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Instant Pot burrito bowls are one of my favorite meal prep recipes to make, and this recipe could not be any easier! Use frozen chicken breasts, dry black beans, and uncooked rice for a budget-friendly, pressure cooked meal the whole family will enjoy.
I love a good chicken burrito bowl. Burrito bowls combine all the deliciousness of a burrito but in a convenient, customizable bowl that’s perfect for busy weeknights.
This Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl is excellent for the nights that I forgot to thaw my chicken or soak my black beans. It’s such an easy recipe and can be customized to the whole family’s taste preference.
Where’s the recipe?
I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I receive a lot of questions about recipes.
To better serve all of my readers here at My Crazy Good Life, I’ve made a commitment to put a ton of helpful information in all of my posts.
If you’d like to skip over meal prep tips and information about freezing, swapping ingredients, and diet information like 21 Day Fix container counts, please simply scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find this delicious and easy to print Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl Recipe.
Ingredients for these Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Frozen Chicken Breast: Chicken breast is a versatile source of protein that works great for this recipe. I use frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts for these burrito bowls.
- Brown Rice: This recipe won’t work with other kinds of rice – it specifically works with dry brown rice.
- Black Beans: Because of their fiber content, black beans help to keep a healthy digestive tract. This recipe uses dry black beans.
- Diced Tomatoes: Be sure and grab a can of low-sodium diced tomatoes.
- Garlic, Cumin, and Onion Powder
- Chili Powder: If you’re sensitive to spice, adjust the amount you add.
- Chicken Broth: I love using homemade chicken broth. If using store bought chicken broth, be sure and get the low sodium chicken broth kind. You can always add salt after cooking is complete, if needed.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls
Step 1: Place frozen chicken breasts (not stacked), uncooked rice, dry black beans, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, onion powder, chili powder, and chicken broth into the Instant Pot.
Close and lock the lid and turn the valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook and set the cooking time for 25 minutes.
Step 2: When the cooking time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove the lid. For softer beans, let the pressure release naturally.
Remove the chicken from the pot and shred. You can use two forks to shred it by hand, or you can shred using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Step 3: Add the shredded chicken back to the Instant Pot and stir well to mix evenly.
Step 4: Serve your finished burrito bowls warm and top with your favorite burrito additions such as: lettuce, sharp cheddar cheese, avocado, sour cream, fresh cilantro, or salsa.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe uses frozen chicken, dry brown rice, and dry black beans since they all have similar cooking times. It just doesn’t cook the same in the Instant Pot when you change the ingredients.
- For softer beans, naturally release the pressure when the cooking time is done on the Instant Pot.
- A stand mixer works great for perfectly shredded chicken. Just move your chicken to the mixing bowl, and use your mixer on medium for about 30 seconds.
- If you see a burn notice on your Instant Pot, release the pressure, add more chicken broth, and make sure to separate your chicken breasts.
Alternate Flavor Profile:
- For a different taste to this recipe, use the seasonings from this Cilantro Lime Drumstick recipe:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves of minced garlic
- 1 tsp crushed red peppers
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- juice from one lime
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
Healthy Eating Plans
- Weight Watchers: See this post.
- These burrito bowls fit perfectly within Portion Fix rules. Counts for the entire recipe, minus toppings: 6 Red Containers, 6 Yellow Containers, and 2 Green Containers. I give you these counts so you can easily recalculate the containers if you change anything.
- Per serving: 1 Red Container, 1 Yellow Container, and 1/3 Green Container. Make sure to count any additional toppings you add.
- 2B Mindset: This is a great lunch when you add 50% vegetables to your plate. This could be in the form of toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, or steamed vegetables.
Instant Pot Burrito Bowl
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Sealing Rings
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs chicken breast frozen
- ½ cups brown rice uncooked
- ½ cups black beans dry (not soaked)
- 15 oz diced tomatoes low sodium and no sugar added
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1½ cups chicken broth low sodium
Optional toppings for Burrito Bowls: Romaine lettuce, Cheddar cheese and Avocado, Salsa or pico de gallo.
Instructions
- Place frozen chicken, dry brown rice, dry black beans, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, onion powder, chili powder, and chicken stock into the Instant Pot. 1½ lbs chicken breast, ½ cups brown rice, ½ cups black beans, 15 oz diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp garlic, 2 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp onion powder, 2 tbsp chili powder, 1½ cups chicken broth
- Close and lock the lid and turn the valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook and set the cook time for 25 minutes.
- When the cook time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove the lid.
- Remove your chicken from the pot and shred. You can use two forks to shred it by hand, or use a hand or stand mixer.
- Add the shredded chicken back to the pot and stir well to evenly mix. Serve warm, with your favorite burrito toppings such as: lettuce, cheddar cheese, avocado, or salsa. For meal prep, place in individual serving containers and refrigerate or freeze until ready to eat.
Notes
- This recipe uses frozen chicken, dry brown rice, and dry black beans since they all have similar cooking times. It just doesn’t cook the same in the Instant Pot when you change the ingredients.
- For softer beans, naturally release the pressure when the cooking time is done on the Instant Pot.
- A stand mixer works great for perfectly shredded chicken. Just move your chicken to the mixing bowl, and use your mixer on medium for about 30 seconds.
- If you see a burn notice on your Instant Pot, release the pressure, add more chicken broth, and make sure to separate your chicken breasts.
- Weight Watchers Blue Plan Points: See this post for the Weight Watchers version.
- 21 Day Fix: (entire recipe) 6 Red Containers, 6 Yellow Containers, and 2 Green Containers. (per serving, which is about 2/3 cups): 1 Red Container, 1 Yellow Container, and 1/3 Green Container.
- 2B Mindset: This is a perfect lunch when you add 50% vegetables on your plate.
Nutrition
Make This Recipe?
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I’m wanting to make this tomorrow. I don’t have dry beans. Can reduce the liquid some and stir in canned beans at the end?
Katie, I’ve never done it this way but if I were to use canned beans this is what I’d do!
Did you try with canned beans just wondering how much liquid is reduce to?
I have not tried this with canned beans yet!
I used white canned beans. Let it sit a bit and they do absorb the extra liquid. This recipe is fantastic, and so easy!!!
This may be a silly question, does all of this work in a regular pressure cooker? I don’t have an Instant Pot….
Not silly!! Yes, it will definitely work in a regular pressure cooker!
My kids and husband are it. I added some salt , cilantro and freshly squeezed lime and used extra rice as my can of tomatoes was too big. My chicken did not shred so I sliced it. Probably because my ratios were off. The flavours were good though and it’s rare everyone in the house enjoys it. It’s a keeper.
Ate*
I’m sorry if this has been answered before, but I’m new to all this.
What does “4R, 3Y, 1P ” mean?
Don’t be sorry! It’s for those on the 21 Day Fix, a way to count your macros – 4 servings of protein, 3 servings of grains, and 1 serving of fruit :)
Ahhh, thank you.
Fantastic recipe that requires so little time!!! The only changes I made were to double the recipe, I used dried onions instead of onion powder, and I used a bit more garlic and chili powder than called for. When I took the chicken out, it looked a little soupy but as soon as I shredded the chicken (THANK YOU for the mixer idea–genius) and put it back in, it was perfect. I was upstairs when my husband started to eat it and I heard a very loud “OHHHHHHH” all the way upstairs. I would say that’s a 5 star rating. :)
Yay!! I love hearing recipe successes, especially when you “tweak” it a little!! Thanks for reporting back!
HI! I’m making this right now and your seasonings sound like a ton! Did you mean teaspoons instead of tablespoons?
Hi Anna,
No, I wrote the recipe as I made it but you’re welcome to pare them down to your liking!
Can you freeze portions of this? I am not sure how well rice will freeze and taste later.
I’d definitely give it a shot. Rice is pretty forgiving.
My kids hate beans, can I double the rice or just leave the beans out?
Hi Robin, I’m not sure as I’ve never made the recipe that way. I’d think you have to cook it for less time without beans–not sure about the rice time. I’d try it with double rice and see how it turns out. Then you’ll know if you have to add or subtract a minute or two next time you cook it :)
Update: I’ve made the recipe without the rice, and for some reason the beans didn’t cook all the way when I did that. I have no idea what made that happen, but it makes me hesitant to leave anything out!
Thank you so much! I will just try it with the double rice. I love to tell them to pick the beans out of stuff but they just won’t eat it; like the beans have cooties or something.
Have you ever tried chickpeas ? Would they eat them ? Trying it here now
I haven’t tried them :) Let me know how it turns out!
If you wanted to use ground beef instead of chicken, would you need to brown it first or put it in raw?
Hi there, sorry I missed this comment!
To be honest, changing that would change the recipe and since I haven’t made it with beef I’m hesitant to answer. I’d ask in the Instant Pot community on Facebook – they’re so helpful and someone might know about this!
I would brown it first.
What would the time be if I wanted to double his recipe? Thank you so much!
Hi Miranda! No time difference, doubling shouldn’t be a problem with the 25 minutes!
Thank you!!! It was sooooo yummy!!!
I don’t have any brown rice on hand right now, would dry white rice work as well or would the cook time be different? Thanks! I can’t wait to try this!
White rice cooks much faster and uses less liquid to cook. I wouldn’t sub with the same cooking times.
Hi!! I just doubled this recipe and kept the time the same. Turned out perfect!
Thank you SO much for reporting back about this!!
No time increase needed. It will take longer to come to pressure but the actual cook time will be the same.
Thanks Deb!!
I doubled the recipe and used the same time. Turned out great.