How To Use Instant Pot For Chicken

How To Saute In The Instant Pot

Sauté is a non-pressure cooking program that can be used in place of a frying pan or flat-top grill. For recipes that call for browned onions or garlic, its important to sauté them before adding liquid to the pot as you will release a lot of flavor this way. Another reason to sauté first is for browning meat. Lastly, sautéeing before cooking is a great way to increase heat and reduce the amount of time your pot will take to come to pressure. Learn more about other smart program settings on Instant Pot here.

Step 1. Star the Instant Pot. Insert the inner pot into the cooker base. Do not use the lid for the next step.

Step 2. Press the Sauté button. After 10 seconds, the cooker displays ON to indicate that it has begun heating. When display switches from On to Hot, add ingredients you want to brown. Note: You can add ingredients before the Hot message appears if you do, it may not appear at all. This is normal.

The control panel will display a 30-minute countdown timer as a maximum Sauté time, you can use it for reference if you like or disregard.

The default temperature setting for Sauté function is Normal. Press Sauté again to cycle through for Less and More temperature options. Use Normal for general pan searing or sautéing, Less for simmering, thickening and reducing liquids and More for Stir-frying or browning meat.

Step 4. Add any other ingredients and liquids. Stir if needed or leave layered and continue with the manual or program settings to pressure cook the food.

What Is The Timer Button For

Some models have a button that reads Timer. While you may think that this is the button that sets the cooking time for your Instant Pot, it actually delays cooking time and will start the cooking when the timer counts down. You can set the cooking time with the plus/minus buttons or the dial, depending on the model.

What Is Your Chicken Goal

• I want my chicken to be firm, and easy to dice: For firm, chicken salad-ready breasts, youll want to go for a 10-minute cook time but use a quick-release of pressure to keep the breasts juicy and not overcooked.
• I want tender, shredded chicken: For chicken that can be shredded with a fork, keep the pressure on a little longer by using natural release for five minutes after a 15-minute cook time.

Dont toss the broth! Whatever you do, dont dump the broth you used for steaming it didnt lose any flavor, in fact it gained some, and you can use it to turn your chicken into soup or even to upgrade your lunch ramen.

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How To Cook Frozen Chicken Thighs In The Instant Pot

Pour 1 cup of water into the Instant Pot insert . Add the trivet or a steamer basket to the insert. Put the chicken thighs on top of the trivet. Season them well with salt, pepper, and anything else that youd like.

Put the lid onto the Instant Pot and turn the valve to Sealing. Then set the Instant Pot to Pressure cook on high according to the times given below.

Once the Instant Pot has finished pressure cooking, allow it to do a natural release for 5 minutes. This is so that the temperature inside the Instant Pot doesnt change too drastically all at once. A drastic change in heat has a tendency to toughen up meat and we dont want tough chicken thighs.

After the 5 minutes of natural release is done, turn the valve to Venting and allow the remaining steam to release. Then take off the lid and do a quick test that the thighs are at least 165°F in the middle. Use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature. The chicken thighs should all be at the correct temperature. If for some reason they arent, set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for an additional 2 minutes and do another 5 minute natural release.

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Ways To Use Cooked Chicken

The cooked chicken can be used in any recipe that calls for precooked chicken. Shred, slice, or cube it as needed, then use it however you like!

Tuck a few slices of chicken into a sourdough sandwich, or top a salad to make a light lunch. Toss cubed chicken into a soup or pasta dish. Mix shredded chicken with BBQ sauce or hot sauce for sliders or tacos.

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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.

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.

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S For Cooking Frozen Chicken Breasts In The Instant Pot

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• An Instant Pot or any electric pressure cooker
• Frozen chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Other desired seasonings

Frozen Chicken In The Instant Pot

If you have an Instant Pot, then you probably already know that it is the little machine that can. It has literally transformed the way that so many of us cook , but I think that my favorite thing about the Instant Pot to date is the fact that it can cook meat from frozen.

Being able to cook a protein from frozen means that if I forget to move my frozen chicken from the freezer to the fridge to start thawing before I leave for work , dinner doesnt have to be completely scrapped for takeout! Instead, I can come home, pop that frozen chicken right into my Instant Pot, and continue on with my dinner plan.

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Can I Skip Browning The Chicken Thighs

I shouldnt admit that I often skip this step if cooking skinless chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, but I do. The sauté function in the Instant Pot is incredibly convenient for browning vegetables and meat. The small surface, however, makes it very tedious to brown even a small amount of meat. Unfortunately, we all know that browning the meat does add depth and flavour to the meat, and adds complexity and colour to the sauce.

So I compromise. I brown the meat on one side only. I find this gives me the nice browned bits on the bottom of the pan that add so much flavour, without spending too long on the task.

Instant Pot Whole Chicken With Crispy Skin

If you would like a crispy skin for your whole chicken, we recommend using the air fryer straight after.

We sprayed our whole chicken with extra virgin olive oil and extra seasoning and loaded it into the air fryer basket.

5 minutes at 200c/400f and it looked like this:

Of course, if you are just using the chicken for shredding there is no need to do this. But if you cant stand to eat a whole chicken that looks anaemic because it has simply been pressure cooked, then maybe this method is for you.

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What To Serve With Drumsticks

I am a huge fan of serving salads with chicken drumsticks. I think this Classic Wedge Salad is perfect. You might also try this crunchy Broccoli Salad.

If youd rather add some carbs, try our creamy Stovetop Mac & Cheese, or this easy Black Bean & Corn Pasta Salad.

Cant make up your mind? Check out this list of 10 great summer salads that all pair well with chicken.

Other Instant Pot Recipes to Try

• Instant Pot Blackberry Iced Tea

Instagram it! If you try this recipe please tag#AFoodLoversKitchenon Instagram or Twitter. We love to see your photos of our recipes! andto keep up on what were cooking up.

Make Homemade Bbq Sauce:

You can certainly use store bought BBQ sauce but it is very simple to learn how to make homemade barbecue sauce with very little effort! If you like more of a sweet barbecue sauce, add a little brown sugar to the slow cooker chicken.

Chicken drumstick recipes can be prepared so easily and without much work. We love this meal and have fun trying different variations. We have even cut up chicken breast or used regular chicken legs with this recipe. Chicken thighs are also delicious.

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How Long To Cook A Chicken In The Instant Pot

For every pound of chicken, cook 6 mins. A 3lb whole chicken would need to cook for 18 mins, 4lbs for 24 minutes and 5lbs for 30 minutes. Each will require a 15 minute natural release.

Pro Tip: Whole Chickens can vary in size and weight so naturally the cooking time will also vary but use this easy to follow tip to determine the perfect pressure cooking time.

As long as you can follow along with that simple rule of thumb, you can have a perfectly cooked chicken every time.

I mean, you keep reading about all of these great reasons to cook a chicken in the Instant Pot. Why not get started as soon as possible and put Instant Pot Whole Chicken on the menu this week?

Fun Fact: A Whole Chicken costs less per pound than individual parts of a chicken. Save yourself a few dollars and cut it up yourself. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts can cost upwards of $5 per pound where a whole chicken often costs less than $1 per pound.

Of course, making this recipe tonight could still be a possibility. Especially if youre waiting until the last minute to cook dinner. So many of us, myself included do this!

Thankfully with a whole cooked chicken, it always looks like you have it together. No one will suspect that dinner was a last minute thought.

You really dont need much to make an easy Instant Pot Whole Chicken. Once you check out the recipe card below youll see for yourself. As long as you have an Instant Pot and a raw whole chicken youre golden!

Pressure Cooking Requires Liquid

Before we continue, we must mention the most important aspect of pressure cooking. It requires liquid. This is because the pressure is built by the steam accumulating inside the pot, which is produced from the liquid.

Whether youre cooking rice, chicken breasts, pot roast, carrots, stew or cheesecake, you will need at least a cup of liquid for the Instant Pot to do its job.

This is a total amount of liquid and can be in the form of water, stock, tomato sauce, juice, wine and liquids released from the food while cooking , or a combination of those. Amount of liquid required varies depending on the recipe and amount of food but as a rule of thumb, 1 cup is always a good starting point. Also, the food doesnt need to be completely covered or submerged in liquid to cook.

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Pro Tips For Making Instant Pot Chicken

Read on for my pro tips and frequently asked questions for cooking chicken in an Instant Pot.

How To Use The Instant Pot For Beginners

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Learn how to use the Instant Pot with step-by-step instructions and photos for manual or smart program pressure cooker settings, how to sauté foods, and how and when to select a natural release or quick release options. Plus, we cover some Instant Pot FAQs and general tips to make your learning curve as the Instant Pot beginner less steep. Lets get started!

Looking at your shiny new Instant Pot box and wondering where to start? Dont panic! This wonderful kitchen gadget might seem intimidating but its actually very friendly once you get to know it. Lets unpack the box, its time to learn how to use the Instant Pot.

As part of our Instant Pot For Beginner series, we have also covered what the Instant Pot is and how it works with its key features and cooking stages. Make sure to check them out!

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Using Saute Function After Cooking

The Sauté function is also useful for finishing the dish after pressure cooking is done. Once the pressure has been completely released, open the lid and then press Sauté button again. Press the button again to cycle through Less or More for lower or higher temperature.

Use it for:

• Simmering the sauce or broth in the dish that needs to evaporate and reduce or thicken.
• Adding more fragile or no-cooking-required ingredients like baby spinach, fresh tomatoes, fruit, cheese, milk or cream.
• Thickening sauce with butter, cream or flour.

How To Make Gravy

I actually love to make some gravy with the leftover liquid in the Instant Pot. Trust me there is a lot of flavor there and its wonderful over this chicken breast.

To make the gravy, simply make a slurry with 2 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Set the Instant Pot to the Saute setting and bring the leftover liquid to a boil. Add the cornstarch slurry and whisk well. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened. Thats all!

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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.

Related:

Can You Put Frozen Meat In The Instant Pot

Yes, definitely you can! I do this with all kinds of meat and guess what? Its safe! Why? Because the Instant Pot warms the meat fast enough so that it doesnt start to develop bacteria growth on it. Of course, youll want to add cook time if youre using a regular recipe that doesnt call for frozen meat. Typically I add about 5 minutes per pound of meat. If youd like to see how you can do this with Frozen Ground Beef, watch this video here.

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Variations On These Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs:

• You can make this recipe dairy-free by omitting the cream or using your favorite non-dairy milk in its place. Keep in mind that this will affect the flavor.
• This recipe is naturally gluten-free, but be sure to double check all of your ingredients.
• To lighten up this recipe, substitute the heavy cream for half and half or light cream. You can also remove the skin before eating.
• Feel free to add vegetables to this recipe! Mushrooms, broccoli or green beans would be great in here, but youll need to keep in mind that they could much more quickly and wont stand up well to a 8-15 minute cook time. Potatoes and carrots would also do well, and larger chunks or whole small potatoes should be fine to cook with the chicken.