Description
Instant pot whole chicken is the perfect recipe for meal prep. You can cook a whole chicken in 50 minutes. You will have juicy, delicious pre-cooked chicken in your fridge, waiting to be used in a variety of recipes all week long. Use the chicken in salads, soups, chicken salads, casseroles, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Ingredients
Spices
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1.5 teaspoons dried thyme, or dried rosemary
for the remainder of the chicken
- 1 cup filtered water, or chicken broth
- half lemon, cut into wedges
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled (left whole)
- 1 4 pound whole chicken
Instructions
- Mix the spices: Add all of the spices listed above to a small bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined, set aside.
- Prepare: Cut up the lemon into wedges, and peel the garlic cloves, place them in a small bowl. At this time also add the 1 cup of filtered water or chicken broth into a 6 OT instant pot, or other electric pressure cooker. Place the trivet into the into the bottom of the instant pot.
- Prepare the chicken: If the chicken comes with gizzards, neck, etc stuffed inside, remove them. If making instant pot chicken broth later, then reserve the insides for the chicken broth. If not making chicken broth you can discard them. Place the whole chicken onto a rimmed baking sheet – see photos. (This helps to contain the mess of the spices and keep your counters cleaner). Use paper towels to pat the chicken dry. It doesn’t have to be super dry since we aren’t going for a crispy skin, but if the chicken is super wet then the spices won’t stick. Use a sharp knife to poke holes all around the skin of the chicken (this helps the spices to infuse into the chicken better). Sprinkle the spices on the back of the chicken, even onto the legs and the wings, using your hands to press it into the skin. Turn the chicken over (breast side up) and sprinkle a good amount of the seasoning into the cavity of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the lemon pieces, and the garlic. Use the remaining seasoning on the top of the chicken, doing your best to cover every inch of the chicken. Use your hands to press it into the skin. Yes, some seasoning will fall off, but pressing it into the skin helps more of it to stick. Carefully transfer your chicken into your instant pot, place on top of the trivet, making sure to place it breast side up. (The drumsticks/legs should be pointing up). A friendly reminder to wash your hands really well with soap and water before touching anything else. 😉
- Cook the chicken: Secure the lid of your instant pot. Point the valve to “sealing”. Set your instant pot to “High pressure cook”. Then set the time for 30 minutes (see notes about time variations). Make sure to turn off the “keep warm setting”. Note: the instant pot will take about 10 minutes to come up to pressure.
- Release the pressure: Once the instant pot timer has elapsed, force release the pressure by carefully turning the nozzle to “venting”. Once the stem releases open the lid. Use a meat thermometer to read the temperature of the chicken. The chicken should be 160 to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (if it is a higher temperature, that’s okay, the method of cooking creates tender meat no matter what). If it hasn’t reached 160 degrees then bring the instant pot up to pressure for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Rest the chicken: Carefully remove the chicken from the instant pot using tongs, and allow it to rest on a plate for 25 minutes. This is important to allow the juices to settle back into the meat and keep it moist.
- For serving the chicken immediately: Once the chicken has rested remove the lemon and garlic from the cavity of the chicken and discard. If you are serving the chicken immediately you can use a knife to cut off the pieces you are serving. I prefer to remove the skin, it’s not crispy (don’t worry, all of those seasonings have done their job of making the meat of the chicken flavorful).
- Carve the chicken: If you are storing any (or all) of the chicken for a later use, then remove all of the skin, and discard. Use sharp chef’s knife to cut the thighs of the chicken off. This meat is great for shredding, it falls off the bone, just use your fingers, or a fork to pull it off. Be sure to save all of the bones if you’re making broth. Use a chef knife to cut the chicken breasts off. I prefer to leave these whole and cut them just before eating because the chicken breasts tends to dry out faster then the dark meat. Use your fingers, or a fork to pull off as much chicken as you can from all of the crevices. Don’t forget to turn the chicken upside down, there is a lot of meat on the back – this is great for shredding too. Discard any fat and skin as you go, but don’t forget to reserve any bones, cartilage, and even the wings for chicken broth (if making). Note: the meat is a lot easier to remove from the chicken if it is still warm, rather then cold, or room temp.
- Store: Store the chicken in air tight containers in the fridge for up to 7 days. Or store it in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
Seasoning: Yes, this seems like a lot of seasoning. Yes, you should use ALL of it. I have tested this recipe a million different ways with varying amounts of seasonings used, or even just simple salt and pepper, and this amount of seasoning and combo made by far the most flavorful chicken. Since we aren’t roasting the skin to get a crispy texture we need to make up for the flavor by allowing those seasonings to soak into the meat, so we need a lot of them.
Cook time/size of bird variations: For every extra pound in size add 5 minutes of cooking time. 3 lb bird: 25 mins. 4 lb bird: 30 mins. 5 lb bird 35 mins.
Uses for chicken: There are so many ways to use this chicken! Anywhere you need pre-cooked chicken. Examples: soups, chicken salads, on top of leafy green salads, in casseroles, in quesadillas. The possibilities are endless (see more ideas and links to recipes in the post). Also, when freshly cooked, and skin removed, the chicken is especially delicious just eaten with a sauce, or on it’s own.
Chicken broth: Click here for the instant pot chicken broth recipe. If you want to make that recipe make sure to save all of your bones from this chicken, and reserve the cooking liquid that was used in the instant pot. It’s the perfect opportunity to use all parts of your chicken and get really flavorful broth out of the deal. It’s especially convenient to make the chicken broth while the instant pot is still dirty from cooking the chicken. The instant pot makes making homemade chicken broth SO easy!!! (You can pop the bones and the liquid into the freezer if you’re making the chicken this week, and want to make the broth next week).
