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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.
If you like to sound of this easy Instant Pot dinner, you’ll love this Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin, Philly Cheese Steak Pasta, or this recipe for Healthy Chicken and Rice.
Why I Love These Burrito Bowls
This Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl recipe is excellent for the nights that I forget 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.
Enjoy!
– Becca
Ingredients in Chicken Burrito Bowls
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- 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 because of the longer cooking time.
- Black Beans: Because of their fiber content, black beans help to keep a healthy digestive tract. This recipe uses dry black beans.
- 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 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.
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Recipe Tips
- This recipe uses frozen chicken breasts, dry brown rice, and dry black beans since they all have similar cooking times. I’ve tested it with canned beans and white rice before, and it just didn’t turn out the same—the textures were off and the timing was tricky.
- If you want softer beans, let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally after cooking instead of using the quick release.
- If you see a the infamous instant pot error codes burn notice on your Instant Pot, release the pressure, add more chicken broth, and make sure to separate your chicken breasts.
Chicken Burrito Bowl FAQs
These burrito bowls are considered healthy thanks to the lean, high-protein chicken, fiber-rich black beans, and nutritious brown rice. Of course, the overall healthfulness also depends on your portion size and the toppings you choose.
For a different taste to this recipe, use the seasonings from this Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade 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
Yes! Using frozen chicken in the Instant Pot is one of my favorite ways to cut down on actual time spent cooking and the amount of dishes used in my kitchen.
Healthy Eating Plans
21 Day Fix Containers
- 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.
- For each serving: 1 Red Container, 1 Yellow Container, and 1/3 Green Container. Make sure to count any additional toppings you add.
Weight Watchers Points
3 2025 Plan Points
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.
If you tried this recipe for Instant Pot Burrito Bowl or any other recipe on my site please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
Instant Pot Burrito Bowl
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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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Make sure to follow on Pinterest @bludlum and on Instagram @beccaludlum
Help I planned on making this today but my chicken is already thawed? Any tips
Hey Kim! This recipe won’t work with thawed chicken because you need time for he dry rice and dry beans to cook. Thawed chicken won’t allow enough time for that :)
Tried making this tonight and kept getting the burn notifications … added more liquid each time but still a burn notice… don’t know what I did wrong . It smelled so good, I was sad! after the 4th burn notice we went out for dinner.
Hmmm, was the liquid super low when you opened the pot? I’ve never had the burn warning for this recipe before. Did you change the recipe at all?
No I didnt and ended up using the whole carton of chicken broth and just couldn’t get it to not stop giving me the notice. When I cleaned the pot the rice was stuck to the bottom even though I used olive oil to stop from sticking. Hmm
Hi Brianne, I’m so sorry this happened. I wonder if the seal wasn’t seated properly or depending on the age of it, if it went bad. This has happened to me before where the pot tries to come to pressure but steam leaks out and doesn’t allow that to happen, and the liquid ends up all evaporating? Sometimes I pull the lid off and wiggle the seal.
I unfortunately don’t like beans! Would this recipe work if I left them out?
Hi Lauren, this recipe doesn’t cook quite as well without the beans–the water ratio will be a bit off :)
This sounds so good and easy! I have a Mini Instant Pot, do you know how I should adjust this recipe for it?
Hi there! This post might be helpful in determining your adjustments :)
https://mycrazygoodlife.com/instant-pot-cooking-differences/
Can you do this without rice, I have done this recipe and it is great, but would like it without rice? Would I decrease broth and if so how much?
Thank you
Hi JoAnn!
I’ve tried this without the rice and the cook time isn’t the same. I can’t tell you what it is, except that it’ll be a little longer :) You’ll still need more liquid than the standard cup because of the beans. I’m sorry I’m not more help with this.
Can I make this with pinto beans? My family is not crazy about black beans.
I haven’t made it with pinto beans but I’d definitely try it! Just know that if the beans aren’t cooked through, you can put the top on and add some more time :)
Hi Becca! This recipe looks great, I’m looking forward to making it! I’m assuming I set the pressure cook on “hi”?
Yes, hi!
I should’ve watched the video before making this. The chicken was so tender, it fell apart, so I mixed everything together. I thought I had done something wrong b/c it looked soupy (the rice wasn’t fluffy & dry as I had expected.). The beans came out pretty good, firm not mushy. It needed salt! I’m wondering if I can increase the rice to make it less soupy or decrease the liquid. The next time I make it, I might add a can of green chilies.
Definitely add salt if you’d like–I don’t salt my recipes often so that everyone who makes it can salt their own. Did you use white rice, by chance?
I figured out when went wrong! I did use brown rice, but I didn’t know I had to adjust the recipe for high altitude. I made it again and let it cook for 15% longer and it was perfect.
Yay! There is a section at the beginning of my meal prep book about high altitude cooking. It can impact all recipes in different ways–it’s a little crazy!
My beans must be too old. Came out hard. Chicken thighs next time- Breast was dry. Added corn- I like it sweet. :)
This looks great! I know you said to follow the directions to a T, but I’m wondering if adding some sliced bell peppers would mess the recipe up very much?
I don’t think it would mess anything up, but they’ll be soggy :)