When I’m feeling a bit under the weather, I always crave a hot chicken noodle soup. When I feel really sick, though, nothing beats a bowl of silky congee made with hearty chicken stock, tender chicken, and some refreshing veggies. It’s not only soothing to eat and easy on my stomach, but also contains enough nutrition to give me the strength to fight the illness.
In the past, I’ve usually made my congee on the stovetop. Not this time. I was down with a cold after a long trip to New York. The only thing I wanted to do was sleep, or read a book in bed if I happened to be awake. Unfortunately, Thomas wasn’t home for a couple of days and I needed to cook myself. And trust me, ordering greasy takeout food was the last thing that came to my mind.
So I ordered groceries online using Amazon Prime Now and made this super easy Instant Pot chicken. It requires next to zero prep. All I had to do was dump everything into the Instant Pot and hit start. The congee took 15 minutes to make. The texture came out perfect, with a silky and gooey texture. The chicken was so tender that I could easily shred it with forks.
Why Instant Pot Congee
Here are a few reasons you’ll want to cook congee in your Instant Pot:
- It takes only a quarter of the time of the stovetop version. Even waiting for the pressure to release naturally, you’ll still finish the dish with half in the time of the stovetop method.
- No time monitoring required. If cooking congee on the stovetop, you have to monitor and stir the congee constantly at the beginning and during the last 10 minutes. Because the rice can easily stick to the bottom of the pan and get scorched.
- You can poach the chicken at the same time and get perfect results. With the stovetop method, you need to cook the chicken separately without overcooking it. The Instant Pot method really saves a lot of time and clean-up.
There are tons of methods to garnish your Instant Pot congee and make it even tastier. My favorite way is to top it with sunny side up eggs and drizzle with a generous amount of Sriracha. YUM!
Instant Pot congee is so satisfying and delicious, that I wouldn’t mind eating for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Pressure Cooker Bone Broth From Leftover Bones
- Pressure Cooker Chicken Soup (with Frozen Chicken)
- Pressure Cooker Lamb Leg
- Pressure Cooker Brown Rice
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
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Instant Pot Congee (鸡肉菠菜粥)
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked Jasmine rice
- 6 cups chicken broth , for a thicker congee (7 to 8 cups for thinner congee)
- 2 chicken breasts (or 4 boneless skinless thighs, about 1.5 lbs (680 g))
- 2 teaspoons ginger , grated
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or to taste)
- 4 cups baby spinach (or 2 cups frozen spinach) (*Footnote 1)
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 green onions , chopped
Optional Toppings
- Boiled or fried eggs
- Sriracha sauce or homemade chili oil
- Chinese pickles or fermented tofu
- Crushed roasted peanuts or roasted sesame seeds
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Add Jasmine rice into a large bowl. Add tap water to cover. Use your hand to rinse the rice gently a couple times, then drain the water. Repeat 2 times. Transfer the drained rice into the Instant pot. Add chicken broth, chicken, and ginger.
- Close and seal the lid. Set to cook in manual mode on high pressure for 15 minutes. If using a pressure cooker, cook over medium heat until the pressure is added. Then cook on high pressure with medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
- Use natural release once done. Do not use fast release. (*Footnote 2)
- Transfer the chicken breasts to a big plate and shred them with forks. Transfer the chicken back into the pot.
- Turn on saute function. Add the spinach into the pot. Cook and stir for 1 minute and turn off the Instant Pot.
- Add toasted sesame oil and green onion. Stir to mix well.
- Transfer the congee into small serving bowls. Garnish with any toppings you prefer. Or you can simply serve the hot congee as it is.
Notes
- Other vegetables such as bok choy, kale, and mustard greens work as well.
- Do not use fast release when making congee. Due to its starchy texture, it will clog the valve easily and spill congee everywhere.
Nutrition
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.
Stephanie
Why do you rinse the rice first? I don’t care how it effects the taste or texture but I will do it if it makes it more nourishing or has more health benefits.
Maggie Zhu
Rinsing rice remove some of the starch, which creates a slightly nicer texture (less goopy). That being said, it’s not a big deal for congee and you can definitely skip it.
Nancy S Farrell
I have trouble with a lot of food and make congee a lot to calm my digestion. I was gifted an Instant Pot and so happy that my could make congee so quickly. Thank you for your guidance.
SamNYC
I’m curious to know why you rinse the rice. I’ve never rinsed the rice for congee because rice, including jasmine rice, sold in America are already clean. The only reason to rinse rice is to get rid of surface starches but in congee, you want as much starch as possible.
As an aside, I never rinse white rice, period. People mistakenly think that the cloudy water results from dirt. That’s false. It’s actually powdered nutrients (iron, folic acid, thiamine and niacin), added in as required by law. When you rinse your rice, you’re actually washing off the nutrients. If you look on the packages of white rice, you’ll even see instructions saying not to wash the rice.
Maggie Zhu
I used to rinse rice for congee more from a habit, because my mom did so when I was growing up.
Also, I think the rice sold was a little different in China. I remember during the old days my grandma has to carefully rinse the rice every time, to pick out the small stones, so it doesn’t crack our teeth.
That being said, after living in the US for a couple years, I don’t rinse my rice for congee anymore. I still rinse the white rice when I steam them, mostly because I like to make fried rice and the rinse removes the extra starch. I mostly steam multi-grain and brown rice for eating, and I don’t rinse them.
Lisa G
I made this congee today. I used cal rose rice instead of jasmine. It was really great! I have had congee in several countries (China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia) and I miss it so decided to try making my own. the instant pot makes it so easy. except don’t forget when calculating how long it takes to factor in the time required to come up to pressure, and to release naturally. So far all recipes I try here such as Mapo Tofu have been wonderful. And the pictures are really helpful. Instructions clear. Flavors great. Congee is so versatile as you can change it so easily with various ingredients/toppings. Thank you so much for this! Oh and the chicken breast came out SO tender it was really easy to shred. Unlike some other recipes I’ve tried with chicken breasts.
Dawn Wang
Thank you! So very comforting!