Instant Pot lemon garlic chicken breasts cook with soft, buttery potatoes and carrots for an easy one-pot meal. This is healthy home-cooked comfort food!
Here's what I love about this recipe for Instant Pot chicken, potatoes and carrots: The entire meal - healthy, home-cooked comfort food - cooks in one pot at the same time.
Layer up the lemon-garlic chicken breasts, potatoes and carrots, cook for 10 minutes on high pressure, and dinner is ready!
Another thing I love about Instant Pot chicken breast and vegetables? Melted butter and chives. If you haven't had this combination in awhile, I highly recommend it over the steamed potatoes and carrots.
If you're lucky, you might have leftover, cooked chicken breast that can be turned into lunch or dinner the next day. Add it to macaroni salad with chicken, throw it into quinoa fried rice, or make chicken salad.
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What you'll love about this recipe
- All the ingredients cook at the same time
- The chicken breast is moist and the veggies are soft-tender
- A generous amount of seasoning on the chicken infuses flavor into the potatoes and carrots as they cook.
- The whole dish has a wonderful lemon-garlic flavor and aroma.
How to cook instant pot chicken breasts
Most of the time I cook chicken thighs in my Instant Pot, because they are much harder to overcook and are a juicier, more flavorful cut of chicken. That's why I use chicken thighs in this recipe for Instant Pot chicken and white rice and for this Instant Pot chicken and brown rice recipe.
But sometimes, chicken breasts are what you want, right?
Here's the best way to cook Instant Pot chicken breasts:
- Set the chicken on a trivet, so it steams above 1 cup water. If the chicken is sitting directly in water, it will boil instead of steam, which makes the meat tougher.
- Cook for 10 minutes on high pressure plus a 5 minute quick release. This cooks chicken breasts nicely, without overcooking them.
- Season very generously. I usually add ½ teaspoon salt for every pound of chicken breasts. You can also add black pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, or your favorite chicken seasoning.
- Let the chicken breasts rest for 10 minutes before slicing. This helps lock in the juiciness and keeps the chicken moist.
Step-by-step instructions
- Pour 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot. Set the chicken breasts on top of a trivet. Drizzle olive oil on the chicken breasts and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano and fresh lemon zest.
2. Layer potatoes and carrots on top.
3. Cook for 10 minutes on high pressure. Wait 5 minutes then do a quick release of steam.
Storage
Leftover cooked chicken breasts can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. As you know, cooked chicken is very handy for lunches, salads and quick dinners.
To freeze cooked chicken breast, either whole or sliced, simply put the cooled chicken in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Seal the bag almost all the way, then squeeze out as much air as possible. To defrost frozen cooked chicken, place in the refrigerator overnight.
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken Breasts with Potatoes and Carrots
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot lemon garlic chicken breasts cook with soft, buttery potatoes and carrots for an easy one-pot meal. The seasoning on the chicken infuses the whole dish, giving flavor to the potatoes and carrots too.
Total Instant Pot Cooking Time: 15 minutes to reach pressure + 10 minutes cooking time + 5 minute quick release
This recipe was updated on Sept 16, 2021
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ teaspoon granulated or powdered garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Zest of 1 small lemon (I use a microplane grater to grate off the peel)
- 2 pounds gold or new potatoes, cut into 1 ½-inch pieces (peeled or unpeeled)
- 2 to 4 carrots, sliced into ¾-inch to 1-inch thick pieces (don’t slice them thinner, or they’ll be mushy)
- 1 small bunch chives, for garnishing potatoes and carrots before serving (or parsley)
- Butter, for flavoring potatoes and carrots before serving
Instructions
- Pour the water into the Instant Pot. Set the Instant Pot trivet on top.
- Lay the chicken breasts on the trivet in a cozy, single layer. The chicken can overlap a little bit, but if you pile the chicken breasts on top of each other, the chicken won’t cook as well.
- Brush or drizzle olive oil over the chicken breasts.
- Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, oregano and lemon zest.
- Layer the potatoes on top of the chicken. Some of the potatoes will fall over the side of the trivet, that’s fine.
- Layer the the carrots on top of the potatoes. Season lightly with salt (about ½ teaspoon).
- Secure the lid and program the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. The IP will take about 15 minutes to come up to pressure.
- When the cooking time is done, wait 5 minutes then do a quick release by turning the pressure valve venting.
- Use a slotted spoon to lift the potatoes and carrots out of the Instant Pot and into a serving dish. I like to lay several pats of butter on top so that it melts into the potatoes and carrots. Use kitchen shears to snip small pieces of chive over the potatoes and carrots.
- Remove the chicken and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing the chicken. Add salt to taste.
Notes
The broth in the bottom of the Instant Pot is flavorful and tasty; consider serving it with the meal.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Instant Pot chicken breasts, Instant Pot potatoes and carrots
I love a good one pot meal like this. Great for a weeknight family dinner.
★★★★★
I'm super late to the game on the INstant pot - but this recipe was so easy! thanks much - very tasty
★★★★★
Such a fantastic one pot meal! You had me at buttery potatoes. I love how easily everything comes together in the instant pot. Yum!
★★★★★
Lemon and garlic with chicken is a favorite. I love this new version for the Instant Pot, so quick and juicy.
★★★★★
This was so delicious and simple to make!! Thank you!
★★★★★
Family made meal for 2 adults and one growing 17 yr old. Nothing leftover! Will definitely be added to regular rotation.🤗
★★★★★
I'm so glad that your family enjoyed it!