Instant Pot Tennessee Chicken–chicken tenderloins in a sweet and sour barbecue sauce made in record time with your electric pressure cooker.
Note: the slow cooker instructions are listed in the recipe card below.
Instant Pot Tennessee Chicken
If you’re a fan of sweet and sour and tangy you’re going to love this Tennessee chicken recipe. The recipe is my Instant Pot and Crockpot take on an oven recipe I found on Food.com. It takes only 3 minutes of pressure cooking time for the frozen tenderloins to cook! That is quick! We loved sprinkling the chicken with little bit of shredded cheese. I cooked rice in a separate Instant Pot to serve with the chicken. You can also serve this chicken with a baked potato.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth—or water and Better than Bouillon.
- Chicken tenderloins–mine were frozen. I buy the big bag of frozen chicken tenderloins from Costco. There is no need to thaw chicken.
- Kosher salt
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- Dry minced onion
- Ketchup
- Lemon juice
- Mustard–yellow or dijon or spicy brown mustard.
- Brown sugar–dark or light
- Worcestershire
- Cornstarch
- Shredded cheese–optional
Instant Pot Steps
Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in the chicken.
In a bowl whisk together the salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne, onion, ketchup, lemon juice, mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire.
Pour the mixture over the chicken (don’t stir).
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir slurry into Instant Pot to thicken the sauce. Once thickened, turn off the pot.
Serve chicken and enjoy! If desired, sprinkle chicken with cheese.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with rice, mashed cauliflower or baked potatoes.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- This recipe can be gluten-free if you use gluten free Worcestershire sauce. This recipe can be dairy free if you forego the shredded cheese on top.
- 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 ketchup are Instant Pot Ultimate Cheeseburger Casserole and Instant Pot Chicken “Spareribs”.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes…
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 Dixie Chicken
Tender chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce and sprinkled with crispy bacon crumbles.
Instant Pot Unbelievable Chicken
Chicken in a zippy sauce of lemon juice, mustard and garlic. An easy dump and go recipe!
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.
Old Lady on a Bus Chicken
Old Lady on a Bus Chicken is chicken tenderloins that can be made in your Instant Pot, Crockpot or oven. The secret is the barbecue sauce that has a special ingredient…orange juice concentrate!
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/Crockpot Tennessee Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Chicken tenderloins in a sweet and sour barbecue sauce made in record time with your electric pressure cooker.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenderloins (mine were frozen)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp dry minced onion
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp mustard
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp Worcestershire
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch + 2 Tbsp water
- Optional: shredded cheese for serving
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in the chicken.
- In a bowl whisk together the salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne, onion, ketchup, lemon juice, mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire. Pour the mixture over the chicken (don’t stir).
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir slurry into Instant Pot to thicken the sauce. Once thickened, turn off the pot.
- Serve chicken and enjoy! If desired, sprinkle chicken with cheese.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add chicken, salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne, onion, ketchup, lemon juice, mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire into slow cooker. Stir to combine (no broth for slow cooker version).
- Cover and cook on low for 2 hours.
- Serve chicken and enjoy! (no cornstarch for slow cooker version) If desired, sprinkle chicken with cheese.
- 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.
How long for thawed chicken breasts in chunk size pieces in IP?
I’d do 1 minute with a 5 minute npr
Karen, this looks soooo good! Can I cook parboiled rice with this using pot in pot method? I figure I can but not sure about the cook time. Want to make sure my rice gets done (fluffy) and not crunchy. Worried cook time is not long enough for the rice & I sure don’t want to ruin the chicken. THANKS!! Be back with stars.
Hey Kim, I think if you leave the rice pan uncovered it’ll cook okay!
this was delicious! I had seen this recipe a few days ago and found some chicken tenders in my freezer that needed to be cooked. Guess what I made for supper? 😋
★★★★★
Yay!! Thanks for the 5 stars Louise!
This recipe sounds delicious! But I only have chicken breasts in my freezer. How long should I set the time to cook in my instant pot for this recipe?
I would do 12 minutes plus 10 minute natural pressure release for frozen chicken breasts.
How long for thawed chicken breasts
10 minutes