Instant Pot Chicken Pulao (Quick & Easy)
Pulao, also spelled Pilau, is a delicately flavored rice dish popular in Pakistani and Indian cooking. This Instant Pot Chicken Pulao recipe requires 25 minutes of prep time and results in tender boneless (or bone-in) chicken and perfectly cooked rice.
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“I tried this today for dinner and it turned out amazing! This isn’t the first of your recipes I’ve tried and as always, it didn’t fail.”
Quratulain
What is Chicken Pulao?
Pulao may not be as famous as biryani, but it holds significance just the same. I remember whenever my mom made it, I’d stand over the stove sneaking just one bite before dinner, and then another, and another. Meat, rice, and aromatic whole spices all woven together so beautifully to create a magnificent composition. It’s utterly satisfying.
This Instant Pot Chicken Pulao is a weeknight version of the more elaborate yakhni pulao, in which meat is slowly simmered to create a stock (yakhni) which is used to cook the rice. (For a mutton version, check out my Mutton Pulao.) That’s not to say you’re missing out on the flavors of classic pulao. The techniques here are still the same – deeply brown onions, seared meat, and rice perfumed with whole spices.
How to prevent soggy rice when making Instant Pot Pulao
Unlike Chana Pulao and Matar Pulao, Chicken Pulao has the added water content of chicken and a tomato. This makes it more likely for rice to become mushy.
After posting the original recipe, I noticed some people still had mushy rich, which meant that my rice may have been a bit more resilient to the extra water content. Recently, I tweaked the recipe and reduced the water content, which will hopefully allow this recipe to work for everyone.
Remember, IP rice should remain fluffy and moist, with each grain separated just like a traditional pulao. Here are a some tips to prevent soggy rice:
- Use aged, long-grain basmati rice. While I can’t be sure all rice will cook to perfection with this method (you may have to do a little trial and error), most aged, long-grain basmati rice will work wonderfully in this recipe. I use Royal Chef’s Secret brand.
- The recipe calls to soak the rice for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. If that’s not how long you normally soak it, try soaking the rice for a shorter period of time.
- After cooking the rice, allow it to naturally release pressure as directed in the recipe. You’ll notice that it’ll get even less moist as time goes on.
- All the ingredients are measured specifically to prevent soggy rice. Use a small tomato as directed in the recipe so the moisture doesn’t cause sogginess. If you prefer pulao without a tomato, feel free to omit it.
- If you rinse your chicken, pat it dry with a paper towel before adding it in.
- Lastly, use a rice paddle or small plate to remove the rice promptly from the Instant Pot and place on the serving dish.
Using Bone-in or Boneless Chicken for Pulao
For this recipe, I use chicken thighs or chicken tenders – the little strips of meat attached to the underside of the chicken breast. If you don’t have them, you can also use chicken breast.
I’ve had many people report success with using bone-in chicken. As long as bone-in chicken pieces are small, the recipe works with bone-in chicken as well. If you’re using larger bone-in pieces, first pressure cook the chicken for 6 minutes before adding the rice. Be sure to sauté bone-in chicken a little longer to ensure no extra moisture will be released while cooking.
What to serve with Chicken Pulao
Chicken pulao is a wonderful one-pot meal that’s traditionally paired with raita or yogurt. Kachumber Salad or fresh, crunchy vegetables such as sliced onions, carrots, or cucumbers are ideal to add crunch and texture. I love making some Shami kabab, Chapli Kabab or Aloo ki Tikki as a side when serving pulao.
More tips on making chicken pulao in the Instant Pot:
- This recipe moves quickly once the onions have browned. Before you begin cooking, have all ingredients (especially the spices) prepped and ready to go.
- As always with South Asian recipes, be sure to pick out and discard the whole spices while you eat. If you don’t want to bite into the whole spices at all, place them in a spice bag or cheesecloth bundle. I don’t recommend grinding them because they may become overpowering.
- Triple wash the basmati rice to remove starches and encourage the grains to separate once cooked.
- You can also add cubed potatoes: Cube 1/2 of a medium russet potato into 1/2-inch cubes. Decrease the chicken to 10-11 oz and add the potatoes along with the chicken.
More Instant Pot recipes you’ll love:
- Instant Pot Shami Kebab (with stovetop instructions)
- Instant Pot Maash ki Dal
- Instant Pot Kadhi
- Instant Pot Nihari
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
- Chana Pulao (Chickpea Pilaf)
For more ideas, check out my Instant Pot Pakistani Recipes Roundup!
Instant Pot Chicken Pulao
Watch the Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (285 g) aged, long grain basmati rice
- 2 tbsp neutral oil, such as grapeseed or avocado
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 small (1 large) bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 2-inch piece cinnamon stick
- 1 small black cardamom, optional
- 5 whole cloves
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3/4 inch piece ginger, crushed
- 1 lb boneless chicken (I prefer thighs or tenders but you may use breast), cubed into 1” pieces
- 1 small (50 g) tomato, finely chopped
- 1-2 green chili peppers, whole or chopped
- 1 1/2 cups water, (See Note 2)
- 2 ¼ tsp kosher salt, divided (or to taste)
- small handful chopped cilantro and/or mint
Equipment
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash (See Note 1) the rice and soak it in water for 15 minutes. Then drain and set aside. I usually start pulao preparation while the rice is soaking.
- Select the high Sauté setting on the Instant Pot. Once hot, add the oil, ghee, and thinly sliced onion. Sauté, stirring often, until the onions are golden brown (~8-10 minutes). Deglaze the pan with a tablespoon of water. The color of the onions will determine the color of the rice so you want to get them even and golden brown.
- Add the whole spices, garlic, and ginger and sauté for another minute or until the raw smell disappears. Add the chicken and ¼ tsp of the salt and continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes until the color of the chicken changes. Add the tomato and green chili pepper and sauté until the tomato softens, about 2 minutes.
- Add the rice, remaining salt, and water and stir to combine. Scrape the sides of the pot and gently press down the rice to make everything is submerged in the water.
- Cancel the Sauté setting, secure the lid, and set the Pressure Release to Sealing. Pressure-cook on high setting for 6 minutes. Let naturally release for 15 minutes. Then manually release any remaining pressure by moving the Pressure Release to Venting. Sprinkle the cilantro/mint on top.
- Using a rice paddle or small plastic plate, gently transfer the rice on to a serving platter. Serve with raita or yogurt.
Notes
- Use aged, long-grain basmati rice. While I can’t be sure all rice will cook to perfection with this method (you may have to do a little trial and error), most aged, long-grain basmati rice will work wonderfully in this recipe. I use Royal Chef’s Secret brand.
- The recipe calls to soak the rice for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. If that’s not how long you normally soak it, try soaking the rice for a shorter period of time.
- After cooking the rice, allow it to naturally release pressure as directed in the recipe. You’ll notice that it’ll get even less moist as time goes on.
- All the ingredients are measured specifically to prevent soggy rice. Use a small tomato as directed in the recipe so the moisture doesn’t cause sogginess. If your tomato is watery, sauté it longer to remove any excess moisture.
- If you rinse your chicken, pat it dry with a paper towel before adding it in.
- Lastly, use a rice paddle or small plate to remove the rice promptly from the Instant Pot and place on the serving dish.
146 Comments on “Instant Pot Chicken Pulao (Quick & Easy)”
The recipe asks for 1 3/4 cups of water. Does that mean 1.75 cups or just .75 cup of water? Also, the same with 2 1/4 tsp of salt. Are you saying .50 tsp of salt and then it is split in two different times in the recipe?
I mean 1.75 cups and 2.25 tsp salt. I divide the salt to give the chicken more flavor as it cooks!
Salaam Izzah and thank you for your recipes and the obvious effort and care you put into perfecting and sharing them. I’ve made this recipe once before and absolutely loved it but will have family visiting over the holidays and wanted to cook a larger quantity. So my question is, if I double the recipe would I need to adjust the pressure cook time?
W.S. Zeba. I’m so glad you liked it! No, you will keep the same pressure time, rice, & liquid quantities. The only thing that comes to mind is the black cardamom – I’d stick to 1 instead of 2 because sometimes it can be overpowering.
Thank you. Made this last night and it was a huge hit! Would’ve taken a picture but the public was starving. I did end up using one regular sized and one teeny tiny black cardamom (you know the one that always settles down in the bottom of the storage jar ????) just because I love my ilaichis and it turned out well.
So glad to hear that, Zeba! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Salam Izzah. I am also looking to double the recipe. I need to double the rice and chicken. I am slightly confused by your comment above as it says not to double the rice or water?
W.S. Amna, Sorry for the confusion. You can go ahead and double the recipe. I just suggested decreasing the black cardamom so it’s not overpowering. Hope that helps!
Salam! Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! Made it today and turned out great! Hubby also complimented it which is relieving ????loll and made your Raita to go with it which is probably the first time I’ve made decent Raita!! ????????????I don’t even use my stovetop anymore for dinner lol after getting into this instant pot train I can’t stop ???? I do have a question tho…some of my rice came out kind of sticky and bunched up…I was wondering what may have caused that…? The only thing I can think of is that I ended up soaking the rice for quite a bit more than 25 mins…ended up being maybe an hr ???? would that make a difference?
Overall tho a great recipe and I’ve already memorized it lol
Thank you!!!
Hi Sadia! Thank you! I’m sorry to hear about some of the rice turning out sticky. Yes, you’re right. The soak time will definitely affect it as well as the brand/type of rice used.
Great results, again!
Just had this for dinner.
Thank you
Salaam! This looks delicious can’t wait to try making it!! Can you use bone in chicken? Specifically chicken legs?
Hi Yulia! Yes, just saute them well and try to use small pieces so that they don’t release too much water. Hope you get a chance to try it!
This recipe was so easy to follow and the end result was perfect!
So glad to hear that, Fatema. Thanks for reporting back!
Hi I have a questions, can this be made with whole bone in chicken and if so does anything need to be adjusted aside for the amount of spices cuz of the size of the chicken?
Zainab, I have heard back from several people that they used bone-in chicken and it did fully cook. I will try it and update the recipe when I do!
You be you, I was drawn to your blog some time ago due to your story and style of writing (and also knowing you’re based nearby in Texas). As long as you fully bring yourself, I think the SEO stuff will take care of itself!!
And to mirror another comment, I really appreciate you taking the time to add notes and help us cater your recipes to specific tastes, as desi food is hardly perfected with step by step directions.
The pulao looks great, my mom has an Instant Pot and I’m so asking her to make this for me 🙂
Thank you, Hena! That is so nice and encouraging to hear. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Salam Izzah. I have a question for you regarding the IP chicken pulao. So my mom never uses tomatoes in her pulao (only in her biryani). What is the reason for the tomato and will it be okay to leave it out? Thanks so much for sharing your time and recipes!
W.S Asma! You’re right – tomatoes aren’t essential for pulao. I tried the recipe with and without the tomato and simply preferred it with the tomato. You can certainly leave it out and it won’t affect the overall recipe.
Thank you! I will report back once I make it. Thanks so much for sharing!!!????????
Your writing is always a treat to read. Your words are beautiful and eloquent. And I always get excited when I see a notification of a new blog post from you!
Aww thank you, Anni!!
Assalam O Alaikum Izzah, If I double the recipe, then the should the timing for pressure cook be same 6 min or double the timing 12 min? I’ve tried with this amount and all is gone! Thinking of making more so will have leftover the next day.
The pressure cooking time will stay the same but all the other ingredients double. Izzah mentioned elsewhere that you might want to do just 1 or 1.5 of the black cardamom.
Thank you so much!
I was thrilled to get a notification email that you have a new post on your blog. I am a longtime fan of your writing and recipes, I especially appreciate the time you put into testing recipes from scratch. My children love pilau and I have always struggled to mimic the taste of readymade spice mixes which I despise using because of the high sodium and additives. Thank you for this, I will be sure to update once I’ve tried it out. Your photos of this dish have me drooling lol
That means the world to me, Fatema! I am honored to give you the best and I am sure you will love this recipe! Thank you so much. <3
I’m back to say I just made this and it’s absolutely delicious! Thanks again.