What is the largest chicken you can cook in an Instant Pot?

This is something you definitely want to consider when selecting your chicken. Make sure that the entire bird will fit in the Instant Pot. As a general rule, a 5.5 pound chicken will fit in a 6 quart Instant Pot.

Can I cook a whole chicken that is frozen?

I recommend completely thawing the whole chicken prior to cooking it in the Instant Pot. You don’t want to run the risk of the center being partially frozen.

How do I know when the whole chicken is fully cooked?

The safest way to be sure that the chicken is fully cooked is to use a meat thermometer. You want the internal temperature to be at least 165 degrees F.

Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot

Description

Cooking a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot is quick, easy and tastes even better than the rotisserie chicken you can buy at the grocery store.

Ingredients

Scale

1 whole chicken, 4-5 pounds
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 teaspoon paprika (smoked paprika preferred)
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup water

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Instructions

Prep your chicken by making sure it's thawed all the way if it was frozen and if it came with any extras in the body cavity (neck or gizzards) remove those, dump out any extra juices and set the chicken on a large plate.
In a small bowl mix together the salt, black pepper, poultry seasoning, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. I like to use a fork to combine them.
Your chicken should still be a little wet after removing it from the package, you don't need to pat it dry, that will help the spices stick.
Rub the spice mix all over the outside and in the inside cavity of the chicken.
Place a rack in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot (it should have come with this rack or trivet), place 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pressure cooker.
Place the chicken on the trivet in the pot.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the value to closed. Set the Instant Pot to 25 minutes at high pressure on the pressure cook setting.
Allow the Instant Pot to come to pressure, do the cooking time, and then allow it to rest at pressure for an additional 20 minutes and THEN you can flip the gauge to release any remaining pressure.
Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a cutting board or a serving platter. You can cut the chicken into pieces before serving or just serve the whole chicken and cut it up on the table. I often cut the breast meat from the bone and separate the chicken legs from the thighs so that I have breast meat, 2 legs, and 2 thighs to serve.
Enjoy right away.
Pick any remaining chicken from the bones and use in a soup or stew later in the week. Save the bones that have been picked clean to make Instant Pot chicken broth.

Notes

If you aren't using kosher salt, reduce the salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt.
I really like smoked paprika for this recipe and recommend using it if you have it on hand.
If you are working with a smaller chicken, reduce the cook time by 5 minutes.
This makes fairly ugly chicken, it just isn't much to look at but the taste is amazing. You've been warned, she's no looker.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Category: main dish
Method: instant pot
Cuisine: American

Keywords: instant pot chicken, how to cook chicken, whole chicken, how to cook a whole chicken in the instant pot, whole chicken instant pot