These Chicken Thighs are ready in minutes. They’re so juicy, full of flavor, and they are very easy to make!
Instant Pot chicken thighsare so simple, yet so versatile. You can enjoy them as the main dish, in salads or for a Mexican Taco night. We serve them with rice, all the juice from the chicken adds incredible flavors to plain rice making it a perfect combo.
I used the fresh boneless chicken thighs, but you can adjust it based on what you have on hand. If you prefer bone-in, add 2-5 minutes extra to the cooking time.
How to Make Fresh Chicken Thighs in an Instant Pot
- Prepare ingredients together. Remove any access fat and skin from the chicken.
- Combine all seasoning together. Rub both sides of the chicken with seasoning.
- Use sauté option on the Instant Pot, add oil and brown the outside of the chicken thighs. Set them side.
- Cut onion into half rings, brown until golden brown.
- Add chicken on top of onions. Seal and cook for 10 minutes on high pressure. Let pressure release for about 10 minutes.
How to Cook Frozen Chicken Thighs in an Instant Pot
- Use the sauté option on the Instant Pot to brown the onion until it’s golden brown.
- Place the frozen chicken thighs on top of the onion, season generously with the seasoning mix.
- Seal and cook for 15 minutes on high pressure. Let the pressure release.
- Check readiness of the chicken with your thermometer, it should read at least 165F.
Other Chicken Thighs Recipe to Try
- The Perfect 5 Minute Grilled Chicken
- Garlic Ranch Baked Chicken Thighs
- Rice Stuffed Chicken Thighs
- Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
Recipe
These Chicken Thighs are ready in minutes. They're so juicy, full of flavor, and they are very easy to make!
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion
- 2 lb chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp dry or fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp garlic parsley salt
- salt to taste
- oil for cooking
Instructions
- Prepare all ingredients for the recipe. Combine seasoning together in a bowl.
- Season the chicken thighs, by rubbing them with prepared seasoning.
- Turn on your instant pot using the sauté option. Brown the outside of the chicken until golden. Remove chicken front the instant pot and set it aside.
- Cut the onion in half rings. Sauté onion until golden brown. Add browned chicken to the onions.
- Set the timer to 10 minutes, let it come to pressure and cook. Once it beeps, allo w it to do a natual release. The chicken is ready to be served.
Note: You can add 1/4 of a cup of water if you feel nervous about not adding liquid to the instant pot.
Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Chicken Thighs (Fresh or Frozen)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 342
Calories from Fat 225
% Daily Value*
Fat 25g38%
Saturated Fat 7g35%
Cholesterol 148mg49%
Sodium 2443mg102%
Potassium 363mg10%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 25g50%
Vitamin A 675IU14%
Vitamin C 1.3mg2%
Calcium 19mg2%
Iron 1.3mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Delicious! I use extra onions. A big hit with my hubby and daughters!
Hey Krista, I am so happy your family loved the recipe. I really appreciate you taking the time to share the feedback. Wishing you the best!
Is it quick release or natural? In one part it says natural and another says quick. 😬 thank you!
Kelsey, thanks for catching that, I updated the recipe. 🙂
great easy dish
Mary, thank you for sharing!
Do you leave the setting on saute the whole time? Or do you switch it to "pressure cook" for the last 10 minutes of cooking? If so, does it need to be on medium or high pressure cook?
Do you need to add water before sealing? And to release the pressure, should we do natural release or do it manually? Tks
You can add 1/4 cup of water but I didn’t add any. It would be natural release.
It says, "quick release", so not natural release.
How do you do this with frozen thighs?
In the description, I have tips on how you can use frozen chicken thighs. Let me know if you have further questions.
Just made this and it is DELICIOUS!!! Thank you! It is so easy and quick. I️ didn’t use the half and half... And I️ didn’t have tomato paste so I️ reduced some spaghetti sauce.
Hey Lisa, it sounds like you came up with some cool solutions! So happy you found the blog!
You didn’t say how to use the oil
Can you use chicken breast and how long to cook?
Hey Vera, you can use chicken breast, it would depend on the size of the chicken breast but the cooking time would be about the same.
This chicken recipe is absolutely delicious and easy to make. I did add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and served over jasmine rice with steamed mixed vegetables. I used thighes with bones and set at 11 minutes since I had 10 thighes. Definetly will make it again.
Susan, thank you so much for sharing all your tips! I hope you get to try other recipes on Momsdish.
Easy and flavorful without being too distinctive. I added sweet bell peppers, too. I will include this in my college student's recipe list. He can make it and incorporate the leftovers into so many dishes for quick hearty meals. Thanks!
I love the bell peppers idea. Makes great tacos with the chicken. Thank you for sharing it!
Hello. Going to try this tonight! If I don’t have Garlic parsley salt but have the spices all separately, how much should I add of each? Thanks!
You can season to taste, it would depend on the thickness of the chicken. I like to season generously on the outside, just sprinkling.
Thanks!
Delicious, juicy, and simple!
Elaine, you described it so well! 🙂
Hi,
This recipe was delicious and the meat fell off the bone! The sauce from the onions and spices was so good! I am new to cooking with the instant pot...I set the pressure cooker for 15 minutes because my chicken thighs had bones. I never heard it beep to let me know to quick release...it went straight to warm and it wouldn’t release. I restarted it and set it for another 5 minutes and then I was able to do a quick release. I’m not sure what went wrong.😕 But it turned out and it was great! Thank you!❤️
Kim, I know instant pot takes some getting used to. I am glad you loved the turnout!
Can I substitute drumsticks for chicken thighs?
Yes, the cooking time would be a bit longer, like 5-7 minutes.
Absolutely Delicious! I had the burn notice appear on my pot as well as some have mentioned. I added 1/4th cup white wine at that point and that did the trick! Flavors were amazing! Thanks, Natalya for a scrumptious and detailed recipe.
Thank you for sharing that tip. I am wondering if people that get a burn notice have less onion and not as juicy of a chicken. You wine tip is great, it probably adds so much flavor. Thanks for sharing!
That's a good point on the onion. My large onion was about the size of a baseball. I used frozen chicken thighs (still sauteed them) but maybe the frozen has an effect on it too with the chicken not being as juicy? My burn notice came on relatively quick. Hope that helps
Kept getting a burn notice on the Instant Pot. How does it work with no liquid?
Did you add onions and all the measurements correctly? If you did get burn notice to add a little bit of liquid. I never had an issue with burn notice.
I have used this recipe twice now. It works great, but I am always amazed that it cooks with no added water!
I am so happy you love the recipe!!! I need to share a few more Instant Pot Chicken recipes!
I made this twice already, came out really good! All my kids ate, thank you for easy recipe!
I am so happy that your kids loved the chicken. That's always the best compliment when kids love it! 🙂
I cooked thighs from frozen and they were not done despite cooking for 20 minutes at high pressure and allowing natural pressure release. Perhaps because they were all frozen together (one layer) rather than being individually frozen. I had to continue cooking after releasing pressure.
That definitely could be the case. If you had more than 2 lb it may require more cooking time. Check readiness with thermometer, it should read at least 165F.
How is this going to come to pressure without any liquid?
Chicken produces juice as it cooks. It does come to pressure with the juice you get from chicken.
I, too, was astounded and waiting for the burn notice, but nope! Came to pressure and cooked just fine.
oh lol, you are so funny. 🙂 There is a lot of juice and onions and chicken so it turns out perfect. If you add water, it's not the same. Glad you loved the recipe!
I don’t know if I did something wrong but this is my first time using my instant pot so could be. I followed the recipe to a T but my chicken was still way undercooked. I’m trying a second cycle of the same time length.
If it’s undercooked, just leave it in for a bit longer. No need to start over!
The instructions for making good this dish from frozen thighs says to let the pressure relea5. It doesn't tell the reader if it is a natural or quick release. I am,assuming otherwise the recipe is the same adding 5 minutes cook time for frozen thighs.
The recipe for fresh thighs states quick release. Is that the same for frozen?
Thank you in advance for your response!!
Yes, it would be a quick release for both. Thanks for pointing that out, I will add that the recipe notes.
How would it affect the chicken if you do a NR instead of a QR?
My apologies for the auto correct errors.
Hi
Is there any water or broth added? I don't see it listed. I thought for the IP to come to pressure it must contain broth or water.
Chicken and onion produce liquid so there is no additional liquid needed. Thanks for asking.
Can you use onion powder instead of sliced onion
Yes, I love the onion flavors that the chicken absorbs while cooking. Onion powder will also do the job.
Thank you, Natalya! ??
I love your approach to cooking.
I am going to try this recipe today! ?
Awesome, hope you love it!
Loved it! Only thing was that it was so watery in the end. Anything I could do to keep it crispy?
With the way the instant pot works, it's impossible to keep things crispy. But you can always pop it in an oven for 2-3 minutes on broil. If you have an air fryer that would also work.
There is no info about cooking frozen chicken, the title is deceiving as I’m lost on how to cook it. I cannot brown frozen thighs 🙁
Becky, sorry for the confusion. The option is listed in the recipe description.
How to Cook Frozen Chicken Thighs in an Instant Pot:
-Use the sauté option on the Instant Pot to brown the onion until it’s golden brown.
-Place the frozen chicken thighs on top of the onion, season generously with the seasoning mix.
-Seal and cook for 15 minutes on high pressure. Let the pressure release.
If I just brown the chicken and pressure cook the onion, I have raw chicken and super cooked onions. Is there a step missing? So you add the chicken back into the pot after cooking onions? Pressure cook for 10 minutes, or what?
I was just reading the recipe and it didn't make sense. I see at the top of your post, you state to add the chicken back into the pot. A lot of people just skip to the recipe.
I will add more notes to the recipe to make it more clear. Thanks for pointing that out! 🙂
Is the onion intended to be served as well or is it simply for flavoring the chicken?
It is really up to you. I love cooked onions so I eat them but my kids aren't too crazy for them. But the chicken does absorb a lot of flavor from the onions.