This instant pot greek chicken is covered in olive oil and herb marinade and cooked in 10 minutes with the rice for a one pot meal. This recipe is so easy and great for meal prep greek chicken bowls. It's gluten free and dairy free too!
This recipe is similar to my sheet pan greek chicken and potatoes recipe, except this one is made in the instant pot with rice!
You only need one pot to make everything and it's full of veggies and quality protein. The Greek seasoning covers the chicken and marinates to give this chicken so much flavor.
Ingredients for Greek chicken in the Instant Pot:
- Chicken: try and get organic, free range chicken without antibiotics. We love to get ours from Butcher Box!
- Red onion
- Zucchini
- Chicken or bone broth
- Jasmine rice
- Chopped parsley and feta to top (optional)
Greek Marinade Ingredients:
These are the ingredients for a flavorful greek marinade: Olive oil, Red wine vinegar, Fresh garlic, Lemon Juice, Dried oregano, Dried basil, Dried thyme, Salt, Pepper
I like to use dried herbs in this marinade because they tend to be a bit stronger and old up better for longer periods of time.
How long can you marinate chicken?
You can marinate your chicken for as little as 15 minutes or as long as overnight.
If you're short on time: marinate the chicken at the beginning of the recipe while you get the rest of the ingredients prepped/chopped/cooked. By the time you're ready to cook the chicken it will have marinated for about 15 minutes.
If you remember: you can marinate it overnight in the refrigerator. Be careful not to leave it in there too long or your chicken could get mushy.
How to make greek chicken in the Instant Pot:
- Start by marinading your chicken if you haven't already. Allow to sit while you chop the onion and zucchini.
- Once the chicken is ready, turn a 6qt Instant Pot to saute mode and heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When it's hot, add the marinated chicken and allow to cook until the outsides brown (it doesn't have to be fully cooked through).
- Next, add the onion and zucchini and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock or bone broth then the rice and close the lid.
- Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes then quick release. Stir to fluff rice then add chopped parsley and feta before serving if desired.
What to serve with greek chicken:
Because this greek chicken recipe is already made with rice I don't think it needs anything else besides extra toppings like parsley and feta. You could also add some chopped kalamata olives or hummus too!
If you don't have rice with your greek chicken, then adding rice, roasted potatoes or roasted asparagus are great options.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, don't forget to follow me on Instagram and tag me with @what_mollymade so I can see it and feature you! Also consider leaving a star review below!
More healthy Instant Pot recipes:
- The best instant pot chicken noodle soup
- Instant pot pot roast and potatoes
- Instant pot spaghetti [gluten free]
- Instant pot salsa chicken
- Instant pot beef stroganoff
Note: this recipe was retested and updated as of 1/5/21 to reduce the amount of cooking liquid and the amount of cook time.
Instant pot greek chicken and rice
INGREDIENTS
For the chicken and marinade:
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast or things trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- Juice from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Chicken and rice:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium red onion chopped into large chunks
- 1 medium zucchini quartered
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or bone broth
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 1/4 cups jasmine rice
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley optional
- 1/2 cup feta optional
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put chicken and marinade ingredients in a freezer bag or container and allow to marinade while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, at least 15 minutes or overnight.
- While it’s marinating, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a 6qt Instant Pot and turn to saute mode. Once it’s hot, add the marinated chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side to create a brown and crispy crust. You may need to work in batches of 2-3 to get the chicken crispy. Adding too much chicken to the pan at once can cause the chicken to steam rather than sear. Discard any extra marinade.
- When all the chicken is cooked, add it all back to the instant pot if you cooked in batches then add the chopped onion and zucchini and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice and rice then close the lid and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes. When it’s done, use a wooden spoon to turn the valve from sealing to venting to quick release the pressure. When it’s ready, open the lid and add fresh parsley, an extra squeeze of lemon and crumbled feta if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Gloria says
I just luv your recipes I'm trying to stay heathy and eat good my cholesterol is high so I'll defenatley follow you thank u ?
Molly says
Thanks, Gloria!
Shelby says
Do you have to use squash? I have a picky husband ?
Molly says
No you can omit the zucchini! We didn't have any the last time I made it and it was good without!
Tiff says
Why not just allow your husband to pick it out, he is an adult 🤣. We make our eat kids what is served, the adults should do the same unless it’s a birthday meal.
Lana says
Can this be done in a slow cooker?
Molly Thompson says
I haven't tried this in the slow cooker, but I think you could do it! Just sear the chicken on the stove first to get it crispy. Try cooking it on low for 2 - 21/2 hours!
Danielle says
Not sure what went wrong but I followed the recipe to a T. I thought it was too much liquid for the rice/liquid ratio, but followed it anyway. The whole thing turned out like soup. And the chicken definitely didn’t get a nice golden brown sautéing it in the IP. The zucchini was mushy and everything was just kind of bland. This was a bust for me unfortunately.
Molly Thompson says
Sorry to hear that, Danielle! Sometimes if the instant pot is overcrowded the chicken will steam instead of getting crispy. You could give that a try next time! I'm going to update the recipe to mention that. What kind of rice did you use? I've made this several times and never had it be soupy so I'm wondering if that could make a difference. Thanks for the feedback!
Danielle says
I used brown jasmine. I have the largest instant pot so it wasn’t too crowded. If I make it again I’ll try adding less liquid and see if that helps at all.
Molly Thompson says
Sounds good! Thank you!
Jo says
Super flavorful but my jasmine rice was mushy. Not sure what I did wrong.
KARLI says
SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME! CONFUSED...
Molly Thompson says
I'm confused too! Traditionally the ratios of water to rice are double, so 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. That's the ratio this recipe follows. I've made this several times and not experiences that result. I will give this another try again and see if there are any tips I can share!
Jamie says
Instant Pot recipes should be a 1 to 1 water to rice ratio instead of the typical 2 to 1
Danielle says
I agree. That would make more sense for this recipe!
Kaya says
I also ended up with soup. I am disappointed because the food smells amazing, but is essentially inedible. Next time I’ll cook everything separately and mix together because I do think this recipe sounds amazing.
Molly Thompson says
Sorry to hear that! I've made this several times and not experienced a soupy texture. Would love to hear any questions you have!
Martina says
Came out great, used only 1 and 3/4 cups of chicken broth and the texture was like a risotto, which was a big hit, I would recommend going down to 1 1/4 cups or even 1 cup if you don’t want it that creamy
Sarah says
If I wanted to cook just the chicken without the rice would I need to change the cook time or any of the ingredients? Thanks! Cant wait to try this for work lunches this week!
Andrea says
When do I add the second lemon juice to the pot, with the chicken broth and rice?
Leanne says
What is the serving size in cups? Or ounces
Molly Thompson says
It's about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
Auraline says
I tried this recipe twice and both times the rice burned the pot and it wasn’t able to pressure cook. I think next time I’ll do the rice separately
Emily says
I made this tonight and was a bit disappointed. I would recommend using 1 1/2 cups of broth rather than the 2 1/4 cups in the recipe. It turned out not necessarily soupy, but definitely more like a gumbo texture. I was hoping for more of a typical rice texture. I also added the last of the lemon juice at the end of cooking, I don’t think that was mentioned in the instructions.
Molly Thompson says
Sorry to hear that, Emily! I really appreciate your feedback. I've taken some of the comments here and decided to retest the recipe with less cooking liquid and a shorter cook time. It turned out great and I think that should fix any issues with a more soupy texture that anyone may have. I hope you give it another try!
Christine says
Tried this recipe out last night to meal prep it as my lunches for the week and am very impressed! It has great flavor and leaves me feeling full but not bloated. I was worried that the texture wouldn't turn out right after reading some reviews but I followed the recipe to a T and it turned out perfect! My first batch of chicken I put too much in and it started to steam so I took half out and poured some of the juices out and that seemed to fix it! After that I did much smaller batches of chicken and it went very smoothly. The only thing I would have liked is if there were more pictures of the process. I think I picked too large of a zucchini and don’t think my cuts were how they should have been for the onion or zucchini. A picture right before you seal the lid showing what the liquid to rice/chicken ratio could have been helpful too so that you could add or take out more liquid if need be before sealing but I’m a big visual person so maybe thats just me. Regardless thank you for sharing I will definitely be making again!
Molly Thompson says
Hi Christine! Thanks so much for sharing this! I love the idea of adding in more step by step images. I'll put it on my list to do!
Markie says
I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it was AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m hoping to make this again tonight and am wondering if you may have any recommendations in terms of liquid/time adjustments if I wanted to sub brown rice?
Molly Thompson says
Love to hear that, Markie! Brown rice takes a little longer to cook in the IP. I would buy the minute(instant) brown rice and use that with the same cook times. If you use long grain brown rice it will take closer to 20 minutes and you'll end up with overcooked chicken!