Instant Pot Whole Chicken (From Fresh Or Frozen)
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Instant Pot whole chicken rivals any rotisserie chicken! Stick the whole chicken in your Instant Pot (even if it’s frozen) and come back to the fall-off-the-bone tender delicious chicken – amazing!
What could be more comforting than a homemade roast chicken? Instant Pot is the easiest method of making homemade rotisserie chicken! This Instant Pot whole chicken simply melts in your mouth! Don’t own an Instant Pot? Read my article on what is an Instant Pot to learn more about my favorite cooking gadget!
If you tried baking the whole chicken in the oven before and the result has been just “meh” (like in a tough, dry chicken), you owe it to yourself to try cooking the whole chicken in the Instant Pot. This will be the moistest, juiciest whole chicken you will ever have! Truly fall-off-the-bone! And speaking about bones, make sure you save them and make the most flavorful mouthwatering Instant Pot homemade chicken broth.
This Instant Pot rotisserie chicken recipe works with fresh or frozen chicken! So if you have a frozen-solid whole chicken stashed in your freezer, you can turn it into amazing roasted chicken for dinner tonight!
Do you like the sweet potatoes that are served with the chicken on my picture? There are two ways to make them – in the oven or in Instant Pot! Check out my oven roasted sweet potatoes and Instant Pot sweet potatoes recipes.
Cooking the whole chicken in the Instant Pot is really easy. Just pour 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot, insert the trivet (the metal rack that comes with the Instant pot), rub the chicken with your favorite spices, put the chicken on a trivet and pressure cook on High for 25 minutes for thawed chicken and 60 minutes for frozen chicken. When it’s done cooking, do a 15 minute natural release (NR), then quick release (QR) the remaining steam.
The only caveat with cooking frozen chicken is if it has the giblets packet inside, you must make sure it is removed (and it can be tricky to remove if it’s frozen solid, putting the chicken under warm running water can do the trick). Another thing to watch out for is plastic ties around the legs – make sure you remove them before placing chicken in Instant Pot.
Another thing to be aware of is that cooking chicken in the Instant Pot doesn’t brown the skin. There are 2 ways to brown the skin of the Instant Pot chicken – one way is to brown it before pressure cooking on the Instant Pot Saute setting, and another way is to put the chicken under the broiler for several minutes once it’s done cooking. I personally find the broiler method much easier. So to get browned chicken skin like you see on my pictures, just preheat the oven to Broil while the Instant Pot is doing natural pressure release, then remove cooked chicken from the Instant Pot, put in a baking dish, brush with oil or melted butter and stick under the broiler for about 4 minutes, or until the chicken skin is nicely browned. This step is totally optional – if you don’t care about browned skin, simply skip it :)
If you have any leftovers of this chicken, use them to make chicken avocado salad, chicken pasta salad or chicken quesadillas. Enjoy!
If you like Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken, you will also love these easy Instant Pot recipes:
- Instant Pot Chicken Stock – save the bones of this rotisserie chicken and make amazing chicken stock from them (in your Instant Pot, of course)!
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes – once you make mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot, you’ll never make them any other way! So much easier than dealing with a pot on the stove!
- Instant Pot Salsa Chicken – another easy 2-ingredient Instant Pot chicken recipe you can make with fresh or frozen chicken!
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Drumsticks – got a pack of frozen chicken legs? Dinner is ready!
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breast – Instant Pot makes it perfectly cooked, soft, tender and juicy!
- Instant Pot Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs – if you think this chicken is truly fall-off-the-bone, wait until you try these Insant Pot Baby Back Ribs! Best ribs ever!
Can’t get enough of my Instant Pot recipes? Click here to see them all!
Instant Pot Whole Chicken (Fresh or Frozen)
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken bag of giblets and any plastic ties removed
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 onion quartered
- 1 lemon quartered
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp olive oil optional
Recommended Kitchen Tools (click the links below to see the items used to make this recipe)
Instructions
- Mix the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika in a cup to make the seasoning.
- Rub the chicken with the seasoning all over.
- Put onion and lemon pieces in the cavity of the chicken.
- Pour 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot and put in the trivet. Put the chicken breast side up in the Instant Pot on a trivet.
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot and turn the valve to a Sealing position. Press the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" button and set the time to 25 minutes for thawed chicken (or 60 minutes for frozen chicken) on High pressure.
- When the Instant Pot is done cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally (NR) for 15 minutes, then quick release (QR) the remaining steam.
Optional step - browning the skin
- Preheat the oven to Broil.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot into a baking dish. Brush the chicken with olive oil, then put under the broiler for 4 minutes or until browned as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Your chicken looks amazing. I have a 6 quart instant pot and was wondering what size whole chicken will fit??
I also have a 6 qt, I’d say up to 5 lb chicken will fit easily, maybe even larger one.
Great recipe! My frozen chicken cooked perfectly in the Instapot. I took the chicken out and put melted butter mixed with Frank’s Buffalo Wings sauce then put it in the over on broil for 3 minutes. Nice colour & tasty. I’m now making chicken broth in the Instapot with the chicken bones :)
This recipe was delicious. Super easy. What can be done with the leftover liquid after pulling chicken out of pressure cooker? Thanks for your recipe
You can make gravy in the Instant Pot using the leftover liquid
I think this is better than cooking in oven, because it comes out juicier and the chicken is more tender
Luckily I saw your website and brought me here to your easy and delicious recipe. So good!