Instant Pot Chicken Biryani is one of my favorite dishes and one of the most requested meals at my house. This one-pot meal is made of fragrant basmati rice, tender spiced chicken, and caramelized onions, and it can be cooked in less than an hour while maintaining the same authentic flavor and texture of traditional biryani.
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Family Treasured Recipe
Biryani is one of India's most beloved dishes; rich in flavor and tradition, but often time-consuming to make. Growing up, my mom's Stovetop Chicken Biryani was a special treat, and I knew I had to find a way to bring that same magic to busy weeknights.
After a few trials, I cracked the Instant Pot version that is quick, easy, and full of authentic flavor.
Since then, I've had so much fun creating more one-pot biryanis you'll love: From fragrant Vegetable Biryani, Shrimp Biryani to hearty Chickpea Biryani (with vegan options!), Brown Rice Biryani, Fish Biryani, and Egg Biryani there's something for everyone, and all made effortlessly in the Instant Pot!
The Famous Instant Pot Chicken Biryani
Thank you to all who have tried this recipe. It has become so popular that when I published The Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, I was requested that I also include this recipe in the cookbook. I hope you will enjoy 75+ modern recipes with authentic Indian flavors in my best-selling book.
How To Cook Different Chicken Cuts
I love biryani with chicken cooked tender and moist, while the rice is fluffy with each grain separated. There are 2 ways to cook biryani, depending on your chicken cut.
- Using bone-in, skinless chicken legs, I first partially cook the chicken by pressure cooking it for 4 minutes. Then layer over soaked and drained rice and pressure cook both chicken and rice for 6 minutes.
- Using small bone-in chicken pieces or boneless thighs - Skip the initial 4 minutes of pressure cooking and saute the marinated chicken for 2 to 3 minutes. Then layer the soaked and drained rice and pressure cook for 6 minutes.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Biryani
Here are step-by-step instructions with photos. Please check the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions.
1: Marinate the Chicken - Coat the chicken with ground spices, mint, cilantro, lemon juice, yogurt, and salt. For extra flavor and easy meal prep, you can marinate it ahead of time and refrigerate for up to 12 hours (photos 1-4).
2: Soak the Rice - Soak the rice for 20 minutes to ensure it cooks up light, fluffy, and with long, separate grains. I recommend using extra-long grain basmati rice for the best results-Kohinoor and Royal are two of my go-to brands, easily found at most Indian grocery stores (photos 5-6).
3: Caramelize the onions and deglaze - As the rice soaks, start to caramelize the onions. Caramelizing in the Instant Pot may cause the bottom of the pot to get scorched. Remember to deglaze the pot well with the liquids from the marinated chicken. Pressing cancel during deglazing also prevents further overheating (photos 7 - 10).
4: Partially Cook the Chicken - Bone-in chicken legs or drumsticks need a longer time to pressure cook than basmati rice. To achieve this, we first pressure-cook the chicken for 4 minutes. For boneless thighs, just sautéing for 2 to 3 minutes cooks the chicken partially, and then they can further cook along with the layered rice (photos 11 - 12).
5: Layer over Rice and Pressure Cook- Drain the rice and layer it over the partially cooked chicken. Add water and make sure all the rice is under the liquids (photos 13 - 14).
Once the Instant Pot has finished, open the lid and garnish the biryani with caramelized onions, saffron milk, fresh cilantro, and mint. Add the hard-boiled eggs on top (see photos 15-16). Let the rice cool slightly, then gently fluff it with a fork or silicone spatula. Serve with a side of raita and a squeeze of fresh lime!
Tips for making Biryani in the Instant Pot
- Marinate the Chicken Well: Pat dry the chicken to avoid excess moisture, then marinate for at least 20 minutes using plain full-fat yogurt. Use fresh garam masala for the best flavor-homemade is ideal.
- Caramelize and Deglaze Properly: If you're sautéing onions in the Instant Pot, be sure to deglaze the pot thoroughly after caramelizing. Turn off the pot and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to loosen any browned bits-there should be no residue left at the bottom. This prevents the dreaded "BURN" message and helps the pot come to pressure. Also, make sure the sealing ring is secured properly before pressure cooking. To avoid issues altogether, you can caramelize the onions on the stovetop in a non-stick pan. It's faster and helps keep the Instant Pot insert clean and scorch-free.
- Layer and Cook Thoughtfully: Make sure all of the rice is fully submerged in liquid before closing the Instant Pot. After cooking, the top layer of rice may appear slightly undercooked; fluff it gently and mix using a silicone spatula.
- Scaling the Recipe - You can safely halve the recipe without changing the pressure cook time. To double it, use an 8-QT Instant Pot-doubling in a 6-QT is not recommended. Cooking time stays the same either way.
★ Tried this recipe? I'd love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and let me know, or snap a quick pic and upload it-I love seeing your creations. If you're on Instagram, tag @ministry_of_curry so I can check it out. Your feedback means so much to me and makes all the time I spend perfecting each recipe totally worth it. Thank you!
Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Biryani (Better Than Restaurant!)
Equipment
Recipe Video
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 teaspoons garam masala Add 3 teaspoon for spicier Biryani
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ cup mint leaves
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¾ cup plain yogurt
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 pounds whole bone in chicken skinless cut into 12 pieces (If using chicken thighs cut into 2 inch pieces)
Other Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ghee divided
- 2 large yellow onions thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups extra long grain Basmati rice
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon saffron mixed in 1 tablespoon warm milk
- 6 eggs hard boiled and shelled, optional
- 1 jalapeno sliced into 8 wedges optional for extra spicy **
Raita
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
- 2 tomatoes diced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Make the 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 at least 30 minutes.
- While the chicken is marinating, wash and soak the basmati rice in water. Keep aside for 20 minutes.
- Turn the Instant Pot to Saute(Hi). After the 'hot' sign displays, add half of the ghee and add thinly sliced onions. Cook stirring frequently for 10 minutes or until the onions are golden brown and caramelized. Take out half of the onion and keep aside for garnishing the biryani. Note: You can also air fry the onions
- Add the remaining ghee to the Instant Pot with half of the caramelized onions already in the pot. For extra spicy Biryani add sliced jalapeno. Add bay leaves and half of the marinated chicken and the liquid from the marinade. Press Cancel. Mix well, deglazing the pot with a spatula to take out all the browning of the pot from sautéing the onions. This is an important step that will prevent the possible "BURN" signal during pressure cooking. Once all the browning on the pot is completely removed, stir in the remaining chicken.
- a) For Chicken on bone - Close the Instant Pot and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Select Manual/Pressure Cook(Hi) and adjust the time to 4 minutes. Follow with Quick release. Mix the chicken well, once again scraping the bottom of the pot removing any food stuck to the bottom.
- or
- b) For boneless Chicken thighs - Cook on Saute mode for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure there is no food sticking to the bottom.
- Drain the rice and gently pour it over the chicken. Add salt from the other ingredients list. Add water and gently push all the rice under the liquids. Do not stir. Close the Instant Pot and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Select Manual/Pressure Cook(Hi) mode and adjust the time to 6 minutes. Follow with Quick release.
- Open the Instant Pot. If the top layer of the rice looks uncooked, simply fluff the top layer of the rice. Then mix the rice with the chicken on the bottom of the pan. Using a silicone spatula to gently mix will also prevent the rice grains from breaking.
- Garnish with the remaining caramelized onions, saffron mixed with milk and cilantro. Serve with Raita, hard-boiled egg, and lemon wedges.
Raita
- To make the raita, whisk the yogurt in a medium bowl. Add onions, tomatoes, salt, and mix well. Garnish with cilantro.
Notes
- Deglaze the pot using some of the marinated chicken to remove any browned bits from the sautéing of the onions. This will help the Instant Pot come to pressure and also prevent the "BURN" signal.
- Deglaze the pot, once again just before adding the rice.
- Make sure all of the rice is under the liquids before closing the Instant Pot.
- It is normal for the top layer of the rice to look a bit undercooked. Simply fluff the top layer and then gently mix the biryani with a silicone spatula.
- ** This recipe makes medium spicy Biryani. For extra spicy add jalapeno. OR add another teaspoon of garam masala to the chicken.
- Tip - Although Sauté (more) function on the Instant Pot works great for true one-pot cooking, you can also caramelize the onions, stovetop in a non-stick pan. This will speed up the process and also will prevent the stainless steel insert from getting scorched which may lead to a "BURN" notice on the newer Instant Pots.
- Using small bone-in chicken pieces or boneless thighs - Skip the initial 4 minutes of pressure cooking and instead saute the marinated chicken for 2 to 3 minutes. Then layer the soaked and drained rice and pressure cook for 6 minutes
Nutrition
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Mike Masterson says
Made this last night and it was very tasty! Thank you for the recipe. Maybe it's a matter of personal preference, but we thought 3 cups was way too much rice. Is Biryani supposed to be this rice-y? Thanks again!
Archana says
Hi Mike! Thank you for your feedback. As you said, it is a matter of preference. You can try reducing Rice to 2 cups. But Biryani is a Rice-Y dish.
Wajeeha says
If I wanted to add potatoes at which point would I do that?
Archana says
Hi Wajeeha, add potatoes just before you add the rice. Cut potatoes into cubes so they will cook perfect with Rice. Layer them on top of partially cooked chicken and then layer rice over! It will be delicious ?
Wajeeha says
Thank you. I tried this yesterday and it was so delicious thank you
Archana says
Thank you for letting me know Wajeeha! Biryani is on repeat in our home ?
Logeshwary says
I've never tried cooking briyani before and I'm trying to cook using using rice cooker. I'm afraid it won't turn well. 🙁
Archana says
It will come out great! Just remember to soak the rice. Let me know if you have any questions.
Jeanne says
Look absolutely delicious.. I started to make byriani with the IP but both times, the rice was not fluffy at all but clumpy 🙁 I will try your recipe and hopefully I can get that fluffy rice. Thanks for sharing
Archana says
Hi Jeanne, try following this recipe exactly and you will not be disappointed. Let me know if you have any questions!
Jeny says
Had a question about the biriyani – if I reduced the rice to 2 cups and meat to 1.5 pounds do I have to change cooking time or measurement of anything else. Im thinking I have to drop amount of water to 2 cups? Thanks - Jeny
Archana says
You can certainly reduce the chicken and Rice amounts. You may also want to reduce the red chili powder and garam masala too unless you want the Biryani to be spicy. And water to rice ratio is 1:1. So for 2 cups of rice you will put 2 cups of water. Remember to soak the rice for 20 mins. Let me know how it comes out for you.
Jeny says
Thanks Archana. Any change to cooking time?
Archana says
Jenny, Same pressure cooking time.
Aditi says
Hi archana,
Had a quick question. Normally I add 2 cups of water for one cup of rice, but in this recipe you mention 3 cups water and 3 cups rice. Is that generally the case for all basmati rice?
Archana says
Hi Aditi! Only for Biryani it’s 1:1 ratio since there are also liquids from chicken and the yogurt. Hence reducing the water ratio plus for biryani you want the rice be firmer than usual. Hope this helps?
Aditi says
Awesome thanks!
Iain Wallington says
Looks great can I half the recipe ?
Archana says
Absolutely! Half all the ingredients, reduce saute time for onions but same pressure cook time. It will be delicious!
andrea says
A little heads up. Today I made again your biryani (excellent as usual) and I purposely waited until it went "hot" before adding the ghee to sauté the onions, BUT within 1 sec, and before I could do anything, my IP went dead. All the lights were off and there was nothing I could do. "Gosh, has it blown?" I thought, but it seemed unlikely. I suspected that it had shut itself down as a precautionary measure, and in fact within a few minutes it started again and at last I could begin cooking.
Perhaps it is model dependent, but with my IP it is not a good idea to wait until it says "hot" 😀
(Cant remember what model I have but it has the "yogurt" function, I bought it a year ago and I think it has room for 6 cups.)
Archana says
Hi Andrea! So glad you are enjoying the Biryani, it is my FAV too! I wonder what is going on with your Saute option. Might be a good idea to call Instant Pot support, they truly are super helpful. Just incase there is something wrong with yours? I think we have the same one 7-in-1 duo which is my FAV model.
andrea says
Hi Archana,
this is what the IP guy said:
"Andrea
You are exactly correct – I believe you should not wait until the HOT appears before adding food – it often trips the overheat protection"
😉
Archana says
Hi Andrea, Thank you for following up with the IP experts. I will just preheat the IP for a couple of minutes going forward instead of waiting for the hot sign.
Sana says
Hi Archana - do you use the measuring cup that comes along with the IP or a regular measuring cup? The sizes are different thus the question.
Archana says
Regular cup measure
Anand says
What size of instant pot did you use for this recipe - the 6 quart or the 8 quart?
Archana says
Hi Anand! I have used my 6-QT for this recipe
Subha says
Hi Archana,
I am a new ip user. Tried this recipe today...so easy yet so delicious. You made my life easier today. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Archana says
Hi Subha! Thank you for your comments. I am so glad you enjoyed this biryani recipe.
Amruta says
Hi,
Your recipe calls for 3 cups rice. Is the measure using the cup that came with IP or the standard cup?
Archana says
Hi Amruta! Standard cup
Anne @ Webicurean says
We love love love this recipe and make it all the time! We love lamb biryani too, so often we'll swap out the chicken for lamb, and it's so good!
Archana says
Hi Anne! Thank you for your comments. I am SO glad you are enjoying this Biryani recipe and nice to know that the same recipe works well with lamb.
Shalvini says
Hi Archana, I tried this recipe today and it tasted very good. I made it with mild spices for my 4 year old with chicken breast. I had marinated them for 1 hour, however they turned out to be chewy and hard. I haven’t cooked chicken as much before and in IP it’s first time so I am sure I have missed it something here. Any views what would have gone wrong? Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Shalvini, Thank you for your feedback. Basically you have to marinade chicken breasts for a longer time, atleast 3 hours, for it to come out tender. Give it a try next time!
Sue says
Loved this!! This was my third recipe using my new Instant pot. This biryani was so simple and easy and it was a treat for the tastebuds as well! Thank you for making me feel like a rockstar!
Archana says
Thank you Sue! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. I recently added star ratings option to each recipe. I would appreciate your rating on this recipe.
Anaum Pervez says
Can I substitute the spices with Shan briyani masala? And how much of it?
Archana says
Hi Anaum, yes you can! You will have to follow on the package for the marinade depending on how much chicken you are using.
smunjal says
I tried your recipe today but my rice in the middle was uncooked. what did I do wrong?
Archana says
Sorry to hear this. What kind of rice did you use and was it soaked for 20 mins? Also did you add all the liquids from the marinade?
sne3103 says
This was so good! Easy yet delicious, and each grain of rice was separate and fluffy... I finally have a go-to biryani recipe, thank you 🙂
Archana says
Thank you for your lovely feedback! I am so glad you enjoyed the Biryani
Priti says
Just got the Instant Pot for Christmas and truthfully, have been a bit intimidated to try using it. Decided to try your chicken biryani as our first dish. My husband even helped as he was excited to see if the Pot was really as great as we've heard. I can honestly say that your biryani recipe was delicious and surpassed our expectations!! We loved it as did our two growing boys!! I'm looking forward to trying out more of your recipes- thank you Archana!
Archana says
Hi Priti! Congrats on your new Instant Pot. I am glad you enjoyed the ease and flavors of Biryani in it. Best part about the instant pot is that the whole family can cook together. I have 2 boys too and it has been so much cooking with the using our instant pot.
Din says
Just made it today and it was amazing! I bought a mini 3 quart instant pot last month and this is only my third recipe using it. I subbed chicken stock for the water and I think that made it even better. I halved the recipe but followed the rest of the directions exactly and it came out perfect.
Archana says
Hi Din, Congrats on your new mini Instant Pot. It was a good idea to halve the recipe. I am happy to hear that the biryani tastes even better with chicken stock, I will have to give it a try soon. Thank you for your feedback and I hope you will try some more of ministry of curry's recipes.