Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Rice)
By :Everyday Mexican Instant Pot Cookbook by Leslie Limon
Arroz Con Polla recipe picture
Arroz con Pollo is a classic Latin American dish, with each country—and each family, for that matter—having its own unique recipe. For mine, I like to use whole pieces of chicken (legs or thighs) that I season with chile powder, cumin, and oregano before adding the rice. This flavorful dish is filling all on its own, but it also goes well with frijoles charros (cowboy beans). Just don’t forget the warm corn or flour tortillas.
Arroz Con Polla recipe picture
Votes: 24
Rating: 3.25
Rate this recipe!
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Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Difficulty Difficult
Browse Category Poultry
Duration 1-2 hours
Cooking Technique Pressure Cook, Sauté
Main Ingredient Chicken Breast, Chiles
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Servings
6 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp California chile powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp crushed dried Mexican oregano
  • 1 tsp coarse salt plus more for seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 6 boneless chicken thighs
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil divided
  • 1 cup long-grain or jasmine rice
  • 1/2 medium white onion finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 roma tomatoes finely chopped
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 8 oz tomato sauce 1 can
  • 4 cilantro sprigs
  • Pico de Gallo Verde for garnish optional
  • Pimiento-stuffed olives sliced, for garnish (optional)
  • Pimiento-stuffed olives sliced, for garnish (optional)
Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Difficulty Difficult
Browse Category Poultry
Duration 1-2 hours
Cooking Technique Pressure Cook, Sauté
Main Ingredient Chicken Breast, Chiles
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Servings
6 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp California chile powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp crushed dried Mexican oregano
  • 1 tsp coarse salt plus more for seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 6 boneless chicken thighs
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil divided
  • 1 cup long-grain or jasmine rice
  • 1/2 medium white onion finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 roma tomatoes finely chopped
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 8 oz tomato sauce 1 can
  • 4 cilantro sprigs
  • Pico de Gallo Verde for garnish optional
  • Pimiento-stuffed olives sliced, for garnish (optional)
  • Pimiento-stuffed olives sliced, for garnish (optional)
Arroz Con Polla recipe picture
Votes: 24
Rating: 3.25
Rate this recipe!
Print Recipe
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine the chile powder, cumin, oregano,salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Sprinkle thespice mixture over the chicken thighs.
  2. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté and adjust to More or high.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the pot, add the chicken thighs, and fry for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a heat-proof plate.
  4. In the Instant Pot, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Sauté the rice until light golden brown. Add the onion and garlic; sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, or just until the onion is translucent. Stir in the tomatoes.
  5. Pour in the chicken broth and tomato sauce; season lightly with salt. Return the chicken to the Instant Pot. Top withthe cilantro.
  6. Lock the lid into place and set the steam release valve to sealed. Select Manual or PRESSURE COOK and set the timer for 12 minutes on high.
  7. When cooking is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally. Unlock and remove the lid.
  8. Discard the cilantro. Serve immediately, garnished with Pico de Gallo Verde and pimiento-stuffed olive slices (if using).
Recipe Notes

Ingredient tip: For this recipe, I like to use skin-on chicken
thighs, because my abuelito used to say that the skin is what
adds the flavor

40 replies
  1. Susie Hoard
    Susie Hoard says:

    Tasty and easy! I used canned Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies instead of Roma tomatoes & 5 oz of spicy V8 juice instead of tomato sauce. Yum!

  2. dcozzoni
    dcozzoni says:

    Followed the recipe to a tee and got the burn notice. Besides the bottom being burned, the flavor and taste was good.

  3. Kirby
    Kirby says:

    I also got the burn notice. I think it more liquid or to layer the roma tomatoes on top. I added a cup of liquid and still got the burn notice. Even so it eventually cooked and was delicious but it needs some work to make it “instant”.

  4. Diggy
    Diggy says:

    Rotten recipe. With the wifi instapot I used the auto settings. It didn’t cook the chicken. Did it again manually and got burn notice. Finished it on sauté…it took an hour to cook after the prep time and the rice was under cooked. Nailed It!

  5. Nick.martin
    Nick.martin says:

    This is a terrible recipe. You have to cook the rice on top of the chicken. If you cook the rice under the chicken, like this recipe calls for, then you will get a burn notice and will either burn the rice to the bottom of the pot, or it will halt cooking and you cant get the pot to come to pressure.

  6. jim@tykal.net
    jim@tykal.net says:

    Really tasty, but I, like others, got the “BURN” notice. Rice stuck to the bottom and did burn a bit, but not enough to affect the flavor. I’ll make it again.

  7. SlightlyToasted
    SlightlyToasted says:

    Turned out terrible. Rice burned and chicken was undercooked. I think the recipe doesnt call for enough stock and too much tomato sauce. Chicken seasoning was very good though.

  8. Tonito68
    Tonito68 says:

    It was ok, remember to stir the rice continuasly so it doesnt burn. My chicken was not moist

  9. Coachbrian77
    Coachbrian77 says:

    Really easy to make. I tweeted it a little to my taste. Used Rotel tomatoes and green chiles instead of roma tomatoes. I added a can of southwestern corn and peppers. Didnt ha e any issues with this recipe. No burn warning, no cooking rice on top of chicken. Obviously people dont know how to cook or have a defective instant pot.

  10. danpratt414
    danpratt414 says:

    I used Mexican Chipotle Chili instead as I like a spicier dish. I also used a can of Rotel instead of Roma tomatoes. Finally I added 1 1/2 cups of broth instead if just the 1 cup. I had no burn issues. Leaving the cilantro in instead of removing gave it a better taste!

  11. ise
    ise says:

    I modified this recipe somewhat by using the Rotel tomatoes with chilies I also cut up 2 campari tomatoes .I used the cup of chicken stock as called for so there was plenty of liquid. The key to avoiding the burn notice is scraping the bottom of the pan upon adding the liquid,after sauteeing the rice, onions and garlic. I didnt have Cumin, so I used a spice blend that had cumin in it ( as well as some other compatible seasonings)(McCormick Moroccan seasoning)
    Very good

  12. Tabitha Heger
    Tabitha Heger says:

    Complete fail. Got burn notice three times after following recipe exactly. Doesn’t anyone test these before publishing?? Guess we’ll just have Chikfila instead.

  13. G W
    G W says:

    Tasts really good. Definitely do again despite loosing some of the rice do to scorching. Didn’t see burn notice but probably was there. Chicken tasted really good and was cooked through. Next time

  14. G W
    G W says:

    In continuation: next time will stir broth into rice and tomato sauce before returning chicken to pot.

  15. Dshelhorn
    Dshelhorn says:

    Got the burn notice at start of pressure cook. Next time I will deglaze the pot after finished with saute. I was able to recover from burn notice by stopping and adding a half cup of water and reducing cook time to 8 min to account for initial cook time. Very tasty.

  16. MirandaH
    MirandaH says:

    I made sure to get everything off the bottom and still got burn.

    It was yummy though. Next time i plan to add frozen corn

  17. Instant Pot
    Instant Pot says:

    Nice save by adding more water and reducing cooking time to adjust for the initial cooking time. This recipe may need more water added depending on how thick the added tomato sauce was. Since brands very in thickness the recipe can vary.

  18. Instant Pot
    Instant Pot says:

    We are sorry to hear that.
    This recipe may need more water added depending on how thick the added tomato sauce was. Since brands very in thickness the recipe can vary. Even though you deglazing if it was too thick and would burn on the stovetop without stirring it will stick in the Instant Pot too as you are unable to stir the contents.

  19. dshelhorn
    dshelhorn says:

    I think another fail for this recipe is if it calls for skinless or skin on. With skin on more fat would be rendered. If using skinless thighs or breasts maybe a bit more oil would help also.

  20. Dshelhorn
    Dshelhorn says:

    Never again. Tried again with more water, burn notice and came out mushy. Has tasre but no character.

  21. Instant Pot
    Instant Pot says:

    If they provide the option to keep the skin on or off, it usually was created with the skin on. Skin off is an option as some people prefer it or that was all that was available.

  22. Nana Kathleen
    Nana Kathleen says:

    I recovered from the burn notice twice. Added more liquid and I used bloody mary mix instead of tomato sauce. Delicious and I will make again. I think I will cook on low next time. ;o)

  23. Shine1
    Shine1 says:

    This recipe sucks. So many burns. I pulled everything out of the pot mid cook, washed it and returned. More of the same. It’s pretty embarrassing when you’ve been talking up instant pot to your friends and then it just burns everything.

  24. Instant Pot
    Instant Pot says:

    Hi Shine1,

    We are sorry you received the burn warning. The burn warning is there to protect your food without it the food would continue cooking and burn.

    Due to the tomatoes, tomatoes sauce and rice this recipe can cause issues if the liquid is too thick. Not all brands are the same consistency and more liquid may be needed. It is also recommended to deglaze the inner pot after sauteing. If you release the steam you would need to add more liquid as it will need more to create the steam again to pressurize.

    I would add a little more broth for a total of 1.25 cups of broth. Especially if you are using an 8 quart.

    If you are experiencing burning on all recipes, please reach out to our Customer Care Team.

  25. BrittAVoice
    BrittAVoice says:

    This recipe wasn’t the easiest to make. If you know a little bit about cooking you know that the rice is going to burn if you cook it just separately with oil .so what you do is you just add a little bit of chicken broth instead. I added 1 cup more than the recipe. I honestly just left the chicken in there with the chicken broth and the rice. while I was prepping all of the other ingredients on sautee mode. I then put The rest of the ingredients and put it on pressure mode.

  26. Laura1228
    Laura1228 says:

    Turned out great! No burn notice and used brown jasmine rice. Because I used brown jasmine, i increased time to 20 minutes. Added an extra 3/4 cup broth. Perfecto!

  27. Hb22pd66
    Hb22pd66 says:

    The rice burned like so many others’ did. We will deglaze the pan next time. We also dropped the cooking time to eight (8) minutes. One of our best Instant Pot meals yet.

  28. HamovHotov
    HamovHotov says:

    This was the first recipe I tried. At first, I followed the recipe exactly. I deglazed the pan. After the first time it showed “burn” on display, I added more chicken broth and deglazed the pan again. Second time, I deglazed the pan, added a little more oil and a lot more broth. Didn’t help. I probably added more than a cup extra chicken broth, stirred and deglazed every time. Maybe it’d help to let IP and the pan cool down completely after sautéing on HIGH. Then deglaze and cook on low.

  29. Mnriley59
    Mnriley59 says:

    So good but so frustrating. I’ve used more liquid I put the rice in last I’ve tried everything and I still get the burn message. It really is good though, I just wish I could figure out how to make it without burning the bottom

  30. Nicrami77
    Nicrami77 says:

    Sooooo good and finally! After sauteing the chicken.. brown the rice! Add 1 cup of chicken broth and 2.5 cups of water! Let the pot cool down before cookingfor 12 mins! (My instant pot is the 8 quart, hope it works for you!)

  31. Csingh@sequent-tech.com
    Csingh@sequent-tech.com says:

    @author or @chef please update this recipe to avoid burn. Kills the mojo when you have to deal with burn in the middle of music and cooking

  32. tgarcev
    tgarcev says:

    This recipe is shit! Burn notice after following the recipe to a tee. Took everything out and finished it properly on the stove. The recipes for this thing are shit. There is never enough liquid, hence the constant burn notices. So far this piece of garbage is turning out to be an overpriced egg cooker. It makes good hard boiled eggs without the green around the yolks, I’ll give it that. Next time I try one of these recipes, I’ll double or triple the liquid.

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