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by Ed
Chicken cooked on the grill – be it whole, beer-can style, or pieces, slathered in sauce – is one of my favourite summer meals. I think few things, with the exception of hot dogs, are improved as much by grilling them up on the BBQ. So good.
My motivation for creating this recipe is similar to why I created our Fast and Tender Instant Pot Ribs recipe. Traditional methods of cooking take a really long time and make it hard to enjoy these favourite foods on a busy weeknight.
Grilling a whole chicken is typically a weekend project for me. There is prep, careful watching and maintaining a perfect temperature, and then making sure the wings don’t burn while the inside is still raw. Plus, while winter may be over, it still isn’t the kind of weather that has me interested in hanging outside for a couple hours cooking.
Good news everyone – (with a little help from your oven broiler) you can use everyone’s favourite pressure cooker to make a whole Instant Pot BBQ chicken – in less than an hour. Let’s do this!
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
Ingredients:
- One whole chicken (ours was around 3 lbs, but the Instant Pot can handle bigger)
- Cooking spray
- Dry rub seasonings (we used a mix of 1/4 tsp of this roasted garlic and red pepper and 1/4 tsp of smoked paprika)
- 1.5 Tbsp canola oil
- 1/4 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce
- 1 cup of liquid (water, chicken stock, beer, whatever you want. I used beer.)
Spray the whole bird with oil.
Dust it with the seasonings you prefer on your usual grilled chicken.
I added Smoked Paprika to get that smoky taste you usually only find outside.
*Not pictured – the cup of homemade beer I used for liquid
Let it preheat for a few minutes and add 1.5 Tbsp of canola oil.
Put the chicken in and brown it on all sides.
There is a bit of art to this, but I found using the biggest wooden spoons we owned to be useful.
When the chicken is browned all over, remove the steel sleeve to your Instant Pot.
You’ll find that with the Saute setting, the sides stay cool enough to lift with your hands.
Remove the chicken, but leave any oil and browned goodness in the pot.
Put the rack in the bottom of your Instant Pot and add 1 cup of liquid for pressure cooking.
I used beer to make a beer-can Instant Pot BBQ chicken, sans beer can.
Put the chicken back in.
My 3lb chicken was still a little frozen inside so I erred on the side of caution and cooked for 30 minutes.
Instant Pot suggests 8 minutes per pound, so adjust as appropriate for your bird.
Release the remaining pressure manually, open it up and remove the chicken to a parchment covered baking sheet.
Slather it with the sweet and savoury sauce of your choice.
Watch your chicken carefully – it is already cooked, you’re just looking to add a bit of flavour and colour to the skin.
When it looks good to you, it’s ready to eat!
Whole Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
A whole, moist and delicious BBQ-style chicken - in under an hour!
Ingredients
- Whole chicken, 3 lb (but the Instant Pot can handle bigger)
- Cooking spray
- Dry rub seasonings (we used a mix of ½ tsp of dried garlic and red pepper mix and ½ tsp of smoked paprika)
- 1.5 Tbsp Canola Oil
- ¼ cup of BBQ sauce (ours was Diana’s honey garlic)
- 1 cup of beer (or another liquid like water or chicken stock)
Instructions
- Spray the whole bird with cooking oil spray. Dust it with the dry rub seasonings.
- Set your Instant Pot to "Saute". Let it preheat for a few minutes and add the canola oil. Put the chicken in and brown it on all sides. (There is a bit of art to this, but I found using the biggest wooden spoons we owned was useful for turning the chicken.)
- After the chicken is browned all over, remove the steel sleeve to your Instant Pot. Remove the chicken and set aside. Leave any oil and browned goodness in the steel pot and place the sleeve back into the Instant Pot.
- Put the rack in the bottom of your Instant Pot and add 1 cup of liquid for pressure cooking. Put the chicken back in on the rack.
- Seal and set your pot to “Poultry”. Add minutes as required. Instant Pot suggests 8 minutes per pound, so adjust as appropriate for your bird. A 3lb bird should cook for 24 minutes
- After the pressure cooking finishes, turn the Instant Pot off and let sit for 5 minutes to naturally depressurize.
- Release the remaining pressure manually, open it up and remove the chicken to a parchment-covered baking sheet. Slather it with the BBQ sauce.
- Place under the broiler for 5 minutes. Watch your chicken carefully - it is already cooked, you're just broiling to add more flavour and colour to the skin. When it looks good to you, it's ready to eat!
Check out our collection of Instant Pot Dump Recipes – you can get a delicious dinner on the table FAST!
This recipe is also fast and delicious: “Crack” Cream Cheese Chicken Chili Instant Pot Recipe
Including our recipe for Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken (made with Frozen chicken breasts!) and our collection of Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Recipes, including our recipe for Instant Pot Lemon Chicken with Garlic from FROZEN chicken.
Robin and Ed are a DIY-loving couple with over 25 years of design and build experience. Also, Robin is a Nutritionist and former Registered Dietitian and Ed is an award-winning Business Educator. We share strategies for living a rich life on a DIY budget: creative money-savvy ideas for a stylish home, healthy meals and family fun. Our work has been published in the pages of Do It Yourself, Farmhouse Style and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.
Unknown
Wednesday 19th of February 2020
This chicken dinner looks so yummy! Great recipe!