browned in oil in the bottom of the pot. I have a regular old fashioned pressure cooker. I took the chichen out, sopped up the oil mostly, threw in the carrots and a chopped onion. Then heaping cup of 20 minute rice, 3 cups broth and the chicken. Salt pepper, sage, curry, paprika, garlic. Turned it to high and when the weight jiggled set to 10 minutes and lowered temp. to low. Let cool 10 minutes, released pressure. Could cut the chicken with a spoon. Took it out and chopped it up, added some peas and corn, put the chicken back, stirred it up, was great! I was a little worried but decided to live dangerous, lol! So nice to get just the one pot dirty.
Christine Pittman says
That’s wonderful, Lori! Thanks for sharing with us.
Brian Lee Opheikens says
I was wondering if elevation has an effect on this recipe. Could explain the mixed comments. I live in northern Utah and usually have to cook longer for many things. Do you have an information that others have sent? I will experiment with this and post my results when I change things up which might help others. You can reach me at the email listed and you may add whatever I find to your notes so that other may use them. I am new to the insta pot but love to try new things, some did not turn out but lesson learned. I tweak it until it works.
Christine Pittman says
The feedback we have is here in the comments, Brian. Some people have mentioned elevation as well as adjustments they’ve made so there’s lots of good information. We’d love to hear your tweaks as well!
Kelli says
I made this recipe because frozen chicken can be used and I love a one pot meal kinda thing. I did not read any of the comments beforehand. I used frozen chicken breast from Costco and Arborio rice because that’s what I have. I added a little olive oil and butter. I always tend to measure rice short and liquid over because I’m at an altitude of almost 6,000 ft. Altitude really can make a difference in how recipes turn out. I also added an extra minute to the cook time. I had no problems with this recipe. The chicken was perfect. The rice had that creamy consistency just the way a risotto should be and the carrots weren’t too soft or too firm. My girls all devoured it without a single word. That’s a good thing as they are constantly talking. Thank you for reposting this recipe. It is a winner in my book!
Christine Pittman says
Thank you for sharing your adjustments with us, Kelli! I’m sure that will help others.
Kristy says
Well here it goes…IT WAS PERFECT AND DID.NOT.BURN.
That means a lot coming from me because I hate my instant pot and I burn everything. I’m trying to give the dang thing a shot before I resell it but I’m telling you, everything burns. I was so glad this recipe worked well.
Thank you so much! I added in onions and garlic salt just because I had them on hand. I almost added mushrooms but my husband wasn’t home and I hate to waste something so good on just myself.
Keep the recipes coming, I’ll be baaaaaack
Christine Pittman says
That’s great, Kristy! Keep coming back, we’ll have more great recipes for you. :)
Cheryl says
Made this with 2.5 cups of stock and cooked it a minute longer with 8 min release in a 6.5 q ninja foodie. Breasts were a little overdone. Will do this again with less time and less broth.Â
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for your feedback, Cheryl!
Caeles says
I wanted to cook chicken and rice at the same time and this was great! My husband likes chicken and rice with curry for lunch so this was a quick way to get it ready for him. Like most rice recipes I found there was too much liquid for me and my rice was very wet. Maybe it’s where I live? Used chicken thighs which are quite resilient.Â
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for the feedback, Caeles!
Taylor says
This turned out great! I was looking for a recipe that you use frozen breasts since I’ve never tried them frozen in the instant pot, I’m not sure what size I have I want to say it’s the 6 quart but I’m not sure. Anyway, the rice carrots chicken everything turned out great. Thank you!
Christine Pittman says
Thanks, Taylor! Glad you enjoyed!
brandon says
Hi, I never have commented on a recipe in my life, but I just wanted to confirm that this recipe came out absolutely perfect in my instant pot. Followed exact instructions minus the carrots. Thank you!
Christine Pittman says
You’re so welcome, Brandon!
Melissa S says
So I felt compelled to write a review, which I never do. I used this recipe as a template last night for chicken burrito bowls. First I sauted onions and garlic, then added the dry rice in and let it saute for a minute too. I added the chicken broth, probably about 2 1/4 to 1/2 cups (extra for the taco seasoning packet) added a little taco seasoning and stirred it up. I made sure there was no rice sticking to the side of the pot and not under the liquid. I added 2 frozen chicken tenderloins and a very large breast, prob 2lbs. Added the remaining taco seasoning, put it on pressure cook high for 9 minutes let it sit for a little longer than 5 minutes because I was preparing other stuff. I am not exaggerating when I say it was FANTASTIC! The meat and rice were perfectly seasoned and so moist! I don’t think you should say “try at your own risk” or whatever. This was literally the 2nd time I have used an Instant pot and I plan on keeping this recipe for reference. I have an 8 qt Duo Nova and I made sure to measure my liquids with a glass liquid measuring cup. Maybe that’s where they are going wrong?
Christine Pittman says
That’s fantastic to hear, Melissa! Thanks for letting us know!
Deborah Hall says
I read all the comments and then googled why do you get the burn notice. Here is the list, not enough liquid, liquid is too thick, new instant pots seem to be causing this issue even on tried and true recipes and cooks. I made it and it turned out great but I did add extra liquid. Plus sometimes things just don’t turn out dang Dennis relax.
Michelle Peters says
Thank you! Glad I took the chance on this recipe. I did read through the comments and made sure I had just a little more than 2 cups broth. One because of the comments and two because just doing rice by itself in the insta pot requires a little more liquid. I will add that I use 2 big chicken breast instead of 4 small and they came out cooked. I am always looking for recipes that have multiple ingredients and will use this one again.
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for the feedback, Michelle! Glad it worked out for you.
Patrick says
I used this recipe and it came out well! I followed it exactly except I used two chicken breasts instead of four as they were Costco frozen chicken breasts and were pretty large and I used normal chicken broth instead of low sodium chicken broth (as that is what I had on hand). It was a little bit salty but overall really good. No burn issues here. One comment is that it isn’t clear in the recipe whether the carrots go in before the chicken or after the chicken. I put the carrots in before the chicken as I thought they could keep the chicken off the bottom of the instant pot and it worked well. Maybe the chicken is more likely to burn if it is not propped up by the carrots.
Christine Pittman says
I like the carrots as far out of the liquid as possible so that they get less soggy. That’s why I add them last. But they do end up pretty soft and damp anyhow so it probably doesn’t matter. I’m glad it worked out well for you, Patrick!
Laura says
Thank you for the recipe. I was wondering if I could cook rice and frozen meatballs together, I came across your instructions and gave it a try. Worked out perfectly!! I don’t know how anyone could burn it, and I am certainly glad that you published it again!
Christine Pittman says
You’re welcome, Laura! Glad you enjoyed!
Julieann says
Delicious! Chopped the carrots and mixed with the broth (almost 3 cups) and Knorr chicken bouillon, salt &pepper, and few dashes of Italian seasoning. Mixed together on sauté setting on my Ninja Foodie (to dissolve bouillon), added fresh parsley and frozen chicken breasts. Cooked according to directions and after venting,  shredded the chicken and tossed with the rice. Thank you for a fast and easy weeknight recipe my family loves!
Christine Pittman says
Thanks so much for the feedback, Julieann! Glad your family loved it!
Meg says
I made this tonight and it turned out awesome. Â My husband and I are recovering from the stomach bug that hit us a few days ago, and I wanted something light but flavorful. Â This definitely hit the spot and will go into our dinner rotation for sure. Â
Christine Pittman says
Wonderful, Meg! Hope you both feel better soon!
Mary says
I made this last night in my new Instant Pot Duo Crisp and it turned out great! That is saying something since it is only the 2nd thing I have ever made in an instant pot :). Thanks for the easy recipe!
Christine Pittman says
You’re welcome, Mary! And thanks for letting us know which Instant Pot you used.
Julie says
I was hoping to post a picture of my finished meal, but funny see that I can… It was yummy for me! My kiddos did say they thought it tasted like carrots (but I like carrots, so??) I will make next time without carrots, maybe. Thank you!
Christine Pittman says
We’d love to see your picture, Julie! If you use Instagram, tag us @cookthestory