Instant Pot Man Pleasing Chicken–the easiest chicken recipe that will please your family’s taste buds! With only a few ingredients that you probably already have at home you’re on your way to a tasty dinner!
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below

Instant Pot Man Pleasing Chicken
I had to laugh when I saw a recipe called “man pleasing chicken”. This recipe could also be called woman pleasing or kid pleasing chicken lol! I found it on a blog called Witty in the City. The author stated, “I have never gotten so many compliments before, let alone for a piece of chicken. I have never encountered a dish that is so basic and simple to put together yet creates such a big pay off. This chicken, quite simply, is one of the most savory things I’ve ever eaten. If you are the busiest person on the planet and don’t have much cooking experience, but you have to prepare a meal to woo the love of your life, cook this chicken!”
I do have to agree that it is savory and tender and soooo easy. With only a few ingredients (basically just chicken, maple syrup, dijon mustard and rice vinegar) you’ll be on your way to a tasty dinner!
- Bone-in or boneless thighs stay moist and tender in the Instant Pot and Crockpot. I threw in frozen thighs and it worked perfectly. If you’re not a fan of dark meat you can try this recipe with chicken breasts. I would use a 12 minute cooking time. For more accurate chicken breast cooking times check out my article How To Cook Chicken Breasts In The Instant Pot (Frozen Or Fresh).
- For the most tasty results use real maple syrup!
- I cooked rice in a separate 3 quart Instant Pot. But you can make pot-in-pot rice by placing a tall trivet* in the pot around the chicken and then placing a pan with rice and water on top of the trivet. I would put 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water ratio in the pan. I would also cover the pan with a lid*or foil for best results.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can make this in the 3 quart pot with no changes. For the 8 quart pot you will need more liquid to bring it to pressure, which will thin out the the sauce and make it less flavorful.
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Forgotten Chicken–put it in the pot and forget about it!
Instant Pot Bacon Ranch Chicken–how could this not be good?
Air Fryer Heavenly Chicken–crispy Ritz crust
Instant Pot Amish Chicken–dill and mushrooms
Instant Pot Apple Juice Chicken–only 2 ingredients

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Instant Pot Man Pleasing Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
The easiest chicken recipe that will please your family’s taste buds! With only a few ingredients that you probably already have at home you’re on your way to a tasty dinner!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 4–6 chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless)
- 1/2 cup dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2–3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add broth and chicken to the Instant Pot.
- In a small bowl stir together the dijon, maple syrup, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken.
- 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 lid.
- Place chicken pieces on a platter. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the Instant Pot to thicken the sauce. Once sauce has thickened turn off Instant Pot. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve chicken with sauce poured over the top.
Slow Cooker Instructions: (doesn’t need broth and cornstarch)
- Add chicken to slow cooker.
- In a small bowl stir together the dijon, maple syrup, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve chicken with sauce poured over the top.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*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.
I made this tonight for dinner I made it with bone in chicken thighs. This dish and the gravy was so delicious My Son and Grandson both chowed down thank you Karen.
★★★★★
Glad to hear it! Thanks for the 5 star review Brenda!
Can I use apple cider or balsamic vinegar instead of the rice wine vinegar? surely it doesn’t make that much difference, does it?
★★★★
balsamic is really strong so I would not use that. But apple cider should work.
Looking forward to trying this recipe. Based on the first post, should I double the sauce? The other posters did not mention getting a burn notice so not sure what to do. I don’t want to make double the sauce if I don’t have to.
I would not double the sauce. It should be fine!
Great Recipe, but I did get a “BURN” on my first attempt, I doubled the sauce and it worked on the second try.
★★★★★
Oh shoot! Sorry about the burn…glad you figured away around it.
Definitely Woman Pleasing too!!!! Plan to use the leftover sauce tonight on some grilled salmon!!!!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it! And the salmon sounds wonderful.
Just made this last night for this weeks lunch. It’s amazing. Keep making amazing recipes!
★★★★★
So glad to hear you liked it Brittany!
I’d like to add mushrooms. Can I jusr add at the start or add them cooked ar rhe end Thanks Kathy
I would just add them at the start! You could cut down on liquid by a quarter cup since the mushrooms put off liquid.
If I wanted to double the recipe, what adjustments should I make?
thanks,
I would double all the ingredients except the broth and keep the cooking time the same.
This looks very tasty, Karen! How would I adjust the cooking time if I’m using FROZEN chicken, and breasts rather than thighs? Thanks for any help.
Oops! Sorry, I didn’t read the whole article!
Glad you got it figured out!