Instant Pot 7-Up Chicken–-marinated chicken breasts cooked in the Instant Pot. The chicken is a little sweet, a little spicy and lot good!

Instant Pot 7-Up Chicken
If you are like me you don’t think ahead much and it gets you into a pickle sometimes. If you’re not like me you will put this chicken in a Ziploc bag tonight with the marinade and tomorrow you’ll have a super fast and easy dinner ready to go when you are. Don’t be like me. Help your future self.
This chicken just calls for a handful of ingredients and a can of soda. I used 7UP but Sprite, Fresca or Squirt would also work. Heck I bet Dr. Pepper would be great as well! I haven’t tried this particular recipe with a diet version of soda but I think it would be just fine.
The important part of this recipe is choosing chicken breasts that are a bit smaller and all the same size. This will ensure that they get equally marinated and also cook at the same rate. If your chicken breasts are large then I would slice them in half so they are half as thick before marinating.
If you don’t have fresh chicken breasts then you can use frozen. They’ll thaw overnight in your fridge and soak up the delicious marinade at the same time.
Try serving this chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. Other good choices are cauliflower rice or raw veggies and dip. If you feel like taking it outside you can grill this chicken instead of cooking in your Instant Pot. Either way it is so tasty!
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes…
Instant Pot Anniversary Chicken—an easy 6 ingredient chicken recipe!
Instant Pot Smothered Chicken—chicken thighs in a savory gravy that you’ll want to lick off the plate!
Instant Pot Karen’s Killer Chicken—It’s sure to become a family favorite. This recipe is keto friendly!
Instant Pot Million Dollar Chicken—This chicken and sauce is so good that whoever you serve it to will want to marry you!
Instant Pot Marry Me Chicken—This chicken and sauce is so good that whoever you serve it to will want to marry you!
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Instant Pot 7-Up Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes (plus10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Marinated chicken breasts cooked in the Instant Pot. The chicken is a little sweet, a little spicy and lot good!
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 2 pounds chicken breasts (you can also use boneless thighs)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- Zest and juice from 2 oranges
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 cups 7UP soda (or sprite)
For cooking:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a large ziplock bag add the chicken breasts and all the marinade ingredients. Let the chicken marinate overnight (or at least 8 hours) in the refrigerator. Try using chicken breasts that are all the same size or slice the chicken breasts so they are the same size.
- Discard marinade.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil. Add the chicken into the Instant Pot (you may have to work in batches). Sear on both sides for about 1-2 minutes. Move chicken out of Instant Pot.
- Pour 1 cup water into bottom of pot and scrape bottom so that nothing is sticking.
- Add a trivet into bottom of pot. Place the chicken in one layer on top of the trivet.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 6 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove lid.
- Use tongs to place chicken on a cutting board. Slice the chicken across the grain and serve. Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also use an 8 quart or 3 quart pot.
You can grill this chicken instead of cooking in the Instant Pot. Grill chicken 12-15 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I just have orange zest, but not oranges or orange juice. I guess I’ll have to buy some oranges or orange juice to make this recipe. Is there anything else that I could use in place of the orange juice??
I bet you could use lemon juice
Thanks, Karen. I’ll try using lemon.
Can I use diet soda? It’s what I have on hand.
Yes I believe it will work just fine.
Instead of discarding the marinade can it be doubled, then strained the next day to make a sauce to pour over the chicken to serve it? The chicken looks like it needs a bit of sauce with it. (And to pour over rice if you serve that too.) This sounds really good, time for a grocery store run. Thanks for sharing with us!
★★★★★
In step 4 you could use the marinade as the liquid instead of water. You could then make a sauce out of it.
Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Can anyone help me on how you do a 10 min natural release??
I have a Duo Nova and it seems to do this by itself… Can you tell I am still new to this!!
I love the easy step-by-step directions, this part just throws me!!
Thanks
★★★★★
Natural release means to let it rest 10 minutes after the cooking process is finished. You can then do a quick release to finish the release of the pressure.
Yep Brian is right! Just let it sit there for 10 minutes. Then push the release button.
Where are the % of daily values listed?
I couldn’t figure out how to do it. With the marinade I’m not sure how much to add into the recipe since you discard it…
I’d like to use OJ in place of fresh-squeezed…appx how much do you think? 1/4 C?
Yes that would be perfect
Can you stack one trivet on top of another to cook 3 breasts’ and 2 thighs?
Sure you could do that!