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Best Southern Instant Pot Recipes For Beginners | Instant Pot Whole Chicken Recipe – The Southern Way

How to make a whole chicken in the Instant Pot - the Southern way! 
It's more than just a traditional chicken recipe - flavorful, tender & juicy - it's more of a soul food flavor burst!
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Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Pressure Release Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Soul Food, Southern Food
Servings: 8
Calories: 294kcal
Author: Shaunda Necole

Equipment

  • Instant Pot electric pressure cooker
  • Instant Pot steamer rack/trivet rack

Ingredients

  • 5 pound chicken 4-5 ½ pound whole chicken, thawed
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 ½ quarts water
  • 2 tablespoons seasoning salt Famous Dave’s Country Roast Chicken Seasoning (Contains soulful flavors such as paprika, mustard seed, garlic powder, onion powder, bell pepper, and lemon zest all in one!)
  • 2 tablespoons garlic salt  Weber Seasoning, Roasted Garlic & Herb
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • ¼ cup parsley Optional - chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Instructions

  • Place the Instant Pot steamer rack/trivet rack on the kitchen counter and put the chicken on top.
  • Using the trivet rack handles, place the chicken inside the Instant Pot stainless steel inner pot.
  • Pour the water and salt into the inner pot with the chicken.
  • Turn on the Instant Pot sauté setting for 30 minutes. You'll need to add an additional 15 minutes immediately when the first 30 minutes finishes for a total of 45 minutes on sauté. (This is because the max amount of time using the sauté setting is 30 minutes.)
  • With the Instant Pot lid off, allow the chicken to come to a boil on the sauté setting. (It will take approx 18-20 minutes for the pot with chicken to get to a state of slow boil/slow simmer.)
  • When the cooking time is finished (after 45 minutes), drain the water by gently sliding the chicken from the inner pot into a colander. (Caution: Do not grab or use the trivet rack's handles while inside the inner pot of boiling water! Allow the rack to fall on top of the chicken as you slide the chicken out into the colander.)
  • Place the inner pot trivet rack on the kitchen counter.
  • Now gently slide the cooked chicken from the colander onto the trivet rack with the chicken’s breast side down. (The rack’s handles will make placing in and removing the whole chicken from the pot A LOT easier!)
  • Allow the chicken to cool for about 10 minutes so you can rub on the seasoning.
  • While the chicken is cooling, mix the Famous Dave’s seasoning and the roasted garlic & herb spice in a small bowl to create the Southern spice rub.
  • Rub on and coat the whole chicken with the seasoning mixture.
  • Pour the chicken broth into the inner pot.
  • Using the trivet rack handles, place the chicken inside the pot with the broth.
  • Close the Instant Pot lid (make sure the valve is up – in the position for sealing) and pressure cook on high for 25 minutes.
  • When the cooking time is finished, allow a natural pressure release for at least 15 minutes.
  • To open the Instant Pot lid, move the valve to ‘venting’ and manually release any remaining pressure, if applicable.
  • Baste the chicken by using a large spoon to scoop the broth from the inner pot over the top of the chicken.
  • Use the trivet rack’s handles to easily remove the chicken from the inner pot.
  • Place the whole chicken on a cutting board to carve, and slide out the trivet rack underneath.
  • Optionally, reserve the remaining chicken broth in the inner pot to pour over the chicken as your serve it, and garnish with chopped fresh parsley. I also like to pour the broth over rice.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Pro tips for making Instant Pot chicken

Read on for my pro tips and frequently asked questions for cooking chicken in an Instant Pot.
  • The cooking time for a whole chicken is 20-25 minutes. If you need to cook your chicken quicker, it’s possible to carve the bird into smaller pieces and then pressure cook for 15-20 minutes.
  • You can also use bone-in or boneless skinless chicken with excellent results.

  • Will the whole chicken fall apart when you remove it from the Instant Pot? 

Nope! Not if you’re using the Instant Pot trivet rack to easily remove the chicken with its convenient carrying handles.
  • Whole chickens in the Instant Pot can be carved before or after placing the chicken in the inner pot. Cutting it before can lessen the pressure cooking time by about 5 minutes.
  • Liquid is key when cooking anything in an Instant Pot – whether you’re using water, chicken stock, broth (or wine!). Start by putting at least ½ a cup of liquid into the pot, and then place your meat on top or on the inner pot trivet rack.

  • When you put the chicken on the trivet, do you put it breast side up or down? 

I suggest breast side down for this recipe so that the top of the chicken results in crispier skin.
Instant Pot Whole Chicken - The Southern Way Recipe

Nutrition

Calories: 294kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 4525mg | Potassium: 280mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 349IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg
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