Simple Man’s Lemon Garlic Chicken is an easy Instant Pot or Crockpot recipe with lots of lemony flavor. Serve over rice to sop up all the delicious sauce!
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below
Simple Man’s Lemon Garlic Chicken (Instant Pot or Crockpot)
This chicken with lemon garlic sauce is bright and flavorful. Fresh lemon zest and juice bring this dish to life. You’re going to want to lick up all the sauce off of your plate! You can use chicken breasts, thighs, tenderloins or bone-in pieces. You can even use frozen chicken. Another bonus is that pot-in-pot rice can be made at the same time.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts–frozen is okay, you can use a combination of the two. You can also use bone-in chicken (12 minute pressure cook time) or chicken tenderloins (4 minute pressure cook time).
- Garlic powder
- Smoked paprika
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Onion–I used a yellow onion
- Minced garlic–jarred or fresh
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
- Lemons–try using a microplane* or a small grater to zest and a hand juicer* to juice.
- Cornstarch–to thicken the sauce. You can also use arrowroot.
- Parsley–for garnish if desired
Steps
- Season chicken: Add chicken, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper and olive oil to a ziplock bag or a container. Shake to coat chicken in the seasonings.
- Saute onions: Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onions and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Deglaze: Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Add the chicken into the pot.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes for fresh chicken or 12 minutes for frozen. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Shred: Move chicken out of the pot and shred.
- Lemon it: Zest one of the lemons and add the zest into the pot. Add juice from the lemon into the pot.
- Thicken: Turn Instant Pot to sauté and thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. Stir together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the Instant Pot. The sauce will thicken quickly. Turn off Instant Pot once it has thickened.
- Coat chicken in sauce: Stir the chicken into the sauce to coat the chicken well. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve: Slice up the other lemon and chop some parsley. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice and top with a few lemon slices and some parsley. Eat and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve over rice or noodles or mashed potatoes. Or if you want to eat lower carb serve over cauliflower rice.
- I made brown rice in a separate Instant Pot. But if you want white rice you can use the pot-in-pot method to make it. After adding your chicken and ingredients into Instant Pot add in a tall trivet*. Place an oven safe dish on top of the trivet with your desired amount of water and rice. For long grain white rice use a 1 cup rice to 1.5 cup water ratio.
- 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.
- This recipe is gluten-free. This recipe can be dairy free if you use oil instead of butter to sauté the onion in.
- Other recipes you can make with smoked paprika are Instant Pot Smoky Mountain Casserole and Keep A Man Chicken (Air Fryer Or Oven).
More Recipes with Lemon…
- Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Romano
- Instant Pot Skinny Honey Lemon Chicken
- Instant Pot Lentil Lemon Chicken Soup
- Instant Pot Lemon Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Lemon Orzo Soup
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.
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Simple Man’s Lemon Garlic Chicken (Instant Pot or Crockpot)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
An easy Instant Pot or Crockpot recipe with lots of lemony flavor. Serve over rice to sop up all the delicious sauce!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts (frozen is okay)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 lemons
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- Parsley, for garnish if desired
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add chicken, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper and olive oil to a ziplock bag or a container. Shake to coat chicken in the seasonings.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onions and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Add the chicken into the pot.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes for fresh chicken or 12 minutes for frozen. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Move chicken out of the pot and shred.
- Zest one of the lemons and add the zest into the pot. Add juice from the lemon into the pot.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté and thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. Stir together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the Instant Pot. The sauce will thicken quickly. Turn off Instant Pot once it has thickened.
- Stir the chicken into the sauce to coat the chicken well. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Slice up the other lemon and chop some parsley. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice and top with a few lemon slices and some parsley. Eat and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add chicken, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper and olive oil to a ziplock bag or a container. Shake to coat chicken in the seasonings.
- Add the chicken into the slow cooker.
- Saute the onions in the butter on the stove. Add in garlic and saute for just 20 seconds so it doesn’t burn. Add to the slow cooker. Add in broth. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Move chicken out and shred.
- Zest one of the lemons and add the zest into the slow cooker. Add juice from the lemon into the pot.
- Turn slow cooker to high. Stir together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the slow cooker. Let it cook without the lid until sauce has thickened.
- Stir the chicken into the sauce to coat the chicken well. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Slice up the other lemon and chop some parsley. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice and top with a few lemon slices and some parsley. Eat and enjoy!
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
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Thank you for replying. I’ll just leave it out and see what happens 😉
Unfortunately, no citrus
darn! Then I’m stumped.
My daughter has allergies and can’t have lemons. Is there any substitute?
Oh gosh, Could she have orange or lime? That’s what I would use instead.