Juicy Tender Instant Pot Chicken Breasts (Fresh Or Frozen) With Gravy

Instant pot chicken breast gives you tender and juicy chicken every-single-time with both fresh and frozen chicken breasts. No more rubbery, bland chicken.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here’s what you’ll need-

Chicken Breasts – This recipe works for both fresh and frozen chicken breasts. Frozen chicken will need more time compared to fresh chicken. Check below notes on how to cook frozen chicken breasts for more details.

Spices & Seasoning – Feel free to add your favorite spice to the recipe. Don’t forget to season breast with salt and freshly ground pepper.

We like to pack as much flavors in chicken breasts as possible. Bland and boring breasts is a big NO for us. With onion, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and lots of Italian seasoning herbs packs breasts with amazing flavors.

Chicken Stock – Can use water. We highly recommend chicken stock, as it makes a sensational packed with flavor gravy that enhances the taste of chicken breasts in the best way possible.

Olive oil – Never miss out on searing chicken breasts first before placing it inside the pot to cook. Searing chicken breasts in olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes on both sides makes chicken absorb more flavors. If using frozen chicken, you won’t be able to sear it. Skip searing.

Please note, flour and water needed to make gravy in the end isn’t shown in the pic. Let’s assume it’s there. You don’t want to miss out the gravy!

How To Cook Chicken Breasts in Instant Pot?

• Spice-Rub: In a small bowl combine all spices – onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, half of olive oil. Mix everything together.
• Apply spice rub generously all over chicken breasts.
• Sear Chicken: Set instant pot in SAUTE mode. Once it’s hot, add remaining olive oi. When oil is hot, place chicken in single layer and sear it for 2-3 minutes. Flip and sear other side as well.
• Remove seared chicken from instant pot.
• Cook Chicken: Pour chicken stock into the pot. Place the trivet and arrange seared chicken on top. Secure instant pot lid tight. Seal pressure valve in sealing position and set the instant pot on PRESSURE COOK mode, adjust timer for 5 minutes. Note – instant pot will take couple of minutes to build pressure inside before it starts cooking.
• Once cooking time is complete, let instant pot release NATURALLY for 8 minutes (or 10 minutes).
• Then release pressure MANUALLY.
• Open lid, remove chicken breasts out.

For Gravy: Remaining liquid in the pot is power house of flavors. Don’t waste it. Make gravy using the left over liquids that goes wonderfully with chicken.

To make gravy, simply whisk together 2 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of corn starch to make slurry.

Select SAUTE mode and bring the liquid to boil. Pour slurry into the pot and keep whisking while the gravy cooks. Cook for 3-4 minutes with constant whisking or until gravy thickened. Gravy ready!

Serve: After chicken breasts have cooled for a while, transfer it to cutting board. Slice it and serve with gravy.

To make a complete meal, serve sliced chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans or with rice and roasted broccoli on the side.

Pour gravy over sliced chicken, serve immediately!

Tips for cooking chicken breast in Instant Pot

1. Adjust seasoning and spices as per your liking. You can increaser paprika and pepper used in the recipe to add extra kick to the breasts, or reduce it to suit your palate.
2. Feel free to change them all together to use your favorite spices.
3. Use low sodium or no sodium chicken stock to make it absolutely healthy. Consider using pineapple juice or orange juice as well instead of stock.
4. Don’t skip searing chicken breasts before cooking it. It enhances the flavors making it delicious at the end. If using frozen chicken breasts, you won’t be able to sear it, skip searing for frozen chicken.
5. To pack more flavors into frozen chicken breasts, consider seasoning it with all the spices before you freeze it. This will ensure when you cook frozen chicken breasts, it’s not bland and boring.
6. DO NOT place frozen chicken breasts in the pot all glued together.  You’ll end up having over cooked and under cooked chicken.
7. If chicken breasts are frozen together, first thaw them over night in the fridge or I suggest placing them in a bowl of water until you can break them apart.
8. DO NOT pile up the breasts one top of another. Even if using fresh chicken.  It’s best to lay them out in one single layer.
9. Cooking time is widely determined by the size of the chicken breasts used. Check “how long to cook frozen chicken breasts in instant pot” section.
10. If you want to cook a large batch of chicken (which I don’t recommend), place chicken one top of the other. Be sure not to add chicken more than the “max fill line”. NOTE : Cooking chicken breasts placed one on top of another may result in some of the chicken breasts cooked perfectly, some over cooked and some under cooked.
11. For evenly cooked juicy chicken, highly recommend you place chicken in one single layer to cook.
12. Don’t toss the broth – make a sensational gravy from the left over liquids in the pot.  Remove cooked chicken from the pot. Boil the left over broth using sauté function. Make slurry with 1 tablespoon corn starch and 2 tablespoon of water. Add it to broth, cook for 3 to 5 minutes with constant cooking until desired consistency is reached.

FAQS

MORE INSTANT POT CHICKEN BREASTS RECIPES-

Instant Pot Chicken Marsala

Instant Pot Mexican Style Shredded Chicken

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

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5 from 9 votes

📋 RECIPE: Juicy Tender Instant Pot Chicken Breasts (Fresh Or Frozen) With Gravy

Jyothi Rajesh

Instant pot chicken breast gives you tender and juicy chicken every-single-time with both fresh and frozen chicken breasts. No more rubbery, bland chicken.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 22 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main, Main Course

Cuisine American, Western

Servings 3 servings

Calories 392

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 chicken breasts medium sized
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon of paprika
• ▢ 3 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 cup chicken stock low sodium stock, you can use pineapple or orange juice as well

For Gravy –

• ▢ 1 tablespoon corn starch
• ▢ 2 tablespoon water

Instructions

 

• Spice-Rub: In a small bowl combine all spices – onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, half of olive oil. Mix everything together.
• Apply spice rub generously all over chicken breasts.
• Sear Chicken: Set instant pot in SAUTE mode. Once it’s hot, add remaining olive oi. When oil is hot, place chicken in single layer and sear it for 2-3 minutes. Flip and sear other side as well.
• Remove seared chicken from instant pot.
• Cook Chicken: Pour chicken stock into the pot. Place the trivet and arrange seared chicken on top. Secure instant pot lid tight. Seal pressure valve in sealing position and set the instant pot on PRESSURE COOK mode, adjust timer for 5 minutes.

  Note – instant pot will take couple of minutes to build pressure inside before it starts cooking.
• Once cooking time is complete, let instant pot release NATURALLY for 8 minutes (or 10 minutes).
• Then release pressure MANUALLY.
• Open lid, remove chicken breasts out.
• For Gravy: Remaining liquid in the pot is power house of flavors. Don’t waste it. Make gravy using the left over liquids that goes wonderfully with chicken.
• To make gravy, simply whisk together 2 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of corn starch to make slurry.
• Select SAUTE mode and bring the liquid to boil. Pour slurry into the pot and keep whisking while the gravy cooks. Cook for 3-4 minutes with constant whisking or until gravy thickened. Gravy ready!
• Serve: After chicken breasts have cooled for a while, transfer it to cutting board. Slice it and serve with gravy.
• To make a complete meal, serve sliced chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans or with rice and roasted broccoli on the side.
• Pour gravy over sliced chicken, serve immediately!

Notes

• Adjust seasoning and spices as per your liking. You can increase paprika and pepper used in the recipe to add extra kick to the breasts, or reduce it to suit your palate.
• Feel free to change them all together to use your favorite spices.
• Use low sodium or no sodium chicken stock to make it absolutely healthy. Consider using pineapple juice or orange juice as well instead of stock.
• Don’t skip searing chicken breasts before cooking it. It enhances the flavors making it delicious at the end. If using frozen chicken breasts, you won’t be able to sear it, skip searing for frozen chicken.
• To pack more flavors into frozen chicken breasts, consider seasoning it with all the spices before you freeze it. This will ensure when you cook frozen chicken breasts, it’s not bland and boring.
• DO NOT place frozen chicken breasts in the pot all glued together.  You’ll end up having over cooked and under cooked chicken.
• If chicken breasts are frozen together, first thaw them over night in the fridge or I suggest placing them in a bowl of water until you can break them apart.
• DO NOT pile up the breasts one top of another. Even if using fresh chicken.  It’s best to lay them out in one single layer.
• Cooking time is widely determined by the size of the chicken breasts used. Check “how long to cook frozen chicken breasts in instant pot” section.
• If you want to cook a large batch of chicken (which I don’t recommend), place chicken one top of the other. Be sure not to add chicken more than the “max fill line”.
• NOTE : Cooking chicken breasts placed one on top of another may result in some of the chicken breasts cooked perfectly, some over cooked and some under cooked.
• For evenly cooked juicy chicken, highly recommend you place chicken in one single layer to cook.
• Don’t toss the broth – make a sensational gravy from the left over liquids in the pot.  Remove cooked chicken from the pot. Boil the left over broth using saute function. Make slurry with 1 tablespoon corn starch and 2 tablespoon of water. Add it to broth, cook for 3 to 5 minutes with constant cooking until desired consistency is reached.

 

Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 392kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 51gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 147mgSodium: 380mgPotassium: 973mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 430IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 2mg

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