This Instant Pot Chicken Breast recipe is a failproof method of making juicy chicken breasts – choose from three delicious seasonings!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like canola oil, avocado oil or grapeseed oil.
- Chicken breasts – you can also try making this recipe with four boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- Spices – use whichever spices you prefer. I’ve included recipes for Italian, Chili Lime and Ranch seasonings in the recipe card below.
How to cook chicken breast in the Instant Pot
- Season the chicken breasts.
- Add water and trivet to the Instant Pot.
- Place the chicken on top of the trivet.
- Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Serve with your favourite sides and enjoy!
What to serve with Instant Pot chicken breast
This Instant Pot chicken breast recipe goes with just about anything! Here are some of my favourite ideas on what to serve with your chicken:
- Steamed broccoli
- Baby potatoes or potato salad
- Cilantro lime rice (turn them into burrito bowls!)
- Loaded fries like these delicious Greek fries
- With cooked pasta and marinara sauce
Frequently Asked Questions
If your chicken breast is rubbery after cooking in the Instant Pot, you likely over-cooked it. Make sure you’re only cooking it for 5 minutes at high pressure followed by a quick release of the pressure.
Yes! This recipe will easily work for frozen chicken. Just place 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the pot, and thaw the frozen chicken on a trivet on high pressure for 3 minutes. Do a quick release of the pressure, and then season and cook the chicken following the recipe instructions as normal.
You’ll need to add ½ a cup of water to the bottom of the pot make sure your chicken breast turns out nice and moist.
You can use this recipe to make bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, but you’ll need to cook the chicken at high pressure for 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes.
I wouldn’t recommend using the poultry/chicken setting on your Instant Pot. It’s automatically set to cook at high pressure for 15 minutes, which would seriously overcook the chicken. Instead, cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes.
Storing and reheating
You can store any leftover chicken breasts in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Instant Pot chicken breasts are great for meal prep since you can eat the chicken on its own or slice it up and use it on salads, in sandwiches or even in pasta.
When you’re ready to eat your chicken, sprinkle some water over top so it doesn’t dry out then reheat it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until cooked through. You can also reheat it in a pan on the stovetop or in the oven for 10 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit.
Freezing this recipe
This Instant Pot chicken breast freezes beautifully. You can freeze it either cooked or raw in your chosen seasonings for up to 3 months. Just make sure to store it in an airtight glass container or freezer-safe Ziploc bag so it doesn’t get freezer burn.
The night before you’re ready to eat, just pop the chicken in the fridge overnight to defrost then reheat or cook as normal. If you’re in a hurry, you can cook the raw chicken breasts from frozen in the Instant Pot as well.
More Instant Pot chicken recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Lighter Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
- Instant Pot Orange Chicken and Rice
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls to store your Instant Pot chicken breasts and then use them in your weekly meal prep.
- Here’s an extra trivet for your Instant Pot in case you lost yours!
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen so I can use them anytime!
Instant Pot Chicken Breast {3 Ways!}
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 medium-sized boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup water
Italian
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
Chili Lime
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 1/4 tsp salt
Ranch
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
Instructions
- Season 2 chicken breasts with seasoning mix you’d like to use, rubbing chicken all over with applicable spices and olive oil.
- Add water and trivet to Instant Pot and place seasoned breasts on top. Press the pressure cook button and select the high setting, then set to cook for 5 minutes (add 1 more minute for larger breasts). Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to preheat then the 5 minutes to pressure cook.
- Note: to double recipe to 4 breasts, add 2 more minutes cook time, and for 6 breasts add 3 more minutes to the cook time.
- Do a quick release of the pressure once chicken has finished cooking by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon, then open lid when safe to do so. Serve with sides of your choice and enjoy!
