Instant Pot Chicken Breast Recipes

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If you have never made chicken in your instant pot then you are truly missing out on life!

Chicken is one of the easiest and most versatile proteins there is and we eat A LOT of it. I love a stockpile of good instant pot chicken breast recipes and there are seriously so many options out there.

Here are some of the best around when it comes to making a flavorful instant pot chicken breast recipe!

And you know what? Not only does chicken cook fast, but you can even cook frozen chicken breasts in the pressure cooker! (You will just want to add a couple of minutes to your cook time.)

Check out all of our Instant Pot recipes while you’re here as you meal prep for the upcoming week.

Instant Pot Chicken Breast Recipes

When you are cooking in your Instant Pot, you might have some questions about what some of the terms mean in these recipes. This is totally normal, especially if you’re new to using your Instant Pot.

What Does Manual High Pressure Mean? 

This is a great question.

If you have an older Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker, pressing the “manual” button is telling it you want to pressure cook.

On some of the newer Instant Pots and electric pressure cookers there is a button that actually says “pressure cook” on it.

Not matter which one you do, manual or pressure cook, it is automatically going to give you high pressure.

So, high pressure means it is cooking the contents at the highest level it can. Remember, you always have to cook with at least one cup of liquid in the electric pressure cooker. That liquid, depending on the level of pressure you’ve selected is going to be heated up to as high as 240-250 degrees.

The Instant Pot brand actually heats up only to 242 degrees where some of the other brands can get up to 250 degrees.

How Safe is an Electric Pressure Cooker?

I get asked this question all the time and I think people have heard lots of scary stories about the electric pressure cookers our grandmother’s may have used back in the day.

This guy is full of great information. He agrees that electric pressure cookers are suited for people with busy lives. He shows us how they work and just how safe they are.

What Does Natural Release Mean on the Instant Pot?

It means what it says. By allowing the steam and pressure to release naturally this means you are letting it leave the electric pressure cooker slowly and you are NOT using the Quick Release option by turning the sealed valve to open once the meal is done cooking.

By doing the natural release function it will take 15 minutes or so to release the pressure which will then allow you to unlock the lid and open it.  

Honestly, for chicken it is totally fine to do a Quick Release. I like to use Natural Release when I am cooking meats that need to rest after cooking. I always Natural Release my beef, for example.

How do you Saute in the Instant Pot 

Some of the recipes for chicken breasts might tell you to saute before you actually put the food under pressure. Did you know you can do this right in your electric pressure cooker. No need to dirty up more dishes.

In this video I show you how I used my Instant Pot to saute olive oil, onion and garlic before I added my chicken and other ingredients to make a chicken soup recipe.