This Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice is a healthier spin on the takeout dish – it uses frozen veggies so it’s ready in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive or sesame oil – use any neutral cooking oil for this recipe like canola oil or avocado oil.
- Butter – swap out for ghee or your favourite butter substitute.
- Onion – yellow onion, white onion and shallots would all work for this recipe.
- Chicken breasts – you can try making this dish with boneless skinless chicken thighs, but it will increase the calorie count.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best. Jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Low-sodium soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
- Chicken broth – substitute for vegetable broth for a similar flavour.
- White rice – you can use a different kind of rice like jasmine, basmati or brown rice, but cooking times and liquid ratios will vary.
- Frozen veggies – use any store-bought variety of your choice.
- Green onions – chives would also work or you can leave these out altogether.
How to make chicken fried rice in the Instant Pot
- Add the first 8 ingredients to the Instant Pot in order.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Microwave the frozen veggies.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Stir in the veggies and green onions.
- Serve and enjoy!
What kind of rice should you use?
When I make Instant Pot chicken fried rice, I like to use white rice for two reasons. First, you almost always already have it on hand in your pantry and second, it allows you to really taste the flavours of all the ingredients at once. White rice also takes less time to cook than brown rice. If you’d like to use brown rice for this recipe, you will want to add an additional 15 minutes to the cooking time.
You can use other types of rice for this recipe, such as jasmine rice or basmati rice, but the liquid to rice ratios will vary. If you’re going to be using jasmine or basmati rice, you’ll need to add ¾ cup of chicken broth instead of the 1 ¼ cup you’d use for white rice. Brown rice should be fine with the same liquid ratios as white rice, there will just be a difference in cooking time as noted above.
Frequently Asked Questions
You sure can! The great thing about the chicken fried rice recipe is that the rice and chicken cook together in the Instant Pot, which means less cooking time and less dishes afterwards. The rice will soak in the chicken broth so when it’s ready, all you have to do is stir in the veggies.
The secret to good fried rice is not to go overboard on the sauces and seasonings. For this recipe, you’ll add butter, onion, garlic, 1 ¼ cups chicken broth and ¼ cup soy sauce. Since you’re cooking it in the Instant Pot, you’ll still get all those amazing flavours without it being too overwhelming or overly salty.
This recipe is definitely healthy and a lot healthier than the kind you’d get from your favourite takeout spot. It uses less butter, low-sodium soy sauce and chicken breasts, so there’s only about 270 calories per serving. If you want to make it even healthier, use brown rice instead of white rice (just make sure you add 15 minutes to the cooking time).
Storing and reheating
This chicken fried rice is great for meal prep lunches or dinners and will last in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. Store individual serving sizes in glass meal prep containers – that way, when you’re ready to eat, all you have to do is stick the bowl in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring halfway through. Make sure to sprinkle some water over top before microwaving so the rice doesn’t dry out!
If you have more time, I highly recommend reheating this fried rice in a pot or pan on the stovetop with a little bit of olive oil or butter. It’ll be good as new!
Freezing this recipe
You can freeze this recipe for up to 3 months. Before freezing, make sure it’s completely cool, then transfer it to glass meal prep containers or freezer-safe Ziploc bags. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat as normal.
More Asian Instant Pot recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this Chicken Fried Rice into your weekly lunches.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box,conveniently delivered to me frozen.
Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive or sesame oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 chicken breasts, diced into 1-inch pieces
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup dry white rice
- 1 (750g) bag frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced
Instructions
- Add oil, butter, onion, chicken, garlic, soy sauce, chicken broth and rice to Instant Pot in that order. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal.
- Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 3 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook the 3 minutes. Meanwhile, microwave frozen vegetables in a large bowl for 3-5 minutes until de-frosted, stirring midway through.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Stir veggies and green onions into rice in Instant Pot, stirring well to combine. Serve and enjoy!
