How To Cook Chicken Thighs In The Instant Pot :
Set instant pot to saute setting. Add oil. Season chicken with desired seasonings. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken, and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, until skin is crispy brown. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
Add 1 cup of liquid to the bottom of the instant pot, scraping up any browned bites that have stuck from searing the skin.
Place trivet inside and add chicken thighs on top. Place lid on the instant pot and make sure the vent is set to sealed.
Pressure cooking times for fresh and frozen thighs:
- Boneless Thighs: Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes for fresh or 12 minutes for frozen thighs.
- Bone-in Thighs: Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes for fresh, or 15 minutes for frozen thighs.
Allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then turn the valve to venting to release any remaining steam.
If desired, test chicken with a thermometer it should reach 165 degrees. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Store leftover cooked chicken in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Easy Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
See my guide on how to use an Instant Pot.
Easy Instant Pot Chicken Thighs Recipe. How to cook perfectly moist and juicy chicken thighs in your Instant Pot pressure cooker. With tips on how to cook from fresh or frozen.
In an effort to bring you more quick and easy dinner ideas and also more easy Instant Pot recipes, Im excited to share this Instant Pot chicken thighs recipe with you! Judging by the popularity of my baked chicken thighs and grilled chicken thighs, many of you love flavorful chicken thighs as much as I do.
You can cook these perfect juicy, seasoned chicken thighs in your Instant Pot in just 30 minutes, start to finish. Cooking chicken in your Instant Pot frees up all of your oven space so you can roast a pan of veggies to serve alongside the chicken. If you prefer a crockpot recipe, try my Tuscan Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs. Air Fryer Chicken Thighs are also deliciously crispy.
The spice rub on these chicken thighs is similar to the rub that I use on my baked chicken thighs, and it is so good! It adds so much flavor to the meat.
When you make these pressure cooker chicken thighs youll use the sauté function on your Instant Pot to first brown the chicken on both sides. This step adds flavor and is a real benefit to using the Instant Pot. The convenience of sautéing and pressure cooking all in one pot is a busy cooks dream!
How Do I Get Crispy Chicken Thighs In The Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
When Im cooking bone-in, skin on chicken thighs, I always brown the chicken thighs, skin side down, first.
With all of the steam that the pressure cooker creates, the skin isnt going to stay crispy, but it will be much better than if we had skipped this step altogether.
For truly crispy Instant Pot chicken thighs, you will want to remove the chicken thighs from the Instant Pot after cooking and broil for 2-3 minutes to crisp up the skin, while the sauce finishes in the pressure cooker.
I know this is an extra step, but if crispy skin is important to you, youll find its worth it.
If you, like me, dont eat the skin, you can simply peel it off after cooking , and enjoy!
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How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
When creating this recipe I tried so many different methods for getting the perfect juicy chicken meat, the perfect brown skin with just the right amount of caramelization, and the perfect velvety gravy with tons of flavour. Heres the BEST method for getting the perfect Instant Pot Chicken Thighs every single time:
Do You Have To Use A Trivet In Instant Pot
Technically, you do not HAVE to use the trivet when cooking chicken thighs in the Instant Pot. However, it is helpful for preventing the burn notice from appearing.
All Instant Pots are different. Our older Instant Pot is much less finicky when it comes to trivets and we usually dont use one when making Instant Pot Chicken Thighs. However, our new one almost always gets the burn notice, so a trivet is a must!
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Instant Pot Chicken Thighs How To
These chicken thighs are incredibly flavourful and easy to prepare thanks to to a few pantry-friendly and the handy Instant Pot. After quickly browning the chicken and sautéing some onions and peppers, then add in just about a half hour, it is done!
Here is a visual step-by-step:
- Season chicken with spices and slice onions and peppers.
- Brown chicken in two batches in the Instant Pot on one side. Remove the chicken and set aside.
- Sauté onions and peppers. Deglaze the pan with a few tablespoons of water and scrape up all the browned bits.
- Place chicken on top of sautéed onions and peppers.
- Seal the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes for fresh chicken thighs, and 12 minutes for frozen. If using bone-in thighs, add 2 minutes to cooking time.
- Allow pressure to naturally release for 10 to 15 minutes then turn the valve to venting to release any remaining steam.
- Release any remaining pressure. When the steam has released, turn the lid, and carefully remove it. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste, if necessary.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot, and sauté the sauce to thicken, if desired.
What To Serve With Bbq Chicken Thighs
BBQ chicken thighs are a delicious staple for the summer months. Bring them to your next BBQ, potluck or outdoor picnic! The best part about BBQ chicken thighs is that they pair great with basically everything.
If youre looking for side dish inspiration for your BBQ chicken thighs, Ive got you covered:
- Potatoes in any form: mashed potatoes, potato salad, fries, etc.
- Roasted or steamed vegetables
- A leafy green salad or coleslaw
- Other salads: quinoa salad, pasta salad or bean salad
- Pasta dishes
- Etc.
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Make Honey Garlic Sauce
*Note: If youre using store-bought sauces or other sauces, skip this step & jump to Step 2.
First, heat up the Instant Pot using Saute Normal function.
The indicator will switch to ON. Wait until the indicator says HOT .
Melt 2 tbsp unsalted butter or add vegetable oil in the Instant Pot.
Add in minced garlic, then saute for 45 seconds to 1 minute.
Then, pour in 2 tbsp regular soy sauce and cup honey.
Stir to reduce & thicken the honey garlic sauce a bit for 2 3 minutes.
Add ¼ cup ketchup to a container, then mix in the honey garlic sauce.
Give the yummy honey garlic sauce a taste and adjust accordingly.
*Note: Its important to taste & adjust because different brands & batches of ketchup, honey, or soy sauce can vary in taste. For reference, we added another 1 tbsp ketchup to the honey garlic sauce to fully balance the flavors.
Set aside and let it cool to thicken a bit.
Can You Put Marinade In An Instant Pot
YES! You can see above how we used our homemade teriyaki sauce as a sort of marinade of sorts. It isnt the type of marinade it soaks in overnight but rather cooked with the sauce all at the same time.
Keeping in mind you shouldnt use sauces with very high sugar levels because they can burn, sauce is great to use.
- Our pressure cooker hoisin chicken is another example of Instant Pot chicken thighs with sauce that came out amazing. I have used chicken breast pieces as well.
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Instant Pot Chicken And Rice
From our observations, the newer Instant Pots seem to be more sensitive to the Instant Pot BURN error. So its trickier to successfully cook both the Chicken and Rice in Instant Pot at the same time.
For foolproof results, we usually use the Instant Pot Pot in Pot method for cooking Chicken and Rice in Instant Pot. PIP method is where well place the chicken ingredients in the bottom of the Instant Pot, then place the rice in a smaller separate bowl on top of the chicken.
Weve been testing and developing an easy yet reliable way to help you successfully make Chicken and Rice in Instant Pot without a separate bowl.
After testing different methods and cooking liquid ratios, we crafted this Easy Mamas Chicken and Rice Recipe! An easy one pot meal thats packed with comforting flavors.
How To Make Roux For Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
While the Instant Pot pork chops are being pressure cooked, its time to whip up some roux. This will thicken the white wine and mushroom gravy!
- To do so, well need to turn on the stove. Also, we will need a small saucepan. Once you have those ready, add butter and allow it to melt.
- Next, slowly whisk in flour, one tablespoon at a time.
- Now add heavy cream and continue whisking until the mushroom gravy is thick.
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How To Make Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs
1. Season the chicken thighs: Transfer the chicken thighs to a large plate and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season both sides with salt and pepper and sprinkle with garlic powder. Set aside.
For best results allow the chicken to rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before browning. This will help prevent your chicken from sticking to the surface of your pot, pan, or skillet.
2. Make your honey mustard sauce: Making homemade honey mustard sauce is super easy to do and requires just six simple ingredients . To prepare, simply add all of the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk well until combined.
3. Brown the chicken: Set your Instant Pot to sauté high. Once your pot is hot, add the remaining olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of your pot. Add the chicken, skin-side-down, and cook until the skin is golden brown and crispy . Carefully flip each chicken thigh over and repeat on the other side. Depending on the size of your chicken thighs, you may need to do this in two batches as we dont want to overcrowd the Instant Pot.
4. Add the sauce and cook: Turn OFF saute mode. Pour the premade mustard mixture directly over the chicken thighs and secure the lid, remembering to check that the steam release is set to sealing. Cook chicken on MANUAL mode at HIGH pressure for 10 minutes. As soon as the 10 minutes is complete, carefully quick-release the pressure and remove the lid.
Three: Deglaze Instant Pot
- Pour in water and scrape off any browned bits off your inner pot. This will help keep you from having issues with burn warnings and/or your Instant Pot not sealing correctly.
- Use 1 cup of water for a 6 quart Instant Pot.
- Use 1.5 cups of water for an 8 quart Instant Pot.
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What Kind Of Chicken Thighs Should I Use For Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
The good news for you is that we tested this recipe many times and with all different kinds of chicken thighs! Love skin-on chicken thighs? Or boneless chicken thighs? Both work! So feel free to use around 2 lbs. of the following:
- Bone-In
- Skin-On
- Skinless
If youre wondering what kind of thighs we prefer, its hands-down bone-in with the skin on. However, boneless skinless chicken thighs are also pretty dang delish.
How To Make The Perfect Instant Pot Gravy
Making homemade gravy from chicken drippings in the Instant Pot is SO easy!
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Instant Pot Chicken Thighs And Rice
Instant pot chicken thighs and rice. Easy one-pot instant pot recipe the whole family would love. Weeknight dinner just got easy and quick with this easy instant pot rice recipe. It is flavourful and uses pantry staple ingredients. The boned in chicken thigh falls right off the bone and the rice buttery, tender and fluffy.
Instant Pot Chicken Thighs That Are The Best Ever
Are you looking for instant pot chicken thighs that are the best ever? Look no further. These gluten-free, bad-boys will melt in your mouth. After several recipes producing dry chicken, I finally found one that is easy and fast. As a Mom of two active boys, mealtime and meal prep needs to take little time and requires simple recipes. After searching on and comparing ingredients, I landed on this tasty combination. Add this chicken to some sweet potatoes and a spinach salad and in 30 minutes, you and your crew can be enjoying a delicious meal.
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Best Honey Garlic Sauce
If youve ever had our Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken, you know how delicious our honey garlic sauce is. This is a slightly modified version of that sauce, but equally as delicious. Heres what you need to make literally the best Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken:
- Honey you can always sub maple syrup instead of honey, but it is HONEY garlic chicken, after all.
- Minced garlic use pre-minced or freshly minced. Either works.
- Soy Sauce feel free to sub tamari for a gluten-free option
- Chili Garlic Sauce adds a little kick of heat! Feel free to use sriracha instead.
- Cornstarch Cornstarch is used as a sauce thickener.
Is honey garlic sauce spicy? Our honey garlic sauce is about a 4/10 spice-wise. If you like it super spicy, feel free to add more chili garlic sauce.
For Simple And Reliable Weeknight Dinners Cook Chicken Thighs In The Instant Pot The Chicken Cooks Quickly And It Stays Flavorful And Moist
The popularity of the Instant Pot, a useful and efficient electric pressure cooker, has grown over the past few years. Its quirky name implies immediate satisfaction. A satisfying dish that would normally take an hour or more to cook can be on the table in 30 minutes or less.
Chicken thighs are a perfect go-to for busy weeknight family meals. They will remain flavorful and tender even in a pressure cooker. Plus, chicken thighs are less likely to dry out compared to chicken breasts. If you cut them into smaller pieces before throwing them in the Instant Pot, they can cook in 10 minutes or less.
The recipes here are as basic as cooking frozen chicken to a flavorful 60-minute chicken soup that would otherwise take all day to simmer.Breakout your Instant Pot and try out any of the recipes on this list for weeknight dinner satisfaction.
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Here Are The Cooking Times For Chicken Thighs In The Instant Pot:
- Bone-in skin-on thighs are great. Youll be setting the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 12 minutes with about 6-8 thighs in there. Note that you should remove the skin before serving. It will be limp.
- Bone-in skinless thighs are also going to go for 12 minutes for 8 thighs.
- Boneless skinless thighs only need 10 minutes for 8-10 thighs.
- Frozen thighs of any kind: Freeze them individually, not in a big clump. Do everything as instructed but use your frozen thighs. For 8 frozen thighs of any type, go with 14 minutes.
Here are the instructions for cooking chicken thighs in the Instant Pot in printable form.
