This Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken is made with the most delicious and buttery lemon garlic sauce. It’s ready in just 30 minutes!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – use any neutral cooking oil such as avocado or grapeseed oil.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth would be the best substitute here.
- Chicken cutlets – if you can’t find cutlets, slice two boneless skinless chicken breasts in half lengthwise. Chicken thighs would also work with a few tweaks.
- Butter – swap out for a butter substitute of your choice.
- Lemon juice – freshly squeezed lemon juice is preferred but bottled lemon juice will work.
- Garlic – I like the flavour of freshly minced garlic but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Fresh rosemary – if you don’t have any fresh rosemary, use 1 tsp. dried rosemary instead.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Flour – arrowroot or tapioca starch will also help thicken the sauce.
- Lemon – you can leave these out but they really add to the flavour.
- Fresh parsley – leave this off if you don’t have any on hand.
- Broccoli – you could also serve this dish with steamed green beans or roasted veggies.
How to make lemon chicken in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Prep your ingredients.
Step 2: Add the ingredients to the pot.
Add olive oil, chicken broth and chicken cutlets to Instant Pot in that order then place lid on Instant Pot.
Step 3: Cook on high pressure.
Press the pressure cook button and select the high setting, then set to cook for 3 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to preheat then the 3 minutes to pressure cook.
Step 4: Make the sauce.
Remove the chicken cutlets from the pot and dump chicken broth, reserving 1/4 cup of it and leaving it in the pot. Press the saute button to change to saute mode. Add butter, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, whisking in flour. Stir and sautee until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.
Step 5: Sauté the chicken in the sauce.
Add chicken back to Instant Pot and saute another minute per side, then stir in lemon wedges and press cancel.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Serve chicken in sauce with side of broccoli if desired. Enjoy!
Instant Pot lemon chicken thighs
It’s easy to make this lemon chicken Instant Pot recipe using chicken thighs rather than breasts. Just make sure to use boneless skinless chicken thighs!
Since thighs can be relatively thick, you can do one of two things:
- Make them thinner: Use a sharp kitchen knife to slice the thighs into cutlets (cutting the thickness in half). Or, use the flat side of a meat mallet to gently pound them a little bit thinner.
- Add cooking time: If you don’t want to mess with making the chicken thinner, just add an extra minute or two on to the cooking time shown in the recipe card.
Frequently Asked Questions
The delicious sauce for this lemon chicken Instant Pot recipe is actually pretty simple and contains ingredients you likely already have on hand. It’s made with butter, lemon juice, garlic, fresh rosemary, salt, pepper and flour!
I like to serve this Instant Pot lemon chicken with a healthy side dish like steamed broccoli. You could also serve it with a garden salad, mashed potatoes, buttered egg noodles or steamed vegetables.
This lemon chicken instapot recipe has 337 calories per serving, which makes it a great low-calorie meal option.
One of the great things about an Instant Pot is its ability to cook meat while it’s frozen! I even have a post dedicated to making Instant Pot frozen chicken breasts. If you forget to pull your chicken out of the freezer in time, don’t panic. Just follow the instructions as written in the recipe card below, but add 3 minutes to the cooking time.
Storing and reheating
If you have any leftovers of this yummy Instant Pot lemon chicken, store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag for up to 5 days.
The easiest way to reheat this recipe is to use the sauté function of your Instant Pot. Just stir occasionally until everything warms through and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit. Alternatively, you can warm the leftovers in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Freezing this recipe
This lemon garlic chicken will freeze beautifully, which makes it a great option for meal prep! After the chicken has cooled, transfer it to an airtight freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost the chicken in the fridge overnight before reheating as normal.
More Instant Pot chicken recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls for the leftovers.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through.
Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 chicken cutlets
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 lemon, sliced
- Fresh parsley (for garnish, optional)
Steamed broccoli (optional side dish)
- 1 head broccoli, chopped
Instructions
- Add olive oil, chicken broth and chicken cutlets to Instant Pot in that order then place lid on Instant Pot. Press the pressure cook button and select the high setting, then set to cook for 3 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to preheat then the 3 minutes to pressure cook.
- Optional steamed broccoli: While everything is cooking in the Instant Pot, add 1 head broccoli (chopped into florets) to a large bowl of water. Microwave for 10 minutes, then drain.
- The Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure, then notify you it's done by beeping. Press the Cancel button then do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Remove the chicken cutlets from the pot and dump chicken broth, reserving 1/4 cup of it and leaving it in the pot. Press the saute button to change to saute mode. Add butter, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, whisking in flour. Stir and sautee until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add chicken back to Instant Pot and saute another minute per side, then stir in lemon wedges and press cancel. Serve chicken in sauce with side of broccoli if desired. Enjoy!
