It’s no secret that I’ve been loving the Instant Pot I picked up on Prime Day last year. But beyond a few favorite recipes like Instant Pot chili with canned beans and Instant Pot mashed potatoes, I’m also loving the Instant Pot for meal prep. I’ve been trying to use it every Sunday to cook up a whole chicken for shredding (and then use it again to make homemade stock from the bones), or even just to cook up some boneless skinless chicken breast for use in salads & more.
Having something like precooked chicken on hand makes for easier meals throughout the week, and after messing with times and methods for a while, I think I have boneless skinless breast down well enough to tell you about. This week I used some lemon juice, garlic, and oregano to season my chicken and also threw together a bottle of Greek vinaigrette for easy lunch salads this week, but you can change up the seasonings to your own liking or to suit the recipes you have planned for the week.
Note: Use fresh or thawed chicken breast for this recipe, not frozen. Frozen meats take longer to cook in the IP, and will also do better cooking in the liquid rather than raised above it.
Easy Instant Pot Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (for meal prep)
Ingredients
1 cup water
~1.75 lbs large boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
A splash of fresh lemon juice
Directions
Add one cup water to the Instant Pot. Trim your chicken breast, then place it on the trivet in your pot. Season with minced garlic, oregano, and a little fresh squeezed lemon juice. Close pot, set valve to seal, and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes (hit the manual button, use the + – buttons to adjust down to five, and hit the manual button again to start). Allow Instant Pot to natural release (NR) for 10-11 minutes before opening the valve and lid, then remove chicken from pot and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
Note: This method is for thicker boneless skinless chicken breast. If yours are thinner, you’ll need to adjust the cook time down.
Just the perfect amount of time!
With this method of cooking boneless skinless chicken breast in the Instant Pot, you should end up with perfectly moist chicken every time — and the IP nicely infuses the flavor of your seasonings throughout the meat. It’s really easy to overcook boneless chicken in an electric pressure cooker, so hopefully this method will help you out with your own meal prep.
Easy Instant Pot Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (Instant Pot Meal Prep), printable recipe
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Easy Instant Pot Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (Instant Pot Meal Prep)
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1.75 lbs large boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp oregano
- A splash of fresh lemon juice
Instructions
-
Add one cup water to the Instant Pot.
-
Trim your chicken breast, then place it on the trivet in your pot.
-
Season with minced garlic, oregano, and a little fresh squeezed lemon juice.
-
Close pot, set valve to seal, and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes (hit the manual button, use the + – buttons to adjust down to five, and hit the manual button again to start).
-
Allow Instant Pot to natural release (NR) for 10-11 minutes before opening the valve and lid, then remove chicken from pot and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
-
Note: This method is for thicker boneless skinless chicken breast. If yours are thinner, you’ll need to adjust the cook time down.
