Yes, you can make perfectly cooked, tender chicken breast in the Instant Pot! Use the Sous Vide function to cook chicken breasts to use in chicken salads, soups, and sandwiches. Or after doing sous vide you can grill or sear the chicken and top with a sauce to serve as the main course.
Table of Contents
Introduction
One common complaint I hear from readers is that when they cook chicken breast in the Instant Pot it turns out too dry.
The reason is that the Instant Pot pressure cooking function works really well for fatty and tougher cuts of meat. Lean and white meats don’t do so well when pressure cooked.
Well, I’m going to show you a way to cook moist and tender chicken breast in the Instant Pot. And it doesn’t involve pressure cooking. It uses the sous vide technique.
Sous vide involves cooking the chicken at a low temperature for a longer period of time. The result is perfectly cooked chicken every time. Please note that not all Instant Pots have the sous vide functionality.
[Recommended reading: How to use the Instant Pot Sous Vide Smart Program]
TIPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Temperature
The higher the temperature, the more well done the chicken will be cooked. Try out different temperatures to see what works for you.
At 148 degrees, the chicken is moist and tender but if you like your chicken to be juicier, try 145 degrees. If you want a firmer chicken breast, try increasing the temperature to 150 degrees.
Before putting the bag with the chicken into the water, measure the temperature with a digital thermometer. I’m a huge fan of Thermoworks!
Timing
The sous vide cooking time I’ve indicated in the recipe has a range. The low end of the range is the minimum amount of time you should cook the chicken.
The higher end of the range is the maximum amount of time the chicken can sit in the water bath without the texture being affected.
Flavor
This recipe is a basic recipe that can be modified in many ways. Use a dry spice rub of your choice. Here are some examples:
Dry rubs are less messy but you don’t have to stick to a dry spice rub. You can use a wet marinade like the one used in my Instant Pot chicken tinga recipe.
Searing
Searing the chicken after sous vide adds a lot of flavor. The secrets to getting a good sear are to dry the chicken and have a very hot searing pan.
First, I rest the chicken on paper towels and pat the chicken as dry as I can.
I like to use a cast iron skillet for searing or I grill the chicken breast on high heat. When searing, first heat the skillet on high heat. Then oil the skillet and sear the chicken on both sides.
Chicken
If you want to cook bone-in, skin-on chicken breast, increase the sous vide temperature to 150 degrees and cook for 2 to 4 hours.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, you might find it helpful to first read one of the following guides and then come back here to learn how to make this recipe.
- Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO EVO PLUS Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO NOVA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO GOURMET Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
Instant Pot Chicken Breasts – Ingredients
- Chicken breasts
- Spices
How to Cook Chicken Breasts Using the Instant Pot Sous Vide Program (Step by Step Instructions)
- Fill the Instant Pot with water
- Program the sous vide function
- Place chicken breasts in a freezer bag
- Lower bag into the water bath
- Remove the bag from the water bath
- Allow chicken breasts to rest and use as needed
Fill the Instant Pot with Water
- Fill the Instant Pot with water up to the 1/2-full mark or enough water for the chicken to be completely submerged.
- Close the lid and put the steam release mechanism to Vent.
Program the Sous Vide Function
- Select the Sous Vide smart program
- Set the sous vide temperature to 148 degrees Fahrenheit
- Set the sous vide cook time to 2 hours. The chicken can stay in the water bath for up to 4 hours without affecting the texture.
- Start sous vide and close the lid.
* Find out more details on How to Use the Instant Pot Sous Vide Smart Program.
Place Chicken in Freezer Bag
- While the water bath is heating up, season the chicken with salt and pepper or any spice of your choice.
- Place the chicken breasts in a gallon-size freezer bag side by side without overlapping.
- Press out as much air as you can and zip the bag closed except for 1 inch.
Lower Freezer Bag into the Water Bath
- Once the Instant Pot has reached the desired temperature, gradually lower the freezer bag down into the water. Use a wooden spoon or tongs if needed.
- Air will get forced out as the bag gets lowered. This is called the displacement method. Read more about it in How to Use the Instant Pot Sous Vide Smart Program.
- Finally, close the bag all the way until the bag is completely sealed.
- Keep the bag opening above water at all times.
- Close the lid.
Remove Freezer Bag from Water Bath
- When the sous vide cooking time is up, the Instant Pot will beep.
- Press Cancel, open the lid and using tongs, remove the freezer bag.
- Open the bag and transfer the chicken breasts to a plate or cutting board lined with paper towels.
Allow Chicken Breast to Rest and Use as Needed
- Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes.
- Use the chicken in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken.
- Or dry the chicken thoroughly and sear on high heat until browned on both sides.
Perfect Instant Pot Chicken Breast Using Sous Vide
Instructions
- Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper or your choice of seasonings.
- Fill the Instant Pot with water up to the 1/2-full mark or enough water for the chicken to be completely submerged.
- Close the lid and put the steam release mechanism to Vent.
- Set the Sous Vide temperature to 148 degrees Fahrenheit and cook time to 2 to 4 hours. [Read More: How to use the Sous Vide in the Instant Pot]
- While the Instant Pot is heating up, place the chicken breasts side-by-side in a freezer bag.
- Press out as much air as you can and zip the bag closed except for 1 inch.
- Once the temperature has been reached the Instant Pot will beep. Measure the temperature of the water with a digital thermometer to make sure the desired temperature has been reached. Gradually lower the bag down into the water using the displacement method. *
- Close the bag all the way until the bag is completely sealed, but keep the opening of the bag above the water level.
- Close the lid.
- When the sous vide cooking time is up, the Instant Pot will beep.
- Press Cancel, open the lid and using tongs, remove the freezer bag.
- Open the bag and and transfer the chicken breast to a plate or cutting board lined with paper towels.
- Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes.
- Dry the chicken thoroughly and sear on high heat on a grill or cast iron pan until browned on both sides, if desired.
- Use the chicken in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken.
Notes
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Rebecca Baxter
Considering all the new knowledge about environmental exposure to Estrogens from plastics, I would be fairly reticent to use a regular zip loc style freezer bag to cook my food in….is there a “food safe” sous vide bag that you are aware of as an alternative?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Rebecca, I can understand your concern. I use both. As I understand it, sous vide bags are made of the same plastic and zipper style bags. Here’s an article I have read about the issue: https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/why-ziploc-bags-are-perfectly-safe-to-use-for-sous-vide-cooking/
johan
So why do you not use the roast feature on the instant pot after sous vide? Will it cook the chicken to much?
Or the air fry feature for that matter?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Johan, yes you can use the Saute feature of the Instant Pot. I prefer to use a nonstick surface because it’s easier 🙂 And I didn’t have an air fryer when I wrote this post, but you can definitely air fry it .
Scott
This was my first Sous Vide i had ever made
so tender and juicy so simple. Thank you for a great recipe.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks Scott! I’m glad you liked it.
Grover Jackson
Good
Barbara
I am going to be trying this out, my only question is if chicken should be cooked to 165 to be safe, how does the 148 get it to that temp?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Barbara, pasteurization of meat is dependent on a combination of temperature AND time. The lower the temperature (I go no lower than 140 degrees), the longer it takes. So traditional cooking does high temperature for shorter time. Sous vide does lower temperature for longer. This article is a good resource: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/1131-is-sous-vide-safe
Megan
This was a very helpful article! I have a question about how much can be cooked at once. You only say 2 chicken breasts… about how big can they be? Can I cook 3? Or even 4 in 2 bags? Should the time immersed be longer? Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Megan, if you can get the chicken to be in one layer, you don’t need to increase cooking time. If you’re stacking them you would need to increase the cooking time. Even if you put them in separate bags, the water should be able to circulate between the bags. Otherwise, you’ll have to increase the cooking time.
Mark Jurgen
Definitely the best way to cook chicken breast in the IP. The meat stayed moist and did not dry out.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you Mark – that’s how I feel too. Thanks for taking the time to comment!