Instant Pot Chicken Breast
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Juicy, flavorful Instant Pot Chicken Breasts, ready in just 30 minutes and are perfect for lunch or dinner! Cook from fresh or frozen! They are so versatile and can be incorporated into your favourite dish or served as is, paired with your favourite sides – you can’t go wrong!
Perfectly Cooked Chicken Breasts
Chicken is a staple in most meals and this easy instant pot recipe will make it a staple in your life as well. Tender, juicy, mouthwatering chicken prepared and ready to serve in 30 minutes thanks to the instant pot? Sign me up.
I’ve made chicken many different ways and I must say chicken breast is probably one of the hardest that I notice people struggle with because most of the time it ends up dry. Cooking it in the Instant Pot, you are pretty much guaranteed with a moist and juicy chicken breast every single time.
Why Cooking Chicken Breasts In The Instant Pot Works
QUICK AND EASY. Cooking chicken breasts in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) is super quick and incredibly easy. It only takes 5 minutes to cook under high pressure and you are guaranteed perfectly juicy chicken breasts. I prefer to sear my chicken first on both sides so that I brown them a bit, but if you’re simply using the chicken to shred to use in enchiladas or burritos, you don’t even have to do that.
COOK FROM FRESH OR FROZEN. That’s right, you can cook chicken breasts from fresh or frozen, so if you forgot to take that chicken out of the freezer this morning, no worries. The only difference is that you cook them for 5 minutes longer, so instead of 5 minutes cooking time, you’ll cook them for 10 minutes. Obviously, you won’t be able to sear them but they’ll be perfectly delicious regardless.
SUPER VERSATILE. Cooking chicken breast like this is great because you can enjoy it with some gravy or use it in any number of dishes, plus it’s perfect for meal prep. I have lots of chicken recipes on the blog where you need shredded cooked chicken, so this is the best and easiest way to get that done.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- CHICKEN BREASTS – You’ll need boneless skinless chicken breasts here, fresh or frozen chicken breasts will work.
- HERBS AND SPICES – I used Italian Seasoning, garlic powder and smoked paprika. These are usually my go to spices for cooking chicken. Feel free to use your favorite herbs and spices. Also if you’re just cooking the chicken to shred to use in other recipes, don’t worry so much about what herbs and spices to use, you might actually just want the chicken plain.
- SALT AND PEPPER – To taste.
- OLIVE OIL – If you don’t have olive oil you can use sunflower, safflower, avocado or vegetable oil. We only need some olive oil to sear the breasts. If you’re not searing them, you don’t need any oil at all.
- CHICKEN BROTH – I used a low sodium chicken broth in this recipe and the reason is because I made a gravy with the leftover juice and drippings. If you’re not making a gravy, go ahead and use plain water.
Can I Use Bone-In Skin-On Chicken Breasts?
Absolutely! All you really need to do is cook them a little bit longer. Go ahead and sear the breasts the same way, and instead of 5 minutes, it will take 10 minutes to cook the chicken on high pressure. Follow the rest of the steps as instructed.
How To Cook Fresh Chicken Breast In The Instant Pot
- COMBINE SPICES – In a small bowl combine the spices and rub the spice mix generously over each chicken breast. Since this is a spice mix I use often, I usually make a whole bunch and store it in a jar in my pantry, this way whenever I need some chicken spice, it’s all ready to use.
- SEAR CHICKEN – Set the Instant Pot to the Sauté setting and add the olive oil to heat. When the olive oil is hot add the chicken breasts and sear on all sides. You might have to do this in 2 batches. Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and set aside. Remember if you don’t want to sear your chicken breasts and just want to shred it, you can skip this step.
- PRESSURE COOK THE CHICKEN – Pour the chicken broth into the Instant Pot, then place the trivet inside. Place the chicken on top of the trivet and close the Instant Pot lid. Seal the valve and set the Instant Pot to Manual/High Pressure for 5 minutes. Natural Release for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
- SERVE – Transfer the chicken to a cutting board or serving platter. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing or serving.
How To Cook Frozen Chicken Breast In The Instant Pot
- COMBINE SPICES – In a small bowl combine the spices and rub the spice mix generously over each chicken breast. Since this is a spice mix I use often, I usually make a whole bunch and store it in a jar in my pantry, this way whenever I need some chicken spice, it’s all ready to use.
- PRESSURE COOK THE CHICKEN – Pour the chicken broth or water into the Instant Pot, then place the trivet inside. Place the chicken on top of the trivet and close the Instant Pot lid. Seal the valve and set the Instant Pot to Manual/High Pressure for 10 minutes. Natural Release for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
- SERVE – Transfer the chicken to a cutting board or serving platter. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing or serving.
How To Make Gravy
I actually love to make some gravy with the leftover liquid in the Instant Pot. Trust me there is a lot of flavor there and it’s wonderful over this chicken breast.
To make the gravy, simply make a slurry with 2 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Set the Instant Pot to the Saute setting and bring the leftover liquid to a boil. Add the cornstarch slurry and whisk well. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened. That’s all!
Natural Release Versus Quick Release
This basically refers to the method of depressurizing the Instant Pot after cooking. For natural release you do nothing. Just let the Instant pot gradually come down in pressure on its own.
For quick release, you have to open the steam release valve which forces the Instant Pot to depressurize the pot quicker.
What Size Instant Pot Can I Use?
That’s the great thing, you can use any size. This will work for 3 quart, 5 quart, 6 quart or 8 quart. I have an 6 quart Instant Pot. With the smaller Instant Pots you may need to cook less chicken breasts at a time because you want to make sure they are in a single layer. Don’t pile up the breasts, this could result in undercooked chicken.
What’s The Difference Between The Poultry Setting And High Pressure?
It’s really the same thing. The difference is that the default poultry setting is pre-programmed to set the pot to cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 15 MINUTES.
What To Serve With Chicken Breast
Chicken is so universal. You can pair it with almost anything, which is why this recipe is great! It can be served as is or accompanied by your favourite side dishes. You can use these chicken breasts in a variety of different recipes such as chicken salad, quesadillas, casseroles, sandwiches, pastas, and more! You can even serve this chicken with a variety of sauces such as teriyaki sauce or barbecue sauce. Here are some side dishes that I love to pair with these instant pot chicken breasts:
- Instant Pot Mashed Cauliflower (as seen in the photos)
- Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms
- Garlic Herb Red Potato Salad
- Thyme Skillet Potatoes
- Ultimate Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
- Creamy Garlic Parmesan Orzo
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
How to Store Leftovers
You can keep your leftover chicken sealed for up to 4 days in the fridge. This is great for quick lunches and dinners for the rest of the week!
If you’d like to keep your chicken for longer, store in the freezer in an airtight container, freezer bags, or wrapped tightly in aluminum foil or freezer wrap.
When thawing cooked chicken from frozen, it’s best to leave your chicken in the fridge overnight and then you can reheat in the microwave or oven. If you don’t want to use your microwave; keep in mind when reheating your chicken in the oven, you want to keep it covered so it doesn’t dry out. Cover the chicken and cook at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
More Delicious Recipes To Try
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
Video
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 2 pound chicken breasts (about 4 to 6 breasts, boneless and skinless)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chicken broth (low sodium or no sodium added, or water)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
- Rub the spice mix generously over each chicken breast.
- Set the Instant Pot to the Saute setting and add the olive oil to heat.Set the Instant Pot to the Sauté setting and add the olive oil to heat. When the olive oil is hot add the chicken breasts and sear on all sides. You might have to do this in 2 batches. Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and set aside. Remember if you don’t want to sear your chicken breasts or are using frozen chicken breasts and just want to shred it, you can skip this step.
- Pour the chicken broth into the Instant Pot, then place the trivet inside. Place the chicken on top of the trivet and close the Instant Pot lid.
- Set the valve to sealing and set the Instant Pot to Manual/High Pressure for 5 minutes. If using frozen chicken, set the Instant Pot to Manual/High Pressure for 10 minutes.
- When the time is up, let the Instant Pot release naturally for 10 minutes then quick release remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and transfer the chicken to a cutting board or serving platter. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing it or serving.
Equipment
Notes
- If using frozen chicken breast, make sure they are separated, the chicken still needs to be in a single layer.
- If you’re not making gravy, feel free to use water instead of chicken broth.
- You can keep your leftover chicken sealed for up to 4 days in the fridge. This is great for quick lunches and dinners for the rest of the week!
- If you’d like to keep your chicken for longer – store in the freezer in an airtight container, freezer bags, or wrapped tightly in aluminum foil or freezer wrap.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Hi Jo! This will be my very first Instant Pot recipe! I am short on time and am wondering if I could add rice or potatoes to the pot at the SAME time as the chicken or do you recommend cooking them separately? I have to admit I know nothing about Instant Pots, but do pressure can, so I understand the concept. Thanks Jo!
While I totally get wanting to save time, I’d recommend cooking the rice or potatoes separately. The cooking times for chicken and starches can vary, and we don’t want mushy potatoes or undercooked rice. Once you get the hang of your Instant Pot, you’ll be whipping up all kinds of one-pot wonders! Enjoy your adventure into Instant Pot land!
Hi Jo, do you have a recipe like this for beef? I am looking for an instant recipe to make beef that I can slice up for my boys lunch sandwiches?
I do have a few for the Instant Pot, here are some:
Instant Pot Beef Brisket – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-beef-brisket/
Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-mississippi-pot-roast/
Instant Pot Mongolian Beef – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-mongolian-beef/
But then I have lots of beef recipes and you can look through my archive and I’m sure you’ll find some you like.
https://www.jocooks.com/category/ingredient/beef/
Here are some I recommend:
French Dip – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/french-dip-sandwiches/
Grilled Ribeye Steak With Chimichurri – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/grilled-ribeye-steak-with-chimichurri/
Carne Asada – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/carne-asada-tacos/
Patty Melt – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/patty-melt/
Roast Beef – https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/roast-beef/
These are just a few, but there are many more. Hope you find some you like.
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but it sounds perfect. The Instapot manual says 18 ounces of liquid (not oils) is required for pressure cooking. Should I use 8 ounces or 18 ounces? Thanks!
You’re right about the Instant Pot requiring a certain amount of liquid, but in this recipe, the 8 ounces are enough because the chicken releases additional liquid as it cooks, preventing the burn message. Also the chicken sits on a trivet here which helps. Give it a try with 8 ounces; it should work out perfectly!
Hi! I would like to make this but only want to cook 2 chicken breasts. Should I lessen the amount of chicken broth and the cooking time? I am new at Instant Pot cooking. 😉 Sorry if this has been asked. I did try to search through comments.
No worries at all, we all start somewhere! For cooking two chicken breasts, you don’t need to reduce the amount of chicken broth; it’s important to have enough liquid to ensure proper pressure cooking. As for the cooking time, it generally remains the same regardless of the number of chicken breasts, as it’s based on the thickness of the individual pieces. Just make sure the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F (75°C) for safe consumption.
Thank you so much! I will keep you posted!
Very simple and tasty too. Great addition of spices to the onion soup mix I usually use.
Glad you enjoyed it! It’s always nice to mix up the flavors a bit. Thanks for trying it out!
I made this tonight and it was very good. I will definitely make it again and try changing the seasonings a little for a different flavor. Try Louisiana Cajun seasoning and basil. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the gravy.
Experimenting with different seasonings like Louisiana Cajun and basil sounds like a fantastic way to keep the dish exciting and new each time you make it. Adding butter to the gravy would undoubtedly give it a rich, luxurious texture and flavor.
Simple and very tasty!
Paired great with some pasta and red sauce!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! It’s wonderful to know it paired perfectly with pasta and red sauce—what a classic, comforting meal. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience; it really makes my day to hear when someone has success with one of my recipes.
I truly appreciate this recipe! It’s quick and tasted great, and now I keep a small jar of this seasoning in my cabinet too!
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback, Alicia! It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that something as simple as a go-to seasoning can make meal prep quicker and tastier. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience!
This recipe was easy and tasty. I did not use the trivet as others reviewers have done and just put the breasts right into the chicken stock and they turned out really good. I also made gravy from the juices that was great with the chicken and the risotto I made.
Thanks for sharing your twists and I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
How do you make the gravy?
Here you go: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-chicken-breast/#How_To_Make_Gravy
This was easy and delish!
Looking through all the whole chicken instant pot recipes, I’ve seen cooking times from this one up to 30 minutes! I tried 20 minutes and it seemed the chicken was dried out. How can there be such a huge variance for the same recipe?? I was afraid to undercook it so I went middle of the road but seems that was too much. Is 5 minutes really enough to get a whole chicken up to 165 degrees (safe temp)?
I understand how confusing varying cooking times can be, especially when you’re working with something as important as chicken. The 5-minute cooking time in my recipe is specifically for chicken breasts, not a whole chicken. Cooking a whole chicken would certainly require more time. For whole chickens, cooking times can range widely depending on the size of the bird, whether it’s bone-in, and how powerful your Instant Pot is. However, if you find that 20 minutes dries out your chicken, it might be worth reducing the time in future attempts.
To answer your question about safety: For my 5-minute chicken breast recipe, yes, that is sufficient time to reach 165°F internal temperature when cooking in an Instant Pot on high pressure, given that the recipe also factors in the time it takes for the pot to come to pressure and release pressure. Always make sure to use a meat thermometer to check that your chicken has reached a safe internal temperature of 165°F
Perfect!! 6-qt instant pot, four boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about two pounds), no oil, no searing, FIVE MINUTES!!🥳 and completely natural release.
Smoked paprika and Italian seasoning with garlic chips and 1/4 of a lemon squeezed all over and then put on the rack to cook with the breasts. 1 cup of organic chicken broth under the rack😉(very difficult to make it stay above the rack…😂), salt and a very light sprinkle of cayenne, and mwah!!
Tender chicken, and tasty broth ready to make gravy!
Thank you very much!
You’re very welcome, and thank you for sharing your successful experience with this recipe! Your seasoning combination with smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic chips, and lemon sounds divine. I’m glad you were able to create tender chicken and tasty broth.
Delicious 😋.
I don’t have an instapot, so I sear the breast in a pan with olive oil. Cooked in pressure cooker for 13 minutes. Then I made gravy in pot with 1 table spoon of corn starch.
Love this recipe, I have cooked it more times than I can count, it is one of my “go-to” recipes. I have found it comes out better with really large breasts, so I would recommend that if you are using smaller breasts, shave a couple of minutes off the natural release time… LAST THING — What happened to the video on Youtube?? I’m sad to see it’s gone, this is one of the recipes I use to convince family/friends to buy an instant pot, and I often send them this recipe video to get them interested…
I’m so glad you like this recipe. You can find the video right here on the post: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-chicken-breast/#wprm-recipe-video-container-26609