How To Cook Chicken Breast In Instant Pot

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!

If Cooking Frozen Chicken Breasts In Instant Pot

If your chicken breasts are frozen, you dont have to defrost the chicken, the Instant Pot will do the work for you. The chicken cooks best if the chicken breasts arent in a block, but individually frozen instead.

If you have a larger block of chicken, allow for more cooking time .

see more:;25 Lightened-Up, Healthy Chicken Dinner Recipes

Can I Make More Than 15 Lbs Of Chicken Breast At Once

You can make as much chicken as your Instant Pot will hold. If youre going to stack your chicken breast, we recommend shredding at the end as they will sort of stick together while cooking.

Do note that you Instant Pot will take a bit longer to build pressure if you have more than 1.5 lbs. chicken breast in there.

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How To Cook Fresh Or Frozen Chicken Breast In The Instant Pot:

• Place inner pot into the instant pot and place the trivet in the bottom.
• Add 1 cup of liquid to the instant pot .
• Place chicken breasts on top of the trivet in a single layer.
• Add salt and pepper or desired seasonings.

• Secure lid and make sure the vent is set to sealed. Pressure cook on high for 8-10 minutes for fresh chicken breast, and 10-12 minutes for frozen chicken . Cook time stays the same no matter how much chicken you add to the pot; the pot will just take longer to come to pressure.
• Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then turn the valve to venting to release any remaining steam.

The Best Instant Pot Chicken Breast + Video

Looking for the best Instant Pot chicken breast recipe? Youve found it. This method produces flavourful, tender, perfect chicken breasts using fresh or frozen chicken. Excellent for meal prep and make-ahead meal solutions.

Suitable for Whole 30, Paleo, and Keto dieters.;Recipe also includes Weight Watchers points and a video tutorial.

If youre looking for the best and easiest way to cook chicken breast in the Instant Pot, youre going to be soooo happy you landed on this post.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen perfecting the PERFECT Instant Pot chicken breast recipe to share with all of you. I know perfect when I see it and

yeap, this is it.

This recipe might be perfect, but its also flexible you can skip one step if youre short on time, or you can swap one ingredient for another for a different flavour.

No matter what you change in this recipe, the technique produces a chicken breast that is full of flavour, moist and tender.

Make these for supper tonight or whip up a big batch to store in the fridge for your weekly meal prep or to have at the ready for super quick meal solutions.

Ready to learn how to make chicken breast instant pot? Gather up the ingredients and I will show you

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How To Cook Chicken From Frozen In The Instant Pot

Cooking times are based on 1-2 pounds of frozen medium-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

We found frozen chicken breasts are at a safe cooking temperature at 15-20 minutes using a quick release method. We always use the manual function . When cooking food from frozen in the Instant Pot, we recommend starting at the shorter end of the time range and then adding more minutes if its not done.

The only variation to this cooking time is when chicken is in a soup. We found that because it takes so much longer for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, the chicken takes LESS time to cook. Likely 5-6 minutes. It feels a bit counter intuitive since there is more in the pot when cooking a soup recipe but we consistently found that chicken was done quicker this way.

How Long To Cook Frozen Chicken In The Instant Pot

The cook time for boneless, skinless chicken breasts depends on the weight and thickness of the chicken breasts. Bone-in chicken will take longer to cook. Always cook chicken at high pressure.

The Instant Pot will take longer to reach pressure when you are cooking frozen foods as compared to non-frozen foods. When the contents of the pot are cold it takes longer to heat up and pressurize. So frozen chicken gets a few extra minutes of cook time while the pot comes to pressure.

When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. The chicken will continue to cook during this time.

Here are the estimated cook times for different sized pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Instant Pot Cooking Times for Frozen Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

• small frozen chicken breasts cook 11-12 minutes at high pressure, plus 10 minutes natural release
• medium frozen chicken breasts cook 13-14 minutes at high pressure, plus 10 minutes natural release
• large frozen chicken breasts cook 16 minutes at high pressure, plus 10 minutes natural release

It is always good practice to use an instant read thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken has reached a safe 165 degrees F.

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How To Cook Chicken Breasts In Instant Pot

• Spice-Rub: In a small bowl combine all spices onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, half of olive oil. Mix everything together.
• Apply spice rub generously all over chicken breasts.
• Sear Chicken: Set instant pot in SAUTE mode. Once its hot, add remaining olive oi. When oil is hot, place chicken in single layer and sear it for 2-3 minutes. Flip and sear other side as well.
• Remove seared chicken from instant pot.
• Cook Chicken: Pour chicken stock into the pot. Place the trivet and arrange seared chicken on top. Secure instant pot lid tight. Seal pressure valve in sealing position and set the instant pot on PRESSURE COOK mode, adjust timer for 5 minutes. Note instant pot will take couple of minutes to build pressure inside before it starts cooking.
• Once cooking time is complete, let instant pot release NATURALLY for 8 minutes .
• Then release pressure MANUALLY.
• Open lid, remove chicken breasts out.

For Gravy: Remaining liquid in the pot is power house of flavors. Dont waste it. Make gravy using the left over liquids that goes wonderfully with chicken.

To make gravy, simply whisk together 2 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of corn starch to make slurry.

Select SAUTE mode and bring the liquid to boil. Pour slurry into the pot and keep whisking while the gravy cooks. Cook for 3-4 minutes with constant whisking or until gravy thickened. Gravy ready!

Pour gravy over sliced chicken, serve immediately!

How Long To Cook Chicken In A Pressure Cooker

People have been asking me how long to cook chicken breast in a pressure cooker for making various amounts of shredded chicken. And thats such a great question!

Surprisingly, I couldnt find this information anywhere, not even from Instant Pot directly. I had tested my original recipe with 4 pounds, but what if you have 1, 2, 3 or 5 pounds of chicken instead?

Lucky for you, I did the testing myself! After a couple tests with each weight amount and over 20 pounds of shredded chicken later , I have your answers.

The chart below shows you exactly how long to cook Instant Pot chicken breast, so you can make it for any amount you have from one to five pounds of chicken breast!

Note that these are the times you enter on your Instant Pot, and dont include time required to build pressure.

A couple more notes about this

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Plain Instant Pot Chicken Breast

To make plain instant pot chicken breast for salads, sandwiches, wraps, and bowls, just skip the marinating in the sauce. To add more flavor to the chicken breast, you can flavor the chicken stock with aromatics like garlic, onion, leeks, or spices.

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Here Are Some Tips And Tricks For Cooking Frozen Chicken Breasts In The Instant Pot:

• The exact cook time will depend on how large the chicken breasts are, although for me 10-12 minutes has always been plenty. This means that when I open up the pot they are well over the safe 165 degrees F. But Id rather be safe than have to go through the hassle of sealing it back up and letting it build the pressure back up.
• If youre in a rush, you can simply add water or chicken broth and season with salt and pepper, but feel free to get a little crazy with your seasonings here. Barbecue sauce, soy sauce, honey, different herbs and spices will all be fantastic
• All of my Instant Pot recipes are tested in the 6 quart Instant Pot with Bluetooth. The bluetooth is an unnecessary but handy tool because I can control the pot from my phone while Im out of the kitchen.
• If you want to jazz up your Instant Pot chicken breasts, try these Creamy Italian Instant Pot Chicken Breasts and serve them with the sauce over pasta you wont regret it! You can also use frozen chicken to make this Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice.
• Looking for an easy side dish to go along with it? Try my Instant Pot Mac and Cheese so easy and so quick!

Instant Pot Chicken Breast Recipe

Juicy and flavorful chicken has never been easier with this Instant Pot chicken breast recipe. Yes, we mean it. Never eat tough and rubbery chicken breasts again.

The chicken cooks beautifully and holds its shape well for slicing, blending a variety of savory and bold flavors into your meal. Its also freezer-friendly, so youll have fresh shredded meat ready to add to light salads or other meals any day of the week!

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Perfect Instant Pot Chicken Breast

The Instant Pot reigns supreme when it comes to making meals quickly. Within minutes, I can have perfectly cooked rice, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, chicken stock, or;beans.

But chicken breast can be a bit more tricky to cook perfectly. Thankfully, after 20 plus tries, I have perfected cooking Instant Pot Chicken Breast. In fact, now I prefer preparing chicken breast in the Instant Pot over any other cooking method.

Whether fresh or frozen, I can whip up Instant Pot Chicken Breasts in record time and they turn out perfectly tender and juicy every single time.

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.

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Can I Use Frozen Chicken Breast For This Recipe

I do not recommend using frozen chicken breast because frozen meat cant be browned and you wont have the delicious flavor on chicken and the gravy. If you want to cook frozen chicken breast and dont care for the gravy, simply place frozen meat on a trivet, add chicken stock to the bottom of the pot and cook for 2 to 4 minutes longer than the fresh chicken breast. The Instant Pot will take longer to come to pressure .

How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Breast With Gravy

Making gravy in the Instant Pot is soooooooo;easy. Cook the meat, as usual, remove them, press cancel and then press the saute button. Simmer the cooking liquid whilst you make a paste of cornstarch and water.

Then add in the paste, mix and simmer for 3-5 minutes until it thickens into a lush gravy. And there you have it. Easy peasy right?

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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.

Chicken Breast Instant Pot Cook Times

BONELESS, SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS

Fresh Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

• 8 minutes, vent immediately to release any remaining pressure
• Based on 10-ounce boneless chicken breasts

Frozen Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

• 12 minutes, vent immediately to release any remaining pressure
• Based on 10-ounce boneless chicken breasts

BONE-IN CHICKEN BREASTS

Fresh Bone-In Chicken Breasts

• 10 minutes, natural release for 5 minutes
• Based on 12-ounce bone-in chicken breasts

Frozen Bone-In Chicken Breasts

• 25 minutes, vent immediately to release any remaining pressure
• Based on 12-ounce bone-in chicken breasts

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How To Make Juicy Boneless Chicken Breasts In The Instant Pot

The key to getting perfectly juicy boneless chicken breasts is to cook them on a trivet, above the liquid. I find that this results in a better texture than cooking them on the bottom of the pot.

I also think their texture is best when you quickly release the pressure, rather than letting it naturally release.

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!

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The Secret To Juicy Instant Pot Chicken Breast

The secret to juicy Instant Pot chicken breasts isthere is no secret! Well, there is a secret: dont over cook them, because if you over cook your chicken breast, youll end up with dry chicken. I like to err on the shorter side of the time range I gave, because the chicken will continue to cook as the pressure is naturally released. It will come up in temp another couple of degrees while its resting too.

A thermometer is the best way of ensuring juicy chicken. The best kind of thermometer is a thermocouple style, but you dont have to spring for the fancy expensive ones: this one is nice and inexpensive and still super fast.

The other tip I have is to let the breasts rest a bit, outside of the Instant Pot. Letting them rest for 2 minutes will let the juices settle, keeping the breasts juicy, instead of spilling out on to the plate.