These Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice Bowls are a tasty option for lunch or dinner and make delicious meal prep bowls – make the homemade blackened ranch dressing while everything’s cooking in the Instant Pot then add fresh veggies!
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Move over Popeye’s, there’s another delicious blackened ranch recipe in town!!! Right up in these Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice Bowls – YUM!
OMG you guys, I seriously LOVE Popeye’s Chicken. It’s a guilty pleasure often purchased on the way back from the bar on a Saturday night (hey, I make the most of my cheat days okay!) but I’m upset that I can’t really indulge in the blackened ranch dip more often. I seriously LIVE for it.
When I was searching for some recipe inspiration, I immediately thought of my favourite sauce and wondered…can’t I turn this into a healthy rice bowl of sorts?
Well, spoiler alert, I managed to do it!
These Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice Bowls are a delicious way to enjoy a lighter version of ranch dressing with all the benefits of eating a healthy buddha bowl. There are a ton of veggies, some chicken and you could even probably do quinoa if you’re not big on rice and want to add even more superfoods to the mix.
Basically, I’ll just take any excuse I can get to eat more ranch dressing! 😉
And because I’m also obsessed with the Instant Pot for meal prep purposes, I threw a bit of chicken, rice, garlic and chicken broth and in it and prepped a bunch of veggies and the blackened ranch dressing while it all cooked.
Honestly, if you don’t already have an Instant Pot you should should consider getting one because it makes meal prep so much easier. You can basically do two different things at once because it’s a hands-free cooking process and that’s what everyone loves about it.
I’ll admit, I really didn’t give in to all the hype when it first came out, but now that I’ve been making so much food in it I’ve kinda fallen in love with the convenience factor.
These Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice Bowls are basically my version of another kale and quinoa ranch bowl I made about a year ago – I absolutely loved it but felt like there were just too many steps in the process. First you had to cook the quinoa separately, then BBQ the chicken, cut up all the veggies, make the dressing…
Cooking everything altogether in the Instant Pot eliminates all these steps and allows you to make the dressing and prep the veggies while everything is cooking in one pot so there’s also minimal clean up.
You can change the veggies up according to what you have on hand at home – I used cucumber because I ALWAYS have some kicking around and same with the cherry tomatoes, but bell peppers or snap peas would also work well here. Even just some chopped spinach would be a great addition if you’re feeling lazy, and you could mix it in with the hot rice to cook it a bit.
For someone who loves ranch so much, I’m surprised I really don’t have that many ranch recipes on my blog besides those kale quinoa bowls and my favourite sriracha ranch sheet pan chicken dinner. When I was a kid I actually didn’t really like ranch dressing…until I discovered how amazing it was with chicken (particularly chicken wings). Yeah, it’s more of a dipping sauce than a salad dressing but it works really well with hot food like these rice bowls.
Add a little bit of sliced avocado to these Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice Bowls and you’re looking at the finished product and one big bowl of deliciousness for either lunch or dinner. And they do pack up well as meal prep for the week so don’t be afraid to go that route either.
And of course, if you don’t have an Instant Pot you *can* cook the chicken and rice separately. Just cook the rice in the broth in a rice cooker, and saute the chicken with some olive oil, salt and garlic on the stove. Mix it all together, make your ranch, add your veggies and BOOM done. DELISH.
Will you be making these Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice Bowls?
If you don’t end up making the whole bowl verbatim, you at least need to try this blackened ranch dressing. It’s healthy, it’s easy, and it’s made with mostly pantry staples. Take out the Cajun seasoning, and it’s just regular low calorie ranch. Amazing right?!
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!
5-Day Instant Pot Challenge!
Learn how to use your Instant Pot to meal prep by subscribing to our newsletter!
Instant Pot Chicken Ranch Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts, diced into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cup cucumber, diced
- 1 avocado, sliced
Blackened Ranch Dressing
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Instructions
- Add olive oil, chicken, broth and rice to the Instant Pot in that order, making sure to spread out chicken among the bottom of the Instant Pot and keeping the rice on top of liquid as much as possible. Set to cook on high pressure for 2 minutes. Once complete, do a quick release of pressure and open lid when safe to do so.
- Meanwhile, mix together blackened ranch dressing and prepare veggies.
- Stir chicken and rice, then divide among four bowls. Top with cherry tomatoes, cucumber and sliced avocado, then drizzle dressing overtop. Serve and enjoy!
