Instant Pot Frozen Whole Chicken
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Instant Pot Frozen Whole Chicken. The best way to cook a frozen whole chicken in the Instant Pot. This pressure cooker whole chicken is moist, full of flavour, perfect for meal prep and super easy for last minute family dinners.
But I have something even better than our instant pot frozen whole chicken for you to check out first.
It is our Learn Your Instant Pot online course. It teaches you how to use the instant pot, with a different topic every week for 52 weeks. Perfect for going from beginner, to confident instant pot user.
Instant Pot Frozen Whole Chicken
One of my readers asked me for an instant pot frozen whole chicken recipe and I realised I didn’t have one.
Like it had just been forgotten about.
Even though I will often have a frozen chicken cooking in the instant pot pressure cooker.
I mean how did that happen?
Well, the next day, I grabbed a frozen whole chicken from the freezer, loaded it into the instant pot, took photos, and us Milner’s tucked into one of our favourite instant pot recipes for lunch.
It was served with our favourite air fryer carrots and we all talked about how many times we have cooked an instant pot frozen whole chicken and why it is one of our favourite go to instant pot frozen recipes.
Can You Cook Frozen Chicken In Instant Pot?
Yes, you can! Frozen chicken in the instant pot is one of those geniuses of electric pressure cookers.
If you cooked a frozen chicken in the oven it will become dry and take a long time to cook, but with the pressure cooker its fast and moist.
Is It Safe To Cook Frozen Chicken In Instant Pot?
According to chef Dom it is only safe to cook frozen chicken in the instant pot, if you are pressure cooking your frozen chicken.
He mentions this, because it is NOT safe at all to use a slow cooker to cook a frozen chicken and should be avoided at all costs.
This is because the slow cooker doesn’t get hot enough to fight off bacteria.
But use the pressure cooker of your instant pot and you can as many frozen chicken as you like!
Instant Pot Chicken Broth From Frozen Chicken
Did you know I always use the instant pot chicken broth from my frozen chicken?
This is a batch of it that I made from this instant pot whole frozen chicken:
This is JUST from pouring out what is left in the instant pot after making this chicken. Then I will strain the fat from it using a mesh strainer and I have a chicken gravy to serve with the chicken or a stock for a future recipe.
I can then load it into a freezer container, label it up and then load it into the instant pot with my next chicken dinner.
In my freezer you will find various stocks for chicken, ham, turkey, pork, and lamb. All of them from following this method after I have finished cooking dinner in the instant pot.
How To Cook A Whole Frozen Chicken?
Cooking a whole frozen chicken in the instant pot is so EASY:
- Load stock into the instant pot.
- Add trivet.
- Add frozen chicken.
- Pressure cook.
- Serve.
How Long To Pressure Cook Frozen Chicken?
I recommend cooking a frozen whole chicken in the instant pot for 30 minutes. No need for any natural pressure release, you can just get your chicken straight out.
I also recommend you cook a frozen chicken with the breast side down. You are then ensuring the part of the chicken that takes longest to cook is in the best position.
Also, by the breast side being down its easier for keeping it moist for if you want to air fry it afterwards to make the skin crispy.
Instant Pot Whole Frozen Chicken Meal Prep
I always think of an instant pot frozen chicken for my meal prep. When you pressure cook a chicken, it is easier to pull it apart and then use it for meals.
Once you have pressure cooked your chicken, leave it for 10 minutes so that it is cool enough to handle and then shred it for your dinners for a few days.
Ninja Foodi Frozen Whole Chicken
If you would prefer a Ninja Foodi frozen whole chicken recipe, then I recommend you check out our Ninja Foodi Whole Chicken recipe which includes both thawed and frozen.
More Instant Pot Frozen Chicken
I love the convenience of instant pot frozen chicken and here are a few other ideas:
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Thighs
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Wings
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Drumsticks
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breast
Instant Pot Frozen Whole Chicken
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets:
Instant Pot Frozen Whole Chicken Ingredients:
- 1.2 Kg Frozen Whole Chicken
- 120 ml White Wine
- 1 Tbsp Chicken Seasoning
- 1 Tbsp Thyme
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Tie your chicken legs together with some string. Place 1 cup/240ml of water in the instant pot inner pot, along with ½ cup/120ml of white wine. Mix in the seasonings. Or alternatively add 2 cups/480ml of chicken stock.
- Place the trivet in your instant pot and add your frozen whole chicken.
- Season your chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place the lid on your instant pot, set the valve to sealing and cook for 30 minutes on either manual or pressure cook.
- When it beeps, do a quick pressure release before releasing pressure. Check the thickest part of the chicken breast to make sure it is fully cooked and then serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!
Thanks for this recipe, was always wondering about frozen meat. Mine turned out great and was very tasty.
Great idea for when i forget to get food out for the next day.I did a trial run and it was cooked really well thanks.
Mine turned out just right as well. Great timings and the instructions really helped me thanks.
What about bigger chickens. Is this time going to be the same? Or maybe so many minutes more per pound?
I am in the US and using a converter, I see that 1.2kg is about 2.6 pounds of a chicken. That is pretty small. Let’s say a 4 pounder, I would think I would need more time.
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for the question.
When we did the recipe we were using a small Portuguese chicken as we can’t get 4 pounders when we lived there. I have found the ideal ratio for frozen whole chickens is 11 minutes per pound.
Therefore ours was 2.6 pounds = just short of 30 mins so for a 4 pound you would be looking at 44 minutes. We are running a big experiment on instant pot whole chickens and the timings as well as the chicken stock in 2 weeks, i recommend you subscribe here: https://recipethis.com/newsletter/ and then you will be in the loop when it goes live and have access to our instant pot free mini course 🙂
Wont there be an issue with the package of gizzards that is inside of the frozen chicken? Obviously, I won’t be able to remove it from the frozen bird before cooking.
Hi Sheryl,
Yes if your chicken has come with them. When doing this recipe we choose the ones without any things inside, it usually says on the pack. The extras inside will increase the cooking time, so we would suggest not cooking it this way if it has extras inside.
If possible take the extras out before freezing the chicken, but if it is bought frozen then try and get one without the extras inside 🙂