Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken is one of the most delicious recipes for a whole chicken! In less than 60 minutes, you can have a tender, juicy, perfectly “roasted” chicken made in your pressure cooker! This easy recipe for Instant Pot Whole Chicken is flavored with a homemade rotisserie seasoning and is perfect for an easy dinner or to use in recipes calling for cooked chicken.
Looking for more Instant Pot Chicken Recipes? Check out Instant Pot Chicken Breasts, Instant Pot Chicken Wings, and Instant Pot Chicken Tacos. And be sure to check out all my Instant Pot Recipes.
Instant Pot Whole Chicken
I held off making a whole chicken in the pressure cooker for a long time. I felt like I already had a great recipe for Oven Rotisserie Chicken, so why mess with a good thing?
I am so glad I decided to start experimenting because Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken is about the best thing since sliced bread.
Making a whole chicken in the Instant Pot results in the most flavorful, tender, juicy chicken you will ever have. The meat literally falls off the bone and each bite of chicken is oozing with juiciness.
I predict this Instant Pot Rotisserie-Style Chicken is going to quickly become a new favorite recipe at your house.
How to Cook a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot
Step one: Make sure your chicken fits into your instant pot.
Don’t laugh! If your chicken is larger than your pressure cooker you will be cursing up a storm you can’t make Instant Pot Roasted chicken–if your chicken does not fit into your pressure cooker just use my oven-roasted chicken recipe.
I have a 6 quart Instant Pot and I have made as large as a 5 1/2 pound whole chicken. And this is the time when you can refer to Max fill line on your instant pot. If you remember, in my Instant Pot 101, I told you not to fill more than 2/3 full when pressure cooking–this is the exception to that rule (because we are not using a high volume of liquid).
Step Two: Prepare your Instant Pot
- Place your trivet into your pressure cooker.
- Pour in 1 cup water of cold water–you need liquid in order for pressure to build and pressure cooking to be possible. If you have an 8 quart instant pot–use 2 cups water.
Step Three: Season the Chicken
- Clean out your chicken. And by cleaned, I mean clean out your gizzards, etc from inside your chicken–do not rinse your chicken. You can read more about why you shouldn’t rinse your chicken here.
- Stuff your cleaned chicken with an onion and lemon.
- Rub the chicken with the homemade rotisserie rub.
Step Four: Pressure Cook the Chicken
- Place the lid on your pressure cooker, set the valve to sealing.
- Set cooking time according to how large your chicken is (see recipe notes).
Step Five: Let Pressure Release
- After cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes (I prefer 20-25 minutes for more tender meat). And it is okay to leave the Instant Pot on the keep warm setting during this time.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board and let rest for an additional 10 minutes before serving for the juices to redistribute.
- Save bones from your roasted chicken to make Instant Pot Chicken Stock.
How long does it take to cook a whole chicken in the instant pot?
The length of cooking time for whole chickens will vary based on the size of your chicken. A safe rule of thumb is to cook your chicken 6 minutes per pound and let naturally release for at least 20 minutes for perfectly cooked chicken.
- 3-pound chicken: 18 minutes on high pressure
- 4-pound chicken: 24 minutes on high pressure
- 5-pound chicken: 30 minutes on high pressure
- For every pound add 6 minutes, for every half a pound add 3 minutes to the total cooking time for whole chickens.
Please Note: If your chicken seems like it is really thick (the chicken breasts are large) you may want to increase time to 7 minutes per pound. A smaller organic chicken only needs 6 minutes per pound.
Chicken is Not Cooked Through
Once pressure releases, use an digital thermometer to check to ensure the temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees.
If it is below the 165 degrees, place lid back on pressure cooker and cook for an additional 2 minutes for every 5 degrees below 165 degrees. (It will not take as long for your pressure cooker to come to pressure a 2nd time.)
No Poultry setting?
No worries! The poultry setting on your pressure cooker is just high pressure. Set to high pressure for suggested cooking time.
Can you cook a whole chicken that is frozen in the instant pot?
Yes and No.
You CAN cook a whole frozen chicken in the Instant Pot if your frozen chicken already has the innards/gizzards removed and has no plastic ties around the feet. You will not be able to remove a plastic insert or bag of gizzards from a frozen chicken. Therefore, you can not put a frozen chicken with either of those items into your pressure cooker.
If you have a chicken that comes without the gizzards or plastic clamp around the legs, you would need to increase the time by 5 minutes per pound, for a total of 11 minutes per pound, and for frozen chicken, let the pressure release for at least 20 minutes.
Frozen Whole Chicken Cook Times
- 3 pound frozen chicken: 33 minutes on high pressure
- 4 pound frozen chicken: 44 minutes on high pressure
- 5 pound frozen chicken 55 minutes on high pressure
- For each pound increase by 11 minutes, for each half a pound increase by 6 minutes for frozen whole chickens.
Can I make chicken stock while cooking a whole chicken?
Yes, you can make stock at the same time as cooking a whole chicken in your instant pot–with a few cautions.
- First of all, your skin will NOT be able to be crisped up, as the whole chicken will cook submerged in liquid.
- You will need to cook a smaller chicken, as you do not want to exceed filling your pressure cooker more than 2/3 of the way full.
- You will not need to use your trivet if making a whole chicken and stock at the same time.
- Omit rotisserie seasoning, so your chicken broth is not overly salty.
- Your chicken stock will be more greasy as the skin will render quite a bit of fat while cooking.
- You will need to allow chicken stock cooked with a whole chicken to naturally release pressure on its own, as when pressure cooking this much liquid, it would be dangerous to release the pressure prematurely.
I recommend making Instant Pot Whole Chicken as this recipe suggests and then following my recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Stock with the leftover carcass from your chicken. But if you want to cook the whole chicken and make stock together, place your chicken into your instant pot, along 1 diced onion, 1 carrot, 1-2 stalks of celery, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Cover with water and cook according to the size of your whole chicken. Let pressure release naturally and then remove chicken and strain broth. Use cooked chicken and stock as desired.
Instant Pot Roasted Chicken with Crispy Skin
When cooking whole chickens in the pressure cooker, the chicken skin will not have a chance to crisp up. For me, that is not a problem because I remove the skin before eating or using in recipes that call for pre-cooked chicken. BUT if you would like crispy skin on this chicken, follow these instructions:
- Cook the chicken as directed in your pressure cooker.
- After removing the chicken for your instant pot, transfer to a baking sheet.
- Brush with oil and place under broiler for 2-4 minutes, watching closely as to not burn the chicken.
Can I brine my chicken before cooking in my electric pressure cooker?
Yes, you can brine your chicken before cooking in your pressure cooker. Use your favorite brine recipe (or my Turkey brine recipe) and then omit salt from the seasoning blend. Cook as recipe states for a brined chicken.
I don’t like the homemade rotisserie seasoning? What else can I use?
If you don’t happen to like this rotisserie seasoning blend, you can simply sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper or your favorite spice blend before cooking.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Leftover Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Recipes
Instant Pot Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken innards removed
- 1 lemon cut in half
- 1 onion cut in half
- 1 recipe Rotisserie blend
Rotisserie Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- dash of cayenne pepper
Instructions
Homemade Rotisserie Seasoning
- Mix together all ingredients well.
For Pressure Cooker Whole Roasted Chicken
- Place trivet in the instant pot and pour in 1 cup COLD water into instant pot. Use 1.5 cups water if you have an 8 quart instant pot.
- Rub seasoning evenly over chicken.
- Place cut lemon and onion inside cavity of chicken and place chicken on trivet in instant pot.
- Place lid on pressure cooker and be sure valve is turned to sealed.
- Set on high pressure for 6 minutes per pound of chicken. If your chicken seems like it is really thick (the chicken breasts are large) you may want to increase time to 7 minutes per pound. A smaller organic chicken only needs 6 minutes per pound.
- Remove chicken from Instant Pot and place on cutting board, let chicken rest for an additional 10 minutes for the juices to redistribute.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- 3-pound chicken: 18 minutes on high pressure
- 4-pound chicken: 24 minutes on high pressure
- 5-pound chicken: 30 minutes on high pressure
- For every pound add 6 minutes, for every half a pound add 3 minutes to the total cooking time for whole chickens.
- Be sure to allow pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes, preferably 20 minutes.
- If cooking a frozen whole chicken, be sure innards are removed and plastic or metal clamp is removed BEFORE freezing and cook for 11 minutes per pound.
- Total time: 10-15 minutes to come to pressure + cooking time based on the size of chicken + 10-20 minutes pressure to release
- If your chicken seems like it is really thick (the chicken breasts are large) you may want to increase time to 7 minutes per pound. A smaller organic chicken only needs 6 minutes per pound.
- The recipe for rub will easily cover a 6-8 pound chicken. If using a smaller sized chicken, you will only need half the rub.You can make the entire batch and then save half the rub for another time.
Nutrition
So easy and fall-off-the-bone tender! I did use the rotisserie chicken rub (yum!) and did a full natural release as recommended, which took about 20 min in my 8 qt Instantpot (my chicken was 6.5 lbs). I wanted to broil the underside of the chicken to crisp up the legs and wings; the bird was so tender, the bones separated on their own (making it easier to save them to make bone broth another time). The meat is so tasty and tender!
I am glad you enjoyed so much Michelle!
I’m SO disappointed! I followed the instructions carefully. I had a 4lb organic chicken which I cooked 6 min to the lb or 24 min, then did natural release for 20 min. Instant thermometer registered 165. I took it out, plated it and started to cut off the legs. They were not done. Only half of the breast was edible. It just was not cooked. So we ate the breast meat that was done, and I’m gonna make chicken soup with the rest. Your advice would be appreciated.
Hi Cindy. I am sorry for your frustration. First of all, when testing the temperature, be sure to put the thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken for an accurate reading (it should be inserted into the thickest part of the thigh but not touching bone.) That said, you can still see pink even once safe to eat. I understand that can be unappealing and therefore you may want to cook longer, to 180 degrees. As for the leftovers, I would shred the meat and use this recipe for chicken soup, but instead of sauteeing the raw chicken, so add to the soup before cooking for 3 minutes.