How To Make This Recipe
What Is The Trivet
Most electric pressure cookers come with a trivet that is a basket or stand insert for the Instant Pot. This helps keep your food up out of the the liquid that is necessary for pressure cooking.
If you are missing the trivet that came with your Instant pot, you can use anything oven safe that will fit in the instant pot and will keep the meat off of the bottom. A metal steamer basket would work perfectly!
Now its time for your favorite BBQ sauce to be brushed all over the chicken legs.
I prefer to use a sugar free sauce to keep this keto friendly, but this is totally up to you. You could even make your own!
Now, we just seal the lid and set the Instant Pot to cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Quick release the rest of the pressure.
When the pin drops you can carefully remove the lid.
This next step is optional, but totally worth it. Remove all of the chicken to a foil lined baking sheet and coat each one with more BBQ sauce. Place under the broiler of the oven and broil until the sauce starts to bubble. This took about 5 minutes.
The result is amazingly flavorful BBQ chicken legs that just melt in your mouth. You will not regret making this recipe.
What Is The Trivet In The Instant Pot
The Instant Pot trivet is the circular metal grate/rack that comes with every Instant Pot. It is the most important accessory, which is why it comes with it!
The trivet is important because it keeps food off the bottom of the Instant Pot, which cooks food evenly and avoids any burns.
Read my post on the BEST Instant Pot Accessories to Buy and my weird advice for new Instant Pot owners.
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Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breast
I hate to sound like a broken record but if you have been cooking my recipes for a while, you know I am obsessed with my Instant Pot. And Instant Pot frozen chicken tops the list. Heck, I even thaw ground meat in Instant Pot. And who am I kidding I cook with frozen ground turkey just see my taco soup video.
Can You Use Frozen Drumsticks
No worries if you forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer. I have done this multiple times. That is why I love my instant pot so much. Rather your meal is frozen or thawed the instant pot does all the work.
If they are frozen, I would coat the drumsticks with the seasoning to ensure that the seasoning doesnt fall off. You probably will need increase your time 5 minutes to make sure they are cooked thoroughly.
Try instant pot drumsticks frozen. Dinner will still be quick and easy!
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Key Ingredients For Instant Pot Chicken Legs
Chicken Legs Head to the grocery store or local butcher shop and pick up the meatiest chicken legs you can find. In this recipe we specifically use chicken drumsticks, which are often referred to as chicken legs. When placing the chicken legs in the pot, be sure to stand them upright on a trivet. The meaty part of the leg should be facing down. Cooking them this way will ensure that the thickest part of the chicken leg is cooked all the way through. You can also use frozen chicken legs in this recipe follow instructions as normal, then increase the cook time to 12 minutes.
Chicken Broth This recipe requires liquid at the bottom of the Instant Pot to create steam which then cooks the chicken. You have the option of using one cup of water here. However, I recommend chicken broth as it packs in so much more flavor.
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Instant Pot Chicken Legs
> > Learn more about the Instant Pot and decide if you should get one
I love cooking in the Instant Pot. Its so much faster than the oven and it doesnt require heating up the house to do it. This recipe is so simple, and it results in the most tender chicken legs youve ever had.
Chicken legs are inexpensive and easy to make. I always keep chicken legs in my freezer, because theyre so versatile. They can actually be put directly from the freezer into the Instant Pot and it only takes an additional 2 minutes to cook.
If you have an Instant Pot, you know how quick the process is. If you dont yet have an Instant Pot, look over this post to see the benefits and reasons I think its the best tool in my kitchen.
I often make chicken drumsticks and chicken breasts in the Instant Pot, as well. And believe it or not, you can actually cook a whole chicken in the Instant Pot. Give it a try!
Chicken legs need to cook for at least 45 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees. During the summer thats just not something Im prepared to do. It heats up the house so much. No thanks.
In the Instant Pot, it takes just 12 minutes, plus the pressurizing time. In just 25 minutes, dinner is ready and the house is still nice and cool.
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How To Make Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks In The Instant Pot
- Add 1 cup water and the trivet to the Instant Pot
- Stack fresh or frozen chicken drumsticks/legs on top of trivet
- Lock the lid, turn the knob to sealing, and cook on manual high pressure for 10-12 minutes
- Turn the broiler or grill on high
- Do a quick release, then remove the chicken legs to a broiler pan, cookie sheet with rack, cookie sheet with foil, or grill.
- Baste the Instant Pot chicken legs with your favorite teriyaki sauce. I usually make my own, but I also love Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce or from Mo Bettahs if youre local to Utah.
- Broil for 3-5 minutes, then remove from the oven. Flip them over, repeat. Baste with extra sauce after the second broil .
How To Use Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
Now that you’ve got the basic technique down, get inspired with all different kinds of Instant Pot chicken thigh recipes. A little teriyaki sauce goes a long way in this Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken Thighs recipe. Experiment with flavors like barbeque or bacon-ranch. Keep things simple with this Instant Pot Pepper Chicken Recipe. Or for a dish that will really impress, chicken cacciatore is made easier with the Instant Pot. Browse our best Instant Pot chicken recipes today.
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How To Cook Chicken Thighs In The Instant Pot
Fresh, frozen, boneless, bone-in, skinless, or skin-on the Instant Pot can do it all.
In case you haven’t heard, the Instant Pot is quite a versatile appliance. It can cook chicken thighs every which way, whether it’s fresh, frozen, boneless, bone-in, skinless, or skin-on. If you don’t know where to start, consider this your guide to everything you need to know about Instant Pot chicken thighs. Keep reading for step-by-step instructions on how to cook chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, plus get top-rated recipes for more inspiration.
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Instant Pot Chicken Wings
Almost all recipes I found online all suggested 5 minutes HP + different times natural pressure release. The 5 minutes did get them to the safe 165F after the resting period BUT they were far from fall-off the bone.
Just like for the whole legs or just thighs and drumsticks longer cooking equals more tender and fall-off the bone meat.
Chicken breasts and bone-in dark chicken really cook completely different.
Anyhow, after a 10-minute high pressure cooking time + 5 minutes or more natural pressure release I noticed they become nice and tender. The wings of the big whole chicken that cooked for 25 minutes had perfect wings, too. So I guess 25 minutes is still fine.
10-25 minutes High Pressure + 5 or more minutes Natural Pressure Release
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Recipe Tips And Tricks:
- If you are cooking a frozen chicken and need to remove the giblets, just run that area under warm-hot water for 5-10 minutes, so you can remove and discard them.
- Weighting the bird is very important, as pressure cooking it for too long will make it explode in the IP. Basically, the cartilage becomes too soft and the end result wont be as pretty but still delicious. Tieing together the drumsticks helps prevent that.
- Also, make sure to use a relevant poultry size, so it fits the IP. If the chicken is larger than your pressure cooker, then it wont work. You could either follow the Oven Baked Recipe or use a larger sized 8 QT Pressure Cooker.
- To make this recipe healthier, replace the butter in the Buttery Mixture with olive oil.
- Keep the carcass and make the best homemade stock.
- For super-crispy skin, brush the chicken with oil after it has been pressure cooked. Then, place it under the broiler for about 2-4 minutes, until the skin becomes golden brown.
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Whole Chicken In The Instant Pot
So the interweb research said 25 minutes pretty much for any size chicken. Some tested a 3lbs chicken, some tested a 4 lbs chicken, nobody tested both or more at several different times.
I wanted to find the magic formula for consistent results because not all my chickens are always the same size, right?
SOOOO, I cooked 3lbs chickens at 18 minutes, 23 minutes and 25 minutes. In all three experiments, the internal temperature made it to 165F so a small chicken basically CAN in theory be cooked for 18 minutes only. HOWEVER, the thighs and drumsticks were not nice and tender and rather weird in texture. Plus, there were just a little bit not so clear juices but lightly pinkish .
23 minutes was perfect and 25 minutes was great. No major difference to be honest so Id say 23 minutes is the magic number for a small chicken 3 lbs and under.
The big chickens 4lbs 7oz I tested at 22 and 25 minutes. 22 minutes just barely got to 165F but same as for the small chicken after 18 minutes, the texture wasnt really that perfect. The one cooked for 25 minutes was absolute perfection.
20 minutes + 1 minute per lbs on High Pressure + Natural Pressure Release
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Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
This instant pot chicken drumsticks recipe is about to be your favourite. Like my Instant Pot Chicken Wings recipe, It’s ready in 30 minutes which makes it quicker than stovetop or oven method. For oven method chicken drumsticks and chicken legs recipe check my orange baked chicken and easy baked chicken legs.
I also have the best Air fryer chicken drumsticksrecipe on the blog. Do check it out.
For this chicken drumsticks recipe, you can use fresh or frozen chicken drumsticks, skinless or skin on chicken drumsticks. I have also included variation such as instant pot buffalo chicken drumsticks and barbeque chicken drumsticks in instant pot. You can use just the instant pot for cooking the chicken or finish it off by broiling in the oven for few minutes to get crispy skin. Whichever method you use, i promise you perfect chicken drumsticks.
One of the beauty of instant pot pressure cooker is that you don’t have to wait around while it’s doing the cooking, you can go about the house doing other things and when chicken is cooked, the pressure cooker beeps to alert you. Cooking chicken legs in instant pot pressure cooker is easy and simple. It also produce flavourful, moist and tender meat.
For this recipe, I used my instant pot duo 7 in 1 6 quart. You can make this recipe in any of the instant pot pressure cooker or other electric pressure cookers like Pressure king pro and ninja foodie.
Let me show you in easy steps how to make Instant pot chicken drumsticks.
Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks Ingredients
The ingredients for this well seasoned easy instant pot chicken drumsticks or pressure cooker chicken drumsticks are simple . You will need:
Chicken – You can use fresh or frozen. The cooking time varies but i have noted the cooking times for both in this post.
Paprika
Oil – Vegetable, sunflower, coconut or olive oil.
Barbeque sauce or buffalo sauce – Optional
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Safe Chicken Temperature And Resting Period
The internal temperature for safe consumption of chicken is 165F.
This does not mean that the chicken has to be at 165F right after opening the lid of the pressure cooker. For chicken breasts always aim for rather 155F. Within 4-5 minutes the temperature will rise to 165F. If you aim for 165F right after opening the lid, your chicken will overcook during resting time.
ALWAYS, let chicken rest at least 10 minutes after cooking before cutting into it. If you cut into it right away all its juices run out and youre left with extremely dry meat.
Chicken parts with bones in them are safe to eat at 165F but not tender. Always aim for rather 185F or more for those parts to get to fall-off-the-bone consistency.
Instant Pot Bbq Chicken Drumsticks
Theres nothing worse than salivating over a delicious looking chicken leg only to find the meat all dried out when you bite into it! Yuck! Thankfully, that wont happen when you cook chicken correctly in the Instant Pot . Your drumsticks will come out juicy and moist just the way a drumstick should be. Meat falling off the bone, baby!
Beyond being juicy and moist, these Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Drumsticks taste amazing! The spice rub coats the outside of the drumstick so you get intense flavor with every bite! Its so good, yall!
When the time came to make this recipe, I adapted it a bit because the original recipe called for some hot spices. I LOVE spicy foods, but my kids do not. Thankfully, adapting this recipe was no problem at all. I simply skipped the black pepper and cayenne in the BBQ rub. Even without the hot spices, it turned out delicious and no one complained at all! And, to add the spice back to my chicken, I simply sprinkled black pepper and cayenne on my drumsticks. Easy-peasy!
Another great thing about this recipe is that it pairs nicely with a lot of different side dishes. Like I said earlier, we had cauliflower mashed potatoes and parmesan green beans with it. They cooked away on the stove in my waterless cookware pots while the Instant Pot did its thing on the counter.
Okay, enough talking about how great and easy this recipe is. Heres the recipe so you can see for yourself!
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Can You Cook Frozen Chicken Drumsticks In Instant Pot
Yes you can. Though do note that frozen chicken drumsticks dont come out as firm compared to air fryer chicken drumsticks.
Instead instant pot chicken drumsticks are more like slow cooker ones that fall off the bone.
Then you will need an air fryer lid to crisp up your chicken drumsticks. This will ensure that they are perfectly crispy.
I have eaten many rounds of frozen chicken drumsticks in both the air fryer and the instant pot and the instant pot ones are better. This is because of how tender the meat becomes.
Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken Legs Recipe
Back to my instant pot lemony chicken legs or quarters as also called is basically the part of the chicken that consist of chicken thighs and drumsticks together. These chicken parts would cook differently in a pressure cooker but if you are using the leg then the cooking time would be subjected to the thickest part of the chicken, in this case, the thighs. that way you are sure the chicken is safe to eat without further broiling or baking.
Unlike this instant pot chicken thighs that were cooked on a trivet, this chicken legs recipe is cooked in chicken broth, spices and aromatics. This cooking method works perfectly with frozen chicken, while the chicken thaws and cook in the pressure cooker, it soaks up all the garlicky lemony flavour from the marinade. Although it takes longer to cook than fresh chicken, you end up with a great tasting fall off the bone chicken
Frozen chicken typically would take between 4 hours or overnight to thaw, thanks to the pressure cooker, you can have this instant pot chicken legs on the table in less than 45 minutes. All you need is add 10 minutes to time this recipe called for. Please note that if using frozen chicken, you wont be able to brown it before cooking.
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