Instant Pot Chicken Breast- 7 Flavors!

How to cook the most juicy and delicious Instant Pot chicken breast, plus seven flavor options! Using the pressure cooker cooks your chicken breasts quickly, with no need for an oven, and they always come out perfectly. 

The Instant Pot can cook certain cuts of meat to absolute perfection; from pork tenderloin to pulled pork to a whole chicken and so much more. One of my absolute favorite ingredients to cook is a boneless skinless chicken breast.

How to cook chicken breasts in the Instant Pot

To cook Instant Pot chicken breast, you need to add one cup of cooking liquid to the stainless steel inner pot of your Instant Pot (1.5 cups if you have an 8 quart). You can use water, chicken stock, or one of the sauces that are included in the recipe card below.

Make sure that the liquid you use is a thin liquid as it must produce steam to bring the Instant Pot to pressure. For example, salsa, enchilada sauce, or barbecue sauce may be too thick to create enough steam, leading to a burn warning.

Add your chicken breasts right into the liquid, and put the lid on the Instant Pot and pressure cook for the appropriate time (see the next section).

Cook times depend on the size of the chicken breast

Depending on the size of your chicken breasts, you may need to adjust the cook time. The average sized (7 oz) chicken breast requires 8 minutes at high pressure, whereas a larger (10 oz) chicken breast will require longer (10 minutes).

• 5 oz chicken breasts - 6 minutes with quick pressure release
• 7 oz chicken breasts (average)- 8 minutes with a quick pressure release
• 10 oz- 10 minutes with a quick pressure release

I recommend investing in a digital thermometer. Make sure your chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F before removing from the Instant Pot.

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Use a quick pressure release

Chicken breast can go from perfect to dry and over-cooked in a short amount of time, therefore we like to use a quick pressure release.  A quick pressure release means that as soon as the chicken has finished it's pressure cooking cycle, we carefully move the steam release knob from the 'sealing' to the 'venting' position. Do this carefully, and never place your hand or your face near the steam release valve when doing a quick pressure release.

Rest the chicken

Just like when we make perfect baked chicken breasts, when cooking Instant Pot chicken breasts, it's important to rest the meat before slicing into it. Resting the meat allows the juices to settle. If you cut into them immediately, the juices will run out all over your cutting board or plate.

You can cover the chicken breasts while they rest for 5 minutes with a baking dish to keep them warm.

Cooking frozen chicken breasts

Unlike the slow cooker, it is safe to cook chicken breasts from frozen in the Instant Pot. In a slow cooker, the chicken may sit for an extended amount of time at an unsafe temperature, allowing harmful bacteria to reproduce, whereas in the Instant Pot, the temperature gets hot quickly, killing off the bacteria.

If your frozen chicken breasts are stuck together, you will need to pry them apart. One way to do this is to pressure cook for 2 minutes, do a quick pressure release, pry them apart, then cook for the remainder of the time (12 minutes total cook time).

Increase the cook time for frozen chicken breasts from 8 minutes to 12 minutes, and make sure you test that they have reached 165°F with a digital thermometer.

Making freezer packs

The recipes below can be cooked immediately, or assembled ahead for meal prep freezer meals.

1. Assemble all ingredients not labelled 'after cooking' into heavy duty-freezer bags, reusable silicone bags (I love the ½ gallon Stasher bags for this), or a meal prep container.
2. Freeze for up to 3 months.
3. Thaw completely before cooking *

*while it is safe to cook chicken breasts from frozen, you need liquid to come to pressure and I have not tested whether that will work with these recipes fully frozen

Tips for freezer packs

• if you have already-frozen chicken breasts, do not thaw and refreeze, simply add the frozen chicken to the sauce and pop back into the freezer
• these recipes have only been tested in a 6 quart Instant Pot and may not have enough liquid to pressurize an 8 quart Instant Pot; doubling the recipe should do the trick
• you should be fine to double them and cook for the same amount of time, but if you find they are not at 165°F after releasing the pressure, add a few minutes on (the pot will come back to pressure really quickly)
• you can swap the chicken breasts for boneless skinless chicken thighs and increase the cook time to 10 minutes
• these recipes would likely work in a small (2.5 quart) slow cooker; cook on low for 3-5 hours
• you may shred or slice these chicken breast recipes

7 Instant Pot Chicken Breast Recipes

1. Creamy Lemon Garlic

GRAB THE PRINTABLE CREAMY LEMON GARLIC INSTANT POT CHICKEN BREASTS RECIPE HERE or scroll to the recipe card below.

2. Creamy Sun Dried Tomato 

GRAB THE PRINTABLE INSTANT POT CHICKEN BREASTS WITH SUN DRIED TOMATO SAUCE RECIPE HERE or scroll to the recipe card below.

3. Thai Red Curry 

GRAB THE PRINTABLE INSTANT POT THAI CURRY CHICKEN RECIPE HERE or scroll to the recipe card below.

4. Sweet Chili Coconut 

GET THE PRINTABLE INSTANT POT SWEET CHILI COCONUT STIR FRY RECIPE HERE or scroll to the recipe card below.

5. Soy Ginger 

GRAB THE PRINTABLE INSTANT POT SOY GINGER CHICKEN RECIPE HERE or scroll to the recipe card below.

6. Honey Sesame 

GRAB THE PRINTABLE INSTANT POT HONEY SESAME CHICKEN RECIPE HERE or scroll to the recipe card below.

7. Chipotle Lime 

GRAB THE PRINTABLE INSTANT POT CHIPOTLE LIME CHICKEN RECIPE HERE or scroll to the recipe card below.

More Instant Pot recipes:

• Instant Pot 101:  a Guide for Beginners
• Creamy Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
• Perfect Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
• Instant Pot Hard + Soft Boiled Eggs
• Perfect Instant Pot Black Beans