Boneless chicken breasts cooked in the Instant Pot turn out perfectly juicy and moist every time. Instant Pot chicken breasts can be shredded, sliced, or diced and added to a variety of dishes. Use fresh or frozen chicken breasts in this fast, 10-minute recipe!
Using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot to cook any ingredient — especially when you’re meal prepping —is a time saving game changer.
Using a pressure cooker shaves off valuable hands-on cooking time, and unlike cooking on the stove top, there’s no monitoring with a watchful eye for liquids boiling over, or turning the temp down, or even stirring. Instead, cooking can be a completely hands-off affair.
But the real beauty of cooking chicken breasts in the Instant Pot is you can use either fresh or still frozen chicken breasts and literally toss them in with no defrosting needed.
That’s why this method has been my “what’s for dinner” meal saver more than once.
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
- This ridiculously easy recipe works with fresh or frozen chicken breasts. You can add the frozen chicken breasts straight to the Instant Pot without thawing them first.
- I used my 6-quart Instant Pot to cook three large chicken breasts; don’t try to squeeze the chicken into a smaller one.
- Like any pressure cooker recipe, allow extra time for the Instant Pot to come up to temperature. This typically takes about 5 to 7 minutes, but depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts and how many you stack in the insert, it could take longer. You’ll also need to allow time for the pressure to release naturally.
What’s in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Chicken breasts — I tend to cook skinless boneless breasts most often, simply for the ease of it. They shred easily and work well for meal prep.
- Water — Water or another liquid (like chicken broth) must be added to the Instant Pot because it relies on steam to pressure cook the meat. The water also keeps the chicken moist and prevents it from sticking to the bottom of the Instant Pot insert.
- Kosher salt and whole black peppercorns — Add both straight to the water. If you only have table salt on hand, use less than the recipe calls for since it tastes saltier than kosher salt.
Optional Seasonings to Add
I kept this Instant Pot chicken breast recipe super simple and didn’t doctor up the meat with additional seasonings. If you want to inject more flavor into the chicken breasts, try using blackened seasoning, fajita seasoning, your your favorite poultry seasoning.
How to Cook Chicken Breasts in the Instant Pot
- Add the chicken to the Instant Pot. You can use a metal rack with handles if you’d like, or you can skip the rack if you prefer.
Heidi’s Tip: I typically cook 3 breasts at a time for my little family, which yields about 6 cups of shredded chicken.
- Add the water and seasonings. You’ll need to add 1 cup of water when cooking chicken breasts in a 6-quart Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then naturally release the steam. Check that your chicken has an internal temperature of 165° F to be cooked through.
Cook Times for For Fresh vs Frozen Chicken
Surprise! The length of time needed to cook chicken breasts in an Instant Pot is the same whether you’re pressure cooking fresh or frozen chicken.
Note that if your chicken breasts are frozen, you do NOT have to defrost them because the Instant Pot will do the work for you. However, frozen chicken cooks best if it’s not frozen into one big clump.
If you have a larger block of chicken, only then should you allow for more cooking time (you will have to play with the timing depending on how big your block of frozen chicken is).
FAQs
Yes, I just prefer using boneless chicken breasts because they’re easier to shred and repurpose in other dishes. But if you only have bone-in chicken breasts you’re welcome to use those instead.
Yep, the beauty of pressure cooking is that you can scale recipes up quite easily without having to change the cook time. To cook more chicken breasts at once, I suggest layering the chicken breasts side by side if frozen or stacking them if fresh.
You only need to increase the cook time if your chicken breasts are very thick or are frozen into a big clump rather than added to the Instant Pot individually.
Recipes You Can Make Using This Chicken
Cooked chicken breast is one of the easiest bases for any weeknight soup, tacos, salads, or casseroles.
Here are a few recipes to think about making with your Instant Pot boneless skinless chicken breasts:
- Main Dishes — Chicken Pot Pie, One-Pot Chicken and Rice, Green Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Nachos, Chicken Mole Enchiladas
- Soups — Chicken and Gnocchi Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Pastas — Chicken Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Pesto Pasta, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
- Salads — Chicken Salad, Greek Salad with Chicken, Strawberry Chicken Salad
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Instant Pot Chicken Breasts Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)*
- 1 cup water
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 5-6 whole peppercorns
Instructions
- Place the chicken and the water in the insert of a 6-quart Instant Pot or pressure cooker and sprinkle with the kosher salt and peppercorns.
- Select High Pressure and set the timer for 10 minutes. When the timer sounds, use the Natural Pressure release, and allow the valve to drop and carefully remove the lid.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and shred, dice, or slice. Serve hot or chill to use for later.
Notes
Nutrition
More All-Purpose Methods for Cooking Chicken
- Best Baked Chicken Breasts
- Easy Poached Chicken
- Juicy Baked Chicken Thighs
- Simple Whole Roast Chicken
- Grilled Chicken Breasts
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Kathy
This worked really well for frozen chicken breasts. Thank you
Kerrie Murphy
How much water is needed for one breast and how long will the cooking time be?
Lynne
Hello! I’m a little confused. In the narrative you say to use quick release, but in the actual recipe you say natural release. Which should it be? Thanks!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Sorry for the confusion. I use natural release!
Ned
How long to cook for two thawed boneless skinless breasts?
damian johnson
I did 10 minutes and they turned out perfect.
Pam
I don’t know what “set high pressure is)??? Please help?
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Hi Pam, On the instant pot there are two options for pressure high and low. For this recipe I use the High pressure setting. Did that help?
Cathy Ribezzo
Hit pressure level then – or + low medium or high
Cathy Ribezzo
Also Pressure Cook then positive or negative
Elaine
The chicken breasts kinda look funky and dry…maybe it’s just the pictures…..
Ashley Sorenson
You do want to make sure there is enough moisture in your Instant Pot!