Brown Rice Chicken Biryani – A healthier version of the popular Chicken Biryani cooked with brown basmati rice, chicken breasts, fresh herbs and warm aromatic spices.
I would have never thought of making Biryani with brown rice. Since I started making Biryani in my Instant Pot, it has become a repeat one-pot meal in our family. It is a favorite in our house and making it with brown basmati only makes it more healthier.
After posting my Instant Pot Chicken Biryani recipe I received so many questions on how to make this with brown basmati. My initial thinking was that it is not going to work out with the flavor and moreover the textures with the chicken and Rice cooking together. But more I started using brown rice, I understood how soaking it can drastically change the cooking time especially with Instant Pot.
Took me much longer than anticipated, but after several trial and errors, here is the recipe that I am excited to share with you all. Here is the recipe with my expert tips and all it needs is some extra prep-time or a little bit of planning.
Tips for the best Brown Rice Chicken Biryani:
- Soak the brown basmati rice for 3 hours in warm water
- Marinade chicken breasts for atleast 2-3 hours. Chicken can also be marinated overnight or upto 12 hours
- Allow natural pressure release so the rice continues to cook and the chicken breasts cook tender and juicy
- Chicken drumsticks or chicken thigh can also be used in this recipe with same pressure cook time
Can I use lamb instead of chicken?
Yes! Marinade the lamb using the same ingredienst as the chicken. Here are 2 options to adjust cook time for Brown Rice Lamb Biryani:
- Pressure Cook the marinated lamb for 20-25 mins on meat/stew setting. Then add the soaked brown rice and follow the remaining recipe.
- Pressure Cook the marinated lamb for 15 mins on meat/stew setting. The add unsoaked brown rice, with extra 1/2 cup of water and cook for 20 mins with natural pressure release.
What is the best brown rice for this recipe?
- You can use any variety – brown basmati, brown jasmine or short grain brown rice such as Sona Masoori
- Some of my readers have also made this recipe using the instant cook brown rice which does not need to be soaked. Simply adjust the cook time to 6 minutes followed by natural pressure release
Served with a yogurt-based raita, boiled egg and fresh lime wedge makes this a hearty one-pot meal that is finger-licking good and satisfying!
Step by step Recipe for Instant Pot Brown Rice Chicken Biryani:
- Rinse and drain the brown basmati rice thoroughly 2 times. Add 2 cups of warm water and soak the rice for 3 hours. Make Marinade by mixing garam masala, ginger, garlic, red chili powder, turmeric, mint leaves, half of the chopped cilantro, lemon juice, yogurt and salt. Add chicken and coat evenly with the marinade. Keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours (photos 1 – 2).
- After about 2-1/2 hours, turn Instant Pot to Saute(Hi) mode. After the ‘hot’ sign displays, add 1 tbsp of ghee and add thinly sliced onions. Cook stirring frequently for 10 to 12 mins or until the onions are golden brown and caramelized. Take out half of the onion and keep aside for garnishing the biryani (photos 3 – 4).
- Add remaining 1 tbsp of ghee to the IP with half of the caramelized onions already in the pot. For extra spicy Biryani add sliced jalapeno. Add bay leaves and marinated chicken. Mix well and deglaze the pot with the liquids from the marinade. The deglazing step is important and will help take out the browning of the pot from sautéing the onions (photos 5 – 6).
- Drain the rice and gently pour over the chicken. Spread the rice evenly over the chicken. Add 1-1/2 tsp of salt. Add 1 cup of water. Using a spatula, evenly spread the rice under water and gently push all the rice from the sides of the pot under the liquids. Close Instant Pot and turn pressure valve to sealing. Set to Manual mode for 10 mins. Allow Natural Pressure Release. Open the Instant Pot and gently fluff the top layer of the rice, if it looks slightly uncooked, simply close the instant pot and leave the Instant Pot on the keep warm mode for another 10 minutes (photos 7 – 8).
- Garnish with the remaining caramelized onions, saffron and cilantro.
- Serve with Raita (Onions and tomatoes mixed in yogurt), hard boiled egg (optional) and lemon wedges.
Here is the you tube video that shows how easy it is to make this brown rice chicken biryani:
Love one pot Indian meals? Here are more Instant Pot Biryani recipes that we have on repeat!
- Easy and Authentic Instant Pot Chicken Biryani
- Weeknight favorite Vegetable & Paneer Biryani
- Instant Pot Shrimp Biryani in 30 miniutes
- Instant Pot Fish Biryani
- Chickpea Biryani with vegan options
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A healthier version of the classic Chicken Biryani made with brown basmati rice, chicken breasts and aromatic spices.
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated
- 1 tablespoon garlic grated
- 1 tablespoon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ cup mint leaves
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro divided
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 pounds chicken breasts cut each breast into 2 pieces
- 2 cups brown basmati rice
- 1 jalapeno sliced into 8 wedges optional for extra spicy **
- 2 tablespoons ghee divided
- 1 large onions thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1.5 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon saffron mixed in 1 tablespoon warm milk
- 4 boiled and shelled eggs optional
- Rinse and drain the brown basmati rice thoroughly 2 times. Add 2 cups of warm water and soak the rice for 3 hours.
- Make Marinade by mixing garam masala, ginger, garlic, red chili powder, turmeric, mint leaves, half of the chopped cilantro, lemon juice, yogurt and salt. Add chicken and coat evenly with the marinade. Keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours
- After about 2-1/2 hours, turn Instant Pot to Saute(Hi) mode. After the ‘hot’ sign displays, add 1 tbsp of ghee and add thinly sliced onions. Cook stirring frequently for 15 mins or until the onions are golden brown and caramelized. Take out half of the onion and keep aside for garnishing the biryani.
- Add remaining 1 tbsp of ghee to the IP with half of the caramelized onions already in the pot. For extra spicy Biryani add sliced jalapeno. Add bay leaves and marinated chicken. Mix well and deglaze the pot with the liquids from the marinade. The deglazing step is important and will help take out the browning of the pot from sautéing the onions.
- Drain the rice and gently pour over the chicken. Spread the rice evenly over the chicken. Add 1-1/2 tsp of salt. Add 1 cup of water.
- Using a spatula, evenly spread the rice under water and gently push all the rice from the sides of the pot under the liquids.
- Close Instant Pot and turn pressure valve to sealing. Set to Manual mode for 10 mins.
- Allow Natural Pressure Release. Once the pin drops, open the Instant Pot and gently fluff the top layer of the rice, if it looks slightly uncooked, simply close the instant pot and leave the Instant Pot on the keep warm mode for another 10 minutes.
- Gently fluff and mix the rice with the chicken on the bottom of the pan.
- Garnish with the remaining caramelized onions, saffron and cilantro.
- Serve with Raita (Onions and tomatoes mixed in yogurt), hard boiled egg and lemon wedges.
Recipe Video
** This recipe makes medium spicy Biryani. For extra spicy add jalapeno. OR add another tsp of garam masala to the chicken.
You can replace chicken breasts with bone in chicken pieces , chicken thighs or drumsticks for the same cook time.
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Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in Nov 2017, but was updated in June 2019 with new photos and information.
Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
Beautiful 🙂
Thank you Hans!
What is the brand of brown rice here?
I used Trader Joe’s brown basmati!
Such a tempting platter of biryani! Looks fab, Archana 🙂
Thank you Freda!
Wow.. this looks so yummy.. one quick question, do I need to add 1cup of water for 1cup of rice or 1cup water for 2cups rice ?
Hi Ramya, lots of liquids are released by pressure cooking the chicken, so just 1 cup water is enough for 2 cups of soaked basmati rice. You want to make sure that all the rice is under liquids as shown in the video. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks Archana !!
You are welcome
When you say one cup of rice, do you mean the cup that came with the instant pot?
Also, the instant pot cooking times state that it takes 20-22 minutes to cook brown rice. Your recipe cooks everything in 10 minutes – is that because the brown rice has been soaked for three hours?
I use regular measuring cup for rice. The key is to use same cup to measure the rice and water. And yes soaking reduces the cook time for brown rice.
Ok ok, so you mean for this particular recipe you used a regular measuring cup (250ml)? But, you can use any quantity as long as the ratio is consistent? (1:1 or 1:1.25)?
Yes!
I use the Sundari brand of brown basmati that cooks on the stove in 18-20 minutes, so in the instant pot it just takes 6 minutes on high pressure, with just 20 minutes of soaking. I guess it all depends on the particular brand you use, some brown basmatis take 45 minutes on the stove.
I agree! I will def check out the Sundari brand rice next tine I go grocery shopping
Hi Archana! first of all, I must say I am hooked on to your recipes & specially the IP ones! It wont be a lie if I say I bought IP after reading your blog & reviews on IP 🙂 All the recipes I have tried so far have come out so well. You have a very good knack of explaining everything in simple words, really very impressive to know inspite of being from IT background, you are doing this to pursue your passion for cooking!
Now quick q on this recipe. Can I follow this same recipe to make egg biryani? only thing I am little unsure is how to marinate boiled eggs, is that even needed.
Hi Seema! Thank you for your kind words. I am happy to hear that you are enjoying the new cooking experience. I would not marinade eggs. I would cook the brown rice with sautéed onions and half of the marinade. Then sauté whole boiled eggs in remaining marinade and onions on stovetop. And then simply mix the 2 together.
Can you marinate the chicken overnight? Or do you think it will alter the flavor? What about the rice? (for those of us that can’t marinate 3 hr before cooking during a schoolnight!)
Thanks!!
You can def marinate chicken overnight. I have not tried soaking rice overnight but it should work too
I made this today, and the rice was still a bit grainy. I had added more water – around 1.25 cups to the 1 cup of rice – just to get it all under water, but after 10 minutes at high pressure and around 28 minutes natural pressure release, it was dry. Another 10 minutes at Keep Warm didn’t change much either.
I might try it again with 15 minutes’ time on the pressure, but it was still delicious. I wasn’t ever really a biryani fan since most biryanis I ate were kind of low on the flavor scale, but the marinade was dynamite.
Hi Mike, Was the rice soaked before? 15 minutes will work good for the rice but I am afraid the chicken may be overcooked? Try soaking in warm water for a little bit longer?
Yep, it was soaked in warm water for 3 hours. Maybe I should soak the rice in hot water next time?
For what it’s worth I was using Deep Foods brand brown basmati rice – not sure if that necessitates any changes.
Hi Mike, I have used Deep Basmati and it works week for me. Soaking in hot water might break the rice grains. Try soaking for longer time, around 4 to 6 hours. Let me know how it works out. Also lately I have been using trader joe’s brown basmati. Although I do not think there is much difference. Depending on the age of the rice the cook times might change.
Hi Archana, I wanted to try making this biryani with Brown sona masoori rice. Any idea if I should change the cook time?
Hi Shreta! Same cook time will work for sona masoori brown rice.
Do you keep the instant on the “keep warm” setting while it is doing natural pressure release?
Yes, for this recipe.
Can I use regular brown rice? Does it have to be basmati brown rice?
Thanks!
Hi Alvina, yes you can use regular brown rice.
Hi Archana- I want to serve this recipe to my whole family coming for Easter next week- however due to the holiday, I’d love to use LAMB stew meat! how would you alter the time/ specifications for lamb instead of chicken breast? Thanks so much- I’m excited to expose my family to your recipes
Hi Jeanne, Two options:
1. Pressure Cook the marinated lamb for 20-25 mins on meat/stew setting. Then add the soaked brown rice and follow the remaining recipe.
2. Pressure Cook the marinated lamb for 15 mins on meat/stew setting. The add unsoaked brown rice, with extra 1/2 cup of water and cook for 20 mins with natural pressure release.