How to cook a whole frozen chicken in your Instant Pot–If you love getting those whole rotisserie chickens at your grocery store, you’ll love this recipe for pressure cooker whole seasoned chicken. The chicken is cooked in minutes in your Instant Pot (my chicken was actually totally frozen) and then stuck under the broiler to crisp up the skin. Slice the chicken up to eat plain or use it in any recipes that call for cooked chicken.
Don’t have an Instant Pot? How to cook a whole chicken in your SLOW COOKER
How to cook a whole frozen chicken in your Instant Pot
Let’s get real. Who has time to defrost? Or who actually plans ahead that far in advance? Not me, not me! I am infamous for throwing frozen meats in my pressure cooker or my slow cooker (don’t tell the food police). Even though I’m a food blogger I really don’t have my mealing planning together…at all. Most of the time I just come up with something at 4 pm.
That’s why I was so excited to meet the Instant Pot. It allows me to think of something to make for dinner at 4:00 pm and have it on the table by 5:30…even if it’s a whole frozen chicken. Yes! It’s true. I know that’s hard to believe. But miracles do happen. I threw a 5 lb frozen chicken in the Instant Pot and it set the timer for 50 minutes. It took about 15 minutes to come to pressure and then I let the pressure come down for about 15 minutes before opening the pot. So about an hour and 20 minutes total time. The chicken was perfectly tender and we ate some of it plain that night with a salad and then saved the rest for wraps and sandwiches.
One thing I did notice was that I had to really work to get my 5 lb chicken to fit in my Instant Pot. It was placed on the trivet and I had to maneuver it around a bit. So next time I’ll probably choose a 4 lb chicken, which would actually take a few less minutes to cook, as well as fit better.
If you’re a fan of the crispy skin on a chicken then you’ll probably want to take the extra step of placing the chicken under the broiler after it cooks. I just stuck my chicken on a cookie sheet and put it under a broiler set on high for about 5 minutes. That way my daughter and husband, who live for the skin, can be happy.
Other frozen chicken pressure cooker recipes…
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Breasts from Frozen from Or Whatever You Do
Pressure Cooker Chicken Taco Filling from Pressure Cooking Today
Instant Pot Chicken Gyros with Frozen Chicken
Ultimate Whole Chicken in Slow Cooker from All Free Slow Cooker Recipes
What Instant Pot Did You Use?
To cook this frozen chicken I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1 for this recipe. I also own the 6 quart Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker. They are both great pressure cookers! The first one I mentioned has a yogurt making function but other than that they are fairly similar. The price difference between the two is about $20.
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How to cook a whole frozen chicken in your Instant Pot
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
If you love getting those whole rotisserie chickens at your grocery store, you’ll love this recipe for pressure cooker whole seasoned chicken. The chicken is cooked in minutes in your Instant Pot (my chicken was actually totally frozen) and then stuck under the broiler to crisp up the skin. Slice the chicken up to eat plain or use it in any recipes that call for cooked chicken.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (mine was 5 lbs and almost too big to fit in my IP. So I’d recommend a 4 lb chicken)
- 1 cup water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Remove packaging from frozen chicken. Run a little hot water over the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. (During this whole process I like to wear disposable gloves.)
- Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the Instant Pot and put the bay leaf in there too. Place the trivet in the bottom.
- In a little bowl combine the butter, rosemary, sage, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Use your fingers to run this mixture all over the chicken. Place the chicken, breast side up, on the trivet.
- Cover the Instant Pot and set the timer on manual for 60 minutes. Make sure valve is set to “sealing.” When the timer beeps let some of the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes and then switch the valve to “venting” and release the rest of the pressure.
- Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the meatiest portion of the chicken. It should read 165° F. If it’s not up to temperature then you’ll want to cover the pot and cook on manual setting for 5 more minutes.
- Optional: Place the chicken on a cookie sheet and put under the broiler for 5 minutes to crisp up the skin.
- Slice chicken and serve. Season to taste. We like to save the leftovers to use in other recipes or make sandwiches and wraps with it.
Notes
Don’t have an Instant Pot? How to cook a whole chicken in your SLOW COOKER
- Method: Instant Pot
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it is so interesting that so many people get such widely varied results. most of the energy used is in thawing the chicken, “latent heat of whatever?” , as opposed to warming the chicken to freezing temp, then raising to cook temp after thawing. maybe drastically different chickens with more or less frozen liquid? variations in pressure cookers temp control? i sometimes have a couple of large chicken quarters take an hour.
Yes good points. Probably all of the above!
Didn’t work for me at all. Meat was falling off bones, but breast was dry and tasteless and chicken was raw in the middle. I would have been better off defrosting in microwave and rotisserie grilling. Ckn weighed b/t 4-5 lbs.
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Try 45 minutes, then leave it for with 10 minute natural release. I find it works better.
I’ve Used many of your recipes and love them! Thanks so much for sharing these. I would like a nice bras afterwards to make soup, is it OK to add a cup or so maybe 2 cups of unsalted chicken broth instead of water?
Thanks For the delicious recipes and great tips.
Also, I have a 1.5 lb chick. How much time should I try?
Thanks
That sounds great with the broth. I would set the time to 40 minutes.
I’m pretty much retarded when it comes to reviews or commenting. So I’ll just reply to this. I was amazed!! 1 hour, frozen solid 4 lb chicken boom cooked to perfection. Exactly 165° moist and easiest chicken dinner ever. Broiler for a couple minutes put the perfect color on the once frozen solid, I would take 2 days to defrost bird. Thanks much!!
glad you liked it!
I’m currently trying this recipe; first off I believe that you are talking about a partially frozen chicken or how else could you put butter and spices on a hard piece of ice, it either falls off or freezes. I put the chicken in for 1 hour and let it pressure release naturally. The chicken was bloody on the inside. I put it back on for 30 more minutes and the meat was pulling from the bone on the legs and there was a pool of blood in the cavity. It’s now in the oven. I don’t think I’d ever try frozen chicken again in the IP :(.
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I put all the fat and rotisserie spices on and put a half lemon and half onion in cavity before freezing and that works great for me
I tried this recipe today and I followed it exactly. I had to put it back in on manual for 5 minutes twice and then finally reached 165. I put in the broilers directed to crisp up the skin. It did not. Also the meat had no flavor. It all sat on top. This might work for soup of maybe tacos with a lot of seasoning but I wasn’t a fan of this one.
Would it work to turn around and use the carcass for bone broth, or are most of the nutrients already extracted with the cooking method?
I bet that would work!
My husband bought a whole chicken in the cold meat section, but it was completely frozen. Don’t whole chickens have the bag of gizzards and stuff in them? If I cook it with that in, will it matter?
If you can, try to get them out before cooking.
We never worry about taking the giblets out when our chicken is frozen – just means you get the extra nutrients! I usually add the bags in for bone broth making anyway. And I have never noticed them affecting the taste of the chicken or juices.
How would you modify cooking time if the chicken isn’t frozen?
I’d say 6 minutes per pound of chicken.
I am going to try this today. I am at a higher altitude (5500) so going to add a bit more time. I am also going to use a chicken that has been quartered.
I have my tried and true spices I use for chicken so going to use those.
Most all of my herbs are fresh.
I use unsalted butter, a small amount of lemon zest, fresh garlic, white onions, fresh parsley, bay leaves, salt and pepper. I make a rub.
I bought low sodium chicken broth to use as well.
Before I cook the chicken I am going to make hard boiled eggs for the week as well.
I will have chicken and eggs to make chicken salad for wraps and sandwiches and also a nice green salad as well.
So excited to have an IP now!!!!
Sounds like a plan!! If the chicken is quartererd it may not need as much time.
This was the first thing I tried in my new pot and it worked exactly as described. Wasn’t a huge fan of the spice mixture but that’s easily changed! Thanks for this!
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Tasted great! Hope this helps someone who might read the comments before cooking. I guess you could say I “kind of” made this recipe today. I didn’t have a bay leaf and used seasonings I normally cook with. Here are the changes I made and found to work (5.87 lb bird):
1. Made a mixture of my spices with enough olive oil to make a paste and smeared under the skin on the breast side;
2. On “sauté” I browned the whole chicken on both sides;
3. Stuffed cavity with a quarter of an onion, small head of garlic, half a lemon;
4. In the bottom of the pot, I filled it with small Yukon gold potatoes;
5. Put my trivet on top of the potatoes, placed the chicken on trivet and sprinkled the breast side with Tony Chachère No Salt Seasoning Blend for color;
6. On top of breast, I put rings of onion and thin slices of lemon and lime.
The one issue I had was that for a bird as big as mine, 1 cup of water was too much. Once the frozen melted, that plus a full cup with as long as it had to cook was way too much broth for my potatoes, so they turned out too soft. I won’t do the potatoes in with the chicken next time.
I used this recipe tonight with a 4.5lb giblet free frozen chicken. Followed the recipe except I used bacon grease instead of butter. I let it NPR for 25min because kids lol But it was cooked perfectly and fell off the bone. The best part was the broth in the bottom. Made some rice and veggies and had instant chicken soup. Perfect for the chilly evening we had.
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bacon grease instead of butter = mind blown!!
Lol I know you 🙂 trying this in my pot right now!
This was my second time ever cooking a whole chicken.. first time frozen in the IP. It was fall off the bone, perfectly cooked! I’m using the leftovers for tacos and to put in an IP skinny Alfredo pasta tonight! Thanks for sharing 🙂 oh and I did my almost 5 lb chicken in my 6 qt. pot for an hour on high pressure. I didn’t have problems like some others.
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I did exactly as this recipe call for an after 60 minutes, the legs of the chicken were certainly cooked, but the inside of the breasts were not even close. I had to put it in for another 30 minutes and then it was done. So done that all the chicken fell off every bone. Great taste, just took longer that I thought it should.
I did this today with great results. I forgot to remove the innards so did the first 10 minutes and then removed them. I did cook mine for ten extra minutes because of the weight. It is just so delicious. It will definitely be a recipe to be cooked again for sure.
I made this tonight, took almost exactly 2 hours from start to finish, including broiling. My chicken was 4.5 lbs, but since I’m at higher altitude (4500) I added 15% onto the cooking time, so I cooked on high pressure for 69 minutes. It was falling off the bone, I probably could have cooked it for a few minutes less. It was tender and tasty, got compliments from my husband! I like the spice mixture, and I used the liquid to make a good gravy.
★★★★★
Just put 5lb chicken in ip using your recipe. Do you have to set the low, normal, more gauge? First time cooking a meal with ip
I used high pressure.
I didn’t have a trivet, we bought the IP second-hand. So I added carrots, potatoes, onions, and celery under the bird. I added more water and, since my bird was larger and older (we raise our own), added a little more water to ensure it was tender. While it was browning under the broiler, I processed the veggies (except potatoes) into a soup for later and skimmed the broth. We mashed the potatoes with our homemade butter and served them with the bird. It was falling off the bone. Beautiful! Just what a busy homesteader needs when working out on the property all day.
★★★★
How fun Jessica! Thanks for sharing. Where do you live?
I just did this with a frozen 3lb bird. Did the full hour and then let it naturally vent for 20 mins. To force the remaining pressure to vent it took another 40 minutes!! The bird is only 95 degrees inside. Bummed, we waited so long for it to vent that we’re hangry and confused :(.
Mines cooking right now. fingers crossed! 4 pound frozen chicken. set it for 60 minutes after reading reviews. I poured a can of beer and used a barbecue rub as seasoning. Have about 30 minutes left and it already smells great!
Hope you love it!
In Australia we don’t get anything left inside the chicken so removing a bad inside isn’t an issue.
★★★★★
I’m new here and only cooked a roast that was the best in our senior life.
But I’m trying now to cook a whole chicken almost I don’t know if you mean pressure cooking when you say normal. Please state which button to use for us newbies. I put in in with pressure cooking. Hope it was ok.
I don’t understand how to let it natural vent either.
Please help
I use the button that says “manual” on it. It’s the pressure cook button. Natural vent just means you don’t move the valve to “venting.” you leave it on sealing and let the pressure just release on it’s own. Then when you can, open the lid. It can take up to 20 minutes.
Karen can’t believe that so many people are haveing so much trouble cooking chicken in the ip. I just cook a 4 or 5 lb bird frozen pushed poultry button set it for one hour and half. No recipe just Winged it And it Fell Off The Bone yes when you buy the bird take out the giblits then put it in zip lock bag and frezz it 3/4 cup water work fine for me next time I will do less time. Just my input
The time to cook, as mentioned, is very understated. 90 mintutes woulde be closer to accurate. That aside, the finished product tasted more like boiled chicken, with the white meat having a pale gray appearance. Won’t try this one again.
I love your idea to put it under the broiler afterwards for presentation if I’m not going to just use it in a recipe. =) I also frequently forget to take meat out of the freezer in time for it to thaw but I started using a little trick that really helps. When I get meat from the freezer, I take out about 2 or 3 different packages at a time. I just let them defrost in an open container in the fridge. This method has worked great to help force me to use all the wonderful meat I have stockpiled and although I don’t have a formal menu planned out, it gives me a few days to think about how I’m going to prepare and serve each cut of meat. It also lets me be flexible with our schedule and which days I have time to cook.
Good idea! Thanks 🙂
Can I put a frozen whole chicken in my ip and just pour barbecue sauce on it?
You could. I’d add a little chicken broth in the bottom of the pot so it will come to pressure. At least 1/2 cup.
I followed the directions but after 50 minutes my 5# frozen chicken was only 60F in the middle so I put the pot back on and I’m waiting…
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I originally came to this site because my dear neighbors processed their egg-laying (not any more! Gasp!), free-range chickens, and I have a couple in the freezer. Thought I’d try your recipe … Should I be aware of anything while following this? I have never roasted a chicken in the oven, let alone a pressure cooker!
Hi Elle, you may need to add more time to this recipe. There are several people that have needed it to cook longer. How many pounds is your chicken?
2.5 lbs … Little one! I’m thinking that I’m going to run it for 50 mins, which will include the altitude difference … Yes? Should fall of the bone … I hope …
Altitude could be an issue. Read somewhere that you need to add 5% per every 1,000 ft if you are over 2,000 ft above sea level. For example, I live in Colorado at a little over 6000 ft. I automatically add 20% to the cooking time. Everything I’ve cooked so far has come out perfect. I have an 8-quart Duo and I cannot say enough good things about the Instant Pot!
Wonderful. Bird was “fall off the bone” nice and tender. Will do again
Worked perfectly! I was a little worried after reading all the comments about the bird not fully cooking. But after 50 mins my chicken was falling off the bones and so tender! I added the spice rub and the flavor was fantastic. I also doubled the water on the bottom and got a beautiful broth that I then cooked some rice in while I broiled the chicken. Thanks for all the tips. There must be some issues with altitude and the pot for some folks. All I can say is it works great on the Candadian prairies!!
★★★★★
Yay for Canadian prairies!
This was my first Instant Pot recipe – it worked great!! I had a 4 lb. frozen chicken and it was read to eat in under 2 hours – totally amazing!!! I went exactly according to the recipe, except I used my own seasonings. The giblets bag was not cooked, so I just tossed it. There was some red liquid in the cavity due to the uncooked giblets, but I drained it and the 5 minutes under the broiler took care of it. Very moist chicken! I’m definitely trying this again! Thanks so much for sharing!
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Oh I’m so glad!
I’m trying you recipe for frozen whole chicken. Actually mine is portionally thawed. I only used the one cup of water, wish I had read reviews before I would have added more water to make broth. Here’s hoping! Thanks for recipe.
Hope it worked out well for you!
We tried this last night and it turned out perfect! I put Yukon gold potatoes in the bottom of the pot & doubled the amount of liquid & they cooked perfectly. I used a 3.5 lb chicken and it fed 4 adults. Delicious, thank you for sharing!
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You’re welcome! Glad you liked it 🙂
Worked like a champ. Thank you for posting this and especially the reminder about the trivet in the bottom. Happy New Year and best wishes for continued success of your blog.
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Thanks so much Rick!!
I followed the recipe as written. It turned out perfectly. It had great flavor. This was the very 1st meal I’ve made in my Instant Pot. My family loved it, even my daughter who isn’t a fan of chicken.
wow! your first recipe 🙂 how great. I love my instant pot. I bet you’ll love yours too 🙂
you have to consider altitude with pressure cookers. higher elevation longer cook time.
When should one use the poultry setting on the IP?
This is a great question. And it’s one that I need to research more and get to the bottom of. I like to use the manual setting because that way anyone can make the food regardless if they have the special settings on their electric pressure cookers or not.
There are a couple of things (and destinations) going on here. Yes, we need to know what the cooking time for a frozen chicken under pressure is? Perhaps that is the first and most important question? But, when you get these chickens home, they have plastic and body parts in them (hearts, gizzards, and livers). If they are frozen, you can’t do anything about removing them.
If you are going to do this, “this” means you don’t care about presentation, you just want cooked chicken? Chicken stock is sometimes more expensive than the chicken! Submerge the chicken, then you get both?!?!
I’ll do it and post the times if there is enough interest?!?!
Just trying to help,
sounds great George!
I pressure cooked a 3 lb. frozen pastured chicken in my instant pot for 30 minutes, plus 10 minutes afterwards for slow release. Looked fully cooked (no pink) but was so tough? I tried cooking a defrosted whole chicken once and it was tough also. Any idea why??? Would it need more cooking time or less? Thanks!
really? That is weird!!! I’m not sure why, I’ve only experienced tender chicken in the instant pot.
Homegrown chickens especially pastured chickens are naturally tougher. Did you allow to sit at least 24-48 hours after butcher to freezer? If you plan on cooking frozen you need time for the meat to relax. Hope this helps!
Good tip, thanks Charis!
old chicken. it should have been killed younger. I have chickens..
there a huge difference!
Cooking for the FIRST time in my Instant Pot using your directions with my deli seasoning mix -so far doing well. 😀
Yes! Good luck! I hope you love your Instant Pot 🙂
Is it manual on HIGH Pressure or Normal?
high pressure
Same issue here.. followed the instructions and my bird actually had ice in the cavity still after 50 plus 15 natural release… weird
It’s so weird the difference that each person gets with this recipe. I’m not sure why! I will continue looking in to it to figure it out.
The altitude has a lot to do with cooking times.
Does it matter what size IP you are using?
Not really. As long as your chicken fits inside nicely.
had same result but my chicken has been in the freezer for almost a year prehaps thats were its getting messed up most recpies say around 6 months in freezer
Thanks for the recipe. Easy, peasy.
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Glad you liked it!
I followed this recipe to a “T” and it was delicious and came out perfect! Thank you for the great recipe!
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Great to hear!
I just made this exactly like you posted and it came out perfect! Thank you!
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good to hear, Milly!!
So disappointed! 50 minutes was not nearly enough! Only half my chicken got cooked. This recipe is wgat I bought the instant pot to do, and it didn’t do it! Off to town to spend $70 to feed my family now. The chicken will have to wait for another night.
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This is disappointing! What size was your chicken?
Mine was 120 degrees after 50 minutes.
All you had to do was put the lid on and set it for more time. By the time you got to town and back spending your $70, the chicken would have been done long before then.
After the 10 minutes to pressurize, 50 minutes to cook, anothe 15 to release, then find out still raw in middle…. then put back in, pressize another 10 minutes, cook another 15, quick release, broil, cut, serve…. 2+ hours…… I’m in this boat now…. ugh. Should’ve just thawed or used oven…. =/
sorry to hear this! I’m not sure the difference between why my chicken was cooked and yours wasn’t. I will have to do more experimenting.
I cook whole frozen chickens in my Instant Pot regularly (at least once a week) and they always come out perfectly. The reason people have been having issues with this recipe is that the chicken MUST be submerged in water. One cup of water is not nearly enough. You cannot steam a fully frozen chicken if the goal is saving time – it must be boiled.
My method is to put the frozen chicken into the liner (I don’t bother with the trivet). Cover with water so that the chicken is fully submerged – or you can leave an inch or so of breast sticking out of the top of the water if you like. Add whatever seasonings you like to the water. I tend to use some dried herbs, salt and pepper, and maybe an onion. You can even throw in some bouillon or a stock cube if you like. But none of that is even necessary. I then pressure cook for around 35-40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. After this time, my chicken is normally falling apart. Do a quick release, pop the lid and check for doneness.
Carefully remove to a board (draining the liquid from the cavity as you lift the bird) and then shred. I sometimes put it under the grill (broiler? Am not American…) to crisp the skin but, most of the time, I can’t be bothered…
This really is an incredibly easy and efficient way to cook a whole chicken, but the problem is the slightly duff recipe…
You can also keep the cooking liquid, which will be a light stock.
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Thank you for clarifying how you have had success with cooking a whole frozen chicken in your IP. I am going to try this today with a 6lb rock hard frozen chicken. I will try your method of using a lot more water.
I hope it works well for you!
I just got an IP for Christmas and this was it’s maiden meal. I didn’t follow the recipe, just the cooking instructions. I used an about 4# bird. After 50 min I quick released, checked the temp, and it was 140°. I put the pot back on for 5 min and it was about 160°. I put it back on for 10 min and it was perfect. Under the broiler for 10 min to crisp and it was delicious. So next time I will know to just set the timer for 65 min (dependant on weight) and it will be perfect.
ok! good to know 🙂
I always fill the water half-way up chicken if it is frozen since it will release alot of liquid. I also pressure cook it for 10 minutes, do a quick release, then remove the neck and giblets since the chicken is rock hard I can’t get them out. I also love to toss an orange inside the chicken. Yum. Throw it in on another 30 minutes and natural release the end. If I am added veggies, I will remove the chicken and broil the skin in the oven while I cook the root veggies for a few minutes. Love Love!
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Nice! I love your ideas. Thanks for sharing, Heidi!
I don’t get why if someone’s chicken is under cooked they have to give up and go buy dinner. It’d be faster to just turn the Instant pot back on for another 10 minutes or however long it needs rather than go out to buy food, wait for it to be cooked then drive home again. Mine came out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe. Always best to check with a thermometer to be safe with chicken too.
I guess it only matters a lot if they are in plastic or butcher’s paper and stuffed back inside.
I have a 5.67lb chicken cooking in my Duo right now. Thankfully, it wasn’t all that hard to squeeze in laying flat, not end to end. Maybe it’s stouter and not very tall. Like me. 🙂
It’s been marinating in the actual insert overnight in a mixture of soy sauce, honey and ginger (plus bits of other things). I was here wondering what time length you cooked your chicken but mine is not frozen and a bit larger so I’ll subtract a couple of minutes from your recipe and see what happens.
hope it turned out great!
I love the idea a cooking a frozen chicken from start to finish in about an hour! I have a question though. Most of the time the chickens I buy come with giblets inside the cavity. Did you remove the giblets before you froze the chicken?
Thanks!
didn’t remove them! I just took them out afterwards. Hopefully this was okay!
I didn’t either. No issues.
Good to hear.