Instant Pot BBQ Chicken! Sweet, fall-apart tender and perfect for sandwiches, salads, BBQ plates and more!
This Instant Pot BBQ Chicken is an easy recipe you can make for a weeknight meal. You can use in so many ways!
I like serving it on buns for chicken sandwiches or for a delicious meal over rice. It is also one of my favorite recipe for meal prep!
It’s also delicious in a BBQ chicken salad with romaine, black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado and ranch dressing. This chicken is versatile, easy and delicious!
However you serve it, this easy instant pot barbecue chicken is one of my favorite recipes for busy weeknights!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This recipe uses a combination of boneless chicken breasts and boneless thighs. I like the texture when
Onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, brown sugar and grated onion give this chicken delicious flavor.
The flavor of this BBQ chicken really depends on what kind of BBQ sauce you use. Use your favorite bbq sauce for this instant pot bbq chicken recipe!
How to Make Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
This instant pot pulled chicken can be made in 4 easy steps.
- Place the ingredients in the instant pot in this order: chicken broth (or water), chicken, onion powder, garlic, powder, paprika, salt, BBQ sauce, grated onion, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. (Do NOT stir. You want the water to stay on the bottom of the pot so the instant pot comes to pressure.)
- Place the lid on the instant pot making sure the valve is in the sealing position. Press manual (high pressure) and set the cook time to 15 minutes.
- Let the pressure natural release for 10 minutes. Then quick release the venting position to remove the remaining pressure.
- Remove the cooked chicken and shred it. Reduce the liquid by pressing the “saute” button and simmering the sauce until thickened if necessary. Add the shredded meat back into the sauce.
Note: This recipe has been updated since the video was published. In recent years I’ve recommended add a cup of water or chicken broth, not stirring, removing the chicken and reducing the liquid, then adding the chicken back in. This ensures the instant pot doesn’t give you the dreaded burn notice!
I like using a combination of chicken breasts and chicken thighs for the meat. The meat turns out so much more moist this way than compared to using all chicken breasts.
I used to make BBQ chicken in the slow cooker all the time, but now I prefer it in the instant pot. It is so easy to throw everything in and walk away. Plus it takes just a fraction of the time.
For an allergy-friendly meal, enjoy this on toasted gluten-free buns with a side of my favorite Dairy-Free Coleslaw! You also might like these bbq nachos or these gluten-free smashburgers.
Expert Tips and Tricks
Use Gluten-Free Worcestershire Sauce: Not all brands are gluten-free so check the label! I use Lea and Perrins which is gluten-free.
Choose a Good BBQ Sauce: The flavor of this chicken is highly dependent on what kind of BBQ sauce you use. I love the flavor of Sweet Baby Ray’s – but lately I’ve been using Stubbs Sweet Sticky BBQ sauce (such a good price on Amazon!) because it doesn’t contain high-fructose corn syrup. Use your favorite barbecue sauce!
Chicken Breasts + Thighs = Yum: I like using a combination of chicken breast and thighs in this recipe. The chicken thighs keep the dish moist and delicious!
More Instant Pot Recipes
I hope you like this recipe as much as we do! If you try it be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- 2 lbs chicken thighs
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup grated onion plus juice
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Place the ingredients in the instant pot in this order: chicken stock (or water), chicken, onion powder, garlic, powder, paprika, salt, BBQ sauce, grated onion, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Do NOT stir. You want the water to stay on the bottom of the pot so the instant pot comes to pressure.
- Place the lid on the instant pot making sure the valve is in the sealing position. Press manual (high pressure) and set to 15 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. Then quick release the venting position to release the remaining pressure and open the pot.
- Remove the chicken and shred it. If necessary, reduce the liquid by pressing the "saute" button and simmering the sauce, stirring often, until thickened. Add the chicken back to the sauce before serving.
- Add more BBQ sauce if desired. Shred and enjoy on sandwiches, salads, BBQ plates and more!
Make this every week. Really great recipe for football season.
So glad you like it! 🙂
I just made this tonight and it tasted great. However, the sauce was a little thin. Any suggestions?
I had to cook the chicken much longer than the recipe stated… maybe I put too much chicken.
Really delicious once it cooked!! I will try and make it again!
Flavor of this was great! But my instantpot was mad at me and didn’t come up to pressure. I figured out that the BBQ sauce was too thick to count as a liquid and I had to add water. Once I did that, it came up to pressure.
Good to know it worked better when you added water! Thanks for the comment 🙂
I used frozen chicken breasts and Stubbs BBQ sauce. It was fantastic!
Great! I’m glad it turned out for you!
This was so easy to make
I used frozen chicken so my spices and barbecue sauce were not very well stirred and I was just going to see how it worked – the answer is perfect, without a problem! As it cooked and the chicken released it’s own juice, it all slid to the bottom and the bubbles helped stir it 🙂
Chicken was so tender it was shredding itself as I stirred it all together!
I did a bit of sautéing and also added some corn starch to get it to my desired thickness.
I’m using this chicken and some IP rice to make quesadillas tomorrow and I’m pretty excited <3 thank you for the recipe!!
Thanks for reporting back! So glad it worked out for your. It would be delicious in quesadillas!
How long did you set pressure for the frozen chicken?
I’m surprised to see no liquid in the recipe! I’ve started making this and am nervous to hit start on the instant pot now haha. So the bbq sauce and Worcestershire sauce is enough liquid for the instant pot to cook properly?
1c of chicken broth (or water) is the first ingredient.
How much does it make? How many people does it feed? If double recipe, wool or take longer to cook… i’m not am experienced instant pot cooker!
Don’t you need to add water for the pressure aspect?
This looks great, can’t wait to try it! Is it possible to use frozen chicken with this recipe?
It should be no problem, just will take a bit longer to come up to pressure.
Hi Erin! This recipe looks amazing. I followed it exactly using Stubb’s BBQ sauce and tried to make it in a 6qt Instant Pot, but I got a burn message before the cooker pressurized. Any idea where I might have gone wrong and how to fix it?
I get this same error every time I make this also. It’s super frustrating. I have to keep opening the pot and stirring and try again. It never fully pressurizes
It is likely because there is not enough water. You need to add about 1/2 cup of water as well.
Loved making this recipe. This was my first attempt with my new instant pot and what a success! After I was finished taking out the chicken I used the saute feature to thicken the sauce afterwards as mine had thinned quite a bit.
I agree. Way too thin. Sauté is the way to go. Great recipe regardless
How long did you sauté for?
Just for a few minutes – like 2-3!
Hi Erin. This recipe looks really good. I am excited to try it. 🙂 I’m also looking for a way to do pulled pork in my instant pot. Would I do at the same way as this?
I would really appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks
Hi Erin. For whatever reason I’m not sure you are seeing my comments. I commented here just to sort of bump my other one so you might see it.
Thanks for your help
Could you make this with just chicken breasts? Would the cook time change?
Yes – the cook time would remain the same!
I have an instant pot but rarely use it, mostly because it intimidates me. I saw this recipe and thought I’d give it a try and I’m so glad I did!!! The chicken turned out perfectly, it was super quick and even my pickiest eater approved!!
I’m so glad it turned out for you! 🙂