Instant Pot Chicken Thighs are an easy way to prepare juicy, perfectly seasoned chicken thighs in an electric pressure cooker–with crispy skin! Directions for cooking fresh chicken thighs, as well as frozen chicken thighs.
Love instant pot chicken recipes? Me too! Check out Instant Pot Chicken Breasts, Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken, Instant Pot Chicken Tacos, Instant Pot Chicken Wings, and Instant Pot Chicken Soup.
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Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
The requests are in–you all want Chicken Thigh Recipes and Instant Pot Recipes.
I knocked both out with this easy recipe for perfectly cooked Instant Pot Chicken Thighs.
I set out to make the best, easiest chicken thigh recipe for the instant pot–that you can master on the BUSIEST of nights! And I have to say, I perfected an easy chicken thigh recipe that you are going to LOVE!
And my biggest critics (AKA my family) give their full seal of approval on this instant pot chicken thigh recipe. The meat is tender and moist and the skin is crispy, and not the least bit rubbery.
Bottom line, these Instant Pot Chicken Thighs will be on repeat in my house and I bet at yours as well!
Ingredients Needed
Only 4 ingredients are needed to make PERFECT chicken thighs–and that is even counting the water!
- Chicken Thighs–bone-in or boneless, skin on or skinless
- Homemade Seasoned Salt
- Water
- Oil–canola or olive oil
How to Cook Chicken Thighs in the Instant Pot
Step One: Season Chicken Thighs
- Liberally rub the chicken thighs with the seasoned salt.
Step Two: Saute Chicken Thighs
- Turn your pressure cooker to the Saute Function and let heat until Instant Pot reads Hot.
- Add in 1 tablespoon oil.
- Once the oil has heated, place your chicken thighs, skin side down, in the instant pot to sear (if you are preparing more than 4 chicken thighs, you will need to sear your chicken in batches.)
- Sear the chicken until the skin is nice and browned and the chicken easily pulls away from the bottom of the inner pot–this is a sign the meat is ready to flip. If it resists being flipped, give the chicken thighs another minute or two to caramelize.
- Flip the chicken thighs and sear for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and place on a plate.
- Turn the Instant Pot OFF.
Step Three: Deglaze Instant Pot.
- Pour in water and scrap off any browned bits off your inner pot. This will help keep you from having issues with burn warnings and/or your Instant Pot not sealing correctly.
- Use 1 cup of water for a 6 quart Instant Pot.
- Use 1.5 cups of water for an 8 quart Instant Pot.
- Add the trivet or rack into the instant pot.
- Place your seared chicken thighs onto the trivet.
Step Four: Cook Chicken Thighs
- Place lid on pressure cooker and be sure your vent knob is pointed to sealed.
- Set to high pressure for 8 minutes for bone-in chicken thighs. For boneless chicken thighs cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
- Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to release for 5-10 minutes.
- Manually release any remaining pressure and check temperature on chicken thighs, with a digital meat thermometer. Your chicken should be between 162-165 degrees Fahrenheit. If you chicken thighs are below 162 degrees, do not panic. Simply place lid back on pressure cooker and cook for 1-2 minutes on high pressure. It will not take long for your Instant Pot to come to pressure a second time.
- Remove chicken from Instant Pot and let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Step Five: Serve
These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs are DELICIOUS served immediately, but if you would like to crisp up the skin even more, feel free to broil on high for 1-3 minutes. You can even brush with BBQ sauce before broiling.
Pro Tip: Save bones from roasted chicken thighs to make Instant Pot Chicken Stock.
Instant Pot FROZEN Chicken Thighs
You can certainly cook frozen chicken thighs in your pressure cooker, you will just not be able to sear the chicken before pressure cooking.
- Place your trivet in your pressure cooker and pour in 1 cup of water.
- Place frozen chicken thighs on trivet and lightly sprinkle with seasoned salt.
- Seal and cook for 15 minutes on high pressure, for bone in chicken thighs or 10 minutes for boneless chicken thighs.
- Once cook time has elapsed, let pressure release for 5-10 minutes and then remove chicken thighs to a plate. At this time you may want to season a bit longer.
- You can either brown your chicken thighs right inside your instant pot or under the broiler. To crisp skin in instant pot, carefully drain the water from the inner pot, and turn Instant Pot to saute. Add in 1 tablespoon oil and then sear meat for 1 minute per side. To crisp skin in broiler, place chicken thighs on sheet pan and broil under high until skin is crispy.
Variations of Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
If you don’t happen to like seasoned salt, you can simply sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper or try the following spice blends:
Serve Instant Pot Chicken Thighs with
- Oven Roasted Broccoli
- Instant Pot Brown Rice
- Green Beans Almondine
- Tossed Greek Salad
- Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken thighs
- 1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt
- 1 tabelspoon oil
- 1 1/4 cup water divided
Instructions
- Season your chicken thighs with the seasoned salt.
- Turn your pressure cooker to the Saute Function and let heat. Add in 1 tablespoon oil. Once the oil has heated, place your chicken thighs, skin side down, in the instant pot to sear. Sear the chicken thighs until the skin is browned, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and sear for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Once you have seared your chicken thighs, remove the thighs from the inner pot of your pressure cooker and place on a plate. Turn the Instant Pot OFF.
- Pour in 1 cup water for 6 quart Instant Pot or 1.5 cups of water if using an 8 quart Instant Pot. Scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of your instant pot.
- Place your trivet into your pressure cooker and pour in 1 cup water.
- Place your seared chicken thighs onto the trivet and seal to close.
- Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes for bone-in chicken thighs and 6 minutes for boneless chicken thighs.
- Let pressure release naturally for 5-10 minutes.
- Do a quick release of any remaining pressure and check chicken thighs to be sure a temperature of 162-165 degrees has been reached. Let chicken rest on cutting board or plate for juices to redistribute and to fully reach a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees.
For Frozen Chicken Thighs
- Place your trivet in your pressure cooker and pour in 1 cup of water if using 6 quart Instant Pot or 1.5 cups of water for 8 quart Instant Pot.
- Place frozen chicken thighs on trivet and lightly sprinkle with seasoned salt. Seal and cook for 15 minutes on high pressure for bone-in chicken thighs, and 10 minutes for boneless chicken thighs. Let pressure release 5-10 minutes.
- You can either brown your chicken thighs right inside your instant pot or under the broiler. To crisp skin in instant pot, remove chicken thighs from Instant Pot and carefully drain the water from the Inner pot. Return inner pot to Instant Pot and turn to saute. Once heated, add in 1 tablespoon oil and then sear meat for 2-3 minutes per side, or until skin is browned. To crisp skin in broiler, place chicken thighs on sheet pan and broil under high until skin is crispy.
Notes
- Remember the cook time for fresh, defrosted chicken thighs included searing the chicken thighs first. If you simply put fresh thighs into your Instant Pot without searing first, you will need to add 1-2 minutes to cook time.
- Chicken is safe when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Kristen Chidsey
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Although I haven’t cooked this recipe yet, but I wanted to know if I could use to cook both marinated thighs and breast?
I like dark meat, but my fiancee likes white meat. We usually he marinate and grill them, but now it’s too hot to grill outside in Arizona, I’ve been trying to find easy recipe during summer time.
Also, I’d like to know if I could use this recipe to cook Tandoori Chicken, which I usually bake in the oven…
I’d marinate Chicken Drumsticks in Tandoori paste mixture overnight (or 10 hrs if I couldn’t do the night before), then take off the excess paste and bake in 425F oven…
Hi there! I would personally use boneless, skinless thighs and breasts as the cooking time will be very similar. And then marinate as desired and then follow the recipe as stated. Just be sure to pat off the excess paste from your chicken before sauteeing and be sure to deglaze the bottom of the inner pot well. I hope you enjoy!
hi Kristen made the pork tenderloin and what more can I say but wow .having the chicken thights tonight I think it will be another winner.thanks from Vancouver island bc canada
Hi Norm! I absolutely love hearing how much you enjoyed my recipes! BTW–I was just in Victoria, Vancouver, and that area is BEAUTIFUL!!!
Came out perfect! I needed shredded chicken for an enchilada recipe but only had a family pack of frozen chicken thighs on hand — about 5 lbs = 8 large thighs (bone in, skin on). Luckily I have an 8 qt Instant Pot. I added 2 cups of water and all 8 thighs. Used 15 min high pressure (more) setting, natural release for 8 min, turned off, then quick release. The chicken was perfectly cooked and easy to shred!! Thanks for posting!
I am SO glad you had such great success Tiffany. And I hope you enjoyed your enchiladas.
I don’t have the rack, but do have a steamer basket that came with the Instant Pot. Would that work as well?
That absolutely will Judi 🙂 Enjoy!
What can you do if you don’t have the rack?
You can cook in chicken stock but the skin will get rubbery and wet. I would just peel off skin and enjoy.
I did your chicken breasts recipe with pineapple juice…and that was amazing!! Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for all your tips. You’ve made me a true IP junkie! I purchased boneless, skinless frozen thighs from CostCo (new to our town, took the old Sam’s Club space we had) which has some kind of “special” freezing to help prevent freezer burn. What would you recommend for these? I am hoping to do some from frozen, and some thawed. But I have literally no experience with thawing ANY meat (bad childhood, little life skills in some places), and sort of afraid to do it. I don’t want to make my kiddo sick, as she is only 3.5y. For tonight, for the thighs from frozen, I am going to try the 1 cup water, seasoning, 15 manual high, NPR to 5-10, and browning a bit in pot after.
I love hearing that I help you LOVE your Instant Pot–that makes my day 🙂 As for chicken thighs–sounds perfect for the frozen thighs. For thawing chicken of any kind, I recommend putting frozen chicken in bowl (or if in package on plate) and defrosting 12-24 hours in the fridge. The danger comes when you leave poultry thaw at room temperature of leave in the fridge for days and days. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much <3 My apologies on missing your reply. You're my go to resource for IP honestly. Everything I've followed on your site has worked perfectly. Have a great day! =D
I am happy to help and love hearing that you have such great success with my Instant Pot Recipes.
Totally disappointed- skin soggy not crisp but at least it was cooked—broiled the chicken and got the crispy skin we all want. Thank you, learned a lesson & I will grow from here
Hi Jeff! I am sorry your skin was not crispy after cooking, this can happen if you don’t sear it really well in the beginning of cooking–but I love broiling the meat after pressure cooking myself. That is how I crisp up the skin on chicken wings and my whole chicken.
Can I use chicken broth instead of water and make gravy?
Absolutely Tiffany, that will be delicious!
Hi Kristen great to meet you. I just got an instant pot and need recipes especially for frozen chicken thighs! I searched it and found your site, I read that you are a mom with CF. I have a daughter with CF who is also doing great! Thanks for the recipes!
Hi Susan!! It so great to hear from you and I am so glad you found my site. All the love and prayers to you and your daughter. I love hearing she is doing well ❤️️ I also send out a newsletter for Cystic Fibrosis if you are interested 🙂 https://mailchi.mp/amindfullmom/cystic-fibrosis-tribe
This timing worked perfectly. I don’t really like Chicken Thighs, but my husband loves them. I’ve struggled to cook them properly on the stove or in the oven, so this was incredibly helpful to finally have a successful chicken thigh without almost serving them raw! I made them with bbq sauce and salt and pepper, so good.
Hi Brittany! I am right there with you, my husband and son love chicken thighs, but I am not the biggest fan, but even I enjoyed them in the Instant Pot. And so glad the directions were spot on for you!!
Can i double the recipe?
Hi Laurie! Yes you can double this recipe. You will just want to sear the chicken thighs in batches. The cook time will remain the same as it is based on size of each chicken thigh, not total weight in Instant Pot. Now, it may take a bit longer to come to pressure. Enjoy!
Would you change anything for using bone-in breasts instead of thighs? I saw your reply in the post on boneless skinless breasts, but that post was older than this one. It also looked very similar to this, without the searing part.
Hi Dee!! For bone-in breasts I would season and sear the meat just as you would chicken thighs. However, I would cook bone-in chicken breasts for 15-18 minutes on high pressure as a bone in chicken breast is much larger than a chicken thigh.
I forgot to take my chicken thighs (legs attached too) out of the freezer last night to thaw. I didn’t discover this fact until close to 5 pm, too late to defrost them, but I had bagged them individually before freezing, so I logged onto the Internet and found your instructions for cooking from frozen.. Less than 30 mins. later I was dishing up the best teriyaki-sake steamed chicken I have ever made. Thanks so much!
Oh I am so glad you found this recipe and it saved dinner!!
These look so easy and delicious!
Easy is the name of the game!
I know for sure this would be a huge hit in my house!
I know it would be!
I am obsessed with my Instant Pot and found your clear instructions to be so useful. Chicken thighs are my go to on busy nights because they are hard to ruin.
I am so glad my directions made sense for you! Enjoy!
Love finding new ways to use my Instant Pot that I haven’t thought of before. Can’t wait to try this.
Enjoy Alli!
I should have known—sautéing the chicken ended up with almost all the skin stuck to the bottom of the IP. Next time I will skip the sautéing and just stick it under the oven broiler at the end.
Broiling works as well to crisp up the skin 🙂 Another tip is to be sure to let your chicken skin render and brown fully before flipping–that will usually prevent sticking.
Man do these look super tasty and I bet that are really juicy because of the steam that collects in the pressure cooker. For sure going to try these!
You nailed it Billy, the moist heat of the pressure cooker keeps these chicken thighs super juicy!
Since you mention coconut oil,I presume that ghee is alsookay to use 9since itis also asolidfat).
Actually, it has more to do with the smoking point then it being a solid state. But Ghee has a high smoke point, so it should work just fine/
It can be hard to figure out how to cook each type of meat in my new instant pot. Thanks for the tips and recipe!
You bet Taryn! I really try to make it as easy as possible for you!
Is there anything the IP cannot do?? I’m in love with it. And I looooove chicken thighs, so I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe!
YAY!!! I love my instant pot too! It always amazes me 🙂
This looks so easy! I don’t normally cook chicken thighs but I am going to try this one! Thanks
You bet! I hope you enjoy Angela 🙂
Can you use skinless thighs and skip the browning step? Or skip the browning step if you don’t like skin? Would you need to adjust timing? Thank you!
Hi Susie,
You can absolutely make these without the skin and/or skip the browning. I would just adjust the cook time to 10 minutes on high pressure 🙂 Enjoy.