Instant Pot Engagement Chicken

Instant Pot Engagement Chicken–A simple whole chicken recipe with the most amazing flavor! Drizzling the salty/lemony juices from Instant Pot over the sliced chicken is everything. 

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Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below

Instant Pot Engagement Chicken

Sometimes the simplest recipes taste the best. That is certainly the case with Instant Pot engagement chicken! It only has a total of 6 ingredients but the flavor is so amazing. The key to serving this chicken is drizzling the lemony-salty juices from the bottom of the Instant Pot over the top of the sliced chicken pieces.

This recipe is an oven recipe that I have adapted to the Instant Pot and slow cooker. The original recipe comes from a recipe book called 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know: Engagement Chicken and 99 Other Fabulous Dishes to Get You Everything You Want in Life.* Here is what the author says about this engagement chicken, “Once upon a time, there was a young magazine assistant who loved her boyfriend and imagined that someday in the not too distant future they would get married. One evening, in the kind of flurry of domesticity that even the most modern young woman can experience, she made her boyfriend a classic roast chicken supper, based on a recipe her boss, a Glamour editor, had given her. Her boyfriend loved it. He had seconds. He, licked his fingers. And shortly thereafter, he proposed.” Regardless if you get a marriage proposal or not you’ll definitely get a good dinner!

Ingredients

Don’t be fooled into thinking this recipe can’t be that good because it’s simple list of ingredients! You’ll be shocked at how yummy this simple chicken dish is.

• Whole chicken–anywhere from 4-6 pounds
• Fresh lemon juice
• Lemons–separate from the lemon juice
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Poultry seasoning–or make your own

Steps

1. Prepare Instant Pot: Pour 1 cup water into bottom of Instant Pot. Place a trivet in the bottom.
   
2. Wash chicken: Remove the giblets from the chicken (I discarded mine). Wash the chicken inside and out with cold water. Then let the chicken drain, cavity down, in a colander for 2 minutes.
   
3. Season: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken breast side down into the Instant Pot on top of the trivet. Pour the lemon juice all over the chicken, both inside and out. Season the chicken all over with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. 
   
4. Lemons: Prick the two lemons 3 times in 3 different places with a fork and place them deep inside the chicken cavity. Depending on the size of your chicken one might stick out a little.  
   
5. Pressure cook: Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 6 minute per pound of chicken (weight of the chicken after the giblets are removed, use a digital scale*). So if you have a 5 pound chicken it would be 30 minutes. When time it up let pot sit for 15 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid. 
   
6. Crisp skin: If you’d like you can crisp up the chicken skin with an air fryer lid. Place the air fryer lid on top for 5 minutes at 425° F. 
   
7. Drizzle chicken with juices: Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Remove the lemons from the cavity and carve. The most important part is pouring the juices from the Instant Pot over the top of the sliced chicken. The lemony-salty broth is so amazing!
   

Notes/Tips

• This chicken tastes great with mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower and green beans or asparagus.
• Use leftover chicken in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken like White Chicken Chili, Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich, Chicken Enchiladas Casserole, Creamy Wild Rice And Chicken Soup
• I like buying a big bag of lemons from Costco. Then I use a lemon squeezer* to juice them all at the same time. I freeze the lemon juice into ice cube trays (or my silicone egg bites trays*) and then store in a ziploc bag in my freezer. Whenever I need some lemon juice I have it ready to go!
• If you want crispy chicken skin but don’ t have an air fryer lid* you may want to transfer chicken to a baking pan and put under your oven’s broiler for about 5 minutes.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot with no changes.
• If you have leftovers remove all remaining chicken from chicken carcass and store in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
• How to carve a chicken:
  • Place your chicken breast-side-up on a cutting board. Pull one of the legs slightly away from the rest of the bird and carefully slice through the leg meat and skin.
  • With a fair bit of force, pull back the leg to expose the hip joint. Keep pulling until the round end of the hip bone in the joint pops up.
  • Place your knife between the round end of the hip bone and the chicken body. Push your knife straight down until the leg is detached.
  • Place your knife along the natural line between the drumstick and thigh. Forcefully push straight down and cut through the joint. Separate the drumstick from the thigh and place on your serving platter. Repeat the process with the remaining leg.
  • Slide your knife along one side of the center breastbone at the front of the breast cavity. Move your knife from the front to the back of the chicken while simultaneously pulling the breast meat away from the bone. Repeat with the remaining breast.
  • Place the breast meat skin-side-up on your cutting board and remove the wing portion. Leaving a bit of skin attached to each piece, use a saw-like motion to cut the breast meat into smaller pieces. Repeat with the remaining breast.
  • Arrange the carved chicken pieces on a serving platter and drizzle with juices (See pictures and instructions from Food.com)

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More Chicken Recipes to Love…

• How To Cook A Whole Frozen Chicken In Your Instant Pot
• Instant Pot Dolly Parton Stampede Chicken
• Instant Pot Apple Cider Chicken
• Instant Pot Dr. Pepper Chicken

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.

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*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.