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Instant Pot Chicken Breast is a versatile chicken breast that is quick, easy and it literally melts in your mouth! Serve it for dinner or store it in the freezer until needed!
When Dan and I first were married. We were dirt poor (rich in love though!), so we did a lot of crazy things in order to spend less money than one normally would. (Like when we rigged up a washing machine OUTSIDE of our apartment.) One of the things that we did to save a buck, in Dan’s words, we ‘invested in a pair of hair clippers’.Did I know how to cut hair? Hard no. That didn’t rain on our parade though! We bought those Walmart clippers and then went home and got to work! I’ll always remember that first time I cut his hair. It took me well over an hour and it was bad. Like REAL bad. It was a ‘well, it’s winter so you can just wear a beanie, all the time for 3 weeks, right?’ bad. 
I am pleased to say, I have gotten much better ( and faster)! I have a routine now and it looks pretty much the same every time! Practice makes perfect! Aaaaand a cute husband. 😉
This chicken breast has a similar story. I tried, and tested. Then tested and tried! BUT, alas, I have found thee perfect chicken breast, and it is easy, to boot! I always have some of this stocked away in the freezer then if I am in a bind and need a quick meal, it is there waiting just like the loyal friend it is.
When I prep it, I always make 2 breasts. I slice one, and then shred the other. I love to put the sliced chicken on top of Alfredo, in a salad, or on pizza! I use the shredded chicken in chicken salad or a variety of other dishes. It is just so handy to have some in the freezer at a moment’s notice!
Here are some Pro chicken breast tips:
- Make sure your chicken breast is no thicker than 1 inch. If it is, put it in a baggie and use your rolling pin to make it 1 inch thick. (Or you know, you could use a meat mallet. That works too.)
- Season, season season! You generally need to season more than you would regularly when using a pressure cooker. McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning is my favorite.
- Sear on both sides and then remember 5-5-5. Five minute cook time, 5 minute NPR, 5 minute rest.
- When slicing the chicken, a sharp knife is a MUST! I wrote about my favorite knifes in this post. If you want to be knife buddies, this is the one I love.
- The best and easiest way to shred chicken is in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Just try it. You’ll be amazed.
Instant Pot Chicken Breast
All-Purpose Chicken Breast you can serve for dinner, or slice and freeze for later use!
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts 1 inch thick
- seasonings of your choice
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot on Sauté, Normal. Melt butter in the Instant Pot.
- While the butter is melting, make sure the chicken breasts are 1 inch in thickness. If they are too thick, put them in a zip top bag and use your rolling pin to flatten them a bit. Generously season one side of the breast.
- Once the butter has melted, add the chicken breasts, seasoned side DOWN, to the Instant Pot. Season the side facing up (the unseasoned side). Let the chicken brown for 5-7 minutes on each side.
- Remove chicken breasts from the Instant Pot and deglaze the pot with the water. Once the pot has been deglazed, insert the trivet, place the chicken breasts onto the trivet.
- Cook on Manual, HIGH for 5 minutes. Allow for a 5 minute NPR then quick release the rest of the pressure. Take lid off, but let chicken sit and rest for another 5 minutes.
- Once the chicken has rested, take out of the Instant Pot and either enjoy, slice or shred!
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Instant Pot Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, 1 inch thick
- seasonings of your choice
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot on Sauté, Normal. Melt butter in the Instant Pot.
- While the butter is melting, make sure the chicken breasts are 1 inch in thickness. If they are too thick, put them in a zip top bag and use your rolling pin to flatten them a bit. Generously season one side of the breast.
- Once the butter has melted, add the chicken breasts, seasoned side DOWN, to the Instant Pot. Season the side facing up (the unseasoned side). Let the chicken brown for 5-7 minutes on each side.
- Remove chicken breasts from the Instant Pot and deglaze the pot with the water. Once the pot has been deglazed, insert the trivet, place the chicken breasts onto the trivet.
- Cook on Manual, HIGH for 5 minutes. Allow for a 5 minute NPR then quick release the rest of the pressure. Take lid off, but let chicken sit and rest for another 5 minutes.
- Once the chicken has rested, take out of the Instant Pot and either enjoy, slice or shred!
Hi Wendy! How thick are the thin sliced chicken breasts? I haven’t tested this with frozen chicken. When I have tossed frozen chicken in my Instant Pot from time to time I have found that it takes a few more minutes than thawed chicken. You could sure try though! I would add on a few minutes of cook time and try that. Sorry I can’t tell you for sure!
Hi Kathryn! I haven’t ever tried so I can’t say for sure. I think if you made sure that the skin-on chicken breast was 1 inch thick it should work the same as skinless chicken breasts. If you do try it out, let me know how it goes!
How can I make frozen chicken breast?
What if they’re over an inch thick?
Hi Marylou! I haven’t throughly tested frozen chicken breasts yet. When I do toss them in, I usually cook them right in the chicken broth for 25 min HP 10 min NPR.
Frozen chicken is tricky because all are different sizes and thicknesses which require different cook times. I have had the most success with the timing up above. Hope this helps!!
How much seasoning do you use for two breasts?
Hi Donna- I don’t ever measure the seasoning, I just shake on enough to give the chicken breast a nice coating. Hope this helps a little!
Ok Karli, I am not an intuitive cook so I’m hoping you can help me. My chicken breasts were still pink inside and the outside was crispy by 5 minutes on sauté so I tried butterflying the breasts and cooking them until the whole breast was done and then pressure cooked them. After they had rested 5 min I dug in and the breasts were crazy dry! My question is do I need to make sure that the meat is fully cooked after sautéing or will pressure cooking them after sauté take care of any raw meat in the center? Cooking is such a mystery to me!!
Hey Heather! So the pressure cooking is what will cook the chicken all the way through. Browning both sides at the beginning helps lock in the moisture & gives the chicken a nice flavor. The browning is not meant to cook the chicken all the way through, the pressure cooking will do that. Give it another shot! ❤️
What method do you use for freezing? Just separate into portions and put into freezer bags? Or do you vacuum seal?
I just use freezer bags!