Instant Pot Farmgirl’s Funky Chicken–a whole chicken with a dill pickle relish rub cooked quickly in your Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Farmgirl’s Funky Chicken
Today’s recipe is an adaptation from a recipe I found on food.com the original author states, “easy, tasty, hearty chicken recipe. When time is short and appetites big we chow down on Farmgirl’s Funky Chicken.” The recipe is a whole roasted chicken but the twist is that the chicken is rubbed with relish. I used a dill pickle relish while the original recipe calls for pepper relish. I think either would be great! (I’m not a fan of sweet relish though 🤢).
A whole chicken can be cooked without much effort in your Instant Pot. It only takes 6 minutes per pound of chicken. The meat practically falls off the bone. I love storing the chicken meat in the freezer and using it in any recipe that calls for rotisserie chicken.
What you’ll need…
- A whole chicken
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- A lemon
- Dill pickle relish–or you can use pepper relish as the original recipe did
Steps
Prepare the Instant Pot by pouring 1 cup in the bottom of the pot and placing a trivet into the pot.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Remove anything in the cavity. Rub olive oil all over the chicken. Rub salt and pepper all over the chicken. Place the lemon in the cavity.

Separate the skin from the chicken by gently pulling apart and rub about a half cup of the relish in between the layers. Replace skin to seal in juices.

Place the chicken, breast side down, on the trivet.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 24 minutes for a 4 pound chicken or 30 minutes for a 5 pound chicken. When time is up let pot sit for 15-20 minutes and then move valve to venting and remove the lid.

If desired you can use an air fryer lid to crisp up the skin (air fry for 4-8 minutes at 425 degrees).

Carve the chicken and serve. Or you can remove the chicken from the bones like I did and stir in extra relish. I saw this reel on instagram that taught me how to do this very quickly. I like to use disposable kitchen gloves*.

Notes/Tips
- This chicken makes a great main dish. Some sides that you can serve alongside it are mashed potatoes, green salad or asparagus and homemade cornbread.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot. The chicken will be too large to fit in a 3 quart pot.
- The general rule for cooking times on whole chickens in the Instant Pot is 6 minutes per pound. My chicken was 5 pounds so I used a 30 minute pressure cook time. I like to use a natural pressure release so that the chicken stays moist and tender.
- You can also roast the chicken in the oven. Bake at 450 for 80 minutes.
- This recipe is gluten free, low carb and dairy free.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. We like to freeze baggies of chicken to quickly heat up and serve on quesadillas, salads, etc.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes…
Instant Pot Hurry Chicken
A quick chicken recipe that takes only about 5 minutes of prep! Serve chicken and sauce over rice and a side of vegetables. Perfect for a busy weeknight.
Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Chicken Dinner
Chicken and vegetables in a light balsamic sauce. Prep it in 5 minutes and cook it in your pressure cooker in 2 minutes! A fast, easy and healthy dinner!
Ruth’s Chris Chicken
Cream cheese, parmesan and lemon stuffed chicken breasts baked in your air fryer.
Instant Pot Chicken Rosa Maria
Chicken, ham and mushrooms in a lemon sauce with cheese. A flavorful chicken dish that is anything but bland!
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.


Instant Pot Farmgirl’s Funky Chicken
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes (plus NPR)
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A whole chicken with a dill pickle relish rub cooked quickly in your Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 1 (4-5 pound) chicken
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 (10 oz) jar dill pickle relish
Instructions
- Prepare the Instant Pot by pouring 1 cup water or chicken broth in the bottom of the pot and placing a trivet into the pot.
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Remove anything in the cavity. Rub olive oil all over the chicken. Rub salt and pepper all over the chicken. Place the lemon in the cavity.
- Separate the skin from the chicken by gently pulling apart and rub about a half cup of the relish in between the layers. Replace skin to seal in juices.
- Place the chicken, breast side down, on the trivet. Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 24 minutes for a 4 pound chicken or 30 minutes for a 5 pound chicken. When time is up let pot sit for 15-20 minutes and then move valve to venting and remove the lid.
- If desired you can use an air fryer lid to crisp up the skin (air fry for 4-8 minutes at 425 degrees). Carve the chicken and serve. Or you can remove the chicken from the bones like I did and stir in extra relish. Salt and pepper to taste.
- 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.
We don’t buy whole chickens. We usually just buy tenderloins. Do you think that I could do a variation of this by adding a small amount of lemon juice. It looks interesting?
Sure you could definitely play around with it! I only cook tenderloins in the instant pot for 2 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release.
I bet you could use water or broth though broth would be mor flavorful.
In your instructions you start by saying “Pour one cup in the bottom of the pot”….do you mean one cup of water?
Oh yes that is what I meant. I will correct it now.