These Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Breasts are a wonderful meal served up with a homemade lemon and herbs sauce that all cooks together for the perfect flavor combination.
Tender and juicy chicken with a citrus taste.
Making lemon chicken breasts in the Instant Pot is a great way to meal prep for the week or to simply make a fabulous dinner with minimal effort. By using your instant pot you can saute, pressure cook, and still get a juicy chicken that the whole family will love.
Using fresh ginger, fresh lemon, and fresh thyme we get a great taste of tangy goodness and earthy flavors that all work well to create a balanced flavor profile.
A Perfect Weeknight Meal
This instant pot lemon garlic chicken is an awesome recipe to try for your next weeknight meal. Made and prepped in under an hour this is a dish worthy of high praise and a side of rice.
Serve this lemony chicken up with any side dishes you want or slice it thin and place on top of a citrus salad and it’s sure to be a meal worth repeating over and over again. Making lemon chicken in the instant pot is one surefire way to get delicious results every time.
Ingredients you’ll need for Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Breast:
- Chicken breasts
- Lemon juice
- Lemon slices
- Water
- Fresh ginger root
- Garlic cloves
- Dried oregano
- Fresh thyme
- Butter
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Spring onions
- Honey
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
How to Make Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Breast
Slice the onion thinly and set it aside.
Grate your ginger and the garlic cloves to prep. This will allow them to become almost visually invisible in the sauce and release more flavor.
Place your Instant Pot to saute mode and cook over medium heat.
Place the butter inside.
Once the butter has melted add the garlic and ginger. Saute until golden and aromatic while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
Once golden add in the onion and season with salt, oregano, and pepper.
Cook for 10 minutes until the onion is translucent and soft.
While the onions are cooking, juice your lemon, slice the lemon, and set them all aside.
Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme.
Add the chicken breasts to the instant pot over the bed of onions.
Pour your lemon juice and water into the Instant Pot and place the lemon slices over the chicken breasts.
Close the lid and set it to High pressure for 10 minutes.
Once finished, manually release the pressure until all of the pressure has been released.
Once cooked, remove the chicken and taste the sauce. If the sauce is too sour, add in two tablespoons of honey and allow to simmer for a minute on saute mode.
Once finished, add the chicken back into the pot and drizzle with the sauce.
Slice the chicken breast over white rice and garnish with spring onion.
FAQs
Can I make this Instant Pot chicken with frozen chicken breasts instead of fresh?
Yes! You can make this with frozen chicken breast. For this you can do it by cooking the frozen chicken breasts directly in the Instant pot, just let them cook for 20 minutes. If your chicken breasts are big you might want to make a natural release so they keep cooking for a while.
How long is lemon chicken good for?
This lemon chicken is perfect for meal prep, it stays perfect in the fridge for up to a week in an air-tight container. You can also choose to freeze it in the same fashion, but for up to 3 months.
Why is my Instant Pot chicken rubbery?
If your chicken has a rubbery texture it could easily be because you didn’t cook it long enough. You can either close the lid and set it to High Pressure and cook for another 5 minutes before checking it again or you can just finish it off in the oven until it comes to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Finishing the chicken off in the oven will most likely be a bit faster, and will help to give a more golden colored crust tho the chicken.
Here are some more great Instant Pot recipes that you are sure to enjoy!
Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Breast
Tender and juicy chicken breasts cooked in the Instant pot with a delicious lemon and herbs sauce. So easy to make and very good for meal prep!
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice + a few lemon slices for garnish
- 1 ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger root
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 tablespoon dried)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly cracked mixed peppers or regular black pepper
- 2 spring onions for garnish
- 2 tablespoons honey (optional)
Instructions
- Thinly slice the onion and set it aside.
- Grate the ginger and the garlic cloves, this way you will create a very fine paste-like consistency that will almost disappear in the sauce and release a lot of flavors.
- In the Instant pot, on saute mode on medium heat, put the butter, and once it’s dissolved add the grated garlic and ginger. Saute until golden and aromatic. Stir constantly with the wooden spoon to prevent it from burning.
- Once the garlic and ginger paste is golden add the sliced onion and season with salt, oregano, and pepper, and let cook for 10 minutes. You’ll see the onion become translucid and soft.
- While the onions are cooking, juice the lemon, cut the lemon slices, and set aside.
- Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme.
- Add the seasoned chicken breasts to the Instant pot over the bed of onions.
- Pour the lemon juice and the water. Put the lemon slices on top of the chicken breasts.
- Close and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Once it finishes cooking manual release until all the pressure is released.
- Once the chicken breasts are cooked, remove them and taste the sauce. If you find it a bit too sour, add the two tablespoons of honey and let simmer for a minute on sautee mode. Once it’s finished add the chicken breast back and drizzle with the sauce.
- Slice the chicken breast and serve over white rice. Garnish with chopped spring onion.
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