Redneck Chicken

Redneck Chicken–an easy Instant Pot or Crockpot recipe with seasoned chicken, lemon zest and tomatoes.

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Redneck Chicken

Today’s recipe can be made in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot. This chicken has such great flavor thanks to the seasonings, garlic and the lemon zest. The chicken is ultra tender too. You’re going to love the chicken and flavorful sauce served over spaghetti noodles. I slurped it up off of my plate…it’s that tasty!

I’m afraid I’m not sure why this recipe is called redneck chicken…I’ve adapted this recipe from DeliRec and the author doesn’t state why it’s called redneck chicken. The original recipe was written in Portuguese so that adds to the mystery even more 🤷‍♀️. Regardless, this is a tasty, easy chicken recipe that you’ll want to add to your repertoire.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Olive oil–or canola oil
• Onion–yellow or white
• Garlic
• Water
• Better than Bouillon chicken base
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs–see notes section for options of using other cuts of chicken
• Lemon zest
• Oregano
• Black pepper
• Dried basil
• Kosher salt
• Dried parsley
• Can of petite diced tomatoes–or fire roasted tomatoes

Steps

Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the diced onion and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.

Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot. Stir in the Better than Bouillon to dissolve. 

Add in the chicken. Then sprinkle the chicken with lemon zest, oregano, pepper, basil, salt, parsley.

Dump in the tomatoes. 

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for frozen chicken or 10 minutes for fresh chicken. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting.

To thicken the sauce make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together 2 Tbsp of cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water. Then turn the pot to saute setting and stir in the slurry until sauce thickens. 

Serve chicken with sauce over the top and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve chicken and sauce over spaghetti or rice. You can also choose riced cauliflower for a lower carb option. A sprinkling of parmesan cheese over the top also tastes very good! Serve with a side of green beans or another green vegetable.
• 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 can be gluten-free if you serve over rice instead of pasta.
• Other recipes you can make with lemon zest are Instant Pot Lemon Rice and Instant Pot Chicken Julienne.
• You can make this with another cut of chicken if you’d like. Try bone-in chicken pieces (12 minute pressure cook time), chicken tenderloins (3 minute pressure cook time) or chicken breasts (10 minute pressure cook time). Always use at least a 5-10 minute natural pressure release for chicken.
• How to zest a lemon: Rinse the lemon. Use a microplane or small grater* to gently rub the lemon against the fine side of the grater (the side with small holes). Be careful not to press too hard to avoid grating the bitter white pith underneath the zest. As you grate or peel the lemon, the zest will accumulate. Collect it in a bowl or a small plate.

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More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes to try…

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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.