This Instant Pot Caribbean-Inspired Chicken is a delicious one-pot meal complete with a homemade jerk seasoning and fresh mango salsa.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – any neutral oil like sunflower oil, avocado oil or grapeseed oil will work.
- Chicken breasts – chicken thighs are a juicy cut of meat that can be used in place of chicken breasts.
- Garlic – use fresh or jarred minced garlic.
- Yellow onion – if you’re not a fan of yellow onion, use white onion or red onion.
- Jalapeno – another green chili like poblano peppers or serrano peppers will also work.
- Jerk-inspired chicken seasoning – make your own or buy a store-bought jerk chicken seasoning to use in this recipe.
- Lime juice – use fresh or bottled lime juice in this recipe.
- Chicken broth – use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.
- Basmati rice – feel free to substitute basmati rice with any rice of your choice.
- Salt – to taste.
Mango salsa
- Mango – even though this is a mango salsa, other fruits that work well in place of mango are papaya, peach or pineapple.
- Avocado – feel free to leave this out entirely.
- Red onion – use a sweet onion in place of red onion for a milder taste.
- Red pepper – replace it with another bell pepper colour (like orange or yellow) or leave out entirely.
- Cilantro – if you don’t like cilantro, use parsley instead.
- Lime juice – fresh or bottled lime or lemon juice can be used in this recipe.
- Salt – to taste.
How to make Caribbean chicken
- Add everything to the Instant Pot in order.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Make the mango salsa.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Top with mango salsa and enjoy!
How to make the jerk seasoning
You can use a store-bought jerk seasoning for this recipe, but it’s super easy to make your own. You can make a big batch then store it in an airtight container in your pantry. Just mix together the following spices:
- Allspice
- Nutmeg
- Chili powder
- Onion or garlic powder
- Thyme
- Cinnamon
- Cayenne pepper
Frequently Asked Questions
This Caribbean-inspired chicken is a little bit sweet, a bit spicy and super flavourful thanks to the jerk seasoning.
No, this mango salsa isn’t spicy. You’ll get plenty of spice from the jerk seasoning on the chicken, so the sweeter mango salsa balances out the spices nicely.
The jerk-inspired seasoning used in this recipe gives the chicken that Caribbean-inspired flavour. Jerk seasoning is made of a blend of spices like allspice, thyme and nutmeg.
Storing and reheating
This Caribbean-inspired chicken lasts in the fridge for up to 4 days, making it a great meal prep lunch or dinner idea! To store in the fridge, wait until the dish has cooled down and then transfer individual servings into meal prep containers. I recommend storing the mango salsa separately.
When you’re ready to enjoy, sprinkle some water over top of the chicken and rice so it doesn’t dry out then reheat it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until heated through.
Freezing this recipe
You can also freeze this dish for up to 3 months. Freeze without the salsa in individual portions in airtight glass bowls, then defrost in the fridge overnight. Sprinkle some water over top so the rice doesn’t dry out then microwave until heated through.
You can also reheat from frozen for 5-6 minutes, stirring halfway through. When it’s done, top with fresh mango salsa and dig in!
More Instant Pot chicken recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60 is the version I use in this recipe.
- You could use this Jerk Seasoning if you don't feel like making your own!
- And of course I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box.
- Get your square glass meal prep bowls here.
Instant Pot Caribbean-Inspired Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts, diced into 1 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 jalapenos, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp jerk-inspired chicken seasoning (recipe below)
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup dry basmati rice
Mango salsa
- 1 mango, diced
- 1 avocado, diced (optional)
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1/4 cups chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
Jerk-inspired chicken seasoning (make ahead then store in an airtight container in your pantry)
- 2 tbsp allspice
- 2 tbsp nutmeg
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp onion or garlic powder
- 2 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to Instant Pot in order listed, adding the rice last. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to preheat, then cook the 3 minutes on high pressure.
- Meanwhile, mix ingredients for mango salsa together. Do a quick release of the pressure and open lid when safe to do so. Stir together, then divide among four bowls and top with mango salsa. Serve and enjoy!
- Note: I recommend you make the jerk-inspired chicken seasoning a couple of days ahead so you can easily access it and add it to the Instant Pot when you go to make the recipe. Then it will be in the pantry for future use!
Video
Comments & Reviews
Nicole says
Great recipe but does it specify somewhere that you shouldn’t use the entire portion of jerk seasoning in the instructions? I dumped about how the whole bowl of spice into the insta pot and it was SO spicy no one in my family could eat it. I will make this again but only put a few tablespoons of the spice mixture.
Aryn says
Can you double or triple batch this in the instant pot with same result?
thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Aryn – I haven’t tried it myself. I wouldn’t advise tripling but you could probably double with the same cook time.
Jeannie Kiriwas says
What if I wanted to make it a day ahead? I was thinking of pre bagging all the ingredients for the instant pot the day before and then doing a separate bag with the salsa. How do you think it would hold up?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jeannie! I think it should hold up fine doing it that way 🙂 I’d recommend storing the salsa in a glass container but other than that you have a good plan!
Aislin Boudreau says
I’m planning to make this this weekend. It sounds amazing!
Jill says
I am planning to make this this week. So, just to clarify, I put the chicken in raw and the rice in uncooked and it will all cook in only three minutes? And I don’t need to make sure the rice is covered in liquid? This seems too good to be true!! Thanks in advance!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jill! Yes it does all pressure cook in 3 minutes – the pot will take about 10-15 minutes to preheat then pressure cook the 3 minutes so you’re looking at closer to 20 minutes total cook time. Hope that helps 🙂
Rosie says
I just made this and it is too watery :(. I have put it for another 3 minutes. Too bad as most of your recipes are bang on for me.
Typically for 1 cup of rice I don’t put more than 1.25 cups water. Fingers crossed its salvageable
Rosie says
Ok so I put it back for 3 more minutes and then let it npr. Also I had to run out so left it covered. It’s good!!! A bit spicy as I put too much jerk, but it’s a keeper!
More instant pot recipes please!
Taylor Stinson says
So glad you enjoyed Rosie, and so sorry to hear about it being too watery! Sometimes you just need to let it sit or if you made a minor change in the rice you used this can happen sometimes (eg white rice instead of jasmine)
Rosie says
Thanks for replying! Actually I used brown basmati, so totally my “fault”.
Taylor Stinson says
Ah yes any sort of brown rice is definitely going to take longer to cook! But if you were able to get it to cook in 6 minutes on high pressure I would recommend doing that going forward! Or you could also try letting it natural pressure release (will take 20 minutes or more compared to the couple minutes for quick release). I’ve heard meat and poultry are kept more tender that way too!
Cathy says
I’m thrilled to find a salsa without tomato! I’ve been missing salsa since I learned that the nightshades don’t agree with me. I’ll have to leave the pepper out of this one too, but I’m sure it will still be great!