Michael’s Chicken (Instant Pot or Crockpot)

Michael’s Chicken can be made in the Instant Pot or Crockpot. It is chicken thighs with a homemade barbecue sauce cooked together at the same time.

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Michael’s Chicken (Instant Pot or Crockpot)

While I was perusing the internet I came across a recipe for “Michael’s chicken.” Basically it’s chicken with homemade barbecue sauce. I changed up the original version to fit my tastes and to make it into a slow cooker and Instant Pot recipe. We served it up with some steamed vegetables and fancy potatoes. It made a great Sunday dinner.

In order for the homemade barbecue sauce not to get runny and not to get the burn error message I cooked it using a pot-in-pot dish on top of the chicken. It worked well! I used one of these stainless steel dishes* for cooking pot-in-pot.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Worcestershire sauce
• Apple cider vinegar
• Ketchup
• Brown sugar
• Liquid smoke–find this in the aisle next to barbecue sauces
• Tomato paste
• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon*
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs–can be frozen or fresh. You can also use bone-in chicken (I like to remove the skin first). You can also try this with chicken breasts although they won’t turn out as moist and tender. Use the same cooking time.
• Salt and pepper–I like fresh cracked pepper*
• Cornstarch–to thicken the sauce, you can also use arrowroot*

Steps

1. Make sauce: In a pot-in-pot dish whisk together the Worcestershire, vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, liquid smoke and tomato paste. 
2. Add chicken: Pour the broth into the Instant Pot. Add chicken thighs into the pot. Salt and pepper the chicken. 
   
3. Prepare pot: Place the pot-in-pot dish on top of the chicken (you can use a trivet but you don’t have to).
   
4. 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. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid. 
5. Remove sauce: Carefully remove the pot-in-pot dish. Drain the Instant Pot of the broth. 
6. Stir in sauce with chicken: Add the sauce from the pot-in-pot dish into the Instant Pot with the chicken. 
7. Thicken: If you’d like to thicken the sauce make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of water until smooth. Turn the pot to the sauté setting and then stir the slurry into the pot until the sauce thickens. 
8. Serve the chicken with sauce drizzled on top. 

Notes/Tips

• To bake in the oven mix up the sauce in a bowl. Place chicken in a baking dish. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. This would be really good with bone-in chicken pieces.
• A variation: Try shedding the chicken and serving it with the sauce on top of toasted buns for a BBQ pulled chicken sandwich. For an extra awesome meal top with a bit of coleslaw.
• Make it with pork: I think this recipe would be really good with pork instead of chicken. Add a pork roast into the pot with the sauce on top. Pressure cook for 75 minutes with a natural pressure release. Shred the pork and stir in the sauce. Perfect for pulled pork sandwiches.
• Serve with fancy potatoes and steamed broccoli.
• Equipment: I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot. I used a stainless steel pan* for the pot-in-pot sauce.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• To make this gluten-free use a gluten-free Worcestershire sauce.
• Other recipes you can make with apple cider vinegar are Instant Pot Boarding House Meatloaf Bites and Instant Pot Sweet And Sour Country Ribs.
• Other recipes you can make with liquid smoke are Instant Pot Smoky Mountain Casserole and Instant Pot/Crockpot “Smoked” Pulled Pork.

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5 More Barbecue Recipes…

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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.