Instant Pot Last Minute Chicken–a fast and easy chicken tenderloin recipe that you can make when you don’t have a lot of time.

Instant Pot Last Minute Chicken
Are you in need of a quick and easy chicken recipe that can be made in a pinch? Try out this Instant Pot Last Minute Chicken recipe. Chicken tenderloins are coated in seasonings and cooked just for 4 minutes in the pressure cooker. The sauce is then thickened in just 1 minute and it’s ready to serve. You can serve this alongside mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, rice pilaf or salad.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken tenderloins–frozen or fresh
- Olive oil
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Smoked paprika
- Oregano
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Cornstarch
- Fresh lemon juice–or lime juice
- Sour cream–or plain yogurt
Steps
Add chicken into Instant Pot. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil. Toss in the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, pepper and salt. Toss well so that chicken is coated in seasonings. Pour in the broth.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together 1 Tbsp cornstarch with 1 Tbsp water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the slurry into the pot to thicken the sauce. Once it has thickened turn off the pot.

Stir in the lemon juice and sour cream. Season to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- You can serve this chicken with a baked potato or some rice pilaf. If you’d like to keep this low carb then serve it with riced cauliflower. Round out the meal with a green tossed salad.
- This recipe is gluten free. It can be dairy free if you forego the sour cream. This recipe is also low carb. If you’d like to cut carbs further then don’t use the cornstarch.
- Chicken tenderloins stay nice and tender in the Instant Pot. If you’d like you can also use chicken breasts or thighs (12 minute pressure cook time).
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 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.
- Other recipes you can make with chicken tenderloins are Instant Pot Unbelievable Chicken and Grandpa’s Firehouse Chicken.

More Instant Pot Dump and Go Chicken Recipes
Instant Pot No Fuss Chicken
Chicken, carrots and potatoes in a savory gravy. An easy one pot dump and go meal!
Instant Pot Mississippi Chicken
Tender chicken infused with flavor! This recipe only has a handful of ingredients and is a dump everything into the pot and walk away dinner.
Instant Pot Uncle Gary’s Chicken
Tender chicken in a tomato-based sauce with mozzarella and parmesan cheese all served over spaghetti.
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 Last Minute Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 14 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A fast and easy chicken tenderloin recipe that you can make when you don’t have a lot of time.
Ingredients
- 20 ounces chicken tenderloins
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp sour cream
Instructions
- Add chicken into Instant Pot. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil. Toss in the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, pepper and salt. Toss well so that chicken is coated in seasonings. Pour in the broth.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together 1 Tbsp cornstarch with 1 Tbsp water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the slurry into the pot to thicken the sauce. Once it has thickened turn off the pot.
- Stir in the lemon juice and sour cream. Season to taste.
- Serve and enjoy!
- 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.
Can this be made with frozen chicken?
yes you can make this recipe with fresh or frozen chicken
Hi Karen, Can this recipe be made with cooking rice at the same time? Would that work? Thanks in advance for your reply and keep up the great recipes! Frankie
Yes you could use the pot-in-pot method. Put the chicken and sauce in bottom of pot. Place a trivet in the pot. Then place a dish with water and rice on top of the trivet. It will need to be white rice so that it cooks at the same rate as the chicken.
delicious. Also is great to meal prep over rice. will probably become a staple recipe for me thanks! I made with chicken thighs and it was great. the only thing I wish is that it made a little more gravy.
Thank you Danielle! So glad you liked it!
Hi Karen, can I make this with boneless skinless chicken thighs and use the same amount of time?
I would use 12 minutes for thighs. Plus a 5-10 minute natural pressure release.
How does this recipe meet the liquid requirement for a pressure cooker?
I find with chicken that there is a lot of liquid that comes off of it so I only need a half cup of liquid to come to pressure. If you’re nervous about it you can add in another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of broth.
This looks great, can it be made in a slow cooker!
I haven’t tried it in the slow cooker but I totally think it would do great. I would only slow cook on low for 2-3 hours since the chicken tenders cook fairly quickly.