Instant Pot Whole Chicken With Garlic & Herbs
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Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Garlic & Herbs is the easiest way to make a whole roasted chicken you’ll ever find. It’s stuffed with onion, celery, and butter to make it extra juicy, then smothered with herbs, garlic, and spices. This one will give your favorite rotisserie chicken a run for its money! 
Instant Pot Whole Chicken With Garlic & Herbs
Here’s a really, really simple instant pot whole chicken recipe for you to try this weekend. What I love most about this recipe is that it doesn’t require you to pay attention to it AT ALL. That’s right, you won’t have to hover over this thing wondering if it’s reached the right temperature yet, or if it’s overcooking. The instant pot knows what it’s doing. And what you’ll get in the end is a super flavorful, moist, delicious chicken dinner in less than half the time! This instant pot whole chicken is done in about an hour, cutting the cooking time for a roasted chicken down significantly!
If there’s anything that looks fancier than a roasted chicken on your dinner table, then I’m not sure what it is.
Maybe a turkey? This is basically a tiny version of a turkey, anyway. Right? Kind of. Moving on.
I’m all about making easy dinners, especially when you have guests coming over or multiple people to cook for. And an instant pot whole chicken ranks right up there with any slow cooker recipe in my repertoire. You can set it up and then forget about it, without worrying about overcooking the thing. It’s a win in my book! Once you learn how to cook a whole chicken in the instant pot, you may never make it the old way again.
And did I mention that this would be falling-off-the-bone kind of good? That’s right. Evidence above.
You’re really going to need the steamer basket to lift the chicken out of the instant pot in one piece, but it’ll be well worth it when you’re ready to dig in!
I used a 6 1/2 lb bird in the photos here. I probably wouldn’t go above 7 lbs in the instant pot. It fit pretty perfectly, but I think any bigger and you may have to quarter it first. The golden rule here is to set the instant pot on high for 24 minutes to cook a 4 lb bird. Any bigger than that, you add another 6 minutes to the time per pound. You can double-check that you have the right time by measuring the temperature of the chicken as soon as you remove the lid. Make sure to get the thermometer into the deepest part of the meat for an accurate reading.
And feel free to get creative! If I had a 4-5 lb bird, I probably would have thrown a few potatoes and veggies like carrots, onion, and celery on the bottom under the steam rack, along with the water. That would make it an all-in-one meal here! You can experiment with different veggies and starches. Even rice!
Here’s a few more easy dinner recipes for the rest of the week, too!
More Easy Dinner Recipes After Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Garlic & Herbs
- One Pot Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice – The name says it all. Make this entire dinner in just one pot! Easy to make, and easy to clean up.
- One Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken with Yellow Rice – Another really simple one, you just mix all of the ingredients together, top with chicken and bake!
- Easy Slow Cooker Butter Chicken – You can’t have an easy dinner recipe roundup without some slow cooker mixed in there!
- One Pot Coconut Chicken Curry with Vegetables – Keeping with the chicken theme, here’s one that’s a little different. But I think you’re going to love the spices going on here! It’s creamy, coconut and veggies kind of good!
Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Garlic & Herbs
Ingredients
- 5 lb whole chicken, giblets removed
- 1 medium yellow onion, cut into 4 quarters
- 1 medium stalk celery, cut into 4 pieces
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Instructions
- In small a bowl mix together olive oil, parsley, onion powder, salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, and paprika. Rub half onto chicken skin, flip over and rub remaining half onto other side. Make sure to cover all pieces.
- Stuff celery, onion, and butter into cavity of the bird. Place steam rack into instant pot, along with water.
- Place chicken into instant pot. Lock lid onto pot and close steam valve. Set for 30 minutes on High.
- When time is done, allow pot to naturally release (don't do anything until the pressure is gone, about 20-25 minutes). When done, remove lid and double check temperature of the inside of the chicken is above 165F.
Notes
Nutrition
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