Recipes For Chicken Thighs In Instant Pot

Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs – Sweet, savory, tender and juicy chicken thighs prepared with the most amazing honey garlic sauce and cooked in an Instant Pot. Dinner, from start to finish, will be ready in 30 minutes!

My #1 recipe for Honey Garlic Chicken revisited AND updated with a new twist because, an Instant Pot is all the rage these days.

I know, it’s so hard to choose; crock pot honey garlic chicken or instant pot honey garlic chicken . I mean, one takes hours of cooking, and the other makes it all in minutes. But the instant pot is possibly my new favorite way to cook. I do really love my crock pot, but this pressure cooker/instant pot thingamajig is a game-changer.

Low Carb Instant Pot Lemon Chicken

This easy recipe for Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken is packed with so much flavor and requires very little effort. With just a handful of ingredients, this dish continues to be one of my go-to’s because it’s low maintenance and it’s fall-off-the-bone amazing.

Clearly, I’m not talking just any old chicken here. I’m talking aboutthe kind of garlic chicken that hits that perfect spot between sweet and savory, tender and juicy. Also, it can be made in about 20 minutes and that just makes my heart sing for joy! What’s more is that I always make extra so that I have at least some leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.

No big deal – just a few ingredients you probably have sitting around. But once you put them all together? GIRRRL!! You’ll see. There’s nah.thing better.

Instant Pot Chicken Thighs With Gravy

Once you’ve prepared the sauce, you can move onto browning the chicken thighs right inside your instant pot. One pot = one meal, and less dishes to wash.

I chose to use bone-in chicken thighs thus could only fit 4 at a time inside my instant pot, but if you go with boneless thighs, you can definitely get 6 to 8 thighs in there at once.

If chicken breasts are all you’ve got, not to worry! Just use the same method, but cook on poultry setting for 10 minutes.

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Recipe

Whether you want to make this in the crock pot, as we have done up until now, or in the Instant Pot, trust me when I say that no matter what route you take, in the end you’ll just be super glad that you prepared it.

The flavors in this dish are so simple, yet when combined, they are SO GOOD and out-of-this-world fantastic. It’s one of those recipes that you make once, and then you make twice, and then suddenly you can’t wait to make it again.

Sweet, savory, tender and OH SO juicy chicken thighs prepared with the most amazing honey garlic sauce and cooked in an Instant Pot.

Perfect Instant Pot Chicken Thighs (fresh Or Frozen)

*IF you are allergic to soy sauce or can't have soy for other reasons, feel free to use coconut aminos which issoy-free, gluten-free, and vegan.

Serving: 1 thigh | Calories: 244 kcal | Carbohydrates: 23 g | Protein: 21 g | Fat: 6 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Cholesterol: 96 mg | Sodium: 880 mg | Potassium: 313 mg | Fiber: 0 g | Sugar: 17 g | Vitamin A: 135 IU | Vitamin C: 2.4 mg | Calcium: 27 mg | Iron: 1.6 mg

Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs make a succulent, easy, and very flavourful dinner that will make everyone at the table happy. Leftovers, if you have any, are great in tacos or enchiladas. 

Instant Pot Honey Soy Chicken Thighs

Lately, if I need to come up with a quick, easy dinner, there’s about a 90% chance I’m going to cook these Instant Pot chicken thighs.

Like most of you, I have been very into hands-off cooking and this chicken is my new Instant Pot obsession; few ingredients, tender, juicy meat, flavourful sauce, versatile, and incredibly tasty. So simple, it’s ideal for the busy weeknight and none of us seem to tire of it.

If you’re new to the Instant Pot, this one is nearly impossible to get wrong. The process is beyond simple: lightly browned chicken thighs cook atop a bed of onions and peppers then pressured cooked until tender and juicy. Combined with the chicken juices, the onion and pepper mixture creates an unexpectedly flavourful and bold sauce that will both surprise and thrill you.

Instant Pot Sticky Chicken Thighs

Best of all, as good as it is the night you make it, the leftovers are even better the next day. I’m telling you, these chicken thighs are amazing and will have your weeknight dinner covered.

In general, boneless, skinless chicken thighs are my go-to for quick weeknight dinners. Throw them in an Instant Pot, and they will be more tender, juicier, and more flavourful than you thought possible. Here’s why you will love this recipe:

I need to be really clear on the minimal amount of liquid needed for this recipe because people get very heated about this. Yes, the Instant Pot generally requires liquid to get to pressure, and to avoid the dreaded burn notice.

Creamy Italian Instant Pot Chicken Thighs

But, for this recipe, and for many others, you do not need a lot of liquid. The chicken and vegetables release plenty of liquid to make everything work just fine.

The amount of sauce you see in the photos of the finished dish was achieved with only 4 tablespoons of water added. In fact, I usually use way less, or none. Don’t feel tempted to use more or you will have a very thin, watery sauce.

The only reason I add those 4 tablespoons of water, is to scrape up the browned bits left behind from browning the chicken. Doing this will 100% prevent the burn warning. Trust.

Instant Pot Chicken Thighs And Rice Recipe

Many readers continue to express concerns about the small amount of liquid this recipe calls for. Here is an explanation you might find helpful by Urvashi Pitre — a bestselling Instant Pot cookbook author:

“Many recipes call for too much water, which makes users wonder why their food is so bland or overcooked. Yes, it is true that you need a certain amount of water for the pot to come to pressure—but that water does not all need to come from the tap. Most vegetables, fruits, and meats release water while cooking. A LOT of water, in fact. In contrast, rice, most grains, potatoes, and pasta all absorb water.

Once you understand how this works, you will realize why many of my recipes don’t call for added water. Not only does it make food bland, but to thicken the sauce, you often end up having to use the Sauté function after the food is already well cooked—resulting in overcooked food.” ~URVASHI PITRE via Food52.

Instant Pot Asian Sticky Ginger Chicken Thighs

NOTE: If you are still nervous about using only 1/4 cup of water for this recipe, please go ahead and add 1/2 cup, or 1 cup. It will still be great but the sauce will be a little less tasty, even if you sauté it for a while.

I shouldn’t admit that I often skip this step when cooking skinless chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, but I do. The sauté function in the Instant Pot is incredibly convenient for browning vegetables and meat. The small surface, however, makes it very tedious to brown even a small amount of meat.

Unfortunately, we all know that browning does add depth and flavour to the finished dish, and here it also adds complexity and colour to the sauce.

Asian Inspired Instant Pot Chicken Thighs

So I compromise. I brown the meat on one side only. I find this gives me the nice browned bits on the bottom of the pan that add so much flavour, without spending too long on thetask.

Yes you can. With a few considerations to keep in mind. Dark chicken meat is forgiving, even when overcooked in the Instant pot by a minute or two. Meltingly-tender, you just can’t mess it up. Chicken breast on the hand, is not that straightforward or easy. It just almost always will taste dry. If you have no choice but to use breasts, reduce the cooking time by 2 minutes, and consider shredding the cooked chicken into the sauce.

Yes! In fact, the first time I tested this recipe I used a block of frozen chicken thighs. They were shockingly delicious. Simply follow the recipe exactly, skip browning the chicken, and add 4 to 5 minutes more cooking time. If you wish, increase the spice amount by just a touch.

Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken

These chicken thighs are incredibly flavourful and easy to prepare thanks to to a few pantry-friendly and the handy Instant Pot. After quickly browning the chicken and sautéing some onions and peppers, then add in just about a half hour, it is done!

You can certainly have some fun with these Instant Pot chicken thighs. Switch up the spices and make them lean towards a curry, or Thai flavoured dish.

I absolutely love the flavour of the peppers in this dish. Very reminiscent of a Dominican pollo guisado (stewed chicken) or an Italian chicken cacciatore. That said, I have made this with just onions and the chicken is still super delicious.

Instant Pot Bbq Chicken Thighs

You can even