The longest experiment of all times: Instant Pot Chicken. How long to pressure cook a whole chicken, chicken legs, chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks, chicken wings AND chicken breasts. I’ve got chicken coming out of my ears now!
First the bad news. Um, I’m never eating chicken again in my life I think. Ew! I’m also never eating rice again after my Instant Pot Rice post. Only veggies for me the rest of the month please!
The good news: you don’t have to get to that point because I got you all the numbers with my experiments 😉
Before I start. This is all for thawed (NOT FROZEN) chicken and chicken parts. AND it’s all cooked on the trivet with water at the bottom, not touching the chicken. You can add whatever seasoning or sauce you want. Or you can cook it on top of rice or beans or whatever else cooks in the same amount of time. This is simply the minimum times you need to have the chicken or chicken parts IN there.
Warning: this is a VERY long post talking about my experiments and results. If you’re in a rush, you can just Jump to Recipe and there I list just the results.
Typically, it’s very easy to overcook chicken, but in the instant pot, it is difficult to do. Pressure cooking really locks in the flavor and moisture of chicken. I wouldn’t cook 1 lb of chicken for 20 minutes in the pressure cooker, but if you do, it probably won’t even be overcooked!
Instant Pot Chicken Leg
The whole leg or just thighs and drumsticks are a lot easier to cook. AND, they taste amazing pressure cooked. Not like the breasts. They become super tender and delicious!
There is a much higher margin for success. Where breasts shouldn’t be overcooked or they become mega dry, all the bone-in parts are way more forgiving and actually benefit from overcooking because the longer they cook the softer they get and the easier they are to pull apart from the bone. Of course, there is an upper time-limit but it’s REALLY high.
So the least amount of time whole legs seem to need (independent of size) to get to the safe 165F is 18 minutes but it’s hard to remove the meat from the bone after such a short time. The longer you cook it the more tender it becomes and more fall-off-the bone. I’ve cooked it at 22 and even 30 minutes and at around the 22-minute mark it becomes really tender and still at 30 minutes they were great. So I’d say 22 minutes is great if you’re cooking them alone but you can go all the way to 30 minutes if you’re cooking them with whole sweet potatoes that need that long or wild rice for example.
Conclusion for Instant Pot Chicken Leg:
Leave Skin On Or Remove When Making Instant Pot Chicken?
I’m a big advocate of always leaving the skin on, at least if you’re cooking only the chicken. If you’re cooking it on top of rice for example, the dripping fat WILL mix into the rice. You’ll have to decide if you’re ok with that depending on how fatty your other meals were during the day.
When you’re cooking only chicken on the rack with water in the bottom, the fat will drip into the water but the skin will keep the meat moist.
Now, be aware that the skin will NOT crisp up when cooked in the instant pot. It will be rubbery and yucky. You have two options after your chicken is cooked through. Either remove the skin and discard OR put under the broiler for a couple minutes for it to crips up.
Can you overcook chicken in a pressure cooker?
FAQ
Does pressure cooking chicken longer make it more tender?
What happens if you pressure cook meat too long?
Why is my chicken tough after pressure cooking?
How do you know when pressure cooked chicken is done?
How do you pressure cook chicken in a pressure cooker?
To pressure cook your whole chicken, pour one cup of chicken broth into the pressure cooker pot. Set the chicken on the wire rack that rests inside the pot and then brush your butter mixture (whatever is still remaining of it) over the chicken as it sits in the pot. Close up your pressure cooker and set for 15 minutes on the pressure setting.
Can you cook chicken breast in a pressure cooker?
On the other hand, pressure cooking is not the best method for the juiciest and moistest chicken breast. To summarize, the longer the meat is cooked, the drier it will become. It is very easy to overcook chicken breast in pressure cooker, as we cannot check the temperature and level of doneness during the cooking process.
Can You air fry chicken in a pressure cooker?
Close up your pressure cooker and set for 15 minutes on the pressure setting. Allow it to release naturally for five minutes and then use quick release for the remainder of the time. You can then air fry the chicken to give it a brown look into finish cooking it.
How long do you cook chicken skin in a pressure cooker?
Pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. Allow a full natural release. To crisp the skin after cooking, gently remove the chicken from the cooker and place onto a sheet pan. Paint the skin with butter and broil for 2 minutes or until the skin is as crispy as you prefer.