Make cooking Instant Pot chicken fast and easy with some of my helpful tips and tricks. You may never cook it another way again .
Chicken In The Instant Pot | How to Cook Chicken In the Instant Pot
Chicken is the most popular meat cooked in the Instant Pot and for good reason. There are literally thousands of recipes for chicken in the Instant Pot .
From comfort dishes like Chicken Taco Soup and Creamy Chicken Soup to healthy meals like Low Carb Sesame Ginger Chicken . Even international flavors can be enhanced with recipes like Thai Curry Soup and Chicken Korma .
Below I will outline the fundamental rules and tips for cooking the different types of chicken in the Instant Pot . For specific recipes, you can find a ton of great ones on my blog 37 Best Instant Pot Chicken Recipes.
Get a free printable Instant Pot Chicken Cheat Sheet HERE !
How long does it take to cook chicken breast in the Instant Pot?
If you’ve ever tried to cook chicken breast in a slow cooker , or even on the stove, you know how easy it is for it to turn out too dry. Not so in the Instapot.
Chicken breast cooks up perfectly in the Instant Pot . You can even precook plain and juicy chicken breast in the Instant Pot for salads, bowls or any recipes that call for cooked chicken.
For perfectly juicy chicken breast, the general rule is to cook the chicken on HIGH pressure for 6 minutes per pound, and then natural release for 10 minutes.
You can even cook frozen chicken breasts. It will take a little bit longer for the pressure cooker to come to pressure and start counting down, but the time under pressure is usually still 6 minutes per pound.
When the cook time is up, allow the pot to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes and then release all remaining pressure.
If you’re planning to shred the chicken breast for a recipe like Chicken Tinga , keep the pressure on a little longer by using natural release for 5 minutes after a 15-minute cook time
Should I cook my chicken in broth or on the trivet?
I’ve seen recipes where people put chicken breasts on a trivet or in a steam basket in the Instant Pot , but I like for it to be down in the water in order to keep it as moist as possible.
I have tried it both ways and find the chicken that cooks in broth or water is essentially braised and tends to be juicier and moister.
So what I do is put in a cup of broth or water, and I throw chicken breasts in the Instant Pot .
Sometimes I’ll throw in a little onion, celery, and carrots so that I get a flavorful broth while cooking the chicken, because #ruthlessefficiency!
This way, if I plan to shred and/or reheat the chicken, I can always keep it moist with the broth and use it while reheating.
And one of the most important rules of cooking chicken in the Instant Pot is don’t toss the broth !
Whatever you do, don’t dump the broth (or water) you used for steaming—it didn’t lose any flavor, in fact, it gained some, and you can use it to turn your chicken into soup, for ramen, etc.
Get a free printable Instant Pot Chicken Cheat Sheet HERE !
How long does it take to cook chicken thighs?
Many people find chicken thighs to be more flavorful and juicier than chicken breasts, and they are perfect to cook in the Instant Pot as well.
They can be cooked with or without the bone, with or without the skin, and fresh or frozen.
- For bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, you should set the Instant Pot to HIGH pressure for 10 minutes.
- Note that you should remove the skin before serving since it doesn’t look pretty, or you can broil it with a Mealthy Crisplid.
- Bone-in skinless thighs should also be cooked on HIGH for 10 minutes.
- Boneless skinless thighs only need 8 minutes on HIGH FOR 8-10 thighs. If you plan to shred them or cut them into smaller pieces however, I like to do HIGH for 10 minutes with a 10 min NPR.
- For frozen chicken thighs, you should freeze them individually and not in a big clump. You can increase the time to 12 minutes for frozen thighs on high pressure if they’re somewhat stuck together, but typically 10 minutes will do the trick.
Is making a whole chicken in my pressure cooker easy?
What could possibly be easier than putting a whole chicken into the Instant Pot and having a beautiful rotisserie chicken in less than an hour?
I’ll even tell you how to cook a whole frozen chicken in the Instant Pot in case you forgot to take it out of the freezer.
Making a whole chicken in the Instant Pot results in the most flavorful, tender, juicy chicken you will ever have. The meat falls off the bone and every bite is just filled with juiciness.
With a full chicken, I like to use a short trivet to get it off the bottom of the pot.
Pour in a cup of cold water and make sure you’ve removed all the insides of the chicken.
For added flavor, you can stuff the chicken with lemon and onion.
The length of cooking time for whole chickens will vary based on the size of your chicken. A safe rule of thumb is to cook your chicken for 6 minutes per pound and let it naturally release for at least 20 minutes for perfectly cooked chicken.
- 3-pound chicken: 18 minutes on high pressure
- 4-pound chicken: 24 minutes on high pressure
- 5-pound chicken: 30 minutes on high pressure
- For every pound add 6 minutes and for every half a pound add 3 minutes to total cooking time.
Get a free printable Instant Pot Chicken Cheat Sheet HERE !
Rotisserie Chicken in the Instant Pot? Really?
Ok, let’s address this head-on. Your Instant Pot whole chicken will not be like a roasted rotisserie chicken.
The meat will be juicier and moister. The chicken will fall apart a lot easier than when you get a rotisserie chicken.
But the skin? Yeah, the skin won’t be crisp at all.
You can definitely put the cooked chicken under a broiler. The Mealthy Crisp Lid is a good option for this, as is the Foodi .
Just remember it will take longer for that moist skin to crisp up, which could result in your overcooking that already well-cooked chicken. It could even dry out the breast meat a little with the direct heat on it.
The other downside is that, despite all the recipes you see on the internet which use spices on the outside of the chicken, you are better off using spices on the inside of the chicken to flavor it.
The spices on the outside of the chicken largely wash off with the steam from the pressure cooker.
In contrast, the spices or aromatics on the inside steam and release flavor molecules and aroma molecules inside the chicken cavity.
I rarely get fancy here: an onion or a cut-up lemon and I’m done.
You’re better off making one of my fancy sauces like the one in my Chicken Vindaloo recipe or one of what is arguably everybody’s favorite , the sauce from my Instant Pot Butter Chicken recipe. They will be great for flavoring your chicken instead.
Can I cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot?
So the answer to this question is yes, but only if you were smart when you froze it.
If you froze it in one big clump, you will have trouble getting the chicken to cook evenly. The outside pieces on the lump will cook well, while the inside still stays frozen.
My advice is that if you plan to cook frozen chicken, or would simply like to have that option, you need to think about this when you first bring home the chicken from the grocery store .
You have two options:
- You can either lay the chicken on a cookie sheet and freeze each piece individually and then bag the pieces.
- Or you can put the chicken in a gallon Ziploc bag and freeze the pieces of chicken in a single layer–not in a clump.
I like to use the Food Saver or a similar machine to keep that chicken fresh. The advantage of doing this is that I can also sous vide that chicken from frozen if I choose to do that later.
I use my Instant Pot Ultra 6 Quart for sous vide. I also have the Anova Culinary Sous Vide and I find that’s a good option as well.
Now once the chicken is frozen in this fashion, then it’s a piece of cake to cook from frozen.
Get a free printable Instant Pot Chicken Cheat Sheet HERE !
Do I need to increase cooking time if cooking frozen chicken in the Instant Pot?
You do not. It will take longer for the pot to come to pressure since it has to heat to 240F, but it’s starting out with colder chicken.
Think of this as making 4 cups of tea vs. 2 gallons of tea.
It takes longer to heat up the water for a gallon of tea than it would for four cups of tea.
But the tea bags steep for the same amount of time, right? Whether it’s four cups or a gallon, you still steep your tea bags for 5 minutes. (Or you can make my Instant Pot Iced Tea , and never go back to worrying about any of this!)
So cooking from frozen is the same. It takes longer for the pot to come to pressure but time under pressure is the same.
If the piece of meat is particularly thick, sometimes I will give it an extra minute or two under pressure, but I usually start by keeping the time the same. You can always re-cook for a few minutes if needed.
I also tend to use a fuller NPR if I am cooking from frozen. I feel this allows the meat or other ingredients in the pot to cook in the residual heat from the liquid and it keeps the meat from overcooking.
Looking for more trusted recipes to cook in your Instant Pot?
Don’t forget to check out my otherBest-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!
Indian Instant Pot , Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy , Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot .
How to Cook Chicken in the Instant Pot
Yes as long as you didn’t freeze it in one big lump. Freeze it flat for best results.
Braise them in broth or water and do not overcook. Cut the breasts in half at the thickest point, and then cook 6 mins per pound.
I mean, yes and no. You can make a fantastic whole chicken in the Instant pot, but it doesn’t taste exactly like it was roasted. It does taste great though, so try it!
Looking for Instant PotChicken Recipes?
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
- Instant Pot French Garlic Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken Vindaloo
- Instant Pot Chicken Korma
- Chicken Salad Recipe
How to Cook Chicken In the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- ▢ chicken breasts
- ▢ Whole Chicken
- ▢ Bone-in Skin-on Chicken Thighs
Instructions
Chicken Breasts
- For perfectly juicy chicken breast, the general rule is to cook the chicken on HIGH pressure for 6 minutes per pound, and then natural release for 10 minutes.
- If you’re planning to shred the chicken breast for a recipe like Chicken Tinga, keep the pressure on a little longer by using natural release for 5 minutes after a 15-minute cook time.
Chicken Thighs
- For bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, you should set the Instant Pot to HIGH pressure for 10 minutes.
- Note that you should remove the skin before serving since it doesn’t look pretty, or you can broil it with a Mealthy Crisplid.
- Bone-in skinless thighs should also be cooked on HIGH for 10 minutes.
- Boneless skinless thighs only need 8 minutes on HIGH FOR 8-10 thighs. If you plan to shred them or cut them into smaller pieces however, I like to do HIGH for 10 minutes with a 10 min NPR.
- For frozen chicken thighs, you should freeze them individually and not in a big clump. You can increase the time to 12 minutes for frozen thighs on high pressure if they’re somewhat stuck together, but typically 10 minutes will do the trick.
Whole Chicken
- A safe rule of thumb is to cook your chicken for 6 minutes per pound and let it naturally release for at least 20 minutes for perfectly cooked chicken.
- For every pound add 6 minutes and for every half a pound add 3 minutes to total cooking time.
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Nutrition
Originally Published April 16, 2019
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How to Cook Chicken In the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- chicken breasts
- Whole Chicken
- Bone-in Skin-on Chicken Thighs
Instructions
Chicken Breasts
- For perfectly juicy chicken breast, the general rule is to cook the chicken on HIGH pressure for 6 minutes per pound, and then natural release for 10 minutes.
- If you’re planning to shred the chicken breast for a recipe like Chicken Tinga, keep the pressure on a little longer by using natural release for 5 minutes after a 15-minute cook time.
Chicken Thighs
- For bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, you should set the Instant Pot to HIGH pressure for 10 minutes.
- Note that you should remove the skin before serving since it doesn’t look pretty, or you can broil it with a Mealthy Crisplid.
- Bone-in skinless thighs should also be cooked on HIGH for 10 minutes.
- Boneless skinless thighs only need 8 minutes on HIGH FOR 8-10 thighs. If you plan to shred them or cut them into smaller pieces however, I like to do HIGH for 10 minutes with a 10 min NPR.
- For frozen chicken thighs, you should freeze them individually and not in a big clump. You can increase the time to 12 minutes for frozen thighs on high pressure if they’re somewhat stuck together, but typically 10 minutes will do the trick.
Whole Chicken
- A safe rule of thumb is to cook your chicken for 6 minutes per pound and let it naturally release for at least 20 minutes for perfectly cooked chicken.
- For every pound add 6 minutes and for every half a pound add 3 minutes to total cooking time.
How to Cook Chicken In the Instant Pot https://twosleevers.com/instant-pot-chicken/
People always ask me what the best kind of air fryer is. There’s no simple answer because it depends on a variety of things when you’re trying to choose an air fryer. Here are the different types of air fryers and things to consider before choosing the right air fryer for you.
Why You Should Trust My Tips On How To Choose An Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Cookbooks: I have two best-selling air fryer cookbooks, Every Day Easy Air Fryer and Air Fryer Revolution , so you can feel confident in knowing that I use air fryers on a regular basis, I’m quite familiar with how they work and I know what makes a good air fryer.
- Experienced Reviewer : I’ve done various air fryer reviews in the past, so I have a wealth of knowledge about air fryers and what makes one better than another.
- Gadget geek! : I’m a self-proclaimed food tech enthusiast and have been known to purchase (and review ) just about any kitchen appliance I can get my hands on.
Imporant Factors In Choosing An Air Fryer:
- Air Fryer Shape
- Capacity
- Functions
- Footprint
- Ease Of Cleaning
- Price
1. Air Fryer Shape
There are a variety of different shapes of air fryers. This is often directly tied to how much the air fryer can hold and how large of a footprint they have on your kitchen counter. Here are a few examples of different shaped air fryers and brands you can purchase:
Egg Shaped Varieties
- Gourmia
- GoWise
- Ninja Foodi
Square Shaped Varieties
- Cosori
- Instant Vortex
Small Toaster Oven Varieties
- Cuisinart
- Black and Decker
Large Multicapacity Ovens
- Cosori Oven Air Fryer Combo
- Breville Smart Oven Air
Crisp Lid
- Mealthy Crisplid
- Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid
- Ninja Foodi
2. Capacity
Capacity can be a little misleading because, with an air fryer, you will not want to fill the entire basket with food and get good results.
In order for your food to cook evenly or crisp on the outside, you will need it to be mostly in one single layer. Here are a few of the different capacities offered:
- 2.4 quart - Great for making side dishes and desserts.
- 3.5 quart - Great for cooking for smaller families or for side items.
- 5.8 quart - Great for larger families or if you like leftovers.
What is truly important to consider with capacity is how wide the basket is. The wider the basket, the more food you can cook at once with good results.
3. Functions
Something that people will need to consider when they’re purchasing an air fryer is the presets it may or may not come with. Here are a few different kinds:
- Presets - When the air fryer comes with buttons that have a predetermined time and temperature attached to them.
- No Presets - The air fryer simply has time and temperature buttons that can be adjusted up and down depending on the recipe.
- Customizable presets - When you can adjust which time and temperatures that are tied to the preset buttons so you can reuse the settings for commonly used foods.
Another thing to consider is the cooking functions they claim to offer. Here are some of the different cooking functions some air fryers offer:
- Bake
- Broil
- Grill
- Air Fry
- Dehydrate
While they may boast that they can do all of these things, some of these functions should be taken with a grain of salt, as they don’t perform these functions in a traditional manner.
If you’re wanting an air fryer that can also bake, broil, and grill well, you will want to purchase a toaster oven-type air fryer because they have two heating elements. The other styles of air fryers only offer one heating element so your food is only cooking from the top and not from multiple heat sources.
4. Footprint
A selling point for some people in how to choose an air fryer is how much space an air fryer takes up and how portable it is. Here are the different types of air fryers listed in order from how little of a footprint they have to how large of a footprint they have:
- CrispLid or other air fryer lid.
- Egg Shaped air fryer
- Square Shaped air fryer
- Small toaster oven air fryer
- Multi capacity toaster oven air fryer
If you have a large kitchen, aren’t worried about tucking it away when not in use, or use your air fryer every day for cooking, you would likely be happy with a larger toaster oven style air fryer. However, if you are short on space, need it to be portable, or don’t use your air fryer that often, you would likely prefer an air fryer lid or a smaller freestanding air fryer.
5. How To Clean Your Air Fryer
How difficult an air fryer is to clean can be a breaking point for a lot of people when they’re trying to decide how to choose an air fryer. If it’s hard to clean, you simply won’t use it. This is where footprint also comes into play. If the footprint is smaller, the amount of air fryer you have to clean is also smaller.
To Scrub Or Not To Scrub
A lot of people tell me that their air fryers are so hard to clean and they have to scrub and scrub to get the food off of them. Want to know my secret?
Stop scrubbing. Seriously. You’re working way too hard, and you’re scrubbing away the nonstick coating on the inside of your air fryer.
What I like to do with my air fryers with baskets is:
- Fill with water.
- Add a little dish soap.
- Let it soak.
- Wipe it out.
- Rinse clean or pop the whole air fryer basket in the dishwasher.
It’s that easy. With a little help from dish soap and a little patience, your air fryer will be a breeze to clean.
I must admit, I rarely clean the heating element of my air fryers. I think the heat does a good job of keeping it clean. If you notice yours needs cleaned, this is what you should do:
- Unplug your air fryer.
- Turn it upside down.
- While the heating element is still warm (not hot) you will take a damp rag and wipe down the heating element.
If you’re cleaning a toaster oven style air fryer, it’s a little more complicated. But to reduce the amount of space you need to wipe out after use, you can always cover the bottom of the air fryer with aluminum foil, a silicone mold, or use a pan that covers a large portion of the base of the air fryer.
6. Price
Price honestly isn’t a good indicator for which air fryer you should purchase. You can get a reputable air fryer that costs anywhere between $80 and $400.
The most important thing to remember is that if you’re using it to air fry only, a cheaper model is probably satisfactory.
However, if you’re wanting to use it for a wider variety of functions, you’ll want to splurge on one of the larger toaster oven air fryers or square-shaped air fryers. The functionality, the amount you’ll use it, and the energy costs are worth the extra money spent on a larger model.
Still Not Sure How To Choose An Air Fryer?
Still not sure which air fryer to choose? Let me break it down for you:
Choose An Egg Shaped Air Fryer If:
- If you cook small amounts of food at one time.
- Have limited space in your kitchen.
- Want something easy to clean.
- Are on a budget.
Choose A Square Shaped Air Fryer If:
- You want to cook for a larger family of 4 or more.
- Want something portable with a medium-sized footprint.
- Want something easy to clean.
- Are looking for an affordable option.
Chose An Air Fryer Lid If:
- You have a pressure cooker that you can attach your lid to.
- Are short on space or want something portable.
- Need something very easy to clean.
- Want something cheaper than a full air frying appliance.
Choose A Small Toaster Oven Air Fryer If:
- You’re cooking larger items or for a larger family.
- Have countertop space but still want something that can be easily moved.
- Aren’t bothered by a little difficulty cleaning it.
- Can afford a slightly more expensive air fryer model.
Choose A Multi Capacity Toaster Air Fryer If:
- You want something that can replace most of your oven functions.
- Aren’t limited on space.
- Are comfortable with a little extra effort to clean it.
- Have a higher budget, as these are generally the most expensive.
Air Fryer Reviews I’ve Done
If you want to know how well I like specific air fryers I mentioned in this post, check out some of the reviews I’ve done.
- Mealthy CrispLid
- Ninja Foodi
- Go Wise Air Fryer Review
- Ninja Air Fryer Review
- Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer Review
- Cosori Digital Oven Air Fryer Review
- Cosori Air Fryer Review
- Gormia Air Fryer Review
If you found this article on how to choose the right air fryer helpful, please share it with your friends on Facebook so they can choose the right air fryer too.
And don’t forget to check out my air fryer cookbooks! Every day easy air fryer , and Air Fryer Revolution .
