Why Is My Instant Pot Chicken Rubbery
Weve found that a lot of recipes for Instant Pot shredded chicken actually call for pressure cooking the chicken for less time than we do, but in our experimentation, the lower amount of time tends to yield more rubbery, hard-to-shred chicken, while the amount of time that we recommend really allows the protein to break down and become tender + very easily shreddable.;
Instant Pot Chicken Ingredients:
To make this Instant Pot shredded chicken recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Chicken:;I tested this recipe using boneless chicken breasts and boneless chicken thighs either fresh or frozen. You are welcome to use bone-in chicken, but the cooking time may vary slightly.
- Chicken broth :;Which we will need to keep the chicken nice and moist, and also prevent a burn warning on the Instant Pot. I recommend using a cup of chicken or vegetable broth if you happen to have some on hand, to add extra flavor. Or if not, plain water will work just fine too.
- Seasonings:;I typically use a simple mixture of smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. But see below for alternatives.
How To Cook Chicken In The Instant Pot
Instant Pot chicken breastanother reason to love the Instant Pot! Heres how to make it:
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More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken–The best method for cooking a whole chicken in the Instant Pot this recipe produces flavorful, juicy, tender “roast” chicken.
- Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken–Tender chicken that is perfectly spiced with buffalo seasoning, this recipe is a great base for numerous dishes.
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos–Made with just 4 ingredients and a few minutes of prep, this is one of the easiest, tastiest Instant Pot chicken recipes.
- Instant Pot Chicken Thighs–This is a great basic recipe for cooking bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.
- Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken–This easy instant pot recipe can be made with chicken thighs or chicken breasts and is coated in a delicious sweet and savory teriyaki sauce.
If you enjoyed this Instant Pot Chicken Breast recipe, please be sure to take the time to leave a comment and a review.
Chicken In Instant Pot / Instant Pot Whole Chicken And Gravy Video Natashaskitchen Com
If you are like me and purchased your instant pot so you can produce healthy and delicious meals for your family, this will soon become a staple in your house. Add in the chicken broth. Add lemon juice to deglaze pan. And cook for 15 minutes if frozen and 12 minutes if fresh. Place marinaded chicken on a trivet and marinade in instant pot with 1 cup of water.
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How To Shred Chicken
There are a couple different ways that you can go about shredding chicken, but ultimately, the way you choose to shred it is totally up to you and the equipment you have on hand! Heres a breakdown of our two favorite shredding methods:
- Two forks shredding method: this method calls for dumping all of your cooked chicken into a bowl and using two forks to shred it by hand. We recommend going this route when you have a small to moderate amount of chicken to shred. Shredding with two forks is really easy, but can be a little bit time-consuming if you’re shredding, say, 5 pounds of chicken at a time.
- Stand or hand mixer shredding method: this is definitely our preferred method, and is done by either transferring your cooked chicken to a large bowl or the bowl on your stand mixer, and letting the mixer do the work for you! We like to go this route no matter what, but it is especially helpful when you’re making enough chicken for several meals throughout the week and need an easy way to get it shredded QUICKLY! This method is a real life-saver for Cook Once-style meals!
How To Make Perfect Instant Pot Chicken Breast
Though making shredded chicken in the Instant Pot is super simple, if this is your first time , youll want to keep a few things in mind:
- Dont forget to add water its really important to add water to the Instant Pot before securing the lid and setting it to cook. The water is what actually causes the Instant Pot to pressurize, so if you forget to add it, youll likely get a burn notice from your Instant Pot, and will need to open it back up and add water/broth at that point.
- Account for the Instant Pot coming to pressure+ the natural release while this recipe calls for cooking the chicken for 20 minutes at high pressure, dont forget to account for the 10-15 minutes that itll take to get the Instant Pot up to pressure + the 10ish minutes itll take for the Instant Pot to release its pressure naturally. In other words, if you need dinner ready at 6:00, dont put your chicken in at 5:40 and expect it to be totally done in time!;
- Use fresh chicken while you can absolutely cook chicken from frozen in the Instant Pot, this recipe is written for fresh chicken. We have all kinds of really great instructions for cooking chicken in the Instant Pot from frozen here if youd rather go that route!
- Keep it simple we recommend keeping your Instant Pot shredded chicken really simple so that you can use it for a variety of meals and flavor profiles. If you season it with something really distinct while cooking, you may feel limited in what you can use it in.
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Instant Pot Chicken Recipe
I have electric pressure cookers, by two different brands both of which I love dearly. One is by Cuisinart and the other is by Instant Pot. While the Instant Pot is a pressure cooker and more, Im only talking about the pressure cooker aspects of it at the moment. Both the Cuisinart and the Instant Pot have easy to understand control panels and unlike watching Grandmother use hers in the 70s, Ive always felt comfortable using both of them.;I also have a stovetop pressure cooker/ canner;and that I primarily use for canning.
I do recommend reading your user manual from front to back before you begin using it so that you understand the settings, venting procedures, and such.
So, are you ready to dig into this recipe? You wont believe how easy it is!
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
- Cook the chicken as the recipe directs.
- Once cook time has elapsed and pressure has been released, remove the chicken breast from the instant pot and place it into a large mixing bowl along with ½ cup of the cooking liquid.
- Shred the chicken, using two forks, a handheld mixer at medium speed, or a stand mixer at low speed. Alternatively, you can shred the chicken right in the inner pot of your instant pot using 2 forks or a handheld mixer.
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Check Chicken Breasts Internal Temperature
First, place the chicken breast on a chopping board.
Then, were going to check the chickens internal temperature at its thickest part with an accurate food thermometer.
*Note: The USDA recommends 165°F as the safe internal temperature for cooked chicken.
*Pro Tip: If the chickens temperature is off by more than 10°F, quickly place the chicken breasts back in the Instant Pot. Close the lid, then let the residual heat in the Instant Pot cook the chicken breasts for 1 to 2 more minutes.
For reference, our single chicken breast experiment first recorded an internal temperature of 157°F . After resting for 3 minutes, the internal temperature jumped to 165°F .
With our double chicken breasts experiment , the chicken breasts first recorded an internal temperature of 156°F . After resting for 3 minutes, the internal temperature jumped to 165°F .
Looking For More Chicken Instant Pot Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Dip | Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip is creamy, rich, and loaded with a nice kick of heat. Serve this up with crackers, crisp veggies and more.
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Leek Soup | If you want a recipe to warm your bones, give this creamy chicken leek soup a try. The ultimate comfort soup.
- Instant Pot Jerk Chicken | Jerk chicken is a family favorite, and this recipe is loaded with rich flavors. Skip takeout and make this recipe at home yourself.
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Do I Need To Use A Trivet
If you have the trivet that the instant pot comes with, it is best to cook the breasts in a layer on top of it. This will ensure the chicken is steamed and kept juicy instead of boiling in the liquid. But, if you are without a trivet, putting the chicken breasts directly into the liquid will work just fine, or you can make a rope of aluminum foil and use that as a make-shift rack on the bottom of the pot.
How To Cook Fresh Chicken Breast In Instant Pot
- Add 1 cup water and place trivet on top.
- Lay chicken breasts in a single layer, sprinkle with spices and rub onto each other.
- Press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 10 minutes under 2 thickness and 15 minutes over 2 thick breasts.
- Do Natural Release for 5 minutes and then turn pressure valve to Venting.
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Can I Use Frozen Chicken
No time to thaw your chicken or you just forgot ? The Instant Pot can take care of that for you, too. However, I would recommend you thaw the breasts a little in the microwave first. Otherwise, the spices and parm will not stick to your breasts the way they should in this recipe if they are frozen solid. From there, you can follow the rest of the instructions, but increase cooking time about 20 minutes.
How To Make Shredded Chicken In The Instant Pot:
To make this Instant Pot chicken recipe, simply
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How To Cook Chicken Breasts In The Instant Pot
You can make soups and curries with chicken breasts, and theyre the easiest dishes. Most Instant Pot chicken breast recipes simply ask you to add all ingredients into the pot and turn on a specific cooking mode.
Other dishes often require you to sear the chicken first, then the seasonings and other ingredients like vegetables, pasta, rice, etc. Similarly, youll also be selecting a specific mode for that dish.
Although there are a lot of modes, they only differ in cooking time and pressure intensity, all of which are manually adjustable. We often use:
- Sauté: to sear the chicken breast and cook the vegetables.
- Meat/Stew: to pressure-cook foods on high pressure . This mode has a default timing, which we often adjust by pressing; – or +.
How much to decrease or increase depends on the recipe, and its absolutely crucial that you follow it strictly.
Instant Pot Chicken Breast Variations:
- Chicken is one of my favorite proteins because it can take on a wide variety of spices, seasonings and sauces! Mix things up with your seasoning blend or use a bottled blend that you love for a new flair.
- Slice and toss in barbecue sauce for easy Instant Pot BBQ Chicken.
- This seasoning blend and cooking method works just as well for a combination or breasts and thighs if you have a chicken thigh lover, toss in some boneless, skinless chicken thighs with your breasts and everyone is happy!
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Pour Water In The Instant Pot
Pour water in the instant pot. How do you cook chicken with instant pot? Add one half of a cup to one cup of milk to cream cheese mixture. Filled with sauteed onions and mushrooms, garlic. This link opens in a new tab. How long do you cook whole chicken in the instant pot? anna hanson, spanish fork, utah. Place chicken and cream cheese in an even layer and sprinkle ranch seasoning over the top. What are the best recipes for instant pots? Instant pot chicken with rice and peas. I used only a half of a stick salted butter and about a tablespoon of light olive oil. Add your favorite toppings like shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, chopped tomato, chopped onion, cilantro, sour cream, jalapeno, and guacamole. 20 of 26. More images for chicken instant pot recipes »
Instant Pot Whole Chicken From Frozen
- You can safely cook a whole frozen chicken in your Instant Pot. I have included full instructions for cooking a frozen chicken in the recipe below. I prefer to cook my chicken from fresh, but in a pinch this method works well.
- You will need to skip the step of browning the chicken, since you cant sear frozen meat.
- You will only need half of the amount of spice rub called for in the recipe.
- Pressure cook a frozen chicken for 13 minutes per pound at high pressure, plus 15 minutes natural release.
- A 4 pound frozen chicken will take 52 minutes, a 4.5 pound frozen chicken will take 59 minutes and a 5 pound frozen chicken will take 65 minutes.
- Check that the chicken has reached a safe internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the leg, not touching the bone.
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Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breasts
I love my Instant Potand have been using it several times a week for over a year, but I have never cooked frozen chicken breasts in one until now. Why I waited so long to do this, I will never know?
Youll want to make chicken in your pressure cooker all of the time after reading this recipe.
If you have been hesitating on adding those frozen chicken breasts into to your Instant Pot, wait no longer! Today, Im sharing how I like to cook my frozen chicken breasts, along with some easy recipe ideas for the wonderful juicy chicken that comes out of the Instant Pot.
I hope you enjoy this easy way tocook frozen chicken breasts in a pressure cooker.
Get delicious chicken breasts in minutes with no thawing needed, plus some of my favorite chicken recipes for a quick dinner!
Ingredients For Pressure Cooker Chicken Breast
You really need only chicken breasts and water. Everything else is up to your taste and what meal idea you are planning to use with your cooked Instant Pot chicken breast recipe.
If you are adding cooked chicken breast to salads, quesadillas and tostadas, I would not worry about seasonings much.
If you are planning to eat cooked chicken breast alongside quinoa or brown rice and salad , I would pay attention to spices.
- Chicken breasts You can use fresh or frozen.
- Salt and pepper Simple seasonings so your chicken is a blank slate for recipes.
- Garlic powder If you wish, but not required.
- Dried herbs If you like, really it will depend on how you plan to use the chicken once it is ready.
Use one of these 5 chicken marinades to really ramp up the flavor of the chicken breast.
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Why Does My Instant Pot Say Burn
- A BURN warning on an Instant Pot occurs when the heat sensor reads a high temperature on the bottom of the pot, which can indicate scorching. This causes the pot to stop heating until it is resolved.
- Make sure you are using the required amount of water for your Instant Pot model. You shouldnt have a problem with this if you follow the instructions here, because this method uses enough water to prevent the warning.
Basic Not Boring Chicken Breast In The Instant Pot
There are a lot of ways to cook chicken in the electric pressure cooker, but this method is specifically for plain chicken breast that you can use as meal prep for building salads and grain bowls or for using in recipes that call for cooked chicken.
Yes, this recipe below is just chicken, salt, and chicken broth or water, but you can totally add your own flavors before cooking with dry spice rubs or citrus, or dress up the cooked chicken with sauces or salsas. Theres no need to adjust the cooking time when adding any of these for flavor.
It will take about 12 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to temperature and then another 10 to 15 minutes of cook time. Depending on how youd like your chicken cooked, youd add up to five minutes of natural release time. Your total cook time, including prep? Thirty minutes. See? Better, faster meal prep awaits!
Can I cook frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot?
Yes! This method works with frozen chicken as well. Just plan for frozen breasts to take longer to come to temperature about two to five minutes extra depending on the number of breasts. The cook time under pressure doesnt change, but it does extend the amount of time it takes the pot to come up to pressure to about 15 minutes.
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