This Instant Pot Whole Chicken recipe will help you get a delicious, healthy meal on the table in less than 45 minutes. Instant Pot chicken is moist and packed with flavor.
I love my Instant Pot.
It’s probably one of the single most time-saving purchases I’ve ever made. I use my Instant Pot several times a week because it means I can get a yummy dinner for my family without much time or effort.
Making a whole chicken in an instant pot is as easy as 1.2.3. You just need to gather your ingredients, place them in the instant pot, and then sit back and let this amazing pressure cooker do all work.
Instant Pot Whole Chicken
So you’re here to learn how to make whole chicken in the instant pot. First things first you need clean out your chicken. Remove all of the giblets, and the neck. All that gross stuff. Rinse the bird inside and out and pat dry.
Next, cut up 1 lemon and 1 onion and place these sliced pieces inside the chicken.
Inside your instant pot you are going to need to place the metal rack that comes with it. You will set the chicken on top of the rack breast side down.
Pour about 1 cup of water into the bottom of the instant pot.
Lastly you are going to season your chicken. Rub the top of your chicken with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil or melted better.
Then sprinkle the top with the chicken rub in the recipe below. Basically it’s salt, pepper, garlic salt, seasoning salt.
Place the lid on your pressure cooker and make sure the steam valve is closed. Now your will program your instant pot with the following settings. Poultry, High pressure for 35 minutes (for a 5 1/2 pound chicken) Adjust your time if its smaller. After 35 minutes let the instant pot naturally release for about 10-15 minutes then use the release valve to manually release the rest of the pressure.
After this you will have delicious, fall-off the bone, moist chicken.
Instant Pot Chicken Printable Recipe

Cook Instant Pot Whole Chicken In less than 45 minutes. This instant pot chicken recipe is delicious, moist and super easy to make.
- 1 Whole Chicken (Neck and Giblets Removed) 5.5 Lbs
- 1 Large Lemon
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp seasoning salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
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Clean out your chicken. Remove all of the giblets, and the neck. Rinse the bird inside and out and pat dry.
-
Next, cut up 1 lemon and 1 onion and place these sliced pieces inside the chicken.
-
Inside your instant pot you are going to need to place the metal rack that comes with it. You will set the chicken on top of the rack breast side down.
-
Pour about 1 cup of water into the bottom of the instant pot.
-
Rub the top of your chicken with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil or melted butter.
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Sprinkle the top with the chicken with 1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp garlic powder, and 1 tbsp seasoning salt.
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Place the lid on your pressure cooker and make sure the steam valve is closed. Now your will program your instant pot with the following settings. Poultry, High pressure for 35 minutes (for a 5 1/2 pound chicken) Adjust your time if its smaller. After 35 minutes let the instant pot naturally release for about 10-15 minutes then use the release valve to manually release the rest of the pressure.
- Adjust the time for the instant pot depending on the size of your chicken. If you use smaller than 5 pounds then cooking time is shorter. Rule of thumb is 6 minutes for every pound of chicken.
- You can substitute melted butter for olive oil
- Adjust seasonings based on your taste. If you prefer less salt you can omit the regular salt for seasoning salt.
Here are more chicken recipe ideas
Pepperoni Chicken Breast Pizza