Instant Pot Chicken Breast

Juicy, flavorful and tender Instant Pot Chicken Breast ready in 30 minutes from start to finish, with simple ingredients and no searing required.

Instant Pot Italian chicken breast and Instant Pot BBQ chicken breast are my other go-to on a busy weeknight or a weekend!

This Instant Pot chicken breast recipe is easy, simple and forgiving!

I have been making slow cooker chicken breast for years. It’s a great recipe, the only downside is that you have to remove cooked chicken right away to avoid it being dry. So, this Instant Pot chicken recipe solves the problem because chicken breast is done in 25 minutes or so.

I just love Instant Pot! It makes the best Instant Pot frozen chicken breast or the best rotisserie style Instant Pot frozen whole chicken if you forgot to thaw the meat.

And if you are not a blessed electric pressure cooker owner, check out my baked chicken breast or air fryer chicken breast.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Quick: All you have to do is rub chicken breasts with spices and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. With pressure build up and bringing it down, you are in for a maximum of 30 minutes of total pressure cooking time.
• Easy: You don’t even have to saute your chicken but you can, if you wish.
• Tender, juicy and flavorful: I can guarantee you will end up with the best chicken breasts ever because the pressure cooker locks in all the moisture inside the meat.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken Breast

To make chicken breast in Instant Pot you really only need chicken breasts and water. Everything else is up to your taste and what you are planning to serve it with.

• Chicken breasts: You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts of any size. Best to cook similar size pieces together for even cooking.
• Salt and pepper: Simple seasonings so your chicken is a blank slate for other recipes.
• Garlic powder: If you wish, but not required.

How to Cook Chicken Breast in Instant Pot

• Add water: Add 1 cup of cold water and place trivet inside the pot. You want to use cold water so warm water doesn’t reduce the cook time. Some readers like to use chicken stock or chicken broth instead, especially if cooking without a trivet.
• Add chicken: Lay chicken breasts in a single layer, sprinkle with spices and rub onto each other right inside the pot. You can also do so on a separate plate but I find it isn’t necessary.
• Pressure cook: Depending on the model of your Instant Pot, you will have to press either Pressure Cook on High pressure or Manual button. Set timer for 10 minutes – for breasts under 2 inch thickness, 15 minutes – for over 2 inch thick breasts.
• Release the pressure: Now you want to wait 5 minutes aka do Natural Release for 5 minutes. Then turn the pressure valve to Venting position to release remaining pressure. I find you do not have to rest this meat.

How Long to Cook Chicken Breasts in Instant Pot?

I have put together this cooking time chart for your quick reference:

Chicken breast thickness	Cooking time	Natural pressure release
Under 2″ thick	10 minutes	5 minutes
Over 2″ thick	15 minutes	5 minutes

Tips for Best Results

• If you don’t have a trivet: It’s OK to place chicken breasts in water and cook without a trivet. I have tried it many times and it makes them even more juicy. I never got a Burn notice.
• Don’t use Poultry button: Poultry setting has preset time that is not customizable to the size of your chicken breasts. Also poultry is a very large concept ranging from chicken tenders to bone-in whole chicken.
• Don’t do Quick Release: If you release pressure right away after cooking, it will make your chicken breast dry. I recommend to wait 5 minutes and then turn valve to Venting.
• Don’t throw away the liquid: It is basically Instant Pot chicken broth and is perfect for making soup recipes and Instant Pot soup recipes.
• Size of Instant Pot you can use: Any size of Instant Pot works. It comes in 3 quart, 5 quart, 6 quart or 8 quart. Same recipe, same cooking time and same water amount. Just make sure chicken breasts fit in a single layer.
• If your Instant Pot is small: If you want to cook large amount of chicken breasts in 3 quart pot, do so in a few batches. Piling up chicken in a few layers will result in undercooked chicken.
• Bone-in and skin-on chicken breasts: Cooking time remains the same. You do not need to cook them longer because 10-15 minutes of cook time along with about 10 minutes of pressure build up time, is enough to cook through thin chicken bones.

Serving Suggestions

It sure is a welcome addition to a variety of recipes like salads, enchiladas, casseroles and sandwiches.

Here are a few ways to turn it into a meal:

• Instant Pot shredded chicken: Shred meat with 2 forks, refrigerate and use to make healthy chicken salad or healthy white chicken chili.
• Diced chicken breast: Chop it up to add protein to cottage cheese pasta, vegetable soup or borscht.
• Low carb meal: Make my favorite ratatouille recipe to have with chicken for a complete meal.
• With sauce: Combine shredded chicken with healthy barbecue sauce or teriyaki sauce.
• With salad: Serve with spinach avocado salad.

How to Store

Store: Refrigerate leftover chicken in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container or resealable freezer bags for up to 3 months. Thaw in fridge or on a counter.

FAQs

More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes to Try

• Instant Pot chicken and rice
• Instant Pot chicken and potatoes
• Instant Pot white chicken chili
• Instant Pot chicken pasta
• Instant Pot stir fry

Also be sure to browse 45 other healthy Instant Pot recipes and our entire category of Instant Pot recipes.