Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes | Super easy and satisfying one pot recipe with chicken breasts, potatoes, lemon juice, and your choice of fresh herbs. Plate up succulent chicken, tender fluffy steamed potatoes and drizzle with lemon jus, or make a thicker sauce with a cornstarch slurry.
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Dinner made quick + easy with juicy Instant Pot chicken breasts
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 change up the spices if you want to, and the herbs, to suit your taste
- It's quick - once you sauté and set everything up, it only takes about 25 minutes or so to finish up
To make this Instant Pot chicken dinner, you'll sauté the chicken and onion and then add some broth 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, 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 gravy 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 for a really special meal, 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).
Ingredients for this recipe
See the recipe card below for the exact amounts.
- Olive oil - to saute the chicken and onions. I prefer the bold flavor of olive oil, but you can use canola or something similar if you prefer.
- Chicken breasts - I usually use 3-4 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.
- 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 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 but don't mince it - it'll come out super soft.
- Fresh herbs to serve - optional but so worth it! I grow oregano so that's what I use. 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.
What you need to make this recipe
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!
Recipe Tips
EXPERT TIP: Fresh herbs really make a recipe pop. Try growing some small pots of herbs on your windowsill or in your backyard.
How to make perfect instant pot chicken breast and potatoes
You can also watch the video at the top of the post.
Prep the ingredients
To start this recipe it's best to have everything prepped because you will move quickly from step to step. So do the following prep and have everything at hand:
- Slice the potatoes into 3 pieces. I used russet potatoes.
- Zest and juice the lemon.
- Make or just measure out the chicken or vegetable stock.
- Peel the garlic and slice the onion.
Sauteing with an Instant Pot
Now we're ready to start cooking. Turn your pressure cooker to saute 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. Season with salt and pepper then flip. Sear the next side for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
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 saute 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 them all up so you don't get a burn warning!
Turn off the saute 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) and the time at 5 minutes. Press Start and let it do its thing.
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, shown in the photo above. It will release the rest of the pressure. Remove the lid and serve.
How to serve this recipe
I recommend having a vegetable on the side. My sheet pan roasted vegetables would be great here. I think a salad would be nice also.
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.
For a thicker gravy-like sauce, set the Instant Pot to saute and add a cornstarch slurry and then heat until the sauce thickens. Ladle the gravy 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.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Bourbon Chicken
- Instant Pot Chickpea Curry
- Instant Pot Red Thai Curry Chickpeas
- Instant Pot Brown Rice with Cumin Seeds
What to Serve With Instant Pot Chicken
Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- 2 lbs potatoes (about 5-6 medium potatoes, cut into three equal pieces)
- ½ large white onion (sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup broth
- zest and juice of one lemon
- fresh dill (oregano or parsley, to serve, optional)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Set pressure cooker to saute.
- Add oil and brown the chicken on both sides, adding the onion once you flip the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove onion and chicken and set aside in a bowl.
- Add the broth and lemon juice to the instant pot and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom (this helps eliminate a burn warning)
- Once broth and lemon are hot, turn saute function off.
- Add trivet, chicken, onion and garlic. Place the potatoes on top with the cut sides down on the end pieces. Salt and pepper.
- Set on high pressure for 5 minutes. (it will take about 15 to come to pressure)
- Let natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release by switching from sealing to venting.
- Serve with lemon sauce drizzle on top along with lemon zest and fresh herbs such as oregano, dill or parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used.
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.
Recipes FAQs
5 minutes of cooking time plus 10 minutes of natural pressure release time.
You probably could, I haven't tested it. I think the time would stay the same though for boneless chicken thighs.
I've read conflicting articles on this. I don't use frozen chicken in my pressure cooker.
I haven't made potatoes like this in a slow cooker before but the chicken part of the recipe would definitely work.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!