Remove the chicken from its packaging and dry it with a paper towel

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.

Season the chicken generously with the salt and spice mixture on the front, back, sides, and in the cavity.

If using a lemon, cut it into 4 wedges, squeeze the lemon juice inside the bird, and put the rinds inside the cavity.

Pour 1 cup of water or chicken broth into the bottom of the pot

Place any aromatics in the pot. I chose rosemary.

I usually do not use a trivet because I want to shred my chicken in the pot

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.

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.

Secure the lid

Position the pressure release valve to Sealing

Plug in the Instant Pot

Set the timer to the correct time per pound of chicken you are working with.

My chicken was 6 pounds. At 8 minutes cooking time needed per pound, I set my timer for 48 minutes.

The Instant Pot will need to come to pressure before the timer will countdown.

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.

The floating pressure gauge will drop when it has naturally released the pressure and you can open the Instant Pot at this point.

After you open it, it will still be extremely hot.

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.

If you did not use a trivet, you will need to use tongs to remove the meat and bones.

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.

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.