This recipe for Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice in the InstantPot is not completely unprocessed. There are only so many ways to do completely unprocessed with 5 ingredients or fewer! But this cheese sauce (surprisingly) is “cleaner” than “cream of” soups*, and it’s gluten-free. That makes this a good pantry meal option. (Keep the chicken and broccol in the freezer and everything else in the pantry.) Also note that water is “exempt” from the 5-ingredient count, so if you’re being literal about that, this is 6 ingredients.
It isn’t very pretty, but it’s fairly wholesome (all whole foods except the cheese sauce), and quick and easy even for a child to make. Do note that the broccoli gets pretty mushy. We think that’s fine because there’s enough “tooth” to the rice and the chicken to balance it out, but if that really bothers you, you might prefer to cook your broccoli separately and mix it in at the end.
We cook our chicken all at once when we do our “big” monthly grocery shop, chop it up, divvy it up, and store it in the freezer. That makes recipes like this one fast and easy. You don’t even need to thaw the cooked chicken before tossing it into the pot.
If you don’t have an InstantPot, you can make this in a stovetop pressure cooker (same instructions), or you can cook it (covered) on the stove at a simmer. If you cook it in a regular pot, though, you’ll need to double the cooking time.
Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Rice in the InstantPot![™]()
- 2 c. brown rice
- 1-2 c. cooked, shredded chicken
- 1-lb. bag frozen broccoli
- 1 jar cheddar pasta sauce
- ½ Tbsp. seasoned salt
- 3 c. water
- Add all ingredients to the InstantPot.
- Lock on the lid and cook on high for 20 minutes.
- Release pressure naturally.
To cook in a Dutch oven, bring to a boil, then simmer on low, covered, for 40 minutes or until rice is done.
*This is not a sponsored post, and I’m not receiving any compensation from Ragu. I just found this sauce while looking for a workable substitute for cream of cheddar soup. Here are the ingredients:
