Instant Pot Bone In Chicken Thighs

This is our easy Instant Pot chicken thighs bone in recipe with a creamy cream cheese sauce is a dinner your family will love too. Easy pressure cooker dinner with fresh meat or use cook time for Instant Pot frozen chicken thighs.

I’m back with some more easy Instant Pot recipes this week! This time we have a creamy chicken thighs bone recipe to share with you so you can enjoy the yumminess too. It’s a great recipe our whole family loved with a side of mashed potatoes.

Maybe you have veered away from this dark meat. Yes the most popular cut is white meat but seriously once you make these and really give them a whirl you will become a real believer like I did back in the day. Now I use them more than anything else.

Ninja Foodi Bone In Chicken Thighs

If you have a Ninja Foodi you can follow these same directions using the lid that is not attached to pressure cook. These use defrosted or fresh meat, if yours aren’t then follow our air fryer frozen chicken thighs recipe with the lid that is attached.

With this pot you will use the lid that is not attached and the pressure cook button. At the end you can get crispy skin with the other lid. You can of course add seasonings of your choice to the outside before you sear so they bake on nicely and give it added flavor.

Ingredient Notes

You are going to want to pick up medium sized Chicken thighs bone in timing shared, if boneless skinless set to 8 minutes or use our Instant Pot honey mustard chicken recipe with some olive oil to saute in first step.

Chicken stock is better than water for the necessary liquid needed to pressure cook because it adds more flavor.

Cream cheese or dairy free alternative, softened, is the base of this. Fresh spinach is a nice add in. Sun dried tomatoes are optional. Parmesan will make the sauce richer

How Long to Cook Bone in Chicken Thighs in Instant Pot

In total with a bit of browning, high pressure cook time, time to reach pressure and a few minutes of natural release you should set aside about 30 minutes start to finish. Pretty quick actually if you ask me with a rich creamy sauce all cooked together in one pot.

How Long to Cook Frozen Bone In Chicken Thighs

If they are small you can use the same cook time as below, no change. If larger in size I would increase the timing to 12 minutes so meat falls off the bone though. It is a great way to cook them either way to a safe internal temp

I also share these frozen whole chicken in pressure cooker instructions too if you are having a forgetful moment like I do sometimes. Our smoked chicken thighs are amazing if you have a Traeger and/or love to cook outside during the year.

How to Crisp the Chicken Skin

Ok so nobody likes rubbery outsides when you want a bite of your tender piece of poultry. NO, you want fork tender meat but the outsides should be crunchy with either seasonings galore or a rich sauce to cook it in. With this pot alone you aren’t going to get the outsides crunchy but there is a way to do it still.

You can use an Instant Pot air fryer lid to crisp the skins if that is what you have, or your air fryer! I will talk about a few options to crisp the outside below because you can do it a few different ways and have the texture turn amazing. Of course you can feel free to skip this last step. However, that 5 minutes will make all the difference in the oohs and ahhhhs you’ll get when your thighs are done.

You may have bought one of the new air fry lids that they came out with recently. It is another top that you use instead of the high pressure one that comes with the pot. You can follow my directions below and then move the meat into the basket that came with, and out of the sauce. Put that lid on and give it a crisp!

How to Thicken the Sauce

If you want to thicken the sauce you can do so while the chicken broils. Switch the pressure cooker to saute again and heat the juices to boiling. Whisk in the cream cheese until melted (make sure it is room temp or it won’t melt smooth).  Add the parmesan cheese and remaining garlic powder.

When the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency, add the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. Stir to combine and serve with chicken over pasta or as desired.  If you want the sauce to be thicker put 2 tbsp cornstarch in a bowl with 2 tbsp cold water and whisk together, then dump into pot. Stir and allow to thicken on saute as it bubbles it will thicken.

While they’re in the broiler you’re going to make the sauce right in your pressure cooker…… Pour the cream cheese sauce right on top and serve!! It is great with a bed of rice, potatoes or steamed vegetables for a healthy choice.

Other Chicken Thighs Recipes You’ll Love

Instant Pot crack chicken casserole is our fave next to Instant Pot chicken and potatoes. Easy Pressure cooker cheesy chicken spaghetti is a great one with leftover meat too. You should try our Pressure cooker beer can chicken too if you want to buy the whole thing and not chop it into pieces.