These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs are easy to make and turn out so juicy and flavorful. The juices make a wonderful gravy to serve with the chicken, too – great with mashed potatoes, noodles or rice!
Chicken thigh instant pot recipe
- This is a great recipe if you love fall-off-the-bone tender meat – chicken thighs stay super juicy in the instant pot and turn out incredibly tender.
- If you forgot to defrost meat for dinner, no worries: You can easily prepare this recipe with fully frozen chicken thighs.
- The juices and broth you need in the pot for cooking make a wonderful gravy – just thicken with a cornstarch slurry in the end and you have a delicious sauce to serve with dinner.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Chicken thighs: I used skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs. I find they stay the juiciest. But feel free to use boneless, skinless thighs instead – just reduce the pressure cooking time to 8 minutes.
- Frozen chicken: You can cook chicken thighs from frozen in the instant pot. Do not brown the chicken, just place the broth and trivet in the instant pot, then place the frozen chicken on the trivet. Sprinkle with the seasoning, then seal the lid. Pressure cook on high pressure for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of chicken thighs (and how tightly they are frozen together).
- Broth: Just water is fine, too. It yields a little less flavorful gravy, so you may need to adjust the seasoning.
- Brown sugar: Feel free to leave out the sugar, if you prefer.
- Cornstarch: Please do use actual cornstarch, do not substitute regular flour.
How to cook chicken thighs in the instant pot
brown chicken season and place on trivet over broth pressure cook serve with thickened gravy
1. Brown chicken. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then brown in oil on the “sauté” setting.
2. Add broth. Remove thighs from the instant pot, then place the broth inside, scraping away any browned bits.
3. Place chicken on trivet and season. Place the trivet in the instant pot, then arrange the thighs on top. Evenly sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken.
4. Pressure cook. Pressure cook the chicken thighs for 10 minutes. Do a 5 minute natural release, then release any remaining pressure manually.
5. Finish gravy. Remove the chicken and trivet from the pot, then stir the cornstarch slurry into the juices. Set instant pot to “sauté” and simmer, stirring, for a few minutes until gravy has thickened. Serve over chicken.
Recipe tips
- Season the chicken with just salt and pepper before browning it – the other seasoning must go on after browning! Otherwise, it will just fall off and burn at the bottom of the instant pot.
- The chicken doesn’t need to cook through yet when you’re browning it, you just want to get some color on the outside (it improves the flavor of the chicken and the gravy).
- I just use the standard trivet that came with my instant pot, no need to get fancy!
- If you don’t want to bother with the gravy, feel free to leave out those final steps.
- I make this recipe in my oldie 6-quart Instant Pot Duo. If you have a different model, your outcome may slightly vary. If you have a different size pressure cooker, please check your manufacturer’s minimum liquid requirement and make adjustments in case your appliance needs more than 1 cup of liquid.
Serving ideas
Here are some of our favorite side dishes, perfect to serve with your chicken and gravy:
Starchy sides
- Mashed potatoes, egg noodles or rice are all delicious with the gravy!
- If you like a piece of bread on the side with your dinner, these are my favorites to serve with a gravy-laden meal:
Vegetable sides
- Sautéed green beans (or air fried green beans)
- Roasted asparagus (or air fryer asparagus)
- Roasted broccoli (or air fryer broccoli)
- Sautéed zucchini
Salad sides
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable Recipe Card
Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs are easy to make and turn out so juicy and flavorful. The juices make a wonderful gravy to serve with the chicken, too!
made it? tap the stars to add your rating!
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar optional
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch optional
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat instant pot on "sauté" setting. Add oil, then brown chicken for 3-4 minutes on both sides (it doesn't have to cook through yet). Remove chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Pour broth into pot, scratching any browned bits off the bottom. Insert metal trivet and set chicken on top. Close lid and set valve to "sealing".
- Pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then do a 5 minute natural release (just switch off the instant pot and leave it alone). Manually release any remaining pressure, open lid and carefully remove chicken and trivet (hot!).
- To thicken gravy, whisk cornstarch into 2 tablespoons cool water. Stir into juices in instant pot, then bring to a simmer using "sauté" setting. Stir and simmer 2-3 minutes, until thickened. Serve gravy over chicken.
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Notes
Ingredient notes
- Chicken thighs: I used skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs. I find they stay the juiciest. But feel free to use boneless, skinless thighs instead – just reduce the pressure cooking time to 8 minutes.
- Frozen chicken: You can cook chicken thighs from frozen in the instant pot. Do not brown the chicken, just place the broth and trivet in the instant pot, then place the frozen chicken on the trivet. Sprinkle with the seasoning, then seal the lid. Pressure cook on high pressure for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of chicken thighs (and how tightly they are frozen together).
- Broth: Just water is fine, too. It yields a little less flavorful gravy, so you may need to adjust the seasoning.
- Brown sugar: Feel free to leave out the sugar, if you prefer.
- Cornstarch: Please do use actual cornstarch, do not substitute regular flour.
Recipe tips
- Season the chicken with just salt and pepper before browning it – the other seasoning must go on after browning! Otherwise, it will just fall off and burn at the bottom of the instant pot.
- The chicken doesn’t need to cook through yet when you’re browning it, you just want to get some color on the outside (it improves the flavor of the chicken and the gravy).
- I just use the standard trivet that came with my instant pot, no need to get fancy!
- If you don’t want to bother with the gravy, feel free to leave out those final steps.
- I make this recipe in my oldie 6-quart Instant Pot Duo. If you have a different model, your outcome may slightly vary. If you have a different size pressure cooker, please check your manufacturer’s minimum liquid requirement and make adjustments in case your appliance needs more than 1 cup of liquid.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 236kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 16gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 473mgPotassium: 236mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 201IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 14mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition is an estimate.
Olivia says
I can finally make a good chicken dish! I always steer clear of chicken because it’s so easy to overcook it and it ends up rubbery or dry. The gravy was a hit and my family asked me to make this again soon. I’m beyond happy that I can add it to my rotation because who doesn’t enjoy finding a delicious recipe. Thank you so much for sharing and the steps are super straightforward.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Olivia!