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This Instant Pot Lemon Chicken is an easy dish bursting with fresh flavors from a delicious lemon garlic sauce. Juicy lemon garlic chicken thighs are paired together with nutrient rich vegetables for a healthy and easy dinner that your whole family will enjoy.
Lemon juice and garlic are a flavor combo that just works. When you pressure cook the two together you will create the most delicious sauce to top your golden brown chicken thighs and vegetables with.
If you are looking for a healthy one pot dinner recipe, look no further than this Instant Pot lemon chicken. Everything cooks in one pan for an easy, healthy dinner that you can have on the table in no time.
I love using my trusty pressure cooker to make a quick and easy dish on busy weeknights. Not only is this lemon chicken great for school nights, it’s also a great recipe for meal prep!
Where’s the Recipe?
Here at My Crazy Good Life we have visitors of all different comfort levels in the kitchen. Whether you’re new to pressure cooking, or just new to cooking in general, we want you to be able to recreate our recipes with ease.
To help our readers have a successful experience cooking, we provide a lot of information in our articles. Below you will find an informative list of ingredients, detailed cooking instructions, recipe tips, as well as healthy eating plan calculations for a couple popular programs.
If you’re comfortable in the kitchen, and with pressure cooking, and would like to skip past all of that, please go ahead and scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find our easy to print recipe card for this Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Thighs recipe.
Ingredients in Instant Pot Lemon Chicken
- Garlic cloves: For this lemon garlic chicken recipe we use a spice rub that gives the chicken thighs so much flavor. This recipe calls for minced garlic as opposed to garlic powder. Fresh garlic helps to season chicken thighs and the lemon sauce for an absolutely delicious flavor. Garlic powder can be used but you won’t get as much of a fresh garlic taste.
- Paprika: Paprika is rich in antioxidants as well as vitamins and minerals. It adds a sweet and peppery taste to the chicken thigh rub. Feel free to use sweet or smoked paprika. Smoked will give you an additional layer of flavor.
- Oregano: Dried oregano is used in Italian seasoning and adds a delicious earthy flavor to the chicken thighs.
- Marjoram: Dried marjoram is another Italian seasoning that is a great addition to this Instant Pot lemon chicken recipe.
- Salt: We use just a little salt to help bring out the flavors in this Instant Pot lemon chicken recipe.
- Pepper: Black pepper adds a subtle layer of heat to our chicken thighs rub.
- Chicken thighs: I love using chicken thighs when I cook in the Instant Pot. If you think you’re not a fan of dark meat, I urge you to try this recipe using boneless skinless chicken thighs. Skinless chicken breasts can become dry and rubbery as the chicken cooks. One of the things I love most about cooking chicken thighs is, even if they are slightly over-cooked, you have moist, tender chicken when the cooking time is complete.
- Lemon juice: Our Instant Pot lemon chicken uses fresh lemon juice from about 3 lemons to create a delicious lemon garlic sauce. Not only does lemon juice add bright and fresh flavors, lemon juice is also high in Vitamin C, which may give your immune system a boost!
- Chicken broth: I use chicken broth or chicken stock for this Instant Pot chicken thighs recipe.
- Potatoes: Use mini or baby potatoes for this Instant pot lemon chicken thighs recipe.
- Baby bella mushrooms: You can’t go wrong with mushrooms. They’re fat-free, low-sodium, low-calorie, and cholesterol-free. They’re also packed with fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
- Asparagus: Asparagus is a tasty vegetable that’s also a great source of vitamins and minerals, especially folate and vitamins A, C and K.
- Cornstarch: We add this at the end of our cooking time to create a cornstarch slurry, which helps to thicken the delicious lemon garlic sauce.
How to Make Instant Pot Lemon Chicken
Step 1: Start by gathering your ingredients and then spray the bottom of the inner pot to your Instant Pot with a nonstick cooking spray, and then press sauté.
You can also use a small amount of olive oil or avocado oil to lightly coat the bottom of your inner pot.
Step 2: In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, paprika, oregano, marjoram, salt, and black pepper. Then rub the mixture into the tops of your chicken thighs.
Starting with the seasoned side down, place the chicken thighs into your pot.
Take care not to crowd your chicken together, you may need to repeat this process several times so that the chicken thighs can sear properly.
Sear for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side.
Step 3: Set the seared and golden brown chicken thighs aside, and add lemon juice and chicken broth to the pot. Use a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
Step 4: Place the baby potatoes in the bottom of the pot, and then set the seared chicken thighs directly on top of the potatoes.
Close and lock the Instant Pot lid and turn the steam release valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook (high) and set the cooking time for 5 minutes. When the cooking time is complete, quick release the pressure and carefully remove the lid.
Step 5: Now it’s time to add the mushrooms and asparagus directly on top of the chicken thighs. Close and lock the Instant Pot lid and again turn the steam release valve to sealing. Pressure cook (high) and set the cooking time for 1 minute.
Step 6: When the cooking time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove chicken, vegetables, and potatoes to a large platter.
On your Instant Pot, select Sauté and add the corn starch to the pot.
Step 7: Whisk together with the chicken broth to make your cornstarch slurry. Once the lemon sauce has thickened you can remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot base.
Step 8: Place the lemon garlic chicken, vegetables, and potatoes into individual bowls or plates, and spoon sauce on top of each serving. Serve immediately or see below for tips on storing for meal prep.
Recipe Tips
- This Instant Pot Lemon Chicken is a delicious and healthy recipe that I love to make for meal prep. To prep, I divide equal portions of lemon chicken, vegetables, and potatoes into meal prep containers. You can serve the gravy on the side, or spoon it over the top of each serving before storing.
- Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and vegetables keeps in the fridge for up to 6 days, or it can be frozen for up to 2 months. To reheat, microwave each thawed serving for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
- This recipe uses a quick release to release the pressure from the Instant Pot. If you’d like to learn more about quick release vs. natural release you can read this post.
Healthy Eating Plans
This Instant Pot chicken recipe serves 6.
21 Day Fix Instant Pot Lemon Chicken
Entire recipe: 6 red containers, 6 yellow containers, 6 green containers
Per serving: 1 red container, 1 yellow container, 1 green container
Weight Watchers Instant Pot Lemon Chicken
6 2025 Points | 8 2023 Plan Points | 8 Blue Plan Points | 8 Green Plan Points | 5 Purple Plan Points
More Instant Pot Recipes
Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup
Philly Cheesesteak Pasta
One Pot Chicken and Rice with Veggies
Instant Pot Lemon Chicken
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Cutting Board
- Kitchen Knife
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp oregano dried
- 1 tsp marjoram
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 3 lb chicken thighs boneless, skinless
- 3 lemon juice from
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ lb mini potatoes any variety
- 1 lb baby bella mushrooms halved
- 1 lb asparagus halved and woody ends removed
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Start by spraying the bottom of the inner pot to your Instant Pot with a nonstick cooking spray, and then press sauté. You can also use a small amount of olive oil or avocado oil to lightly coat the bottom of your inner pot.
- In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, paprika, oregano, marjoram, salt, and black pepper. Then rub the mixture into the tops of your chicken thighs. 2 tbsp garlic 1 tsp paprika 2 tsp oregano 1 tsp marjoram ½ tsp salt ½ tsp black pepper
- Take care not to crowd your chicken together, you may need to repeat this process several times so that the chicken thighs can sear properly.Starting with the seasoned side down, place chicken thighs into your pot. Sear for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. Set the seared and golden brown chicken thighs aside and, when you are done searing all of the thighs, add lemon juice and chicken broth to the pot. Use a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. 3 lb chicken thighs 3 lemon ¼ cup chicken broth
- Next, place the baby potatoes in the bottom of the pot, and then set the seared chicken thighs directly on top of the potatoes. Close and lock the Instant Pot lid and turn the steam release valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook (high) and set the cooking time for 5 minutes. When the cooking time is complete, quick release the pressure and carefully remove the lid. 1 ½ lb mini potatoes
- Now it's time to add the mushrooms and asparagus directly on top of the chicken thighs. Close and lock the Instant Pot lid and again turn the steam release valve to sealing. Pressure cook (high) and set the cooking time for 1 minute. 1 lb baby bella mushrooms 1 lb asparagus
- When the cooking time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove chicken, vegetables, and potatoes to a large platter. On your Instant Pot, select Sauté and add the corn starch to the pot. Whisk together with the chicken broth to make your cornstarch slurry. Once the lemon sauce has thickened you can remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot base. 2 tbsp cornstarch
- Place the lemon garlic chicken, vegetables, and potatoes into individual bowls or plates, and spoon sauce on top of each serving. Serve immediately or see below for tips on storing for meal prep.
Notes
- This Instant Pot Lemon Chicken is a delicious and healthy recipe for meal prep. To prep, divide equal portions of lemon chicken, vegetables, and potatoes into meal prep containers. You can serve the gravy on the side, or spoon it over the top of each serving before storing.
- Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and vegetables keeps in the fridge for up to 6 days, or it can be frozen for up to 2 months. To reheat, microwave each thawed serving for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
- This recipe uses a quick release to release the pressure from the Instant Pot. If you’d like to learn more about quick release vs. natural release you can read this post.
Nutrition
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