Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs

Name: Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts; 2 lbs potatoes (about 5-6 medium potatoes, cut into three equal pieces, I use russet potatoes); 1/2 large white onion (sliced); 2 cloves garlic (peeled); 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1/2 cup chicken stock; zest and juice of one lemon; fresh dill (oregano or parsley, to serve, optional); salt and pepper (to taste)

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Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes | This one-pot meal with chicken breasts, potatoes, lemon juice, and fresh herbs is a super easy, satisfying, and flavorful meal. Plate up juicy chicken, and fluffy steamed potatoes and drizzle with a bright lemon sauce. Optionally, you can make a thicker sauce with a cornstarch slurry.

If you make any easy dinner recipe from my blog, let it be this Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes. Why?

It’s soooo easy. Sauté, set, forget. Then eat.
It’s flexible, you can add spices, or Italian seasoning if you want to, change up the herbs, use fresh oregano
It’s quick – once you sauté and set everything up, it only takes about 25 minutes or so to finish up, and most of it is hands-off time!

To make this Instant Pot chicken dinner, you’ll sauté the chicken and onion using the sauté function on your pressure cooker, and then add chicken stock and potatoes. Set the pressure cooker for 5 minutes and let it do its thing! Once it’s done a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, release the remaining pressure and you’re ready to serve.

You can drizzle the lemon sauce on top of the chicken and potatoes as is, or you can remove the chicken and potatoes from the pot and add a cornstarch slurry. Set the pressure cooker to sauté and let the sauce thicken up.

Ladle this thicker sauce on top of the chicken and potatoes, garnish with lemon zest and fresh herbs for a delicious, vibrant meal.

Add some vegetables on the side like my roasted green beans with almonds or roasted broccoli and carrots, and you’re good to go!

This is actually one of the easiest chicken and potatoes recipes that you’ll ever make, and it’s so flavorful.

The actual cook time is only 5 minutes. This doesn’t include the time it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure and the ten minutes of natural pressure release (letting the Instant Pot naturally release pressure on its own at the end of the cook time). The total time for pressure cooking is around 30 minutes.

Ingredients

See the recipe card for exact amounts.

Olive oil – to sauté the chicken and onions. I prefer the bold flavor of olive oil, but you can use vegetable oil or something similar if you prefer.
Chicken breasts – I usually use 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. I use 2 in the video just to show the process better.
Potatoes – whichever potatoes you like. I use medium-sized russet potatoes and cut them into three equal pieces. I wouldn’t cut them much smaller than this or they can fall apart. This size yields soft and fluffy potatoes. You can also use smaller new potatoes and keep them whole.
Lemon zest + juice – it’s worth getting a fresh lemon for the flavor in this recipe, but because we also want the zest.
Broth – chicken broth or vegetable broth, whatever you have on hand. You need enough liquid for the cooking process in a pressure cooker but this also helps scrape off the brown bits from the bottom of the pot so you don’t get a ‘Burn’ notice on your pressure cooker. You could try water instead.
Salt and pepper – to season the dish.
Onion and garlic – I use half of a very large white onion. Use whatever onion you prefer. Peel the garlic cloves but don’t mince them – they’ll come out super soft.
Fresh herbs to serve – optional but so worth it! I grow oregano so that’s what I use.

Substitutions

potatoes: try yellow potatoes or mini potatoes instead.
fresh herbs: You could also use parsley, basil, dill or thyme. You could also try using a smaller amount of dried herbs to season the chicken with instead of the fresh herbs.
seasoning: you can season the chicken first with whatever spices and herbs you like best. Try my Italian seasoning mix or my Greek seasoning mix.

Equipment

This is a pressure cooker recipe so you will need a pressure cooker. No other fancy tools or appliances are needed. I use a 6qt Instant Pot Duo Ultra which I totally love. I’ve linked to it so you can check it out for yourself. Instant Pot pressure cookers can be pricy so wait for a sale if you want to!

How to make perfect instant pot chicken breast and potatoes

Prep the ingredients

To start this recipe it’s best to have everything prepped because you will move quickly from step to step. Follow the list below to have everything at hand:

Slice the potatoes into 3 pieces. I used larger russet potatoes.
Zest and juice the lemon.
Measure out the chicken or vegetable stock.
Peel the garlic cloves and slice the onion.

Sauteing with an Instant Pot

Now we’re ready to start cooking. Turn your pressure cooker to the sauté function on high, and add a tablespoon of cooking oil. I use olive oil because I like the flavor. Use your regular cooking oil. The Instant Pot heats up quickly.

Add the chicken and sear it on the first side for about 5-6 minutes or until it lets go easily and is golden brown in spots. Season with salt and pepper then flip. Sear the next side for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Two chicken breasts cook in an Instant Pot pressure cooker on saute.

This is where you can customize the recipe by adding in different spices. You could try onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, smoked paprika, dried oregano, dried basil, etc.

Remove the chicken breasts to a bowl.

Add the onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes just until they start to soften a bit. They will soften a lot during the pressure cooking. Remove the onions and add the broth. Use your cooking utensil to scrape up the brown bits. Make sure to scrape all of the browned bits up so you don’t get a burn warning.

Turn off the sauté function. Squeeze the lemon juice in and add the trivet to the bottom of the Instant Pot.

Add the chicken and then the onions and garlic.

Next, add the potatoes on top of the chicken and onions. I face the open-end of the potatoes down. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.

Start pressure cooking

Add the lid to the Instant Pot and make sure it’s set to sealing, not venting. My Instant Pot model automatically sets to sealing.

Set the function to Pressure Cook (high pressure) and the time at 5 minutes. Press Start and let it do its thing. It will take 10-15 minutes to come to pressure before it starts the cook time.

Setting the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 5 minutes

At the end of the cook time, the Instant Pot will beep to let you know. Set a timer for 10 minutes or watch the timer on the Instant Pot (mine runs a timer). This is called a natural pressure release.

After ten minutes we’ll do a quick pressure release. Set your pressure cooker to venting. Mine has a button to press for a quick release, shown in the photo above. It will release the rest of the pressure. Remove the lid and serve.

How to serve this recipe

Plate the chicken and potatoes. Taste and then season the lemon and broth sauce from the bottom of the Instant Pot. Drizzle the sauce on top of the chicken and potatoes.

Optional: For a thicker gravy-like sauce, set the Instant Pot to sauté and add a cornstarch slurry and then heat until the sauce thickens. Ladle the sauce on top of the chicken and potatoes.

Garnish with the lemon zest and fresh herbs, if using.

What is a cornstarch slurry? A cornstarch slurry is one tablespoon of cornstarch mixed well with two tablespoons of cold water.

Tips for making Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes

Browning: Sauteing the onion, garlic, and chicken gives the recipe so much more flavor than if you skipped that step. It’s worth the few minutes that it takes.
Scraping: Whenever you use the sauté function on your Instant Pot, make sure to scrap the bottom of the pot using a liquid to deglaze it. This is important because if there are any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot before you start pressure cooking, the bits will burn and you’ll get a burn warning. You’ll have to stop the recipe and scrape it anyway and restart the time.
Size matters: If you’re using large potatoes, cut them into 2 or 3 pieces, but if using mini potatoes, leave them whole or they’ll overcook.
Time: The pressure cooking time for this recipe is only 5 minutes. With prep time, the time it takes to come to pressure, and a natural pressure release, the total time becomes 25-30 minutes.

EXPERT TIP: Fresh herbs really make a recipe pop. Try growing some small pots of herbs on your windowsill or in your backyard.

What to Serve With Instant Pot Chicken

If you’re looking for an easy vegetable dish to go with this chicken and potatoes, try this Zucchini, Tomato + Mozzarella Bake, or this Squash Casserole.

For sheet pan ideas, try Roasted Green Beans, Roasted Broccoli and Carrots, Honey Sriracha Brussels Sprouts, or Sheet Pan Roasted Vegetables.

Storage

Keep cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

More Instant Pot Recipes

FAQs

How long do chicken breasts take in a pressure cooker/Instant Pot?

Boneless skinless chicken breasts take 5 minutes of cooking time in a pressure cooker plus 10 minutes of natural pressure release time.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.

This post was originally posted on Month 00, 20xx.

cooked chicken and potatoes on a plate with a text overlay for Pinterest

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Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs

Ingredients

Substitutions

Equipment