How to Cook Frozen Instant Pot Chicken Breast
Here's how to cook frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot or any other electric pressure cooker. Cooking chicken from frozen is a huge time saver, and so easy! Here's how to cook chicken from thawed or frozen, and all the tips you need for success.
Servings: 4
Calories: 130kcal
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt
- Instant Pot Trivet
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 cup water or low sodium chicken broth
- 1 lb chicken breast boneless, skinless
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Place one cup of water or broth in the bottom of the Instant Pot Insert. 1 cup water
- Place chicken in the bottom of the pot, or on a trivet. Try to place chicken in a single layer as possible. 1 lb chicken breast
- Season your chicken with salt, pepper, and any other spices you'd like. ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp black pepper
- Close and lock the lid and set the your pot to pressure cook (high).
- Set cook time for 12 minutes for fresh chicken under 2 inches thick, or 15 minutes for fresh chicken over 2 inches thick or frozen chicken.
- Once cook time is complete, allow your pot to pressure release naturally for 10-15 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid and drain all liquid from the pot, then shred or slice your chicken. Serve immediately, add to your favorite recipe, or store in an air tight container in the fridge.
Notes
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Recipe Tips:
- Instructions and cooking times are for boneless chicken breasts. If you’re cooking bone in chicken breasts, cook for 8 minutes per pound of chicken.
- The general rule to cook frozen chicken breasts is to pull your chicken apart before adding to the pot. Often times chicken is not cooked through when it is all stuck together or stacked on one another. If this happens and your chicken isn’t cooked through after the timer goes off, simply pull your chicken apart and cook for a few more minutes. If you’d like, you can cut off the cooked pieces and remove them from the pot first to make sure it’s not overcooked.
- When cooking frozen meat, your pot will take longer to come to pressure. This is totally normal. Pro tip: If you’d like to hurry this process along a bit, add the liquid right away and turn your pot to sauté while you’re pulling things out of the freezer and gathering spices.
- In addition to spices, you can add things like Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles), salsa, green chiles, or jalapeños to the pot while the chicken is cooking. Sometimes the liquid in the pot will make the taste a little watered down, so another option is to cook the chicken with broth or water and after it’s cooked, add it to a bowl and shred it, then add your Rotel, salsa, or green chilies. Shredded chicken soaks up flavoring well.
- Seasoning options for your chicken: While most of the time I cook the chicken in broth or water, sometimes I like to add seasonings on top of the chicken breast. I have a rotisserie chicken recipe with several different chicken seasonings to choose from or you could add something right from your spice cabinet like Italian seasoning, chili powder, or taco seasoning.
- Quick tip: Chicken is fully cooked and safe to eat when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. You can test the temperature of the chicken by using an instant read thermometer or a meat thermometer.
- Pro tip: The Instant Pot cooks easily shreddable chicken that can be added and incorporated to new recipes. This can cut down on your cooking time of new recipes if you already have chicken available.
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Healthy Eating Plans:
Chicken breast is a great staple for those trying to lose weight and eat healthier. Add it to salads, make dips from it, or eat it with veggies for a healthier protein boost.
- Weight Watchers: When using boneless, skinless, chicken breasts each 4 ounce (raw) serving counts as 0 2025 Points | 0 2023 Points | 0 Blue Plan Points | 2 Green Plan Point | 0 Purple Plan Points
- 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: Each 3/4 cup serving counts as 1 Red Container.
- 2B Mindset: In addition to this meat, fill your plate with 75% FFC for a complete breakfast. Fill your plate with 50% veggies and 25% FFC for a complete lunch, or add 75% veggies for a complete dinner.
Nutrition
Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 280mg | Potassium: 421mg | Fiber: 1g | Vitamin A: 35IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg