Instant Pot Lemon Chicken That’s Amazing!

This Instant Pot Lemon Chicken recipe is bursting with fresh flavors and can be made in 30 minutes! The perfect weeknight meal to make in your pressure cooker.

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken

I think we found a new favorite Instant Pot Recipe!! Hello, delicious Instant Pot Lemon Chicken! My husband just adores this recipe because of the lemony sauce that accompanies the tender chicken. He’s a sauce guy. 

Wow, the flavor! And wow, the ease!

I love recipes like this and Instant Pot Butter Chicken because they have so much flavor and take little time to cook. Like, just 30 minutes! The Instant Pot is made for recipes like this and busy weeknights!

How To Make Instant Pot Lemon Chicken

Ok, it’s time to start making dinner and have it DONE in about 30 minutes!

Step 1

Grab your chicken and season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and chili flakes on both sides.

Step 2

Now, select the sauté function on your Instant Pot and add olive oil into the pot. Let it get nice and hot.

Step 3

Once it’s hot, place chicken in the instant pot and brown on both sides, approximately 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown. You will likely have to work in batches depending on the amount of chicken you are making. I always do since we have so many mouths to feed!

Once browned, remove from Instant Pot and set aside.

Step 4

Add the butter to Instant Pot and melt. Now, stir in yummy onions and garlic. Add lemon juice to deglaze pot. Make sure you get all the little bits, so you don’t get the burn notice. Cook for 1 minute and then add Italian seasoning, lemon zest and chicken broth.

Step 5

Put chicken back into the Instant Pot with the other ingredients, lock the lid, and turn the valve to seal. Select the “pressure cook” button (on newer models) and set timer to 7 minutes.

(Note: It takes 5-10 minutes to get to pressure and start counting down.)

Step 6

When done, allow the chicken to naturally release for 2-3 minutes. Then, push the value for a quick release.

Step 7

If you like a nice thick sauce, remove chicken from Instant Pot and take cornstarch and mix it in a small bowl with water and add it to Instant Pot. Press sauté and allow sauce to thicken and boil. Add chicken back in to coat and heat back up.

Serve chicken with sauce spooned over top (lots of sauce) and garnished with parsley and sliced lemons if desired.

What Sides go with Instant Pot Lemon Chicken?

Enjoy this Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken with Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Soooo, good! It would also be great with roasted or steamed asparagus or cauliflower.

Tips for Making Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken

• So, if you’re going a little healthy leave the skin off the chicken. If you don’t mind the extra fat, leave the skin on to get a nice crisp.
• If you can’t get enough lemon, double the amount of lemon zest listed.
• You can put lemon slices in the instant pot when the chicken is cooking. The whole slice become soft and edible–and quite delicious. For presentation add fresh lemon slices at the end. However, the flavor bonus is worth doing both if you’d like!
• Most importantly, if you have issues with the “burn” error, make sure you scrape/deglaze really well after you sauté the chicken.

Supplies Used to Make Instant Pot Lemon Chicken

This post contains affiliate links. Disclosure policy here.

I have the 6-quart Instant Pot Ultra, but the 6-quart Instant Pot Duo is also an awesome choice. 

If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Lemon Chicken or any other recipe on Suburban Simplicity, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it went in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food, fun crafts + DIYs and what I’m up to on a daily basis!

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken

Course dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 266kcal

Author Erin Henry

Ingredients

• 6-8 boneless chicken thighs skin on or off
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes optional
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• juice and zest of one lemon more if desired
• 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth see notes
• chopped fresh parsley and lemon slices for garnish optional

Sauce Thickener (optional)

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons water

Instructions

• Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and chili flakes on both sides.
• Select the sauté function on your Instant Pot and add olive oil into the pot.
• Once hot, place chicken in the Instant Pot and brown on both sides, approximately 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown. You will likely have to work in batches depending on the amount of chicken you are making. Once browned, remove from Instant Pot and set aside.
• Add butter to Instant Pot and melt.  Now stir in onions and garlic. Add lemon juice to deglaze pot.  Cook for 1 minute and then add Italian seasoning, lemon zest and chicken broth.
• Put chicken back into the Instant Pot with the other ingredients, lock the lid, and turn the valve to seal. Select the "pressure cook" button and set timer to 7 minutes. (Note: It takes approximately 5-10 minutes to get to pressure and start counting down.)
• When done, allow the chicken to naturally release for 2-3 minutes.  Then, push the value for a quick release.
• If you like a thick sauce, remove chicken from Instant Pot and take cornstarch and mix it in a small bowl with water and add it to Instant Pot. Press sauté and allow sauce to thicken and boil.  Add chicken back in to coat and heat back up.
• Serve chicken with sauce spooned over top and garnished with parsley and sliced lemons if desired.

Notes

Note:  This recipe was made in a 6-quart Instant Pot.  I use 1/3 cup chicken stock and that combined with the lemon and chicken juices, I've never gotten a burn notice. If you have a sensitive Instant Pot, add more liquid so you don't get the burn notice. 

Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.

★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!

Nutrition

Calories: 266kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 108mg | Potassium: 213mg | Vitamin A: 6.3% | Vitamin C: 1.2% | Calcium: 3.2% | Iron: 6%

Other Delicious Instant Pot Recipes

Instant Pot Butter Chicken – my fav!

Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese – the kids fav!

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