Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli and Rice
This Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli and Rice is an easy and delicious side dish for just about any meal! Thanks to your pressure cooker, it’s ready in a flash and only requires a handful of simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
Well hello there! It’s been awhile since I posted. I went and took a break for the holidays and it just kind of kept going from there.
We did some traveling mid January (Disney!) and then after coming home, we all came down with multiple types of sickness. RSV, flu, ear infections, pink eye, rashes, etc. Between all five of us, we ran the gamut of illness.
I have to say that throughout all of that sickness, I barely left the house. It’s also been pretty cold out so that’s sort of contributed to my homebody status as well.
Since I was home a lot, my Instant Pot and I spent a lot of quality time together. I’ve made quite a few new recipes using my fave kitchen toy, and this Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli and Rice is one of my new go-to side dishes.
My kids love this one, and you can easily make it into a full meal as well just by adding some cooked chicken. As a side dish, it’s great to accompany chicken, fish, or beef and is super easy and quick to throw together. Enjoy y’all!
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
Recipe: Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2.5 cups chicken broth, divided
- 1 cup medium grain white rice
- 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Push the saute button on Instant Pot and add the butter. Once the butter melts, add the diced onion and cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn, about 30 seconds.
- Push the "off" button and add 2 cups of the chicken broth and the rice. Stir everything well, then place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the pressure release knob to "sealing."
- Cook the rice over manual high pressure for 5 minutes. When the timer is up, perform a quick release. After the pressure has completely released and the pin has dropped, open the lid and stir in the broccoli, remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth, and salt and pepper.
- Place the lid back on the pot, turn the pressure release knob to "sealing," and cook the broccoli and rice over manual high pressure for 1 minute. When the timer is up, perform a quick release. After the pressure has completely released and the pin has dropped, open the lid and stir in the cheddar cheese until melted and creamy. Enjoy!
For those getting a burn notice on the second pressure cook, its likely not sealing properly. The lid gets hot and stretches the seal during first cook. Changing to a fresh sealing ring should help
So easy and everyone enjoys it! Thank you for an easy, delicious recipe!
The taste is good but got that “burn” notice on my instant pot. So I added more water and tried again. The rice was really stuck and burnt in the bottom and watery from the extra water. After all that the broccoli just didn’t get cooked and I like it al dente!
In step 2 you say to add 2c with the uncooked rice. Then In step 3 you say to add 1/2 c of the broth. What step do I add the last of the broth it’s uncler
Hi Corrie, the instructions are correct. You add 2 cups with the rice and pressure cook for five minutes. Then you add the remaining 1/2 cup of broth along with the broccoli and then pressure cook for one additional minute.
How can I make this if I don’t have an insta pot
I made this exactly as written but added one additional minute when I added broccoli based off of reviews. This was so easy and my kids loved it! Thanks for an easy weeknight dinner!
I loved it! I used frozen broccoli, microwaved 1 cup w/ 1 tsp water for 3 mins. Then threw it in as instructed in this recipe, and it was perfect.
When I attempted the final 1 min pressure cook, it burned, but this is something that occurs somewhat regularly when using the Instant Pot.
This recipe was very good but the broccoli needed a few more minutes. It was still crunchy when I followed these directions even though they were tiny pieces.
Looks great. Wondering if you cut your own fresh broccoli, or did you use frozen? If frozen, did you thaw it first?
We’re wanting to add this to our Christmas dinner with the family coming to our house this year.
Hi Michael, I use fresh, but you can also use frozen. If using frozen, it should be fine to use it straight from the freezer; no need to thaw.
Followed the recipe exactly yet the rice stuck on the bottom of the pot. Not sure why – tasted pretty good.
Yum what a great weekend night dinner, looks super easy to make too!
This is really great! I think I can add a few more varieties on top of this!
I’ve made this before! Love putting anything with rice in the instant pot. Turns out amazing!
This is good. Plain, but comforting. I add about half a cup more cheese and some taco ground beef
My kids inhaled this. We sautéed some diced pork with the onions, and used Colby Jack cheese, since that is all we had, but stuck to the recipe otherwise. I’d never used the sautéed function on my IP before! I did get a “burn” notice when it was coming up to pressure after adding the broccoli. What would have caused this, and how would I prevent that in the future?
Usually from food being “stuck” on the bottom of the pan. A good scraping after adding your liquid will help stop that from happening.
This was my first attempt to use my new instant pot. It was delicious. I used smoke gouda and it gave it an amazing smoky flavor. I was able to halve the recipe without any issues at all. I also skipped the onion though it would have been even more amazing with onion.