If you’ve been following us this fall and winter you know that we’ve been using our Instant Pot a ton, like at least once a week! So, I guess it was a worthwhile investment. It really does make cooking quicker and easier, so we are grateful for that since we spend so much time in the kitchen. This southwest chicken and rice recipe was the perfect candidate for an Instant Pot recipe, and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!
The Seasonings
If you’re like us and could eat tacos just about any day of the week, you will appreciate that this southwest chicken and rice is basically taking those same flavors and putting them into a bowl! The chicken gets seasoned with a taco seasoning and then we added both coconut milk and chicken broth to the Instant Pot for cooking the chicken. The combo is a little spicy and a touch creamy all at once.
White Or Cauliflower Rice
You can really go with either, whatever your body tolerates best. We’ve tried both, and it turns out great either way. It just happened to be the case that when we made this southwest chicken and rice for taking photos we had white rice on hand. If you are trying to keep this one Whole30 compliant though, make sure you go with cauliflower rice.
Make It A Bowl
Duh….because that is my favorite thing to do! So for this southwest chicken and rice, we’ve used a base of greens (just whatever greens you love and have on hand), white or cauliflower rice and the chicken mixture with some extra saucy goodness spooned on top. Then, we added some healthy fats with a little avocado and sprinkled some chopped green onion on there. You can have this for your Taco Tuesday or any night of the week!
Some Other Bowls Recipes To Try
-
- TERIYAKI CHICKEN ZOODLES BOWL
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- EASY PALEO SALMON SALAD BOWL
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- PALEO POTSTICKER NOODLE BOWLS
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- PALEO FISH TACO BOWLS
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- PALEO CAULIFLOWER RICE BOWLS W/SHRIMP
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- GROUND BEEF + PLANTAIN BOWLS
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- SPRING ROLL SHRIMP ZOODLE BOWL
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- KALE CAESAR BURGER BOWLS
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- RED CURRY SQUASH CHICKEN BOWLS
Your Turn To Try Our Instant Pot Southwest Chicken And Rice
Looking for more ways to use your Instant Pot or Crockpot, and want to enjoy taco-like flavors? Go ahead, make this Instant Pot southwest chicken and rice. Then, turn it into a bowl with all your favorite goods. Let us know how it goes by leaving a comment below. Also, take a photo and tag us on Instagram @realsimplegood, so we can check it out!
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Instant Pot Southwest Chicken And Rice (Paleo + Whole30)
Ingredients
For the Instant Pot or Crockpot:
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, (or breasts)
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced, (about 2 tsp)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 batch taco seasoning, (see below)
For the taco seasoning:
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp oregano
For the rest of the bowls:
- 4 cups greens
- 2 cups white or cauliflower rice, (prepared)
- 1 avocado, pitted and sliced, (for garnish)
- 4 green onion, diced, (for garnish)
Equipment
Instructions
- Make the taco seasoning by combining all of the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl or jar and mixing well. Chop bell peppers, onion and garlic as noted.
- Place chicken thighs in the bottom of the Instant Pot or Crockpot. Add the bell peppers, onions and garlic on top. Sprinkle the seasoning all over the other ingredients.
- Next, pour the chicken stock and coconut milk around the ingredients in the instant pot. Cook on the manual setting for 20 minutes with a quick release once it is finished. You can use a Crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
- While the chicken is cooking prepare your white or cauliflower rice.
- Once the chicken is done, shred the chicken in the instant pot with two forks.
- To serve, add some greens to a bowl, then layer on the white or cauliflower rice and top with southwest chicken. Ladle some of the sauce from the instant pot over each serving. Garnish with avocado and green onion.
Lots of flavor and spicy notes.
Thank you so much for these great tips! 3 🙂 And ohhh your photos are soooo beautiful!
You’re welcome and thanks so much for your kind words! 🙂
This is the best instant pot chicken recipe i have made! It’s the only one iceberg tried that it’s dried out and tough. Super tasty with great flavor! I served ours over cilantro lime rice and arugula, then topped it with avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime! So good! We do love spicy as well, so we enjoyed that aspect
Oh yay!! Cilantro lime rice sounds like the perfect pairing! So glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to share even with your little ones keeping you busy! 🙂
Yummy but too spicy. We will just cut back on some of the spice for next time.
We definitely do love a little bit of spice. It’s easy to cut back on it though, and hopefully you enjoy it even more next time! Thanks so much for trying our recipe and coming back to share! 🙂