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Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken and Rice is a delicious one-pot meal. Both kids and adults love this recipe, with sweet pineapple chunks, tender chicken, and a sweet & tangy sauce. The rice cooks at the same time as the meat and sauce. Pressure cooker Hawaiian chicken and Rice is a one-pot meal!
Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken and Rice
Today’s recipe is for a pressure cooker Hawaiian Chicken with rice, and it has lots of tender chicken and sweet pineapple chunks in it!
This recipe is a little more advanced, but not difficult. Just follow along with the steps in the recipe card and you will be eating this delicious Hawaiian Chicken in no time!
Why do you take out the bell pepper?
Bell peppers cook to complete mush if left in this recipe for the full cook time. By sautéing them and taking them out, we can add them back in after pressure cooking. They will have kept more of their crispness!
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What is a tall legged trivet and why do I need one?
It is just a trivet (or rack) that has legs that are 3 inches tall. The trivet will clear the food on the bottom, and hold the pan of rice on top.
This method is called “Pan-in-Pot” or “Pot-in-Pot” cooking. You can find a Tall Legged Trivet here (affiliate).
See the example below:
What is that pan you are using?
I prefer to cook my PIP (Pot-in-Pot) recipes in a good quality metal (stainless) container. I like that it cooks food faster than ceramic, and the size is perfect (7″x3″).
The pan pictured is one of two pans that comes with the Aozita Stackable Stainless set (affiliate). I use this set of pans a lot!
You will see this pan in these recipes: Bread Pudding, Stuffing, Egg Loaf, and of course any recipe that you can cook the rice PIP with it.
Instant Pot Hawaiian Pineapple Pork
Instant Pot Hawaiian BBQ Sloppy Joes
Instant Pot Kalua Pork / Kalua Pig
Instant Pot French Onion Chicken and Rice
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Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts (about 3-4) cut slightly larger than bite sized pieces
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt, divided
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 2 ½ Tbsp Cooking Oil, divided
- 1 Red or Green Bell Pepper, large dice
- 1 sm Sweet Onion, chopped
- 2 tsp Ginger, grated (or 1 tsp powdered)
- 4 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes, or more to taste
- 1 (20 oz) can Pineapple Chunks in Juice
- ¾ cup Barbecue Sauce, (something smoky and just a little sweet, not honey)
To Finish
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- 3 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
To Thicken (Mix these together while chicken is cooking)
- 3 Tbsp Corn Starch
- 4 Tbsp Cold Water
Garnish
- 2 Green Onions, sliced
For The Rice
- 2 cups White Long Grain Rice, well rinsed
- 2 cups Water
Instructions
- Salt and pepper the chicken pieces, saving 1 tsp of the salt for later. Set aside.
- Rinse the rice and add to a 7"x2.5" pan (like the ekovana stackable stainless), and add the water to the pan. Set aside.
- Turn on the Sauté setting. When it is hot, add half of the oil, then add the bell pepper. Cook just until softened, then remove to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining oil, then add the chicken. Cook, turning every couple of minutes, just to get a little color on the outside.
- Add the onion, stir and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Add the ginger, garlic, remaining 1 tsp salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, for a minute.
- Add the can of pineapple chunks, along with the juice. Don't stir.
- Pour over the BBQ sauce, but don't stir.
Add Rice
- Place a long legged trivet in the pan right on the chicken and pineapple. Make sure the legs of the trivet are about 3" tall.
- Set the pan of rice on the trivet.
- Cancel the Sauté setting. Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
Pressure Cook
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 3 minutes. High Pressure. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.
- When the cook cycle has finished, turn off the pot and let it sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining steam/pressure.
- When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid. Remove the pan of rice to a heat safe surface (be careful!). Take out the trivet.
Finish
- Add the brown sugar and the apple cider vinegar to the chicken in the pot. Stir. Taste and adjust salt, if needed.
Thicken
- Turn on the Sauté setting and add the corn starch slurry. Stir. When thickened, turn off the pot.
- Add the bell peppers back in and stir.
Serve
- Fluff the rice with a fork and serve the Hawaiian chicken over the rice. Garnish with green onion.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
RESOURCES TO MAKE Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken recipe and more
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This recipe has been my favorite for quite a while now. My new roommate thankfully shares my sentiments so I make it often. Thank you Sandy!
Could I just cook my rice on the stovetop (I don’t have the trivet or a pan that will fit in my instant pot)? Would I need to adapt the recipe at all to do that?
Yes, just cook it separately. No adjustments needed in the IP.
This looks really good! How much time for the pressure cook if I substitute Cauliflower Rice for the Long Grain Rice?
The cook time is based on the chicken and the rice having the same cook times. I would need to do some testing to figure out the timing. For now I would make the cauli rice separately.
All of the family love this recipe. As a present to my daughter-in-law I said I would make it for her, Pick the day and time and it will be hot and waiting for you. More ginger, my son said! Make it again, my wife said. And DIL was surprised her father-in-law could cook something so good.
I had some left over chicken that needed using so I went to my #2 recipe, Hawaiian Chicken. I’m new with the IP and have made this meal a number of times. The best complement I get is “You can make this again.” My son says add more ginger!
This is a #2 recipe behind Sandy’s Lava Cake. I get more requests for Lava Cake than any other recipe for the IP and it was an automatic winner
This was amazing even the in-laws loved it
the only Substitution I made was jerk sauce instead of barbecue sauce
Favorite BBQ sauce for this recipe? Thanks.
I like a honey bbq sauce. Stubb’s brand is a great one!
So good! Even I couldn’t screw this one up. Thank you for sharing this!
Love it. Made it last night for lunch today for my friend and I. Cant wait to eat it.
That’s great!
We made this for dinner tonight, amazing . Everyone loved it and we made it just as directed. I rate this 5 star although the stars aren’t filling in as I submit my comment.
Thank you!