2tablespoonslemon juicesqueezed from about 1 lemon; or more to taste
1tspdried thyme
1tspdried rosemary
salt and black pepperto taste
2teaspoonscornstarchmixed with 1 tablespoon cold cream OR milk OR water
1tablespoonbutter
lemon slicesto serve (optional)
Instructions
Brown meat: Set instant pot to sauté. Add oil to pot and add thighs skin-side down. Cook, in batches if needed, until golden and crisp. Flip and cook until browned on the other side. Remove chicken from pot.
Start sauce: Add onion and garlic to pot and cook until starting to soften, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth, lemon juice, herbs and seasoning. Stir, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Pressure cook: Place chicken thighs back in the instant pot. Secure lid and set the pressure valve to "sealing". Choose "pressure cook" (or "manual") and "high" for 12 minutes (for large thighs, about 2 thighs per pound; cook for 8 minutes if chicken thighs are small, about 4 thighs per pound). Naturally release pressure after cooking time is up (just switch off the instant pot and leave it alone until pressure is gone).
Finish sauce: Carefully remove thighs. Set the Instant Pot to sauté. Pour cornstarch slurry into pot, stir well and simmer until sauce has thickened. Stir in butter until melted, then serve sauce over chicken with lemon slices, if desired.
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes
Chicken: I usually make this with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. You can also use boneless, the cooking time is the same. If you prefer chicken breast, you can use that, too. The cooking time changes to 6-8 minutes for fresh chicken and 12 minutes for frozen chicken breast. For boneless thighs and chicken breast, I recommend reducing the amount to 1.5 pounds; unless you have big eaters.
Chicken broth: If you don’t have any, you can use water instead. It will still be delicious, but you may need to add more seasoning. Please do not use beef broth, it alters the taste and color too much.
Onion and garlic: If you have picky eaters who will walk away from their uneaten dinner if they find so much as a single piece of onion in it… Ahem, like my 3 year old, feel free to use 1 teaspoon onion powder and ½ teaspoon garlic powder in place of the fresh ingredients.
Dried herbs: Feel free to cut back on the herbs if you want their flavors to be less dominant.
Lemon juice: I love fresh lemon juice here, but bottled is fine. The recipe yields a mild lemon flavor, double the amount for a stronger flavor. I generally prefer adding more fresh lemon juice at the table, especially because our youngest is only 2 years old at this point and not a huge fan of strongly flavored dishes.
Recipe tips
Using frozen chickenSimply skip browning the chicken and only sauté the onion and garlic, then follow the recipe as written.Pressure cook for 15-18 minutes (depending on size). Check the meat for doneness, if it’s still raw in the middle close the lid again and cook for another 2-3 minutes.Doubling the recipe/stacking the chickenIf you’re using defrosted thighs and want to double the recipe, you can stack the chicken thighs.Double the sauce ingredients too, but the cooking time should stay the same.Please note: Do not stack the chicken if frozen/make sure the thighs are separated. If that’s not possible/they’re totally stuck together, your thighs may need longer to cook.What if my sauce doesn’t thicken?If your sauce doesn’t thicken, it either didn’t get hot enough for the cornstarch to work, or your chicken released more juices than mine.Make sure to press “sauté” and wait for it to simmer and bubble. If it still hasn’t thickened enough to your liking, add another cornstarch slurry and see if this fixes the issue.