Happy Tuesday, friends!
You guys know by now how I feel about my Instant Pot…the thing is a miracle worker! As a busy mama of two little ones, it’s now the culinary tool I recommend most to new moms. Seriously. I use mine about once or twice a week and I’ve only been let down once (spaghetti in the IP…not a fan).
Anyway, I finally tried doing a whole chicken in it the other day and was not let down. It turned out absolutely perfect and took only 45 minutes start to finish, and that includes the time it took for the pressure to come back down.
You guys HAVE to try this — it makes dinner so ridiculously easy and my kids cleaned their plates. They have both been sick (the dreaded hand, foot, mouth – thanks, preschool germs) and I was thrilled to get something so healthy and comforting into them after days of no appetite at all.
I based this on a recipe I used to make quite often — slow cooker whole chicken. All I do for that is just cook a whole chicken, sweet potatoes and carrots in the slow cooker for five hours until it’s incredibly tender and falling off the bone. Actually, that is what I was intending to do here before I thought to try it in the Instant Pot instead.
Now, keep in mind that when you cook root veggies like this in the Instant Pot with your chicken, the veggies will turn out VERY soft. That was not a problem for us because I was really cooking with my kids in mind. They both inhaled the carrots and sweet potatoes — Luke loves whole cooked carrots! Next time I make this, I am going to throw in a couple parsnips or maybe a turnip. We love root vegetables in this house. 🙂
Like I said, the chicken turned out perfect. Very moist and tender and just swimming in yummy broth! I placed my chicken under the broiler for two minutes after it came out of the pressure cooker and the skin crisped up beautifully.
This is a great basic recipe that I know I will make all the time because I like to have plain cooked chicken on hand during the week for lunches. To me, nothing beats a classic roast chicken straight out of the oven. Buuuuuuut…..sometimes it’s handy to just be able to crank out a whole healthy chicken dinner like this in 45 minutes flat and call it a day. 😉
- 1 whole chicken, preferably organic about 4.2 lbs
- 1 cup water or broth
- 2 large carrots peeled and broken in half
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 4 large chunks each
- 1 tbsp butter cut into slivers
- fresh rosemary
- kosher salt and pepper
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Place the trivet inside your Instant Pot and pour the water or broth into the bottom.
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Pat the chicken dry and season generously all over with salt and pepper. Set chicken on trivet.
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Place veggies on top of chicken, then the butter and the rosemary. Put Instant Pot top on and set to manual high pressure for 27 minutes. Do a natural pressure release when the timer is up.
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When your chicken is coming down in pressure, preheat the oven to broil. When the chicken is ready to come out of the Instant Pot, use tongs to place it carefully on a sheet tray and place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp up skin.
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Sprinkle with extra sea salt and serve with veggies.
This recipe will yield about two cups of really yummy chicken broth. Pour the broth into a glass measuring cup or bowl and set to cool. When cool, skim off the fat and strain through a cheesecloth (optional). Save broth to drink or cook with, or freeze for later use!
Perfect Instant Pot Whole Chicken and Veggies - social foods
April 18, 2017 at 6:26 am[…] April 18, 2017 Chicken, Instant Pot, Main Course, Recipes This post was originally published on this […]
Audrey
April 18, 2017 at 8:01 pmThis recipe looks absolutely delicious, Jenna! Can’t wait to try it out at home. Thank you for posting.
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Lisa Bower
April 19, 2017 at 3:38 amI’m so happy you are back! I have definitely left that comment already but i don’t care lol You are my favorite website to read and always have been! I am looking for a really good gluten free cookbook with great tasting recipes that aren’t too complicated…do you have any recommendations?
jenna
April 19, 2017 at 2:49 pmYes! Yummy Supper by Erin Scott. It’s fantastic!
Lisa Bower
April 19, 2017 at 4:52 pmThanks so much!
Sophie
April 19, 2017 at 11:38 amOh no! I HATE hand foot and mouth! I *just* discovered that coconut oil helps their mouth not hurt quite as bad. Ha if they want a spoonful which isn’t exactly a given 😉 This looks super yummy. I think I am going to need to invest in a pressure cooker. I love that you broiled your chicken. I think that makes such a difference. Hope they are all better soon!!
Laura W
April 20, 2017 at 5:39 amI’m definitely going to try this soon. I’ve been looking for more Instant Pot recipes so thank you for posting this and for including the total time with the pressure build-up and release.
Leslie
December 9, 2017 at 11:17 amJust ate this and it was so good! Thanks for sharing instant pot meals! I added regular potatoes as well as sweet. Excellent!