Instant Pot Hunters Chicken

Instant Pot Hunters Chicken–tender chicken thighs in a homemade tomato-based barbecue sauce topped with cheese and bacon.

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Instant Pot Hunters Chicken

What’s not to love about bacon, cheese, barbecue sauce and chicken? It all goes together amazingly! This chicken dish is saucy and full of flavor. It’s easy to pair with any type of potato or rice pilaf and any vegetable.

The sauce is a homemade barbecue sauce that is quite delicious. It’s not overly sweet like some bottled dressings can be. It is sweetened with maple syrup. And don’t forget the smoked paprika and liquid smoke for some smoky flavor.

Cheese and bacon crumbles finish this dish off. I opted from some monterey jack cheese and using packaged bacon crumbles. But you can totally fry up some bacon and top the chicken with it (I love using an air fryer to cook bacon!).

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
• Onion
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Black pepper
• Maple syrup
• Paprika
• Smoked paprika–increase amount to 2 teaspoons if you like a little heat
• Balsamic vinegar
• Apple cider vinegar
• Low sodium soy sauce
• Yellow mustard
• Liquid smoke
• Tomato paste
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs–I prefer thighs over breasts because they stay more moist and tender. You can also use bone-in chicken thighs, drumsticks or breasts. For boneless breasts you may want to decrease cooking time to 10 minutes and allow for a natural release. For chicken tenders only use a 4 minute pressure cooking time.
• Crushed tomatoes
• Cornstarch
• Monterey jack cheese–or another type of cheese like pepper jack, colby jack, mozzarella, etc.
• Bacon crumbles–you can also fry up 6-8 pieces of bacon and crumble

Steps

1. Add ingredients: Add broth, onion, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, syrup, paprikas, vinegars, soy sauce, mustard, liquid smoke and tomato paste into Instant Pot. Add the chicken into the pot. 
2. Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid. 
3. Thicken the sauce: Use tongs to move the chicken to a pan and set aside. Pour the crushed tomatoes into the Instant Pot. Thicken the sauce in the Instant Pot with a cornstarch slurry. In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the cornstarch into the pot and stir until thickened. 
4. Taste test the sauce and if needed add some salt to taste (I added in a pinch of kosher salt). Pour the thickened sauce over the chicken. There is a lot of sauce and I only poured about 2/3 of it over the chicken.
5. Melt cheese and bacon on top: Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the chicken and then sprinkle the bacon on top. Broil for about 2-3 minutes in your oven. (Alternately, you can do this step in your Instant Pot with an air fryer lid).
6. Serve chicken with extra sauce on top and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with baked potatoes, corn on the cob and cucumber salad.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot or halve the recipe in a 3 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• This recipe is gluten free.
• Other recipes you can make with liquid smoke are Instant Pot/Crockpot “Smoked” Pulled Pork, Instant Pot Smoky Mountain Casserole and Instant Pot Next Level Bacon Mac.
• Recipe adapted from Slimming Eats.

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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.