This is how to cook a pressure cooker frozen whole chicken! From rock hard frozen to tender and juicy in 1 hour you’ll always be able to get dinner done. Get out your Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi and get ready for goodness.
Ever had one of those moments where it’s midday and you realized you never defrosted the whole chicken you wanted to make for dinner??!! I have, a lot, that is where this pressure cooker frozen whole chicken recipe comes in really handy! Another tip + recipe added to our long list of easy Instant Pot recipes here on The Typical Mom blog.
I can’t believe how well this pressure cooker frozen whole chicken turned out!
Like I always say, use what you have. If you don’t have chicken stock, use broth. Or just use water. An onion isn’t really a necessity either but I think it adds to the flavor of the chicken. Use your Ninja Foodi if that’s the pot you have.
Also when your chicken is fall apart done and you remove it DON’T throw away the delicious broth at the bottom. You can use it to make pressure cooker gravy to pour on top of your chicken if you want.
This is not a sponsored post so the brands you see are not a necessity but I will say I buy organic and/or cage free chickens when they are reasonably priced and available in the stores, here’s why:
- Cage free chickens have less fat on them overall
- Which means you can get a smaller chicken with the same amount of meat as a much larger non organic chicken, and size matters when it comes to fitting a whole chicken inside your pot.
- The meat is more tender
- Of course it depends on a lot of factors but I’ve purchased a lot of whole chickens of various varieties and will say that cage free are the best
That’s my two cents sort a speak, take it or leave it really but thought I’d share my findings.
This chicken I bought fresh, then stuck it in the freezer until it was rock hard, and cooked it about a week after purchasing it. I bought it specifically for this post. I wanted to see how well an Instant Pot frozen whole chicken would turn out.
What about the giblet bag?
- Some whole chickens do not have a giblet bag inside, so no worries (this one had no bag)
- Others contain a bag that is paper which wouldn’t do you harm if cooked inside accidentally
- If your whole chicken has a plastic giblet bag inside and it is cooked you should discard everything as it is not healthy to eat anything that has come into contact with cooked/heated plastic
- How to store your whole chicken
- When purchasing a fresh whole chicken
- Remove wrapper
- Discard giblet bag
- Use a food saver bag to remove the air and freeze your whole chicken, or put it into a gallon freezer bag for storage
- This method allows you to purchase many whole chickens when they’re on sale and freeze them all, making them immediately ready to cook using this method whenever you want
- When purchasing a frozen whole chicken
- Remove the wrapper
- Put into a water bath just long enough to remove the giblet bag inside, if there is one
- Follow directions for cooking a pressure cooker frozen whole chicken
- When purchasing a fresh whole chicken
I will tell you, I was surprised at how tender and flavorful it was….and like I said, the drippings made for some great gravy to serve on the side.
The next time we made this I followed the same recipe but after putting it under the broiler (below photo) I shredded the meat and we made chicken soft tacos. There was so much meat on this little 4.2 lb. chicken we had enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Like I said, there is a huge difference, hardly any fat at all which I prefer.
We aren’t huge chicken skin lovers, HOWEVER when it is flavorful and crispy thin like this I am up for a bite. After you cook your pressure cooker frozen whole chicken……
An easy way to get crispy chicken skin is:
- Cook the chicken thoroughly in your 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot
- Use your CrispLid to crisp at 400 degrees for 5 – 15 minutes or until perfectly cooked outside, cooking time depends on how crispy you want it
- or put it in a pan, 8×8 usually works well
- Sprinkle spices you enjoy on top of it, on legs and wings too. We usually use:
- Lawry’s
- Garlic Salt
- Garlic powder
- Oregano sometimes
- Turn your oven broiler on – some countertop toaster ovens have a broiler setting too
- Put chicken in for 3-4 minutes, watch carefully, until chicken skin is crispy enough for your preference
If you’re just going to shred it for tacos though you may not bother with these steps as you may just discard the skin anyway.
Here’s what you’ll need to make our pressure cooker frozen whole chicken recipe in an Instant Pot or Crock Pot Express machine
- Whole chicken – frozen, if it is thawed you can use our Instant Pot whole chicken recipe instead
- Onion
- Chicken broth – or stock, or water
- Trivet – I like this one with handles on the sides (use the inner basket if using a Ninja Foodi machine)
- Instant Pot – okay so I have a few but this one is my favorite
- Seasoned salt – I love Lawry’s for everything
- Garlic salt
After cooking a frozen chicken here are a few other frozen meat and easy Instant Pot chicken recipes to try. Use your Ninja Foodi too or other brand of electric pressure cooker:
- Pressure cooker frozen chicken wings
- Spicy honey Instant Pot chicken
- Instant Pot teriyaki chicken
- More whole chicken Instant Pot recipes are here
If cooking a pressure cooker frozen whole chicken in a Ninja Foodi pressure cooker and air fryer:
- Put 1.5 c water into the inner pot
- Place frozen chicken inside the inner basket inside your Ninja Foodi pot, lower into pot
- Put pressure cooker lid on (lid that isn’t attached)
- Close steam valve – set to seal
- Push power on button (lower right)
- Push pressure button
- Adjust temp. to high
- Set time to 60 minutes (for a 4.5 lbs. chicken)
- Press start
- Do a quick release when done
- Lift lid, remove pressure cooker lid, replace with air fryer lid (one that is attached)
- Push air crisp button
- Set time to 8 minutes
- Set temperature to 400 degrees
- Lift lid and check, if you want it crispier set for a few more minutes
Want to cook frozen slow cooker chicken, or make an air fryer whole chicken?
Pressure cooking a frozen whole chicken really is a game changer. Instead of the normal 20 minutes per pound of baking in the oven, you can now get an even more tender bird in about 40 minutes depending on how large your pieces are.
- If you’re just cooking Instant Pot chicken breasts or wings your meal will be ready in under 30 minutes. That used to be unheard of before these fancy devices came about.
SO, can you put a frozen whole chicken in an Instant Pot? YES!! I show you in the video how it’s done. Way easier than you might imagine I’d guess. Try it friends!!
Instructions for Instant Pot and Crock Pot Express below:
Pressure Cooker Frozen Whole Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 chicken frozen, mine was 4.4 lbs. so timing is appropriate for that size
- 1 c chicken broth or water
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Pour chicken broth or water into your pressure cooker followed by your sliced onions.
- Place your trivet on top of that (if it rests on the onions that is okay).
- Unwrap your frozen chicken and place it on top of your trivet.
- Close your lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 60 minutes.
- Allow to naturally release steam for 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove chicken (it will want to fall apart), and put it into an 8x8 dish.
- Sprinkle the top with seasoning salt, and/or whatever you usually add on top of your whole chicken when you bake it.
- Turn your broiler on and put your chicken in for 3-4 minutes or until skin crisps up as much as you'd like.
- Serve!! (we love shredding it from there and making soft chicken tacos)
Video
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Charlene says
Haven’t made it yet , but it’s currently in the ninja foodi pressure cooking . I just have one question . After the hour of pressure cooking you say to do a quick release and then put the crisper lid on . Do I remove the liquid in the bottom . I had to use the deluxe rack because when I froze the chicken it got a little flattened so it wouldn’t fit in the crisper basket . Also , do I need to transfer it to the crisper basket before air frying it ? Still trying to get use to it and understand . Your answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated. I did a frozen chicken in my IP a few years back and I remembered it was good but not crunchy obviously, but it’s air crisping that fairly new to me
Jessica says
I used the rack instead of the basket from the start and used it the whole time it was crisping up. I also took out the drippings for use in other meals before crisping and it came out great. This is one of my new go-to meal makers!
Heidi Rheingans says
I made this today exactly how you instructed and it turned out fabulous! I have an IP and used a frozen chicken that had no neck and giblets. It was moist and perfectly cooked. I put seasoning on it and under the broiler and at 4 minutes it was crispy and delicious. Thank you!
Suzanne says
Love using my Foodie and was inspired by your recipe. Came out beautifully! Thank you for the info. Your recipe was great, spot on. Don’t worry about the naysayers. Some people wouldn’t be happy even if you showed up and cooked it for them. If you can own an electric pressure cooker, you know there is a ‘Come up to pressure and pressure release time’. An awful lot of recipes out there don’t add them in to the cook time, but you are a functioning adult. Use your common sense, after all, you didn’t expect her to tell you to plug the pressure cooker in!
Thank you Justine for a great Foodie recipe.
The Typical Mom says
LOL…thanks hon 😉
Amber says
I was wondering is it the same if I pressure cook for 45 minutes and let slow natural release for 15 minutes? Thank you!
Amber says
Whoops. I thought I read 1 hour and quick release. You said 1 hr and slow release.
The Typical Mom says
Slow release for me is just moving steam valve just slightly so steam comes out very slowly.
Sunny says
I don’t/want an IP! I have used my handy dandy MirrorMatic pressure cooker for everything under the sun for many, many years and see no need to switch to IP A whole 4 lb chicken will be done at 10 lb pressure in 25 minutes…..faster than IP!
Catherine Schlosser says
I only have one comment/question. In the video it looks like you put the breast side down in the Instant Pot. Doesn’t the breast side always go up?
Sunny says
up/down, makes no difference!
Laurie McCall says
I tried this today. I don’t have an IP, but the recipe seemed to use “pressure cooker” as a different thing so I tried it in my Clipso pressure cooker. I added three times the amount of chicken broth and two two largish onions. After 50 min, the broth had boiled away and the onions were burnt. I put it under the broiler, but the skin on top burnt a bit before the sun on the sides became crispy. The chicken was ok, very juicy but with a bit more pink in the middle than I would like. I’ll keep it for a curry.
I think that it might be better with an IP rather than a stove-top pressure cooker.
The Typical Mom says
Pretty much every recipe you’re going to find online these days is meant for an electric pressure cooker, any brand. The issue with one that isn’t electric is the temp. is not going to stay as steady if it’s on the stovetop in order to follow the timing I, or any other recipe creator, recommends.
Sunny says
apparently you did not read the instructions how to cook chicken in the pressure cooker. what lb pressure did you set it? as long as you cooked it (50 min) the meat would have fallen off the bones which would have also been very soft; it’s a wonder you didn’t have the pot blow up since all the liquid had evaporated. Pressure cookers are nothing to mess around with. Always follow the directions to a ‘t’,,,that is what they are for.
Lesley Maple says
Actually once the liquid boils away there will be no steam to stay at pressure so the pot won’t blow up. It will burn and warp but not blow up.
Butterbean says
Tried this today for my very first IP meal. The chicken came up to the max line when I was sautéing it so I just used the driver under the chicken. It came out great. Then cooked the potatoes using the steam mode on high for 10 min & then made gravy. Successful first run!
Sarah says
Your cook time and total times are really misleading. With 60 minutes at pressure and a 15 minute natural release that’s an hour and 15 minutes not even taking into account the time to come to pressure. Once you add time to come to pressure you’re looking at bare minimum an hour and half for the whole recipe not an hour and five minutes.
gp says
All this 10-15 min jobs, then others for 1 hour+ is misleading for frozen chicken…. i need to find chicken, rice recipes with regular situations.
Maureen says
This may be a silly question, but do you put the whole chicken in the freezer in the same packaging it came from in the store? If so what about the thingys inside the chicken? Are they cooked along with everything else inside the chicken? Or do you take them out and repackage the chicken before freezing? I’m anxious to try this recipe.
The Typical Mom says
I added an explanation above to this for you and others.