This fast and easy BBQ chicken Instant Pot dish is absolutely delicious! Enjoy a hearty sandwich with homemade buns, or incorporate into salads and even pizza!
I know meal planning saves money. I know that if I just take 15 minutes to figure out what we’re having for dinner for the next 7 days, the rest of my week goes SO MUCH SMOOTHER.
But I also know that sometimes, things don’t always work out as planned.
That’s why there’s Instant Pot BBQ Chicken!
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Here’s why you should make these
- Fast – We know the Instant Pot gets dinner on the table fast, but depending on the type of chicken you use, dinner can be ready with 6 minutes of cooking time.
- Easy – You only REALLY need two ingredients – can it get any easier?
- Tasty – If your favorite BBQ sauce tastes as good as my homemade BBQ sauce, then you can’t go wrong!
- Need a back up plan for dinner? This BBQ chicken recipe is perfect! You can use chicken breasts, legs, thighs, fresh or frozen.
Ingredients
- BBQ Sauce
- Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)
- Liquid Aminos (optional)
- Chicken
- Onion (optional)
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Quick Note on the Chicken
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Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Place ingredients in the Instant Pot.
Step 2. Close the Instant Pot and turn the sealing valve to “sealing.”
Step 3. Press “pressure cook” or “manual,” make sure the pressure is set to “high” and adjust the timer to 15 minutes if using fresh chicken, or 25 minutes if using frozen chicken.
Step 4. Let the pressure release naturally.
Step 5. Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and place on a plate.
Step 6. Shred the chicken with two forks and place the meat back into the pot, stirring with its juices.
Step 7. Serve hot!
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- No matter which you pick, top with your favorite BBQ sauce, this Instant Pot BBQ chicken, plus cheese and BAM – dinner is done.
- This homemade BBQ chicken is SO GOOD! You can make it with chicken breast, legs, thighs, fresh or frozen. It comes out quick and great for a back up plan!
- Don’t forget to save the chicken skin for homemade chicken stock (your choice, slow cooker chicken stock or Instant Pot chicken stock!)
FAQs
The BBQ sauce should NOT be placed in the Instant Pot first. The sauce can burn on the bottom, so put the chicken in first, then top with the sauce.
If your chicken breast winds up with a rubbery texture, it most likely means that you need to cook it a bit longer. In general, the Instant Pot does better with longer cook times for meat.
Yes, you most certainly can!
Yes, you can make Instant Pot BBQ chicken with frozen chicken! I’m including a time variation in the recipe just for you.
To Serve BBQ Chicken
In case you’re wondering what you should do with Instant Pot BBQ chicken – besides eat it – here’s some of our favorite ways to serve it:
Sandwiches
- Both Instant Pot BBQ chicken and my homemade bun recipe freeze well, which means BBQ chicken sandwiches for dinner now AND later.
- Or you can go the grilled cheese route – a few slices of No-knead Artisan Bread (because it tastes similarly to sourdough), a scoop of BBQ chicken and a couple slices of cheddar? YUM.
Salads
Doesn’t a BBQ chicken bacon ranch salad sound SO GOOD?! Use this recipe with the BBQ chicken from this post!
Pizza
If BBQ chicken pizza doesn’t win you over, I don’t know WHAT will… just pick your jam:
- New York Style thin crust
- American-style thick crust
- Easy Homemade Pizza Bagels Recipe
- Cast-iron skillet pizza
More Quick and Easy Recipes
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken
- Buffalo Chicken Salad
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
- Sweet and Sticky Chicken
- Slow Cooker Baked Beans
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Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
This quick and easy Instant Pot BBQ chicken is the perfect dinner for a busy weeknight. Ready in under 30 minutes, this moist and tangy chicken is delicious on sandwiches, in a salad, or even on pizza. You’ll want to make extra so you can enjoy it tomorrow too!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15-25 minutes
- Total Time: 20-30 minutes
- Yield: Varies
- Category: Main Meals
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce (or make your own)
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
- 2 Tbsp liquid aminos or soy sauce (optional)
- 2 – 2 ½ lbs chicken (thawed or frozen), skin removed
- 1 onion, sliced into rings (optional)
Instructions
- Place Ingredients in the Instant Pot.
- Close the Instant Pot and turn the sealing valve to “sealing.”
- Press “pressure cook” or “manual;” make sure the pressure is set to “high” and adjust the timer to 15 minutes if using fresh chicken, or 25 minutes if using frozen chicken.
- Let the pressure release naturally.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and place on a plate.
- Shred the chicken with two forks and place the meat back into the pot, stirring with its juices.
- Serve hot!
Notes
- Try this BBQ chicken on homemade buns, salads, and pizza. See more recipe ideas above for incorporating BBQ chicken into multiple finger-licking meals!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounces
- Calories: 313
taylor swift
I made your recipe at home, very tasty please add more recipes
Mike
Fixed this tonight and everybody loved it. Used chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts and they were super tender
Kyare - Team Crumbs
So glad you liked this recipe, Mike!
Linda
This was amazing! It will definitely be a go to for my family! I used Sweet Baby Rays which is pretty thick, so I added about 3/4 c. of water and it turned out great! I used frozen chicken and did the 10 minute pressure cook setting on my Bella machine. Thanks for the great recipe!
CJ
Hi Tiffany,
Could I use the slow cooker to make this instead of an instapot? How long do you think I should cook it for?
Thanks so much
CJ
Tiffany
I’m sure you can! I’d go for 4-6 hours on high, 8-10 hours on low.
Kaitlin
Hello, I’ve made this multiple times but I always have to use a whole box of chicken stock so the chicken doesn’t burn but that makes the sauce super liquid. I add brown sugar at the end to try and thicken it up some. End up throwing most of the sauce away. Need better instructions and measurements, not accurate.
SJ - Team Crumbs
Hi Kaitlin, the Instant Pot only needs 1 cup of water to come to pressure, not a whole quart of stock. 🙂 Try a BBQ with a lower sugar content, and/or add 1/2 to 1 cup of water depending on the thickness of the sauce. A BBQ sauce with a lot of sugar can make the burn notice. Let us know how that works for you!
Mam2
Perfect recipe. This one is a keeper! Made it exactly as written, with frozen chicken breast. So good! THANK YOU!
Tiffany
You’re most welcome, Mam2!!
Melissa S.
Worked great for me! I added maybe 1/2 a cup of water to it because my BBQ sauce seemed pretty thick, but I don’t think I needed it. 10 minutes for 2 huge frozen boneless chicken breasts was perfect and they were super moist. Of course, since I added more liquid, I ended up with a very thin sauce. But, I just used the left over juices to pour on the pulled chicken a bit and then saved the rest to use as a future marinade! Put on buns and added BBQ sauce to the top. It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Tiffany
You’re most welcome, Melissa!
Barb
Super easy and flavorful! I used a mix of remaining bbq sauces I had on hand, eyeballed the vinegar and soy sauce, probably had more chicken, but too much is never a bad thing. 🙂 Came out so tender, from frozen. Served with salad, baked beans and corn bread instead of sandwiches. Yummo!! Keeper.
Kiki
Love this recipe! If I wanted to double it (using frozen chicken breasts), would I double the cook time too?
Tiffany
Nope! You can double and triple recipes in the Instant Pot and the cook time stays the same!
Mariah
I ended up using aminos and ACV…and I still received the burn notice. I deglazed then added 2 cups of chicken broth (to be safe) and restarted the IP using the original 10 minutes. It turned out great.
Mariah
I have an 8 qt. IP and I plan to cook with frozen chicken breasts. Do I need to add more liquid than the BBQ sauce (because I am not using aminos or ACV)? I do not want to get the burn notice.
Also, I see to set the pressure time to 10 minutes for frozen – do you still NPR?
Tiffany
Hi Mariah! I’d substitute water for the aminos and ACV. Yes to NPR – it helps with the texture!
Carolyn
Recipe worked perfectly and tasted great!
Denise
First time instant pot user here! I have frozen chicken breasts and don’t understand the *note* directions. How long do I cook the chicken for? It says in the instructions 25 minutes, then does it mean subtract 10 minutes from that time for frozen breasts?
Tiffany
Hi Denise! If you have frozen chicken breasts, you would cook for 10 minutes TOTAL. Sorry about the confusion!
Lora Armstrong
I just made this BBQ Insta Pot chicken. And man was it ever good. Chicken was half frozen, and defrosted. It took 24 minutes on manual to make. I didnt have the liquid it wanted, but i did have white vinegar. And it worked perfect. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
dougherl
In making this recipe, I started out with about 3/4 cup of sauce, most of which was bottled ketchup, plus 2 lbs boneless skiness chicken thighs. When it was done cooking, there was at least three cups of liquid in the pot and it was more like barbecue chicken soup! I removed the chicken and had to cook down the liquid on Saute for about 10 minutes to get it back to a sauce consistency. Condensation cup was attached but there was no liquid in it. Did I do something wrong?
Amanda
I’m going to have to put it at one star until you correct the times. I followed the recipe exactly except for adding the onions. I got a burn notice within the first few minutes of coming to pressure. While looking at the comments, I realized others had to add broth AND that the time for frozen chicken is supposed to be 10 minutes, not 25 (I see it in the notes, but not in the recipe). Please fix!!
Karen @ Team Crumbs
Hi Amanda,
The longer time listed is for frozen bone-in chicken (i.e., chicken legs). It’s 10 minutes for frozen boneless breast. I will clarify this in the notes on the post. You may have received the burn notice from BBQ sauce that was too thick (or with a higher sugar content). I would recommend cutting a thick BBQ sauce with chicken stock or water. 🙂
Richard
Worked excellently! Had a very easy and tasty dinner. Noticed there were two seemingly contradictory cook times for the chicken, but we tried the longer cook time because 10 minutes seemed very short looking at others’ comments. We did 25 mins plus about 15 minutes of “cool down time” to release the pressure in the IP, and maybe this extra time in the heat made the meat a bit too tough, but not much. Still delicious. No warnings from the cooker, so the added liquids must have been the kicker! Thanks for the recipe!
Gabby Schram
I would not say that the liquids are optional, I only had bbq sauce and ACV on hand and didn’t have the soy sauce, but there wasn’t enough liquid in the pot and I got a burn notice. Had to add chicken broth to it so it would come to pressure and not burn. I think maybe the liquid needs to go in first and bbq sauce last.
Gunther
Put the onion rings at the bottom of the IP, your liquid next (I used 2tbps Maggi and Worcestershire), then your chicken breasts (I like to season them with salt and pepper on both sides, or some Montreal Chicken Spice), and pour the BBQ sauce directly onto the chicken. The onions are almost like an organic trellis for the chicken until the IP comes up to pressure!
Megan
Tried it with frozen chicken & it was excellent! We liked how the sweetness was cut with the ACV & liquid aminos. Paired it with roasted cabbage…yum! Wonderful, quick meal! Thanks!
Tiffany
You’re very welcome Megan!
Regis
Pressure cooker set for 7 minutes for 3 skinless chicken breasts but not done. Can not shred. Placing back in sauté for 30 minuets. Better to follow recipe.
Tiffany
I agree. 🙂
Velinator
Hey! Love your site. Question: I tried the BBQ chicken recipe for the IP Ultra. Only had 5 thighs & used 18 oz. of sauce (put it on the bottom). Part of chick was a bit frozen so I set timer to 20 mins. Within 10 mins., though, I continued to get the dreaded BURN notice. Seal corrected, but kept getting BURN over & over. Finally took chick out & it was definitely scorched. Chick only reached 130 degrees & finished it in oven. It was tasty, but I want to use my new IP. Ideas? Thanks
Tiffany
Hi Velinator – thanks!! I think you were getting the error because of the sugar in the BBQ sauce. Did you add the ACV and the soy sauce/liquid aminos? Most BBQ sauces have A LOT of sugar, and the ACV and soy sauce help to dilute it a bit. I use my homemade recipe that has only 1/2 honey for 32+ ounces of sauce… I’d try it again, use half the sauce and sub apple juice or beer instead. That should help!
Iya
After I read a comment about burn notice from BBQ sause I am afraid to try….
Baxter
Thanks for sharing this recipe. My best friend just gave an instant pot as a gift, now I know what recipe to make with it.