How Long Do I Cook Chicken Breasts in the Instant Pot? (Fresh or Frozen)

After testing 100s of recipes nearly 1 1/2 years for our second cookbook, we narrowed down the Instant Pot cooking times for all sorts of recipes. Here is a rundown on how long to cook chicken in the Instant Pot.

 

Fine tuning the perfect cooking times for chicken breasts in the Instant Pot was not easy. There is SO much misinformation out there. We found ourselves overcooking chicken breasts like it was our job. Using our meat thermometers as our guide, we were able to narrow down how long to cook chicken breasts in the Instant Pot and we’re excited to share with you our findings.

Tips for Cooking Chicken in the Instant Pot

• In order for the 6 quart Instant Pot to work, it needs a minimum of 1 cup of liquid. If you have an 8 quart Instant Pot, it needs at least 1 1/2 cups of liquid.
• Because chicken breast is so easy to overcook, we always use the quick release method. Quick release is when you turn the pressure release valve to “open” or “venting” (depending on IP model) at the completion of the cooking cycle. This forces the steam to release from the Instant Pot quickly.
• Do not stack chicken when cooking in the Instant Pot. It will cook unevenly. This is especially true for frozen chicken. Try to spread it out evenly along the bottom as much as you can.
• Use a meat thermometer like the one we recommend here to determine doneness. All poultry must cook to the safe temperature of 165°F internally (or no more pink inside). But, you don’t want to cook it longer than that and get dried out.
• If cooking chicken from frozen, make sure to read our post about how to prepare and cook freezer meals in the Instant Pot. Seriously, don’t skip it.
• If you have more questions about the Instant Pot, swing by and browse Instant Pot 101.

How to Cook Chicken Breasts in the Instant Pot

Cooking times are based on 1-2 pounds of medium-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

We found that chicken breast is at a safe cooking temperature (165°F) after about 7 minutes using a quick release method. We always use the manual function (as opposed to the poultry function). If the chicken breast is a bit on the larger size, add another minute or two. If it’s on the smaller size, subtract a minute.

Tip: These 7 Chicken Marinade Recipes all have Instant Pot cooking instructions. Try them out!

How to Cook Chicken from Frozen in the Instant Pot

Cooking times are based on 1-2 pounds of frozen medium-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

We found frozen chicken breasts are at a safe cooking temperature (165°F) at 15-20 minutes using a quick release method. We always use the manual function (as opposed to the poultry function). When cooking food from frozen in the Instant Pot, we recommend starting at the shorter end of the time range and then adding more minutes if it’s not done.

The only variation to this cooking time is when chicken is in a soup. We found that because it takes so much longer for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, the chicken takes LESS time to cook. Likely 5-6 minutes. It feels a bit counter intuitive since there is more in the pot when cooking a soup recipe but we consistently found that chicken was done quicker this way.

Instant Pot Recipes

Need some recipe ideas to get you started? Swing by this amazing collection of Instant Pot Freezer Meals.

Or try these Instant Pot Chicken recipes:

• Chicken Parmesan Sliders
• Chicken and Cheese Taquitos
• Chicken Nachos

How to Cook Chicken in the Instant Pot