These 20-Minute Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls are a healthy, easy and flavourful dinner idea made with simple ingredients!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Chicken breasts – you could also try making these burrito bowls with ground beef or turkey. For a vegetarian option, leave out the meat and double up on the black beans.
- Taco seasoning – make your own taco seasoning.
- Yellow onion – white or red onion would also be good here.
- Garlic – use freshly minced or jarred minced garlic.
- Red and green pepper – you could also use yellow or orange bell peppers.
- Fresh salsa – if you don’t have any fresh salsa, your favourite jarred salsa will work just as well. A can of crushed tomatoes would also work.
- Black beans – use brown or green lentils, chickpeas or kidney beans instead. If you don’t like beans, add in one more chicken breast for extra protein.
- Frozen corn – feel free to use any veggies of your choice for these burrito bowls! You can even stir in some spinach at the end for extra greens.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth is the best substitute here.
- White rice – you can use jasmine rice, but you’ll need to cut down on the broth to ½ cup.
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How to make burrito bowls in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Add everything to the Instant Pot.
Add all the ingredients in the order they're listed to the Instant Pot. Gently stir the rice into the liquid on the very top.
Step 2: Cook on high pressure.
Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
Step 3: Stir in the cilantro.
Add in the cilantro and give the mixture a good stir.
Step 4: Serve and enjoy!
Serve with any toppings of your choice and dig in!
Burrito bowl topping ideas
This Instant Pot chicken burrito bowl is a complete meal on its own, but you can still add on any toppings of your choice! Some of my favourite toppings include:
- Pico de gallo or salsa
- Diced tomatoes
- Cilantro
- Avocado or guacamole
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Scallions or diced red onion
- Jalapenos
Frequently Asked Questions
This Instant Pot chicken burrito bowl recipe is much healthier than the burrito bowls you get from a takeout spot, since you’re using whole ingredients and not a ton of preservatives. If you want to make them even healthier, make your own taco seasoning, as the pre-packaged variety can often be full of extra sodium.
This chicken burrito bowl Instant Pot recipe will give you the perfect chicken every time! Since the chicken cooks alongside the broth and the rest of the ingredients, it’s super flavourful and not too tough.
You can definitely make these chicken burrito bowls in the slow cooker! Just spray the slow cooker with cooking spray, dump everything in the pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low on 8 hours, stirring once or twice throughout the cooking time.
This Instant Pot burrito bowl recipe can easily be converted into a vegetarian recipe. Just swap out the chicken for double the amount of black beans or another bean of your choice, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Storing and reheating
You can store any leftovers of your Instant Pot burrito bowl in the fridge up to 5 days – just make sure to store the toppings separately! Store individual serving sizes in glass meal prep bowls, then pull one out of the fridge, sprinkle some water over top, and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add on your fresh toppings and it should be as good as new!
Can you freeze burrito bowls?
This Instant Pot chicken burrito bowl recipe is definitely freezer-friendly, although I’d recommend leaving out the bell peppers as they won’t defrost well. Freeze the burrito bowls without the toppings and peppers in freezer-safe bowls for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to enjoy, let the burrito bowls defrost in the fridge overnight, then reheat as normal. Add on some sauteed bell peppers and your favourite toppings and dig in! If you’re in a rush, you can also reheat the bowls from frozen in the microwave for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring halfway through.
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More easy Instant Pot recipes
Meal Prep Tools
- The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60
is the version I use in this recipe. - Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on packing this dish up for leftovers.
- This is my fave taco seasoning if you don’t feel like making your own!
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.
- Or these aluminum foil containers are perfect for re-heating straight from the freezer to oven.
- And of course I get all my free range chicken breasts from Butcher Box!
- **Get my full list of tools here**
is the version I use in this recipe.
20-Minute Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts diced into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 each red and green pepper diced
- 2 cups fresh salsa (I used the fresh kind, Garden Fresh Gourmet, found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store but you can use jarred)
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup white rice
Optional toppings
- Cilantro
- Sour cream
- Cheese
- Jalapenos
Instructions
- Dump all ingredients in the order in which they are listed (except for toppings) in Instant Pot. Ensure you add rice on top of everything else and gently stir it in to the liquids on the very top. Do NOT stir the entire mixture way down to the bottom, you just want to ensure the rice is covered by liquid. If you stir the entire mixture, you may get the burn message.
- Set to manual and pressure cook on high for 4 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to pre-heat and then the 4 minutes to cook.
- When complete, press cancel and do a quick release of the steam, waiting until the pressure gauge drops back down and the lid is safe to open.
- Remove lid, stir contents well and divide among 6 bowls. Top with any toppings of choice then serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Tanya says
I am making this right now and used Unico Long Grain White Rice. It was still crunch after 4 minutes (I did push it all under the liquid). I have just put it back on for another 2 mins and now I got a burn notice. I ended up dumping it all in a pot and added some water. It is currently simmering on the stovetop to soften the rice.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m sorry you had trouble Tanya. I’m wondering if the oil wasn’t covering the bottom entirely or if there was some stirring going on or a mixup in the layering process? It could be the type of rice used too as different brands vary. I’m sorry you had trouble.
Adorisa says
My family enjoyed this meal. I loved how easy it was to make, one-pot meals are my favorite!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed 🙂
Kristal Lawrence says
Help!!! I made this recipe tonight exactly as written in my rice was not cooked at all and my peppers are mush. What happened? If this happens to me in the future how can I fix it?
Taylor Stinson says
I’m sorry you had trouble Kristal – thinking maybe you didn’t push the rice down under the liquid far enough or used a different type of rice?
Erin Thomson says
I made this last week, it was really good. I have never enjoyed anything I have made in my crockpot before this. We doubled it cause I didn’t think it would he enough to feed my family. Boy was I wrong! It’s even delicious if you eat it for 3 days straight.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed Erin! 🙂
Christy says
I made this today, after reading all of the comments about getting the burn message as I was putting everything in the pot I got nervous and decided to cook the rice separately. I didn’t account for the fact that the rice is supposed to soak up the liquid. So when I opened the pot after cooking I got a lovely soup. LOL! It’s still really good as a soup the flavors are spot on! I did switch to chicken thighs vs. breast, but other then that I used all of the ingredients listed. I will add this to my recipe rotation and I think I will just keep it as a soup for the lower carb count. Thank you!
Brittany says
Was the chicken precooked before putting it in the instant pot? I want to make this recipe tonight!
Taylor Stinson says
It’s raw chicken, not precooked 🙂
Emily Nascone says
If I want to double the recipe, how long should I cook for? New to instant pot as well!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Emily – I wouldn’t recommend doubling this recipe as it already makes a lot and my concern is that it would go past the fill line were you to double it. It does make 6-8 servings so there will be lots of leftovers!
Alysha says
This looks great! Going to try it this week. Wondering if I need to increase the cook time if I use brown rice, and if so how much longer would you suggest? I’m new to the IP. Thank you!
Taylor Stinson says
I wish I could advise on this Alysha but I haven’t tried it myself! I do know brown rice takes a bit longer to cook but couldn’t tell you in terms of this recipe. So sorry about this 🙁
Mimi says
I used brown rice and followed directions and pressure cooked for 6 min instead of 4 came out perfect
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you enjoyed! 🙂