Name: Healthier Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 tsp minced garlic; 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes; 1 1/2 Tbs garlic & herb seasoning (I use McCormick’s Grill Mates Garlic & Herb); 2 cups uncooked brown rice; 2 1/2 cups chicken broth (or 2 1/2 cups water + 2 1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon); 3/4 cup skim milk; 2 Tbs white whole wheat flour; 6 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed; 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese; salt and pepper, to taste

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This Healthier Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice recipe is full of veggies, brown rice, and chicken for an easy healthy dinner.

Serving spoon lifting cheesy brown rice, chicken, & broccoli out of Instant Pot

How To Make Healthier Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice

I love this recipe because it is so easy. You don’t even need to use the saute mode for this one!

I use my 6-Quart DUO Instant Pot for this recipe (and I highly recommend this model!).

Start by adding your diced onion to the Instant Pot. Add your minced garlic and your diced chicken breast.

Now, sprinkle on the garlic and herb spice. This McCormick’s Grillmates Garlic & Herb spice mix is my absolute favorite. I use it on roasted vegetables all the time!

Holding up a container of McCormick Grill Mates Roasted Garlic & Herb Seasoning above Instant Pot

Next, sprinkle your brown rice on top of your chicken breast.

Pouring brown rice from measuring cup into Instant Pot

Pour in your chicken broth and gently poke down the rice so that most of it is submerged in liquid. Don’t worry if some rice is still poking out. It’ll cook!

Instant Pot filled with onion, chicken, seasoning, brown rice, and broth mostly covering rice

Put the lid on your pot and set it to cook on manual/high pressure for 15 minutes. When the cooking time is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before you release the rest of the pressure.

While the chicken and rice are cooking, whisk together the milk and flour. This little whisk is one of my favorite cooking utensils!

glass measuring cup full of milk and white whole wheat flour with small whisk

This is what it’ll look like when you open the lid.

Now pour in your milk mixture and stir it into your chicken and rice.

Glass measuring cup pouring milk mixture into Instant Pot full of cooked rice

It’ll look a little soupy at this point. Don’t worry! We’re not done yet!

Cooked chicken & brown rice with milk mixture and broth

Stir in the broccoli and cheese and put the lid back on. Your Instant Pot will automatically be on the keep warm mode, which is exactly what we want to heat up the broccoli and thicken the sauce!

Measuring cup pouring cheese into Instant Pot with cooked rice and chicken

Let it sit with the lid on for 5-10 minutes, then check to make sure the broccoli is warmed through to your liking. Give it a good stir and adjust the salt and pepper for your tastes.

broccoli, cheese, brown rice, and chicken mixture in Instant Pot

Can I Meal Prep This Recipe?

Absolutely, yes!

I love meal prepping this recipe. Once it is all done cooking, I just dole it out into glass meal prep containers (these are my favorites!), let them cool, then stick them in the fridge until I’m ready to heat them up.

Spoon full of healthier Instant Pot cheesy chicken brown rice and broccoli above pot

Can I Substitute…

Chicken thighs for chicken breast pieces?

Sure! That will add even more delicious flavor. The cooking time will be the same, but the nutritional info will change a bit.

Bowl full of cheesy rice and broccoli next to a cloth napkin and fork

A different seasoning for the garlic & herb?

Yes! Obviously, it’ll change the flavor of the recipe, but this would taste great with cajun seasoning, mesquite seasoning, and so many other flavor mixes.

White rice for brown rice?

You can, but you will need to adjust the cooking time. White rice doesn’t need as long to cook as brown rice!

All-purpose flour for white whole wheat flour?

Sure! That’s just another one small change I make to get the recipe a bit healthier, but all-purpose will work just fine!

fork picking up bite of healthier cheesy chicken broccoli rice out of a bowl

Looking For More One-Pot Meals? Try…

Healthier Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice Recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

This Healthier Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice recipe is full of veggies, brown rice, and chicken for an easy healthy dinner.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 1/2 Tbs garlic & herb seasoning (I use McCormick’s Grill Mates Garlic & Herb)
2 cups uncooked brown rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth (or 2 1/2 cups water + 2 1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon)
3/4 cup skim milk
2 Tbs white whole wheat flour
6 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Add the onion, garlic, chicken, & garlic seasoning to your Instant Pot.
Sprinkle on the brown rice and pour in broth. Gently push down the rice. It should be mostly submerged in broth.
Close the lid, make sure the valve is set to “Sealing”, and set the machine to high pressure for 15 minutes.
While it is cooking, whisk together the milk and flour and set aside.
When the Instant Pot cooking cycle is complete, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before releasing any remaining pressure.
Stir in the milk mixture until combined. Then stir in the thawed broccoli and cheese and cover for 5-10 minutes, until broccoli is warmed through.
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1/6th (~1 1/2 cups)
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 512Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 834mgCarbohydrates: 52gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 43g