When you’re out to dinner and a sizzling platter of fajitas is set in front of you, it’s always a happy moment. You just know you’re in for a flavorful meal what with the onions and the peppers and the deliciously seasoned chicken. It might seem like there’s not a lot to improve on there, but with this recipe, the Instant Pot brings a fajita-flavored one-pot meal right into your home kitchen. Since there’s rice involved, you can even forgo the tortillas if you want. Think of it like a “chicken fajita bowl.” An extremely flavorful and easy to make a fajita bowl that’s perfect for busy weeknights.
Before you start to cook, you toss the chicken in a little lime juice, soy sauce, cumin, and a few other spices, so it can hang out and absorb all that flavor. Then some onion, bell pepper, and garlic go right into the Instant Pot (hooray sauté feature!) until they’re fragrant and soft.
That’s followed by some rice and chicken broth (yup, the rice cooks right along with everything else)…
… and then the quickly-marinated chicken.
You seal up the pot, set it cook for just ten minutes, and once it’s done you have a super yummy (if not totally traditional) complete fajita dinner cooked in one dish.
When you’re pressed for time and you don’t have a dinner plan, sure, you can pick up some take out or swing by a drive-thru… or you could opt to make this instead. It’s a meal you can throw together at the last minute but it’s SO much more nourishing and tasty than any quick fix you can pick up from a restaurant.
Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas and Rice
30 minutes to prepare serves 4
Ingredients
- For the rice:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 1/2 cups white rice, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- For the chicken:
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast tenders
- Juice from one lime
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Limes, for serving
- Cilantro, chopped, for serving
Preparation
- Add chicken to a medium bowl and toss with lime juice, soy sauce, salt, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and black pepper. Set aside.
- Set the Instant Pot to saute mode and add olive oil to the insert. Once hot, add onion, garlic, and bell pepper, and cook until lightly browned, 3-4 minutes.
- Add rinsed rice to the Instant Pot, followed by the chicken broth and salt and stir to combine.
- Add chicken to pot, and close lid, making sure valve is set to 'sealing.' Set to cook for 12 minutes on Manual setting.
- When cooking time is up, let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then turn valve to 'venting' to quickly release remaining pressure.
- Remove lid, remove chicken, slice or shred and return to pot. Season to taste as needed, top with lime juice and cilantro, and serve. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Fed and Fit.