These Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice Meal Prep Bowls are a delicious one pot option for work week lunches – all you need is rice, chicken and frozen veggies for rice that tastes like Chinese takeout!
Hello healthy takeout for lunch cooked all in one pot! I haven't done this since these One Pot Chicken Teriyaki Bowls! And I wanna try a variation of this with Bibimbap too!
These Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice Meal Prep Bowls are seriously the most delicious stir fry bowls without the stir fry! I honestly can't even rant enough about my Instant Pot in terms of how helpful it's been with meal prep. You literally dump everything in, cook 15 minutes (by the time it all comes to pressure) and then divide it all up.
Easy peasy, just what I need in my crazy-busy life.
OMG speaking of crazy-busy, I'm really trying to cut back on how much I rush around. I find I just get in these modes of working where I'm going non-stop, and then whenever I need to run a personal errand or need to take care of something in my personal life I always feel so go-go-go, rush-rush-rush and like I never have time for anything.
Lately it's been getting me to think about how hectic our lives are and I'm wondering how much of it we can even control. Even though I work for myself and mostly work from home, I feel this ever-lasting pressure to never take any time off, and I often find myself slipping away from my personal life and feeling as though I can never shut off or turn down.
Burnout never really happens in my family because we are all workaholics, and don't get me wrong, I enjoy my work and I actually like working, it gives me a sense of purpose. But, I don't want to feel as though I'm working myself into the ground and living my life working just to work.
You know what I mean?
Of course I consider this one of the reasons I even have a meal prep blog in the first place, it's meant to help others navigate their own crazy busy lives and cut down on cooking while saving money. One of the ways I'm able to stay sane and get everything done for sure is thanks to meal planning and keeping organized, and I love to help others do the same.
But I think sometimes I almost just reflect on how our society has made it acceptable for us to always be on, always have something to do to be productive, and I'm starting to question how I rush through my day and take on too much work. It's always good to prioritize yourself and what you need and I think maybe these days I need to slow down, just a bit anyway…
As I've said time and again, one of the ways I feel like I can get my time back and have more time to relax and enjoy the limited time off that I do have is by meal prepping, and let me just tell you how much I looooooove these Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice Meal Prep Bowls.
And they are so versatile too! I added in frozen veggies because I constantly have WAY TOO MANY of these bags kicking around the freezer and I thought this rice was the perfect opportunity to free up some room in the freezer and get my veggies in easily.
Add in some chopped spinach at the end of cooking time and you've got an additional nutritional kick!
I kinda wanna think of some different ways to switch up the fried rice game because I imagine there are so many add-ins you could throw in to the base of these Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice Meal Prep Bowls. Really, you just cook the rice and chicken with soy sauce and chicken broth (add a bit of garlic for good luck!) and then you can throw in whatever veggies, sauces, etc from there.
Here are just a couple combos I'm already contemplating:
- Fried egg and kimchi
- Green goddess (spinach and broccoli)
- Hawaiian (pineapple and ham)
- Bacon & brussels sprouts
- Mixed wild mushrooms
Honestly the combos are endless! And you could also switch them up for the different days of the week so you're always enjoying a different variation!
Will you be making these Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice Meal Prep Bowls?
All you need is 30 minutes, some frozen veggies, chicken and rice along with your Instant Pot to put together the best lunch ever! Now all I need to do is start coming up with some more fun fried rice variations…I could eat this everyday!
If you try any of my recipes be sure to let me know on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or in the comments – I’d love to see what you come up with!
The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60 is the version I use in this recipe.
Grab some Glass meal prep bowls for your leftovers.
And of course I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box!
Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 chicken breasts, diced
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 cup dry jasmine rice
- 1 bag mixed frozen vegetables (I used the Green Giant blend of carrots, corn and peas)
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced
Instructions
- Add butter, garlic, chicken, chicken broth, soy sauce and rice to Instant Pot in that order. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Do a quick release of the pressure and open lid when it is safe to do so.
- Meanwhile, microwave frozen vegetables in a large bowl for 5 minutes until de-frosted.
- Add veggies and green onions to rice in Instant Pot, stirring well to combine. Serve and enjoy - will last in the fridge up to 5 days.
Catherine Gayle Parker says
I want to make your recipe. I noticed that you sprinkled sesame seed over each serving and also a black seed. What is the black seed. Neither of the seeds are mentioned in your recipe.
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Catherine – I just used a mix of black and white sesame seeds! You can use white sesame seeds only if you’d like, it won’t change the taste.
Ayanna says
Hi! How much is one serving, based off of the nutrition info you posted?
Thanks!
Taylor Stinson says
I don’t provide servings by weight/cup unfortunately! You will need to take the number of servings listed (6 servings) and divide into portions. Each portion is a serving.
Erick says
I used sesame oil instead of butter, basmati instead of jasmine rice and added chopped red and green chilis, Extended the cooking time ti 4 minutes to compensate for the rice change. Turned out great.