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    Home » Recipes » Pressure cooker

    Instant Pot Quick Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

    Published: May 23, 2023 · Modified: Apr 7, 2025 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 19 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    A plate of cooked chicken thighs, with an Instant Pot and a jar of paprika

    Instant Pot Quick Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs. Need chicken in a hurry? Pressure cooking to the rescue!

    Sometimes you just need some boneless, skinless chicken, you know? Something to top a salad, go in a sandwich, or as a quick weeknight main dish. Here’s how my Instant Pot gets me chicken in a (mostly) hands-off half an hour.

    A plate of cooked chicken thighs, with an Instant Pot and a jar of paprika
    Instant Pot Quick Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

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    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • How to make Instant Pot Boneless Chicken Thighs
    • Equipment
    • Scaling
    • Storage
    • Tips and Tricks
    • What to Serve with Instant Pot Boneless Chicken Thighs
    • Instant Pot Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    The most important part of this recipe is skipping the white meat. Dark meat has flavor, and does not overcook in the high heat of a pressure cooker. (Unlike bland, boring, stringy chicken breast.) My local grocery started carrying boneless skinless chicken thighs, and I never looked back. My singing the praises of the dark side of the chicken paid off! First I took over the meat case, next…the WORLD! BWAHAHAHA…ahem. Sorry.

    Do you have bone-in chicken thighs? Use my Instant Pot Quick Chicken Thighs recipe instead.

    Ingredients

    • Boneless skinless chicken thighs
    • Fine sea salt
    • Fresh ground black pepper
    • Garlic powder
    • Paprika (preferably smoked paprika)
    • Vegetable oil
    • Water
      See recipe card for quantities.

    How to make Instant Pot Boneless Chicken Thighs

    Season the chicken

    Sprinkle the chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.

    Brown the chicken on one side

    In an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, heat the vegetable oil over Sauté mode set to high (medium-high heat on a stovetop) until the oil starts to shimmer. Set half of the chicken thighs in the pot, smooth side down, and let them cook, without moving, until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Move the browned pieces to a plate, then add the rest of the thighs to the pot to brown, about 4 more minutes.

    Everything in the pot

    Pour 1 cup of water into the pot, and add the browned chicken and any juices on the plate.

    Pressure cook for 10 minutes with a Natural Release

    Lock the lid on the cooker. Pressure cook at high pressure for 10 minutes (“Manual” or “Pressure cook” mode in an Instant Pot), then the pressure come down naturally, about 15 more minutes.

    Serve

    Remove the chicken to a platter with tongs or a slotted spoon. You can serve the thighs whole as chicken cutlets, or slice into chicken strips, or shred for pulled chicken. Enjoy!

    Equipment

    A 6-quart pressure cooker

    Scaling

    This recipe doubles or halves easily. Don't increase or decrease the water - the 1 cup of water is needed to bring the pressure cooker up to pressure. Also, don't change the cooking time; it takes the same amount of time to cook each chicken thigh through, no matter how many there are in the pot.

    Storage

    Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for a few days, or frozen for a few months. If I want to freeze the chicken I cut it into strips and put them in a 2-cup container.

    Tips and Tricks

    Don't skip the browning step!

    An important part of the recipe is browning the chicken thighs before pressure cooking. Searing the thighs before pressure cooking adds a lot of flavor, and is worth the extra time. I understand if you want to skip the browning, but - please, try it, at least once. My concession to speed is browning the thighs on one side only. It gives me the complex flavors of browning, without spending a lot of time on it.

    What to Serve with Instant Pot Boneless Chicken Thighs

    Boneless skinless chicken thighs are a building block ingredient for me. Sure, I serve them straight up, as chicken cutlets. But I usually slice them into thin strips, and use them in tacos or sandwiches. Or, I shred the chicken and make BBQ pulled chicken - just add BBQ sauce.

    Print
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    A plate of cooked chicken thighs, with an Instant Pot and a jar of paprika

    Instant Pot Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs Recipe


    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    5 from 7 reviews

    • Author: Mike Vrobel
    • Total Time: 40 minutes
    • Yield: 1 pound of chicken 1x
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    Instant Pot Quick Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs. Need chicken in a hurry? Pressure cooking to the rescue!


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
    • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
    • ½ teaspoon paprika (preferably smoked paprika, optional)
    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
    • 1 cup water

    Instructions

    1. Season the chicken: Sprinkle the chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.
    2. Brown the chicken, on one side, in two batches (optional): In an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, heat the vegetable oil over Sauté mode set to high (medium-high heat on a stovetop) until the oil starts to shimmer. Set half of the chicken thighs in the pot, smooth side down, and let them cook, without moving, until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Move the browned pieces to a plate, then add the rest of the thighs to the pot to brown, about 4 more minutes.
    3. Everything in the pot: Pour 1 cup of water into the pot, and add the browned chicken  and any juices on the plate.
    4. Pressure cook for 10 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the lid on the cooker. Pressure cook at high pressure for 10 minutes (“Manual” or “Pressure cook” mode in an Instant Pot), then the pressure come down naturally, about 15 more minutes.
    5. Serve: Remove the chicken to a platter with tongs or a slotted spoon. Serve whole as chicken cutlets, slice thin for chicken strips, or shred. Enjoy!

    Equipment

    Kitchen Tongs

    Buy Now →

    6-Quart Pressure Cooker

    Buy Now →

    Notes

    Cooking from frozen. I don’t recommend it - you can’t season the chicken first, or brown it. But, if you absolutely have to cook from frozen: Put the frozen thighs in the cooker with 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 15 minutes, with a Natural Release, about 15 more minutes. Season the chicken after cooking.

    Variations

    This basic recipe is useful in a lot of different cuisines. All it takes is a switch of seasonings.

    Tex-Mex style: Replace the paprika with chili powder. Serve with tortillas

    Italian style: Use olive oil to sauté, and replace the paprika with Italian seasoning or dried basil. Serve with pasta.

    Asian style: Skip the paprika, add a pinch of ground ginger, and replace ¼ cup of the water with soy sauce. Serve with rice.

    Barbecue style: Replace the seasonings with your favorite barbecue rub. Serve on cheap white buns topped with barbecue sauce.

    Tools

    6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker)

    Tongs

    • Prep Time: 5 minutes
    • Cook Time: 35 minutes
    • Category: Weeknight Dinner
    • Method: Pressure Cooker
    • Cuisine: American

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    What do you think?

    Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

    Related Posts

    Instant Pot Quick Chicken Thighs (Bone In)
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    Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
    My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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    Comments

    1. Rhonda says

      September 19, 2024 at 8:04 pm

      Can’t rate yet as I haven’t tried it, but I will tonight! Do I need a trivet for this recipe or does the chicken go straight into the water/broth? Thanks for your time!

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        September 19, 2024 at 8:23 pm

        Straight in.

        Reply
        • Rhonda says

          September 19, 2024 at 11:33 pm

          Just finished dinner and this recipe was perfect, thank you! And thank you for your timely response to my question! Very rare occurrence on online recipes.

          I used the seasonings that you recommended (especially the smoked paprika— yum!!) and added seasoning salt, Trader Joe’s Umami seasoning blend, and dried chives.

          I used chicken Better Than Bouillon instead of water and saved the juices left over to make chicken gravy for tomorrow night’s dinner.

          Another change that I made is that I only did a 3 minute natural release because the thighs were pretty thin— they turned out perfectly!

          Thank you for an easy to read and easy to follow recipe!

          Reply
    2. Simona says

      July 10, 2024 at 8:04 am

      Thank you! This recipe gave me the confidence I needed to finally use my instant pot for more than just a rice cooker, which I’d been doing for years. I’ve tried pressure cooker meal recipes (from other sites), and they were too complicated/confusing or didn’t turn out right. This was straight to the point, and I love the alternate spice ideas too. I’ll be coming back to this one a few times a week!

      P.S. This was my first time visiting your site, inciting fond memories… My Dad is a great cook and usually made us dinner; Mom says she married him for that exact reason. Hopefully among a few others! Thanks again 🙂

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        July 10, 2024 at 11:34 am

        You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

        Reply
    3. Danielle says

      January 24, 2024 at 6:09 pm

      So fast, easy and delicious!! Thighs turn out perfectly each time. Thank you for sharing this recipe!

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        January 25, 2024 at 7:09 am

        You’re welcome!

        Reply
    4. Rebecca McBride says

      June 23, 2023 at 5:35 pm

      YUM!! I did brown both sides of my thighs on the stove in a cast iron skillet only because I was cooking a large package I bought from Sam's Club and it saved time. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly except I used 1 cup chicken broth for my liquid instead of water. My family and I loved them <3 They were so flavorful and moist and I was able to cook all 18 in the Yedi Pressure Cooker at once. Though the seasonings are simple and few, they don't need any other added. Great Job, DAD!!

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        June 26, 2023 at 6:26 pm

        Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it.

        Reply
    5. Cindy Boyd says

      March 12, 2022 at 12:01 pm

      This recipe was FANTASTIC. Thank you and I will continue to follow your recipes.

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        March 14, 2022 at 5:04 pm

        Thank you!

        Reply
    6. Heidi Olsen says

      August 05, 2021 at 11:51 am

      Can I just season my thawed boneless skinless chicken thighs and go right to step 3?

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        August 05, 2021 at 11:59 am

        Yes. That's why that step is listed as "optional". 😉

        Reply
    7. Tracy says

      May 10, 2021 at 7:43 pm

      I am a disabled grandma just trying to help out my family. I suffer chronic pain. Some nights are more difficult than others. I LOVE this simple, to the point recipe. It's so quick & easy. You can really season it however you want. But, like you said, browning is the trick to add lots of flavor. I also use chicken stock or bullion instead of plain water. Thanks Mike!

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        May 11, 2021 at 5:04 pm

        You’re welcome!

        Reply
    8. Darlene says

      February 15, 2021 at 4:57 pm

      What about thawing the frozen and going from there?

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        February 15, 2021 at 5:25 pm

        Yes, that works with the recipe.

        Reply
    9. Lisa Perchez says

      February 01, 2021 at 9:09 pm

      Delicious! I needed a quick and easy recipe that used boneless thighs. All my pressure cooker recipes called for bone in thighs. The search WAS worth it. Your recipes never disappoint. Thank you@

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        February 02, 2021 at 5:34 pm

        You’re welcome

        Reply

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    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner!

    I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

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