Juicy and tender, instant pot chicken breast is one of the best things you can make with your pressure cooker. It’s so quick and easy! You’ll only need a handful of simple ingredients and less than 30 minutes to whip it up. Perfect for a busy weeknight when you don’t have much time to spare.
This delicious Instant Pot Chicken Breast recipe is so tasty and versatile! It’s also healthy, low carb, and packed full of protein. It’s also great for meal prep. It’s become a standard in my weekly meal rotation because it’s so incredibly convenient and the whole family loves it.
I love dipping my instant pot chicken breast in Creamy Avocado Sauce, barbeque sauce, ranch, ketchup, and blue cheese dressing.
You can also dice or shred your chicken and add it to a soup or casserole like Zucchini Noodle Soup or Broccoli And Cauliflower Casserole for a little protein boost.
If you are looking for more juicy chicken breast recipes make my Baked Chicken Breast, Garlic Butter Chicken Breast, Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breast, Chicken Breast Salad or my Air Fryer Chicken Breast.
Ingredients To Make Instant Pot Chicken Breast
- Seasonings — Italian seasonings, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper! You can certainly experiment and use different spices, if desired.
- Chicken — Boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Extra virgin olive oil — Or oil of choice. Avocado oil is a good substitute.
- Broth — I generally use low sodium chicken broth but vegetable would also work nicely.
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Breast
Season chicken:
- First, grab a small bowl and add all of your seasonings. Mix them up really well!
- Rub seasonings all over each chicken breast until coated.
Sauté and cook chicken:
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- Plug in your instant pot and press saute button. Add oil and allow it to heat for around 2 minutes. Place the chicken in a single layer inside the instant pot. Sear meat for 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden. Use tongs to remove the chicken and set it aside. If you’re using frozen chicken, you can skip this step!
- Place trivet wire rack inside the instant pot and add chicken broth. Place chicken in the trivet.
- Secure lid atop the instant pot and set steam valve to the sealed position.
- Select manual (older models) or pressure cook (newer models) and set to high pressure for 5 minutes. If you’re using frozen chicken, increase time to 10 minutes. The instant pot will need around 15 minutes to come up to pressure, after that you’re timer will begin counting down.
- When the timer reaches zero, allow 10 minutes of natural pressure release. Then, carefully move valve from the sealed position to venting. This will quick-release the remaining steam.
- When all steam is released, remove the lid. Using an instant read thermometer, check the internal temperature of the chicken that should be 165F.
Rest and serve:
- Transfer cooked chicken breasts to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Cut or shred chicken with a fork and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- I like to double or triple my spice mix when making this chicken and store extras in a Ziploc bag or mason jar. This way when I’m ready to make more instant pot chicken, my spice mix is all ready to go!
- Feel free to add alternate seasonings or dried herbs to your chicken. Try rosemary, chives, thyme, oregano, or onion powder. You can also use taco seasoning if you enjoy Mexican flavors.
- If you prefer not to use dried seasonings, you can opt for barbecue sauce to season your chicken instead.
- It will take 10-15 minutes for your Instant Pot to build pressure. This means that your timer won’t start counting down right away. It’s normal, so don’t be alarmed! The timer will begin once the pot has come up to full pressure.
- You can replace chicken breasts with boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- You can use the liquid inside the instant pot to make gravy by mixing 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to make a slurry. Then, press the saute button and bring the leftover liquid to a boil. Add the cornstarch slurry to the boiling liquid and whisk well. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until it thickens to your liking..
- Serve it with rice, quinoa, pasta, tacos, sandwiches and salads.
How To Store Leftovers
- To Store: Allow leftovers to cool and place them in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To Freeze: Place cooled leftovers in a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag. Store frozen for up to 4 months.
- To Reheat: Cover chicken with a damp paper towel and microwave on high, until warmed through. You can also reheat your chicken on the stovetop. Place it in a skillet and turn heat to medium, you can add a little olive oil to keep it moist, if desired. This chicken dish can also be reheated in the oven or toaster oven at 350°F.
More Instant Pot Recipes
DO you like this Instant Pot Chicken Recipe and want to try more IP recipes? I’m right there with you! Be sure to check out all of these delicious recipes:
- Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
- Instant Pot Sweet Potato Kale Beef Soup
- Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Instant Pot Korean Beef
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s likely that the meat is slightly undercooked if it turns out tough or rubbery. Thankfully, this can easily be fixed by pressure-cooking a few minutes longer.
Yes. You can overcook chicken in your Instant Pot, and the result is dry meat. If you accidentally cook your chicken for too long, I recommend dicing or shredding it up to be used in soups or casseroles.
It will take 5-10 minutes! If you’re using thawed chicken you’ll be closer to the 5 minute mark, frozen will take closer to 10. One really cool thing about the Instant Pot? Cook time won’t change if you add more chicken. The pot will likely take a bit longer to come up to full pressure, but you won’t need to add more minutes to the timer.
You can, but you don’t have to! I love my Instant Pot, because I can brown chicken using the sauté function rather than dirtying a separate pan. In my opinion, this adds more flavor. However, it is not required.
Yes! You can stack chicken when cooking it in your Instant Pot. For thoroughly cooked chicken breasts, you may need to increase time slightly, and it might take a bit longer for the pot to come up to pressure. The ability to stack is great for making juicy chicken breast in bulk.
You can cook frozen chicken breast in your Instant Pot! This is super convenient when you don’t have any thawed, fresh chicken breast on hand. I increase cook time to 10 minutes when making it from frozen.
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Instant Pot Chicken Breast Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
- Rub the spice mix all over each of the chicken breasts.
- Set the instant pot to the sauté setting and add olive oil. Once pot is hot (about 2 minutes), add chicken breasts and sear until both sides are golden brown. Set aside. If your chicken is frozen, you don’t need to do this step.
- Then, pour the chicken broth into the Instant Pot and place the trivet inside. Place the chicken on top of the trivet.
- Close the Instant Pot lid. Lock it and make sure the steam valve is in the sealed position.
- Select manual (older model) or pressure cook (newer models) and set on high pressure for 5 minutes (if using frozen chicken breast, set it to 10 mins). It’ll take about 10-15 minutes for the pot to reach pressure, then the timer will start counting down.
- After the 5 minutes is up, let the Instant Pot release naturally for 10 minutes. Then, do a Quick Release, which means move the valve to venting to release the steam. When all the steam is gone, open the instant pot.
- Open the lid and transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Let it rest for 5 minutes and then slice before serving.
Tips
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
Karen says
I just made this for lunch today, so moist and flavorful! Thank you Olivia, I will be making this again!
Olivia says
That’s awesome! Happy you liked it!
Linda says
I don’t have an instant pot. How do I convert the recipe to using the oven? Thank you.
Olivia says
You can follow the instruction of this recipe here.
DorothyMott says
This is a delicious food. I made it for dinner.
Olivia says
Awesome!
Susan says
I’d rather use instant pot and not the pressure cooker
what are the directions?
Olivia says
Instant pot is a pressure cooker. The instructions on the recipe card is for the IP.