Need to get dinner on the table in a flash? You can “roast” a whole chicken in your pressure cooker in about 25 minutes. The chicken will be juicy and tender. Filling the cavity with lemon slices and herbs with bring added flavor. And after you feast, you can pop the bones right back in the pot to make a perfect batch of Instant Pot Chicken Bone Broth in only about 75 minutes—talk about a win-win! 

Instant Pot: Lemon and Herb Chicken

Prep time: 20 mins • Cook time: 25 mins • Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 pound whole chicken, giblets removed and chicken rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon pasture-raised butter or ghee, melted
• 1 teaspoon Celtic or Pink Himalayan salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup chicken bone broth
• ½ lemon, cut in slices
• ½ yellow onion, quartered
• 2 cloves garlic
• Several sprigs of fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, Italian parsley, and fresh sage

Directions: Rub the chicken breast with the olive oil and butter/ghee and season the entire chicken with salt and pepper. Preheat your Instant Pot/pressure cooker to the sauté setting*, and place the chicken in the cooker breast side down. Brown the chicken for about 2 minutes or until the breast is golden brown, but not burned. Remove the chicken from the cooker place on a plate. Deglaze the pan with the chicken bone broth.  

Put the lemons, onions, garlic, and fresh herbs into the cavity of the chicken and return to the cooker. If your cooker has a rack, place chicken on rack; it makes removing the chicken from the pot easier. Using your cooker’s instructions, bring the cooker up to full pressure. Reduce heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 20 minutes. Allow to naturally release and test the chicken for doneness.  A thermometer inserted into the thigh should register at least 170 degrees Fahrenheit.

If necessary, bring the cooker back to full pressure and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Quick release and recheck the temperature. Transfer the chicken to a plate or carving board, tent with foil and allow to rest. If desired, strain and degrease the broth using a fat separator. Carve the chicken and pour part of the broth on the carved meat and serve the rest on the side.

Note: *If your electric pressure cooker does not have sauté setting, brown chicken in a skillet on the stove top. If you are using a non-electric pressure cooker that you use on the stove top, you can sauté in the same pot.

Enjoy!