Everyone should know how to make one great chicken dish. Mine was a whole oven roasted garlic chicken- I have made it so many times that I am now an expert 🙂 This instant pot lemon garlic chicken is far easier to make than a whole oven roasted chicken and possibly more flavorful too! The citrus from the lemons mixes perfectly with the garlic and herbs. Best of all, it only takes 17 minutes to make. Get to it!
What type of chicken works best in this recipe?
I love using chicken thighs specifically for this recipe because dark meat tends to come out juicier than white chicken breast meat. If you are opposed to eating dark meat and prefer white meat chicken, feel free to swap for whole boneless skinless chicken breasts. You will need to alter the pressure cooking time a little to make sure that the thicker chicken breasts will get cooked through. I would add another 3 minutes to the cooking time, so 10 minutes on high pressure total.
What is the best brand of Italian seasoning to use?
My favorite brand of Italian seasoning is Simply Organic but feel free to browse your local grocery store spice aisle and see what they offer. McCormicks is usually found at most grocery stores so that brand could be a good choice too. If you want to make your own, here is a quick recipe to do that:
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano + 1 teaspoon dried marjoram + 1 teaspoon dried thyme + 1/2 teaspoon dried basil + 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary + 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Top tips for this instant pot lemon garlic chicken recipe:
- Make sure you don’t overcook the chicken thighs when you are browning them in the instant pot. A few minutes per side will do. The goal here is just to brown them, not cook them through, this will happen when you pressure cook them.
- Garnish this lemon garlic chicken dish with fresh chopped parsley and thinly sliced lemons.
- If you don’t like spice at all, you can forgo adding the chili flakes at the beginning of the recipe.
- If you love chicken as much as I do, you might like these other chicken recipes on my blog:
Recipe Video:
Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 6-8 chicken thighs boneless, skinless
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil olive oil can also be used
- 3 tbsp ghee or butter
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 4 tsp italian seasoning
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
- chopped parsley and lemon slices for garnish
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili flakes and set aside.
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté setting (Normal setting) and add in grapeseed oil.
- Once oil is hot, placechicken in the Instant Pot and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Once brown, remove from pot and set aside.
- Next, add in butter into the Instant Pot and stir in onions and garlic. Add lemon juice to deglaze pan and cook for 1 minute then add in the Italian seasoning, lemon zest and chicken broth.
- Place the chicken thighs back into the pot and lock the lid. Remember to turn the valve to seal.
- Select the “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” button and set the timer to 7 minutes. It will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure and start counting down.
- When done, release the pressure after 2 minutes, then remove your Instant Pot lid.