Learning how to cook a whole chicken in the Instant Pot (aka pressure cooker whole chicken) is life changing. For reals, if you've not joined the Instant Pot craze, aka electric pressure cooking, you my friend are about to. And apparently, aka is my favorite thing to say today, so let's rock it.
I must confess, I am a late comer to the Instant Pot, because I'm an old-fashioned kind of girl who didn't really want to add one more thing to my homestead kitchen. But, the allure of being able to cook a whole frozen solid chicken when I forgot to thaw it out and am an hour away from super time reeled me in.
Let's say that tends to happen a lot, even with meal planning the day will get away from me and I'll forget to take things out of the freezer until an hour before cook time, in the normal world, this causes issues with getting food on the table. In the Instant Pot world (or power pressure cooker xl) it's not a problem.
My sweet husband bought me my cooker,–> this exact model right here <–, for Mother's Day last year. The first time I used it I whispered, “Where have you been all my life?” It also became a standing joke that everything I cooked would be via the Instant Pot and I almost brought it with us during a camping trip.
Farm fresh eggs peel like a dream, no heating up the kitchen, the programming, I can pop the food in it, tell it not to start cooking for 3 hours, how long to cook, and then keep it warm for me, yes, it's a personal chef all tied up in a pretty little pot. That went poetic real fast. See what it does to people?
My slow cooker has since been removed to soap making and crafting projects only and I got rid of my rice cooker and vegetable steamer. Because the Instant Pot, she does it all.
Slow Cooker vs. Pressure Cooker
Cooking whole chickens or roasts are easy pressure cooker recipes to get started with. I prefer the pressure cooker texture over a slow cooker because the meat is just as tender, if not more, but the flavor is still there. When it comes to slow cooking, I never added my spices or herbs until they end, because the flavor tended to cook out. Not so with pressure cooking, the flavor is just as bright as roasting in the oven or skillet, but without the work on my part.
How to Cook a Frozen Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot
We raise our own organic and pasture raised chickens here on the homestead so when it comes to cooking a whole bird, they're always frozen solid straight from the deep freezer. Here's how to cook chicken in a pressure cooker when it's frozen.
I've discovered that for frozen meat, by adding 15 minutes (depending upon the size of the bird or roast if going beef) to regular pressure cooking times tends to be the magic number. The first few times I only added 10 minutes and because our birds weigh in at about 6 to 7 pounds, the center of the breasts was still raw.
Here is my guideline for instant pot frozen chicken recipes
If the frozen chicken is 5 pounds or under, add an additional 10 minutes to the cooking time for a total of 35 minutes at high pressure
If the frozen chicken is 6+ pounds, add an additional 15 minutes to the cooking time for a total of 40 minutes at high pressure
What if my whole chicken is still raw after cooking in the Instant pot
If you slice into it to find it's pink, just slap it back into the pot and pressure cook for an additional 7 minutes and she be done!
But to avoid all that extra work, follow the adjusted cooking times listed above.
Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Vegetables
If you want to toss some veggies on into this, go right ahead. Washed and diced (and peeled when necessary) potatoes, carrots, onions, anything your little heart desires, just place them on the bottom of the pot and decrease the water from 2 cups to 1 and 1/2 cups instead. Place your bird on top of them and away ya go. If adding veggies, you'll want to do the manual release so they don't get too soft.
Roasted Whole Chicken in Instant Pot
1 whole chicken (mine was our home raised birds and a 6 pound bird)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Sprinkle of paprika
Dried herbs of choice
3 fresh sprigs of rosemary in cavity of chicken
- Place fresh herbs inside cavity of chicken, sprinkle outside liberally with salt, pepper, and dried spices/herbs of choice. Place 2 cups water in bottom of Instant pot and place chicken inside (I don’t use the trivet because this large of a bird won't fit and it's one less thing to wash, score!)
- Secure lid and choose meat setting on high pressure for 40 minutes if frozen, and 30 minutes if thawed, and allow to cook. You can do either a manual or natural release depending on how fast you need to eat. (You’ll get close to 4 cups worth of broth when bird is done cooking)
- When the pressure cooking time is up, make sure pressure is reduced fully if going the natural release route, and remove lid. Using tongs, lift the chicken onto a serving dish or tray. It's usually fall off the bone so I take mine out in big pieces. Let it cool slightly and serve! (Do you see how juicy that baby is?)
- Reserve all of that luscious broth (it will have gel like you won't believe) for soup or make a quick gravy if you so desire.
How to Cook a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken mine was our home raised birds and a 6 pound bird
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Sprinkle of paprika
- Dried herbs of choice
- 3 fresh sprigs of rosemary in cavity of chicken
Instructions
- Place fresh herbs inside cavity of chicken, sprinkle outside liberally with salt, pepper, and dried spices/herbs of choice. Place 2 cups water in bottom of Instant pot and place chicken inside (I don’t use the trivet because this large of a bird won't fit and it's one less thing to wash, score!)
- Secure lid and choose meat setting on high pressure for 40 minutes if frozen, and 30 minutes if thawed, and allow to cook. You can do either a manual or natural release depending on how fast you need to eat. (You’ll get close to 4 cups worth of broth when bird is done cooking)
- When the pressure cooking time is up, make sure pressure is reduced fully if going the natural release route, and remove lid. Using tongs, lift the chicken onto a serving dish or tray. It's usually fall off the bone so I take mine out in big pieces. Let it cool slightly and serve!
- Reserve all of that luscious broth (it will have gel like you won't believe) for soup or make a quick gravy if you so desire.
There you have it, the fastest and easiest way to cook a whole chicken in the Instant Pot, frozen or not!
I’m assuming I can reuse the remaining bones, skin, etc. and make a batch of just broth after making this whole chicken?
I do!
I have an Air Fryer lid that attaches to the top of my Instant Pot. After I am done cooking the chicken, I change lids and set it on roast. It browns the chicken so it looks and tastes more like a roasted chicken. I’ve also made chickens without the Air Fryer lid and thats very good too.
Pro tip, this will not work with store bought chicken. LOL. I purposely didn’t thaw the one I knew I had after finding this recipe. But that moisture absorber and packet in the cavity are going no where anytime soon. 😛 Raising meat birds right now so this recipe will have to wait until then for me.
Made this last night & it was delicious! I left out the fresh herbs because I didn’t have it but it was still great without. Bonus: I got 5 cups of broth to put in the freezer for future use!
Not all of us have, or ever will have, the means to home grow or home process chickens or other meat. Many of the whole chickens around here come frozen with those paper packets of giblets and things stuck inside them. So we can’t cook a frozen chicken; we have to thaw in order to get those things out. I usually just pop the frozen bird into the freezer when I get home, unless using immediately, rather than thawing completely, removing the giblets, then re-freezing. Kind of defeats the purpose if you have to thaw first or re-freeze. Any suggestions to make that part easier?
I had this situation today for my 1st time doing it. I thawed my chicken just enough to remove the giblet bag. I cooked it for the middle time frame (35 minutes) and it turned out perfect!
I have an instant pot and have not used it yet…maybe after seeing this recipe, I will unbox it and give it a try!
Would you do anything different for an older hen? Our freezer stock of whole chicken is mostly older layers that I usually do in the crockpot but I tried in the instant pot and it came out very tough.
If you marinate in buttermilk for a couple of hours then cook in the instant pot it will turn out moist and tender.
This chicken turned out so well!! Didn’t have a trivet for my Instant Pot and turns out it is possible to make a whole chicken without it! So moist, flavorful, and the broth is delicious. Husband was a HUGE fan. Will be making this often. Wonderful recipe!
OK to add more water to get more broth??
I haven’t tried it with more to know if it would affect the cooking time or not.
So appreciate your checking on me; just been crazy bust lately. Love the idea of a Hot Pot. Will this email be active until I delete it because I want to try your recipes once I get my own Hot Pot (maybe for Christmas?)
Yes, this will be here for you!
This insta pot was the next must have for my kitchen and now having read your article I am sold on it. My daughter and I are always forgetting to get stuff out of the freezer so it will be a real blessing for us. Thank you Melissa
Yay, let me know how you like it when you get it!
I’ve never done a whole chicken before. I think I’ll give this a try tonight. Thank you for the recipe Melissa!
I haven’t jumped on the instant pot bandwagon yet but I think I need to. I love my crockpot so I am sure I would love an instant pot, especially if I can cook a whole chicken in it!
I was a late commer, but I love this thing!
The only part I have found difficulty in cooking a whole frozen chicken in my Instant Pot is getting the bird in there. Sometimes the legs don’t fit down in so I have to thaw just enough to get the bird in the pot. But other than that, I, like you have fallen in love. we are still getting to know one another. we tried a chicken tortilla soup last night and it was GOOD.
Thank you for all you do and all the time spent. Keep up the good work and sharing the good word.
Yes, if my bird is on the bigger side I have had to get creative on which way to flip and finagling it into the pot to get the lid to seal.