The Best Whole Chicken in an Instant Pot Recipe

One of my favorite things about the Instant Pot is being able to cook whole ingredients to use in my meals. Cooking from scratch can be time consuming, but with this easy recipe, I can season the chicken, pressure cook it, and be ready to use it in the time it takes me to prep the other parts of the meal. By the end of the cooking time, I am left with fall off of the bone, tender chicken for dinner and plenty left over to use during busy weeknights.

PIN IT

The Instant Pot is one of those kitchen gadgets that you see promoted all over cooking blogs and for good reason. You can make fast, delicious meals in a fraction of the time. I, myself, haven’t mastered making whole meals in the Instant Pot, but I love to use it to prepare ingredients for meals that I’m making. Pressure cooking is a great way to meal prep a breeze. You can cook your chicken and have it in the refrigerator to add to sandwiches or salads in a pinch. Or throw together with a few vegetables and chicken broth to make a simple chicken noodle soup in no time. 

The best part for me about cooking a whole chicken in the Instant Pot is the perfect texture of the meat. When I roast a chicken, I love the crispy skin, but the leftovers aren’t nearly as juicy as the chicken the night I cooked it. With a chicken cooked in the Instant Pot, the chicken comes out tender and juicy and stays that way for leftovers. 

Pressure Cooking Your Chicken

PIN IT

Instructions

Preparations

1. For best results, use a thawed chicken. The texture is better in the final product and it doesn’t take the Instant Pot as long to cook if it is thawed. It must come up to pressure first before it starts the cook time and a frozen bird slows the process down. 
2. Remove the chicken from its packaging and dry it with a paper towel 
3. Look at the weight on the packaging or weigh your chicken. A whole chicken needs to be cooked for 8 minutes per pound. Multiply the weight of the chicken by 8 and record that number.
4. In a small bowl, combine salt, black pepper, and any other spices together. Doing this before hand allows you to touch the seasonings with chicken hands and not worry about contaminating your spices. 
5. Season the chicken generously with the salt and spice mixture on the front, back, sides, and in the cavity.
6. If using a lemon, cut it into 4 wedges, squeeze the lemon juice inside the bird, and put the rinds inside the cavity. 

PIN IT

Setting Up the Instant Pot

1. Pour 1 cup of water or chicken broth into the bottom of the pot
2. Place any aromatics in the pot. I chose rosemary.
3. I usually do not use a trivet because I want to shred my chicken in the pot
4. If you would like to be able to remove the whole chicken from the Instant Pot after cooking, use a trivet. Place it in now.

PIN IT

Cooking the Chicken

1. Place the seasoned chicken breast side down on top of the aromatics. The juices from the chicken will be released into the water. Having the chicken breast side down, makes them fall apart by the end of cooking time. 
2. Secure the lid 
3. Position the pressure release valve to Sealing
4. Plug in the Instant Pot
5. Press Manual and set the pressure to High Pressure 
6. Set the timer to the correct time per pound of chicken you are working with.
   1. My chicken was 6 pounds. At 8 minutes cooking time needed per pound, I set my timer for 48 minutes. 
7. The Instant Pot will need to come to pressure before the timer will countdown.

PIN IT

Natural Release and Resting 

1. Once the timer has gone off, unplug the Instant Pot and wait for the floating pressure valve to come down naturally. The chicken needs to continue to cook during this time so do not quick release the pressure or you may end up with a chicken that isn’t completely cooked.
2. The floating pressure gauge will drop when it has naturally released the pressure and you can open the Instant Pot at this point.
3. After you open it, it will still be extremely hot.
4. If you use a trivet, carefully remove the chicken and set on a plate with a lip to rest for at least 10 minutes. You want to juice to redistribute and for the chicken to be cool enough to handle.
5. If you did not use a trivet, you will need to use tongs to remove the meat and bones.
   1. I like to let the chicken sit in the Instant Pot for about 10-15 minutes after I open it to let off steam and cool a bit before trying to separate the meat and bones. 
6. Once it is cool enough to work with, remove the meat to a plate or bowl. Put the bones, skin, cartilage and anything else you don’t want to eat on a separate plate. These parts are excellent for chicken stock. Don’t throw them away. If you can’t use them today, put them in a freezer bag and save the in the freezer until you can make stock. Check out my recipe for homemade chicken stock.

PIN IT

As you can see, cooking a whole chicken in the Instant Pot is simple and quick. All you have to do it prepare it and let the Instant Pot do the rest. The meat can be used in soups, quesadillas, chicken salad, anywhere you need shredded chicken.

The bonus of cooking a whole chicken this way is being able to make chicken stock in the Instant Pot when you’re done. The pot is already dirty and all it takes is adding the bones, water, and some vegetable scraps back to the pot and letting it cook. It is cheaper, more flavorful, less wasteful, and you get a gelatinous, nutrient dense stock to show for it. 

FAQs

If you make this recipe, please share in the comments how it went and what you used the chicken for. Was it in chicken quesadillas or a delicious chicken salad? Or did you have a chicken dinner with your favorite sides? 

If you enjoy this recipe, you should try my Instant Pot Chicken Stock or Instant Pot Refried Beans. I love getting simple whole foods cooked in it without much input from me. 

Thank you for reading this recipe. Remember that this is a baseline recipe. You can add things you want to make it truly yours and something you know your family will enjoy. 

Keep what serves you and leave the rest behind.