Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy

Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy - the most amazingly tender and juicy whole chicken you will ever make with a perfect flavoursome gravy.

Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Whole Chicken

If you have never cooked a whole chicken in a pressure cooker and you actually own a pressure cooker. I demand you to make this whole chicken right now. It's super easy to make and finger lickin amazing!!

It is probably one of the most cooked recipes I make in the Instant Pot because my family love this recipe and if I need cooked chicken for sandwiches, salads, lunches etc, then this is really the perfect recipe. 

The best part of all, the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) cooks a whole 4lb chicken in 25 minutes (not including the natural releasing of the pressure) and the meat is super tender and moist, perfect for your Sunday dinner.

Wondering what an Instant Pot is?

It is basically a 7in1 cooker which can slow cook, pressure cooks, sauté and has a setting for soup, chilli, rice, porridge and even makes yoghurt.

How to Cook a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot

When making this Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy, I like to get all the ingredients ready in advance, it makes it much easier to do all the steps and get the chicken into the instant pot cooking.

Setting the chicken aside, I first get all the vegetables prepared, by chopping and washing the leeks, crushing the garlic cloves and roughly chopping the onions. Don't worry about chopping them neatly, or to a certain size, as they will be blended at the end of cooking, to make the gravy, so it really doesn't matter, so long as they are not too big.

Once chopped you, can then set the instant pot to sauté mode. Once hot, spray with some spray oil and add the onion, leeks and garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes until translucent.

Add in the tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and ¾ cup of chicken stock, and stir till well combined.

You can then turn off the instant pot, just while you season the chicken.

Best Seasoning for a Whole Chicken

I mix all the seasoning together in a bowl. Then place the chicken on a board and you can rub the seasoning all over the chicken.

I tend to stick to this basic seasoning blend, as it's what my family love for flavour, you get the additional flavour from all the ingredients that go in for the gravy. 

• Sea Salt
• Paprika
• Black Pepper
• Thyme
• Onion Powder

Once well coated in the seasoning, place the chicken into the instant pot, breast side down (this keeps the breast meat nice and tender), straight on top of the sautéed veg. You can place on the trivet on top of the veg if you like, but I find the trivet isn't needed with all the veg underneath. 

Then you can add the lid, close the valve and set the instant pot to 25 minutes, high pressure (I use a 3.5lb chicken and this was perfect timing for that size of chicken). Ensure you allow the pressure to release naturally, as it will help keep the chicken nice and moist. I do not recommend doing a quick release when cooking meat, always let the pressure release naturally to keep the meat lovely and tender.

Once the pressure has released naturally, you can then remove the chicken from the instant pot. I just grab two forks and stick one in either end and carefully lift it out.

Set to rest for about 15 mins and then you can remove the skin and any visible fat and remove all the meat from the carcass and shred onto a plate.

Look at that lovely tender chicken meat - perfect!!

Instant Pot Chicken with Gravy

Now there are two options for making the gravy. You need to remove the fat from the juices.

So your first option is to use a fat separator jug like this OXO Good Grips Gravy/Fat Separator Jug:

or occasionally I will cook the chicken the day before I plan to eat it. I then add the vegetables, meat juices and 1 cup of chicken stock to a bowl. Place in the fridge until the next day and the fat will set on top and you can spoon it all off.

Once you have completed either of the above, you can then add to a blender and blend till smooth. An immersion stick blender will do the job too if that is all you have. 

After you blend, you can then add the gravy to a saucepan just to reduce down a little and thicken.

This gravy is amazing with the chicken, you will seriously want to make this delicious Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy every week.

and if you have any gravy left over, pop in a tub and freeze for another day, you never know when it might come in handy.

This is the healthiest and tastiest gravy you will ever make and I see it as the one time I eat this, which is not every day, I count it as free. 

Sides for Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy

Looking for some sides to go with the Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy?

Check out these recipes:

• Roast Potatoes
• Sage, Sausage and Onion Bulgur Wheat Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes
• Yorkshire Puddings
• Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes
• Maple Glazed Carrots
• Potato Gratin
• Roasted Vegetable Gratin
• Cheesy Vegetable Bake
• Roasted Fennel and Mixed Peppers
• Crushed Roast Potatoes
• Rustic Garlic and Parmesan Mash
• Sweet Potato Mash
• Roasted Paprika Butternut Squash
• Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips and Carrots
• Extra Crispy Golden Potatoes

or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 900 delicious Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, value and smart points etc

So many amazing sides to compliment this dish.

Make this Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy today.

"But what if I don't have an instant pot?", I hear you say. You will be pleased to know that you can also make this in the slow cooker on the low setting for 6 hours - perfect!!! or check out my Slow Cooker Whole Chicken recipe

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