This Instant Pot chicken fajitas and rice recipe is a combination of simple ingredients and classic chicken fajitas’ flavors with the ease of an Instant Pot dinner. Forget the weeknight dinner rush, this classic Instant Pot “dump and go” style recipe comes together in under 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice
- Recipe Tips
- How to Serve
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Favorite Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice Recipe
This recipe is…
This month, we’ve been dedicated to bringing you a new one-pot meal every week – and these Instant Pot fajitas may be our favorite of them all! We’ve taken the ease of our reader’s choice lemon chicken and rice skillet, and upped the ante with our favorite Mexican flavors and with the introduction of our best time-saving gadget – the Instant Pot.
If we’ve caught your attention, you won’t want to miss these other quick and easy weeknight favorites, like this Instant Pot white chicken chili recipe that goes from start-to-dinner-table in 40 minutes or this Instant Pot chicken tikka masala that is perfect for weeklong meal prep.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s quick and easy – These Instant Pot chicken fajitas come together in under 1 hour.
- It’s a one pot dinner – Because of the Instant Pot’s multi-cooking functions, the veggies, rice, and chicken can be cooked together in one pot.
- It’s completely fool-proof – This Instant Pot fajitas recipe is so simple. It follows the classic “dump and go” recipe format the Instant Pot has made famous.
Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice Ingredients
All of the ingredients for these Instant Pot fajitas are easy to source at your local grocery store. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Rice – Rinsing the rice before cooking removes excess starch and prevents the rice from clumping.
- Chicken Broth – Cooking the rice with chicken broth, rather than water, infused the rice with more flavor.
- Chicken Tenders –You can also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of the tenders. We recommend against using boneless, skinless chicken breast as it will dry out.
- Coconut Aminos – Coconut aminos provides the same umami flavor as soy sauce, but is gluten- and soy-free.
- Oregano – Mexican oregano is a staple in Mexican cookery. If you can’t find dried Mexican oregano, you can swap one-for-one with marjoram. If using regular Mediterranean oregano, use slightly less, as it has a stronger flavor.
- Lime Juice – fresh lime juice adds that hit of bright acidity that brings all these intense spices together at the end of cooking.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Use a different protein – You can swap the chicken for a different cut, as mentioned above or swap the chicken for sliced flank steak.
- Use a different grain – You can swap the white rice for brown rice or quinoa. Simply adjust the cooking times. Reduce the cooking time to 10 minutes for quinoa and increase the cooking time to 15 minutes for brown rice.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice
Utilizing both the pressure cook and saute settings on the pressure cooker, this Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice recipe comes together in one pot for a quick and easy weeknight meal. To find out how to make it yourself, follow along below.
Step 1: Set the Instant Pot to “saute” mode. Add the olive oil or butter to the pot. Once hot, add the diced onion, bell pepper and minced garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onions and peppers are slightly browned. Then, turn off the pot.
Step 2: While the onion and peppers are cooking, prepare the chicken. Add the chicken tenders to a medium-size bowl and toss with the seasonings (fresh lime juice, coconut aminos, sea salt, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and black pepper).
Step 3: Remove the cooked veggies from the pot, then add the chicken broth and ½ teaspoon salt to the Instant Pot. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a whisk or spatula to scrape up all the browned bits from cooking the veggies. Add the seasoned chicken, the cooked vegetables and rinsed rice to the pot. Secure the lid, make sure the pressure release valve is set to “sealed” and cook for 12 minutes on the manual setting.
Step 4: When the time is up, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then turn the pressure release valve to “venting.” Remove the chicken and slice thinly. Stir in the lime juice to the rice. Taste to adjust the seasoning as needed. Return the sliced chicken to the pot and garnish with cilantro. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- To prevent the burn warning when making your Instant Pot fajitas, make sure you rinse the rice, scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pot when you remove the vegetables, and add the chicken thighs to the bottom of the pot.
- If you do receive the burn warning while cooking this Instant Pot fajitas recipe, open up the Instant Pot, scrape the bottom of the pot, and add an additional 1/2 cup of broth, then continue cooking.
- You can use other multi cookers/pressure cookers to cook this Instant Pot chicken fajitas recipe, such as the Ninja Foodi or Crockpot Express.
How to Serve
We recommend either making these Instant Pot chicken fajitas into tacos and serving the rice on the side or making some epic chicken fajita bowls! You can round out your fajita bowls or tacos with some extra lime wedges, sliced avocados or guacamole, salsa, and cheese for the perfect meal. Or try serving these Instant Pot chicken fajitas alongside this black bean and corn salsa. We hope you love this one-pot dinner as much as we do!
How to Store and Reheat
To store: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Alternately, freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 6 months.
To reheat: To reheat, transfer to a microwave-safe container and heat on high for 2 minutes. Stir and return to the microwave for 1 minute more. Garnish and serve. From frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then heat as directed previously.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Canned beans, drained and rinsed or canned tomatoes can be added to the Instant Pot at the same time as the rice.
This chicken fajitas recipe would be quite a bit different because of the fact that the rice needs to fully cook, too. We haven’t actually tried it, so we don’t have instructions for it!
No. The rice liquid requirements and cook time would be different because instant rice or Minute rice is already parboiled.
More Favorite Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
If you tried this Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice
Ingredients
For the Rice
- 2 tablespoons butter or extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ red onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 ½ cups white rice rinsed
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
For the Chicken
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breast tenders*
- 2 tablespoons lime juice about 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For Serving
- 2 tablespoons lime juice about 1 lime
- Fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to ‘saute’ mode, then add the olive oil to the pot. Once hot, add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onion and bell pepper are slightly browned, then turn off the pot.
- While the onion and pepper cook, add the chicken breast tenders to a bowl along with the lime juice, coconut aminos, and spices and toss to combine, then set aside.
- Remove the cooked veggies from the pot, then pour in the chicken broth and salt, and scrape the bottom of the pot with a whisk or spatula to bring up all of the browned bits.
- Add the chicken to the pot, then the cooked vegetables, and the rice.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and ensure that the pressure release valve is set to ‘sealed,’ then set it to cook for 12 minutes on the manual setting.
- Once the timer goes off, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then turn the pressure release valve to ‘venting.’
- Take the lid off of the pot and remove the chicken and thinly slice it. Stir the lime juice into rice and taste, adding salt if needed. Return the sliced chicken to the pot, garnish with cilantro, and serve!
Recipe Notes
- You can also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of the tenders. We recommend against using boneless, skinless chicken breast as it will dry out.
- To prevent the burn warning, make sure you rinse the rice, scrape the the browned bits off the bottom of the pot when you remove the vegetables, and add the chicken thighs to the bottom of the pot.
- If you do receive the burn warning, open up the Instant Pot, scrape the bottom of the pot, and add an additional 1/2 cup of broth, then continue cooking.
Nutrition
This sounds great! I’m going to try it tonight. Do you think it would work if I added a can of fire roasted tomatoes and a can of black beans?
We haven’t tried it, Rachel, but I don’t see why not! Let us know how it goes!
The recipe states the fat macro is 127g. That can’t possibly be correct.
Good catch, Christina! There are 27g of fat in this recipe. Thank you for bringing this to our attention! The recipe card has been updated. -Team FF
Can you please add how to cook this recipe in a slow cooker.
The recipe would be quite a bit different because of the fact that the rice needs to fully cook too, Michelle. We haven’t actually tried it, so we don’t have instructions for it!
Amazing flavor!! Made this today after seeing it shared on IG last week. Wow! For how easy it was, it was so delicious! Whole family loved it. Topped with a little shredded cheese and sour cream, but would have been great without it, too.
So glad you enjoyed it, April! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
This meal was easy and yummy! It is going to be a weeknight regular I think. What changes to time or prep would you have to do in order to use steak? I’d like to cook with this steak next time.
We haven’t tried it, Michelle, but our guess is that the time would need to stay the same in order for the rice to cook!
Thank you for sharing a delicious, one pot meal! Everyone in my family from the 3 yr old to 13 yr old loves it. I do add a bit more water to make it more moist. We like it topped with avocado, fresh tomatoes, cilantro and cheese. On our monthly rotation
So glad you love it, Mary! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
This was so delicious and easy! It was so flavorful and my 3 year old inhaled the rice! I did not get any burn notice, and that was after following the instructions from the e-book. I left the veggies in the pot, threw in the rice (I didn’t even rinse since i was multitasking and I ran out of time) and then poured in broth and mixed everything up and threw in the chicken.
So glad it was a hit, Jeanette!
I just have “instant” rice. Would this work? Still figuring out how the IP works!
I’m not sure, Joanna! We haven’t ever tried it with instant rice. If you do try it, let us know how it goes!
Made this tonight for my family of 6 and everyone loved it, thank you. Very quick for busy moms
Wahoo! So glad everyone enjoyed it, Martha!
This was delicious!
I doubled the batch and brought half to our friends who just had a baby, they also loved it.
I used brown rice, I set the instapot to 25 min and added extra half cup of water per the other recommendation. Came out great!
Thanks!
So glad you loved it, Laura! How sweet of you to bring it to your friends, too!! Thanks for sharing this with us!
I’ve wondered about doubling it! We are a family of 5 with 3 boys (6, 3.5 and almost 2) and it is rare to have leftovers! Tonight they asked for more but we had to offer fruit. We’d already added a side of broccoli. That’s why I was looking at the comments to see if anyone mentioned doubling it!
This recipe is a family favorite! It is made at least a couple of times a month because I can count on all 3 of my kids to eat it and my husband and I love it just as much as they do!
Score! That’s awesome, Beth! Thanks for sharing!
This was great! I even added too much rice on accident and it STILL turned out delicious! Even leftovers the next day
That’s so great to hear!! We’re glad you loved it, Jessica!
Hi Amber – do you know how I might change the recipe / cook time if I leave out the rice? I already have some cooked rice. Thank you!
About 7 minutes at high pressure should do the trick, Amanda! Enjoy!
How long cook in stovetop Dutch oven after chicken is added? TY!
We actually haven’t tried this recipe on the stovetop, so we can’t guarantee the outcome or the exact times. This lemon chicken + rice stovetop recipe is really yummy though, so it may be one to add to your list!