Instant Pot Poached Chicken

A simple and quick recipe, this Poached Chicken is is made in the Instant Pot and creates the most juicy, tender, simple chicken in minutes.

What is Poaching?

“Poaching” means that you cook something while it is submerged in liquid (often seasoned water or broth) at a low temperature.

Why would you want to poach chicken?

Simply put, because it prevents the chicken from drying out. It’s a gentle way of cooking chicken (and other items) that keeps them super moist.

Using the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) makes poaching even easier. You’ll notice in this recipe that it only shows the chicken is cooked for 5 minutes, but that includes the time it takes the Instant Pot to come up to pressure. During this time, the cooking liquid is getting warm and cooking the chicken.

What Do You Do with Poached Chicken?

Poached Chicken is one of those things that are great to have on hand in the fridge. Some of my favorite uses include –

• Dicing and using as a protein source in salads
• Making prepared “chicken salads” like this Rosemary Chicken Salad
• Using in casseroles
• For tacos or quesadillas
• Breakfast burritos
• Adding to soups

One of the greatest things about poached chicken is that you can add different flavors after you cook it. This makes is versatile and useful in so many recipes.

Instant Pot Poached Chicken Recipe

This recipe is simple and doesn’t require many ingredients. There are also a few ways you could change this recipe and make it your own. Suggestions include –

• I use chicken broth as the poaching liquid but you could also use water
• Feel free to change up the dried herbs or seasonings based on your preferences
• If you don’t want to wait for the steam to release naturally, I recommend adding an additional 5 minutes to the cooking time

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Instant Pot Poached Chicken

A simple and quick recipe, this Poached Chicken is is made in the Instant Pot and creates the most juicy, tender, simple chicken in minutes.

Course dinner, entree, lunch, meal prep

Cuisine American, Mediterranean

Keyword chicken, instant pot, pressure cooker

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Pressurizing Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Author Brynn McDowell, RDN at The Domestic Dietitian

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

• 2 each Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 4 cups Chicken Broth (you can also use water)
• 1 tsp oregano, dried
• 1 tsp parsley, dried
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and rough chop
• salt and pepper, optional as desired

Instructions

• Place all the ingredeints into the metal bowl of the pressure cooker
• Close the lid and set the "pressure cooker" function to high with a 5 minute cook time
• Turn off the "keep warm" button
• Once the timer is complete, allow the steam to release naturally before removing the lid and carefully taking hte poached chicken out of the broth
• Serve immediately or refridgerate for future use

Notes

Please note – I use the Instant Pot pressure cooker and other pressure cookers may require different times or variables.

If you don’t want to let the steam vent naturally, I recommend adding an additional 3-5 minutes onto the cooking time. 

I don’t add salt because I feel like whatever recipe I will be using the chicken with most likely will have enough seasoning. Please feel free to add a pinch of salt and/or pepper if desired

Looking for more Instant Pot Recipes?

I love using the Instant Pot to make meal prep even easier. Check out some of my favorite pressure cooker recipes in this –

Instant Pot Recipe Roundup

Or this 7 Minute Hardboiled Egg Recipe –