Chicken thighs with or without bone, with or without skin, fresh or frozen – get the times needed to cook chicken thighs of any type in the Instant Pot. This is a great technique for when chicken thighs are on sale and you’re doing meal prep for the week.
I really love chicken thigh meat. I find it much juicier and more flavorful than chicken breast. So when it’s on sale at my grocery store, I load up on it.
My new favorite way to cook chicken thighs, especially if I’m doing food prep for the week, is to put it all into the Instant Pot. It comes out really juicy and tender and full of flavor. I mean it. If I put half an onion and some garlic cloves into the Instant Pot with that chicken, the meat seems to get penetrated by that flavor. Probably due to the high pressure of the Instant Pot cooking method.
Video: Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
Instructions
What you’re going to do is to season up your chicken thighs with salt and pepper and anything else you’d like.
Then put some water into the bottom of your Instant Pot insert. 1 cup is enough. I often put 2-4 cups because that water ends up deliciously flavored and I use it as stock or broth during the week. Note that if you use more water, the time the Instant Pot takes to get pressurized will increase. You still set your Instant Pot for the same number of minutes, all that changes is what the Instant Pot does, not what you do.
Optionally add half an onion and a couple of garlic cloves to the water. Celery and carrots work too. Put the trivet or a steamer basket on top of the water/veggies.
Put the thighs on top of the trivet. Seal the Instant Pot and set the valve to sealed. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for the times indicated below. Once it’s done, let it do a natural release for 5 minutes before turning the valve to vent.
Note: You can use any kind of chicken thighs in the Instant Pot. Times are given for different types below.
Cooking Times
For all of the below, follow the instructions in the recipe below, using these times and extra details:
- Bone-in skin-on thighs: Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 12 minutes with about 6-8 thighs in there. Note that you should remove the skin before serving because it will be limp. It is easier to remove after cooking than before.
- Bone-in skinless thighs are also going to go for 12 minutes for 8 thighs.
- Boneless skinless thighs only need 10 minutes for 6-8 thighs.
- Frozen thighs that were bought fresh and then were frozen individually such that they are not touching each other: for 6-8 individually frozen thighs, set the Instant Pot for 14 minutes.
- Frozen thighs that were bought individually frozen as flatter pieces that have a 4% water or other solution (such as Kirkland), full 48 oz. bag: arrange them vertically like books on a shelf and pressure cook for 14 minutes.
- Frozen thighs that were bought fresh and then frozen touching each other on the tray in a single layer (they are frozen together is a single layer), 6-8 thighs: Remove all packaging (if needed run cold water over them until all packaging and absorbent mat is fully loosened so that it can be removed without tearing). Do everything as instructed but go with 6 minutes, then immediately vent pressure. Use tongs to separate thighs since they are now thawed enough to do so. Then set to pressure cook for an additional 10 minutes (for boneless thighs), do a natural release, or 12 minutes (for bone-in thighs).
What To Do If Your Chicken Isn’t Cooked Through
Sometimes you have bigger chicken thighs than expected, and other times the sealing ring on your Instant Pot has a small leak and some steam is getting out. There are a variety of reasons why on a particular day your chicken doesn’t end up cooked through. I can tell you that I’ve followed the below recipe hundreds of times at this point, and perhaps 5% of the time, I have some pink chicken. It is best to always cut into a piece and make sure it’s not pink before serving, or better yet, use an instant-read thermometer to make sure that it is at 165F.
Anyhow, if you open up your Instant Pot and cut into a piece of chicken and it’s pink, don’t panic. It’s going to be fixed really quickly and easily like this:
Put the lid back onto the Instant Pot immediately. Turn the valve to Sealing. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 3 minutes. Let it come up to pressure, which will be quick because everything is still hot in there. Then it will pressure cook for 3 minutes. Then do a natural release for 5 minutes. The chicken should now be fully-cooked. If it isn’t, there is probably something wrong with your Instant Pot. You might need a new sealing ring or valve. That is the most likely situation.
Searing The Thighs First
This is an optional step, but you can absolutely sear the chicken thighs first to get some nice brown color on them. This doesn’t work for frozen thighs though.
You would do this browning step if you’re serving the chicken thighs as is. If you are instead planning to shred the chicken, or chop it up to use it in another recipe, then you really don’t need to do this.
To sear the chicken, before doing anything else, set the Instant Pot to saute on high. Season the chicken with salt and anything else you’d like. Add a tablespoon of cooking oil. Swirl it around and then add the chicken thighs in a single layer. Cook them for 3-4 minutes until they are nice and brown. Then flip them over and do the other side.
The next step is really important whenever searing anything in the Instant Pot. You need to make sure that nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot before you proceed or else you get a Burn notice later when pressure-cooking. So, use tongs to remove the chicken thighs from the Instant Pot and put them on a plate. Then, add your liquid to the Instant Pot. When I do this, I tend to go with a minimum of 1 and 1/2 cups because some is going to evaporate before we get to pressure-cooking. Once the liquid is in there, use a wooden spoon to scrape anything up from the bottom. The liquid will help to loosen it as it heats up.
Once you’re certain that there is nothing stuck to the bottom, then add in your trivet and put the chicken thighs on top. The rest of the recipe is the same as below with the same cooking times.
Whether you sear the chicken thighs, or leave them and then shred them, or use the cooked chicken in another recipe, I know you’re going to love how juicy and tender Instant Pot chicken thighs turn out. Have a wonderful day! -Christine xo
More Chicken Thigh Recipes
You can browse all my delicious chicken recipes like this delicious Smothered Chicken recipe, but here are some more great chicken thigh dishes for you.
- Pan-Fried Chicken Thighs
- Breaded Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
- BBQ Chicken Thighs Recipe
- Smoked Chicken Thighs Recipe
- Boneless Skinless Ranch Chicken Thighs
- Easy Baked Chicken Thighs
Podcast Episode: Pressure Cooking Chicken Thighs
Listen to our editor, Christine Pittman, explain briefly about how to make this chicken, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
How to Cook Chicken Thighs in the Instant Pot Recipe
Chicken thighs with or without bone, with or without skin, fresh or frozen – get the times needed to cook chicken thighs of any type in the Instant Pot. This is a great technique for when chicken thighs are on sale and you’re doing meal prep for the week.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 6–8 chicken thighs, fresh thighs or individually frozen thighs, with or without bone, with or without skin
- Salt
- Pepper
- Water
- 1/2 small onion (optional)
- 2 cloves peeled garlic (optional)
Instructions
- Season thighs liberally with salt and pepper.
- Measure 1 cups water into the bottom of your Instant Pot insert.*
- Add onion and garlic to Instant Pot, if using.
- Put the trivet or a steamer basket on top of the water/veggies. Put the thighs on top of the trivet in a single layer (it’s okay if they overlap a little bit but not much).
- Seal the Instant Pot and set the valve to sealed. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for the times listed in notes.
- Once the pressure cooker has counted down, let it do a natural release for 5 minutes before turning the valve to vent.
- Once the pressure button moves down, remove lid. Remove chicken thighs. Strain liquid if desired for use as a stock.
Notes
*1 cup is the minimum amount of water you can use for a 6-quart Instant Pot and 1 and 1/2 cups for an 8-quart Instant Pot. Use up to 4 cups of water total and you will have nice chicken stock under the chicken thighs once they’re finished cooking.
Cooking times:
Bone-in skin-on thighs: 12 minutes
Bone in skinless thighs: 12 minutes
Boneless skinless thighs: 10 minutes
Frozen thighs bought fresh, then frozen at home: 14 minutes.
Frozen thighs that came individually frozen as flatter pieces that have a 4% water or solution (such as Kirkland): 14 minutes.
Thighs frozen in a single layer on a tray touching each other such that they’re frozen together: 6 minutes, quick release the pressure, use tongs to separate thawed thighs, then pressure cook for an additional 10 minutes for boneless, 12 minutes for bone-in, then the 5 minute natural release.
This post originally appeared in September 2018 and was revised and republished in May 2023.
How can I freeze and reheat the chicken I made. I’m gonna shred it! Thank you !
I would shred the chicken before freezing, Khloe. Freeze the chicken in a ziptop freezer bag and defrost in fridge overnight before using. Reheat for a couple minutes in instant pot on a trivet with cup of water underneath.
I cooked fresh thighs today, about six pounds worth, stacked up on the trivet. 35 minutes cook time and 20 minutes NR. So tender it was falling off the bones. Amazing!
Wonderful, Heather! Thanks for letting us know.
I can only fit 4 boneless skinless thighs on the trivet without overlap. Would like to cook 6. How do you fit 6 on the trivet?
They can overlap a little bit, Robin, but you don’t want them on top of each other. We used this Instant Pot for this recipe, if yours is smaller you may need to cook less at a time.
Do I really need to add water?
Yes, the Instant Pot needs at least one cup of liquid to work properly.
Thanks for posting the general guidelines! Like some of the others, I don’t always need a lot of chicken. I needed 2 boneless, skinless thighs — total weight 1/2 pound — for a recipe. I cooked them for 5 minutes and did the quick release right away and the thighs were done. Of course boneless, skinless thighs are tricky because one end is much thicker than the other. The thin end is going to be slightly overdone when the thick end is perfect; there’s not really anything you can do about that. I hope this is helpful for those of you cooking smaller amounts. Oh, and I was using an 8-qt Instant Pot and used 1 1/2 cups water. I don’t like to use the rack that came with the IP because I don’t think the legs are long enough. I use a double rack designed for cooking a lot of hard-boiled eggs at a time. When I’m cooking 8 bone-in thighs I put 4 skin-side down on the bottom rack and 4 skin-side up on the top rack and they cook evenly.
I appreciate you letting us know your times and amounts, Marcia. I’m sure that will help others!
My 6 quart Instantpot Plus did not come with a trivet and I’m very adverse to cooking food with aluminum foil balls in solution. Why is it necessary to keep the chicken above the veggies and water?
If you cook the chicken in the liquid, it is more stewed and can be a bit stringy. You could also use a stainless steel or silicon steamer basket that is safe for high temperatures or a grilling or roasting rack. Hope that helps, Richard!
Very good recipe. I followed the directions and it turned out beautifully. It was easy and fast. Thank you. I will definitely be making this again!
Glad it worked so well for you, Brendon! Enjoy!
Just made this chicken, absolutely delicious! So easy! Perfect amount of spice. Directions easy to follow. Thanks for an excellent recipe:)
Glad you enjoyed, Will!
Can I put the thighs directly into the liquid, without any kind of trivet underneath?? How would that change the taste or texture of my chicken?
Lisa, yes, you can. The chicken ends up falling apart a bit because it is extra juicy. In fact though, I prefer that and I don’t always use a trivet. I also find that the liquid ends up more flavorful if you put the chicken directly in it so if you’re thinking of using the liquid as broth or stock, then putting the chicken in the liquid will make it better. Enjoy!
Monty, just cook the big batch of thighs, then dice or shread the leftovers, and freeze in individual meal size portions for use later. When you bag the cooked chicken up to freeze, add some of the chicken broth to each bag to keep the frozen chicken nice and moist. If you are freezing a bag for stir fry or chicken salad, just a tablespoon or two of broth will do. If you are freezing it for soup, the more broth the better. If you have leftover broth, freeze it also.
Thanks for sharing your freezing tips, Pauline!
Christine, I live alone, and love adding chicken to pasta with cream sauces or salads, but cooking 8 thighs would see me throwing food out eventually. What would you say is the time for 1 or 2 thighs at a time, as I could easily buy a 6 or 8 pack, put each one I’m not cooking into a sandwich bag and freeze for later use, so I can only cook as I need to.
I am not positive because I never cook so few thighs at a time, Monty. BUT, I think that 5 minutes would be enough for 2 thawed, boneless, skinless chicken thighs. By the time the whole thing heats up and then it all pressure cooks for 5 minutes and then the slow release for 5 minutes and then a bit for the faster release, well, that’s a lot of time for not a lot of food. If you find a time that works great for just 1 or 2, please let us know!
I marinated a package of skinless, boneless chicken thighs for ~ 6 hours. They could have marinated overnight and been even better. The marinade was one fresh squeezed lemon; 1/2 c. good olive oil; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper two large cloves of garlic (just dug from my garden) and about 1 cup of fresh herbs from my garden (a mixture of rosemary; oregano; lemon thyme and tarragon. The proportions are not important – just use what you have). I would have added fresh parsley but mine isn’t doing too well in the heat. I put 2 cups of water in the bottom as suggested, and added two cut up stalks of celery and one chunked peeled large carrot. I put the basket over the vegetables, and poured the marinade and chicken into the pot. I cut back the cooking time to 8 minutes for 6 boneless fresh chicken thighs, and this was still too long. I will reduce to 7 minutes next time and substitute 1/2 cup of dry white wine to the mix for a total of two cups of liquid. So simple and delicious, with a little broth left over. I will probably freeze the broth in a ziplock bag (labeled with contents and the date).
That sounds amazing, Diane! Thanks for sharing what you did and I love that you were able to utilize your garden for it. 🙂
Can I reuse the left over water with onions and garlic after cooking one set of thighs as long as it has 1 or more of liquid in the pot? Or is it best to start from scratch? Btw, this has been my first and go to recipe for chicken in my brand new instant pot! Thank you so much for sharing!
Hayley, so happy you like the recipe. It’s my go-to every week as well! You can reuse the same water more than once as long as it is at least 1 cup. I assume you’re doing the second batch right after the first batch, right? Then it’s totally fine to reuse the water. You could even keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days and then still reuse it. Also, you know, you could just cook double the amount of chicken thighs at the same time, if you wanted. I’m not positive of the timing but I’d try 16 thawed boneless skinless chicken thighs with a pressure cook time set to 15 minutes and then the natural release of 5 minutes. I am pretty sure that will work. They could be a bit undercooked in which case you’d have to put them for a few more minutes. But after you do it the first time, you’ll have a better idea of how long to set it for next time.
Just tried your recipe tonight. Kids loved it. It was my first time trying it, so I am pleased with how the chicken turned out. I am new to the instant pot. Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Sharlene! We’ve got plenty of yummy Instant Pot recipes for you to try.
I tried this with 4 large bone in thighs and 12 minutes was not enough. I put them back in for 4 more and they were goof
Thanks for sharing your results with us, Martha!
By cooking it on the trivet, will the chicken shred, or cut? I’m wanting to make chicken for tacos, and was going to be able to shred it and not cook it all day in a crockpot.
Thanks!
Kelly, you will be able to do either one. If you want the chicken slices, use a sharp knife and make slices. If you want it shredded, use two forks to pull it. It will be very tender and is perfect for what you want to do.
I have a 3qt. instapot. Can I follow your same recipes using at the least 1 cup of liquid? Would cream of chicken soup replace any of the liquid? The instapot is new for me.
Cindy, yes you can use the same recipe in your instant pot. You can use cream of chicken soup for part of the liquid but I would add some water as well. Try one can of condensed cream of chicken soup and 1/2 can of water. My concern is that the soup alone isn’t liquidy enough and could burn on the bottom of the pot, which causes the pot to show a Burn warning and stop cooking. You don’t want that to happen.
I tried the first time with chicken thighs and they turned out great. The second time I used hindquarters with a top trivet and a rack on bottom for 15 minutes and they also turned out great! Thank you for sharing.
You’re so welcome, Chillon! Happy to hear it worked so well for you.
Knowing the weight of the chicken thighs used vs number would be more helpful and allow alternation of cooking time to be made.
thanks
Thanks for your suggestion, we’ll keep that in mind.
Thank you for these great instructions. I seasoned my boneless, skinless thighs, rolled them up, and stood them on end on the trivet in the instant pot. My thighs were perfect and delicious and I used the stock to make IP split pea soup (so good!).
You’re so welcome! That all sounds wonderful!