Instant Pot BBQ Chicken is a tender, sumptuous, chicken dish slathered in barbecue sauce prepared in a short time. Perfect for those busy weeknight meals when time is of the essence but you don’t want to sacrifice on taste. This is our go-to favorite Instant Pot chicken recipe.
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This Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken is a crowd pleasing, simple, and oh so flavorful meal! I am totally game for chicken straight off the grill but actually, this pressure cooker barbeque chicken breast is an easy recipe that’s always a hit.
To tell the truth, it is so quick and easy you will never want to make it any other way. You can use boneless skinless chicken breast, chicken thighs or even chicken legs.
One of my favorite ways to serve this is pulled chicken sandwiches. If you are a fan of the Instant Pot and want more great recipe ideas, check here.
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What We Love About This Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Recipe
This deliciously easy Instant Pot BBQ Chicken recipe uses chicken coated in a house blend seasoning and cooked in an Instant Pot in a savory barbecue sauce.
- Easy Ingredients: Three simple ingredients and you are ready to go.
- Family Friendly: Fun to eat and so tasty, who could resist.
- Adaptable: Can make with so many different BBQ sauces, such as sweet and smoky, hot and spicy, or vinegary and tangy.
- Makes Great Leftovers: Perfect for lunches or future dinners.
Ingredient Notes to Make BBQ Chicken in the Pressure Cooker
- Boneless Skinless Chicken – You can use chicken breast or thighs. I’ve even use frozen chicken breasts for this recipe.
- House Seasoning Blend: This adds so much more flavor than salt and black pepper. It has garlic powder, onion powder and other delicious spices for this instant pot bbq chicken.
- Barbecue Sauce: Make your own favorite or purchase whatever kind you like. We love Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce.
- Water: Chicken broth works great too for this instant pot bbq chicken recipe.
Equipment Needed for Instant Pot Barbeque Chicken
How to Make Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
These are the basic steps to make tender Instant Pot BBQ Chicken. It’s super easy to make and takes about 21 minutes. Please refer to the recipe card below for more detailed instructions.
STEP 1: SEASON AND COOK
First, season both sides of the chicken (either boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts) with House Seasoning Blend.
Next, add the chicken to the Instant Pot. Then, pour the water and 1/2 cup of your favorite bbq sauce into the bottom of the pot.
Affix the Instant Pot lid and cook on manual setting/high pressure for 13 minutes. Next natural pressure release for 5 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
STEP 2: SAUCE AND SAUTE
After pressure has been released, remove the chicken from Instant Pot and drain any liquid. Finally, set Instant Pot to the Sauté setting.
Next, add cooked chicken and stir in remaining 1/2 cup of bbq sauce, then sauté for 2-3 minutes until sauce is sticky. You can add more BBQ sauce if you prefer.
Prep and Storage Tips for BBQ Chicken Instant Pot
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE AHEAD OF TIME
You can make this chicken ahead of time and use it for meal prep, simply store in the fridge in an airtight container.
HOW TO STORE THIS PRESSURE COOKER BBQ CHICKEN RECIPE
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap or aluminum foil for the freezer.
HOW TO REHEAT THIS BBQ CHICKEN THIGHS INSTANT POT RECIPE
Reheat skinless chicken breasts in a pan on the stove top over medium high heat or in the microwave until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Truly, this is an easy dinner for those following a low carb diet. Really all you have to do is use a sugar free, keto friendly sauce such as this one from Sweet Baby Rays. It has a great smoky flavor.
I use chicken thighs for this recipe. You can use any type of chicken though. Chicken breast, boneless chicken thighs, fresh or frozen work great. It is the special combination of the house seasoning along with your favorite barbeque sauce that makes this recipe a winner.
Just remember to adjust your cook times accordingly for the type of chicken that you are using. You can find more information about cook times here.
Due to the high sugar content in the sauce it will burn. Therefore, the chicken is cooked in water first and then the BBQ sauce is added.
Truly, it does not. The Instant Pot or pressure cooker uses a moist heat to cook and therefore makes the protein, such as skinless chicken breast tender.
Expert Tips for Making This Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken Recipe
- Shred It: A shredded chicken is good for so many things, so use forks and shred chicken and return to the sauce. Use for nachos, tacos or freeze for future meals.
- Make your Own Sauce: Use your favorite bottle sauce or make your own Homemade Barbecue Sauce. Sprinkle with a little paprika or use a little liquid smoke if you like.
- Vegetables: Try adding some vegetables and pressure cook to up your flavor, for example, red bell peppers or green red peppers.
- Alternate cooking method tip: Slow cook the chicken on high in the slow cooker for 4 to 5 hours.
What to Serve with This Recipe
This recipe makes the best BBQ Chicken Salad or you can shred the chicken and have pulled chicken sandwiches or Instant Pot chicken tacos but it’s great on it’s own, too. You can serve it alongside these favorites:
- Parmesan Cauliflower Rice
- Classic Macaroni Salad
- Bacon Mac and Cheese
- Loaded Baked Potato Salad
- Instant Pot Baked Beans
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons House Seasoning Blend
- 1 cup barbecue sauce, divided
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Season both sides of the chicken with House Seasoning Blend.
- Place chicken on the steamer rack in the Instant Pot.
- Pour the water and 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce into the Instant Pot.
- Cook on manual setting/high pressure for 13 minutes.
- Allow to naturally release for 5 minutes then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Remove chicken from Instant Pot and drain any liquid.
- Set Instant Pot to saute setting.
- Add cooked chicken and remaining 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce.
- Saute for 2-3 minutes until sauce is sticky.
Expert Tips
- Shred It: A shredded chicken is good for so many things, so use forks and shred chicken and return to the sauce.
- Make your Own Sauce: Use your favorite bottle sauce or make your own Homemade Barbecue Sauce.
- Vegetables: Try adding some vegetables to the Instant Pot to up your flavor, for example, red bell peppers or green red peppers.
- Alternate cooking method tip: Slow Cook the chicken on high in the slow cooker for 4 to 5 hours.
This is my favorite bbq chicken recipe. I love the house seasoning mix & use it in other dishes as well. I use Primal Kitchen BBQ sauce for a healthy option. I make this at least monthly. Planning to serve this shredded tonight in a bowl with pinto beans, quinoa & rice, & spinach.
I love the bowl idea! I am going to have to try that myself. Thanks.
If you double the chicken, do you double the liquids?
It depends on the size of your instant pot. You can double the liquid but just do not go over the maximum fill line.
The burning warning is because you should always add liquid first to a instapot.
Do you have to use boneless chicken for this recipe?
You can use anything you like!
Tried this today and it turned out great. Not a piece of chicken left on the plate 😊 definitely a repeat!
Perfect, followed the recipe exactly and had no problem at all. We loved it!
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
This was a huge hit at our house. The recipe was very easy. In previous replies some people had issues with the chicken giving a burning warning. I personally didn’t experience that. I used 1/2 c Sweet Baby Ray bbq sauce, added garlic powder, basil clippings, pepper, parsley, and chili powder for a little spice, with a chicken bbq rub. In the bottom of the pot I put 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil, with 1/2 cup of water. I set the pressure cooker button for 13 minutes, released the steam, let it sit for 5 minutes, added another 1/2 c of the Sweet Baby Sauce, then set the Sauté for 4 minutes. Thank you for a great recipe.
Hi! Thank you for a quick and simply delicious recipe. I used chicken tenders for this recipe and cut the time down to 5 minutes. Also, when I make bbq chicken for the fam, I use Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, and add a little honey, black pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning (or oregano), and about cap full of vinegar (for a little tangy taste). Usually, I would place the chicken back in the oven to get the sauce sticky, but doing it in the IP makes it a whole lot easier. This recipe is DEFINITELY A KEEPER.
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
How much longer if l double it?
Here is a great post that should answer your question: https://amindfullmom.com/instant-pot-chicken-breasts/
It depends more on the size of the individual pieces of chicken than the total amount of chicken.
Hello, what time would you recommend cooking it for, for frozen chicken breasts?
Thanks!
Four (7-8 oz) frozen chicken breasts should take about 10-12 minutes at high pressure. Always double check the finished chicken to make sure the internal temp is 165 degrees.
I wish you would of added the instruction to add the trivia . I only learnt this by watching the video .
Let’s hope it s still works. wish me luck.
Let me know how it turned out. Sorry for the confusion.
This recipe is a keeper! I’m a new instant pot user so I’m quite unsure about my skills; however, my husband and daughter loved how flavorful and tender the chicken thighs were. I’ll certainly be trying more of your recipes.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it 3 or 4 times including today. I always cook meat on a trivet except when I make a stew. This time I left a little of the liquid. It wasn’t as sticky but it still tasted good.
It was a great recipe. I used frozen chicken thighs in my Instant Pot. I had no problem with burning. Maybe because the chicken was frozen the barbecue sauce stay on the chicken.
So thank you.♥️
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe has been a total winner in my family! I even used sugar free bbq sauce for the first time for my keto diet needs, and it turned out great! I have used breast for this recipe.
I’m so glad you like it!
I want to double up the amount of chicken from one pound to two do I also need to double up the time or is 13 minutes still good
Wonder why she ignored this question the 2 times it was asked?
Here is a great post that should answer your question: https://amindfullmom.com/instant-pot-chicken-breasts/
It depends more on the size of the individual pieces of chicken than the total amount of chicken.
This is my favorite bbq chicken recipe! It’s on rotation for weekly dinner. I use the big container of Sonny’s bbq sauce and then a splash of Tabasco when I pressure cook (the hubby like his bbq sauce with a little heat) and it is delicious!
Question, if I double the recipe do I change the cook time when it’s on the pressure cook?
Thank you!
It was a great recipe. I used frozen chicken thighs in my Instant Pot. I had no problem with burning. Maybe because the chicken was frozen the barbecue sauce stay on the chicken.
So thank you.♥️
Wonder why she ignored this question the 2 times it was asked? I have the same question.
The question was not “ignored”, it was overlooked. I get hundreds of comments and I try to respond to each and every one. The response you are looking for is posted in one of the previous questions.
Hi! Great recipe.
Mainly leaving a comment regarding your site for phones– I tried to read this recipe on my iphone but had to eventually exit out and look it up on my computer because the page was overtaken by a video ad first, then a cooking video of yours. I don’t mind ads at all, even video ones, but it made reading your recipe impossible. 🙁
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll definitely look into that – they shouldn’t be that aggressive.
My trick for this issue is to select the link to print the recipe. Then it will appear with no annoying ads or videos!
I have found with tomato based sauces especially sweet ones like BBQ will get the burn notifications. Also with creamed based sauces or onset that have cream of soups
You can add a little water.
You can try low pressure instead of high pressure settings.
You can add the bbq sauce only to the top of the chicken, allowing as little as possible to touch the bottom of the pot.
You can add the bbq sauce after pressure cooking then broil.
Those are just a few tips I have found that work for me.
Thank you for sharing these great tips! 🙂
I also have an 8qt ip and it continues to say burn while making this recipe. I put it on low pressure thinking this might help, but it did not help. Any suggestions?
I’m not sure why this happening. Maybe check in some of the Instant Pot online forums?
I added about a half cup of water with the barbecue sauce and didn’t have any issues with the burn notice. Maybe try that next time. I figured just the sauce alone wasn’t enough liquid so I added water.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Add cup of water not enough moisture to bring pot to pressure
Hi- I made this tonight with burning problems. I followed the directions and before it came to pressure it beeped ‘burn’. So I thought maybe because the chicken was directly on the dry pot. I took them out, made sure there was nothing else stuck and then laid the chicken on top of the sauce. It came to pressure but then turned to ‘burn’. I moved them all around again and added a little bit of water to the pot. After the 3rd ‘burn’ try, they were cooked. Some of the pieces got a teeny bit burnt but overall they came out really tasty. We all liked the chicken as the sauce came out thicker and gooey. I would love to make it again properly! Have you had any issue with this? I let me chicken come to room temperature before cooking and used Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. I also have an 8 qt IP. Any suggestions? Thanks
I’m sorry you had those troubles. I’ve never experienced a “burn” alert with my Instant Pot. I’ve made this recipe many times just as the recipe indicates with no troubles at all. I’m not sure what it could be. Maybe add a little chicken stock or water like you did.