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Aug152015

Pressure Cooker Honey BBQ Boneless Chicken Thighs

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Find the recipe card at the end of the post. Make sure to read the content as it contains chef tips, substitution options, answers to FAQs to help you succeed the first time around!

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Some of the best and tenderest chicken you’ll eat that’s made in minutes thanks to the Instant Pot. Plus that BBQ sauce – 10 out of 10!

By now you all know how madly, deeply I am in love with my Instant Pot 8 qrt Pressure Cooker.  Wait you don’t know this? Oh honey we need to talk!  Come grab a seat at my kitchen table, have a cookie (or 3) and let’s chat. 

Pressure Cooker Honey BBQ Thighs4

You see I cook every day.  Every. Single. Day. And while cooking and baking (really anything that involves being in the kitchen and creating) is my passion.  It allows my creative side to come to light and lets my engineering mindset take a breather.  You see when I’m in the kitchen I don’t think. I know that sounds odd (or even cocky which I don’t mean) but for me, it just makes sense when I craft a new recipe.

It took those days where when I got home from work I just didn’t have the energy to stand in the kitchen for 30 minutes making a meal. I was tired, the gym kicked my butt, I needed a shower, I had 400 TKW emails to answer, I had to work on another recipe posting, I had to make sure I spent quality time with you guys on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram and oh yeah, feed Mr. Fantabulous. I won’t even go into my also logging into my day job and checking on emails and stuff.

You see if you’re like me you grew up where the pressure cooker that our Moms and Grandmothers used was deadly.  They’d hiss, they spit, heck they’d even blow their lids off if you let the pressure build up too much or not have enough liquid in it.  That was the only kitchen appliance that I was forbidden to touch.  Heck, I wasn’t even allowed in the kitchen when my Mom would use it.

Nowadays they are the ‘norm’ yet when these new electric ones came out, it was scary as it was ‘new’. I went to Google just to read more about it and understand the mechanics of pressure cooking.

Pressure Cooker Honey BBQ Thighs

What is Pressure Cooking

Pressure cooking is a cooking method that takes a pot and tops it with a special airtight lid and seal.  By sealing a liquid in a pressure cooker traps the vapor that rises from the liquid.  This in turn raises the pressure inside the pressure cooker along with the maximum temperature that the liquid can reach. 

In layman’s terms, the increased temperature and pressure significantly speed up the cooking process.  The pressure infuses the hot steam into the food.  By utilizing this method, pressure cooking can cook foods in about one third the ordinary time on average and often over 10 times faster.

Normal and Quick Release

With this pressure cooker there are 2 types of release methods

  • Quick – Fast pressure release means that the cook should use the valve, or pressure releasing mechanism particular to their cooker  (such as a button to push, a lever to twist, or a slide to pull), to release pressure once the timer goes off.  For thick recipes (such as a chili or a risotto), right after this release,  the still unopened pressure cooker should be given a few small jolts to release any super-heated seam pockets in the food.  
  • Normal – Slow pressure releases pressure using the pressure releasing mechanism. By letting the machine release it for it, it lets the pressure drop slowly from your electric pressure cooker.  During this slow release, the cooking continues, so it is recommended for certain cuts of meats, and some desserts. When pressure is fully released, the float (pressure indicator) will drop and the lid will unlock to open.
Pressure Cooker Honey BBQ Thighs1

Let’s talk about these luscious boneless thighs. I was at the butcher shop and he had an in-store special. 99 cents a pound with no limit! Now I normally don’t buy thighs as I’m not a huge fan of dark meat. Don’t get me wrong, it tastes great but it’s not the healthiest part only due to it having a higher fat content.

However, it’s also the most flavorful part. So you guys all know me, I firmly believe in ‘Everything in moderation so I can eat these, just not all the time.

Myoglobin is the hemoprotein (an oxygen-carrying protein) responsible for giving dark meat its reddish color. The more myoglobin, the darker the meat and the richer the nutrients. Myoglobin provides muscles with the oxygen they need during exercise or movement. And since chickens don’t fly they use their legs and thighs to get around thus building up the muscles and making the meat ‘dark’.

Pressure Cooker Honey BBQ Thighs2

So I bought a few pounds and came home to make lunch.  Since I had a crap ton (official term here folks) of stuff to get done, I didn’t have a lot of time to be putzing around in the kitchen.  Don’t you hate it when real life gets in the way of your passion? Since I had made boneless chicken breasts in the pressure cooker a million (and 7) times before I figured the time would be about same.  I whipped up some bbq sauce then thinned it out for the pressure cooker, tossed it all in and for 10 minutes I was able to sit and relax before I got all those things on my list done.

When they were done, which literally they were almost falling apart they were so tender, I kicked the pressure cooker over to brown to thicken up the sauce and popped these babies under the broiler to crisp up.  And like clock work Mr. Fantabulous came out to the kitchen (or more like his nose pulled him into the room) sniffing away.  When he saw me pull these slightly charred, sticky bbq thighs out of the oven he immediately went and got us sodas, plates and silverware.  Oh how cute!  He thought I was going to share!  LOL  However  I’m a good wife and gave him some along with a small salad. He INHALED these things!  He kept saying how tender and juicy they were.  That the flavors were insane.  When I told him what they were he said “but… but I don’t like dark meat…”  I just smiled and said “looks like you do now honey!”

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Pressure Cooker Honey BBQ Boneless Chicken Thighs

  • Author: The Kitchen Whisperer

Find more fantabulous recipes, tips and tricks at www.thekitchenwhisperer.net. Also, join our TKW Family on Facebook

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★★★★★ 4.9 from 41 reviews
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Ingredients

  • 2lbs boneless chicken thighs
  • 2 cups honey bbq sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1–2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 3 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  1. Pat dry the thighs dry. Add the thighs into the Instant Pot 8 qrt pressure cooker.
  2. In a bowl whisk together the sauce, water, paprika, cayenne, brown sugar, honey, salt, and pepper. Pour over thighs. Lock the lid down and set it to High pressure, for 10 minutes.
  3. When the 10 minutes is up do a quick release. While the quick release is relieving pressure, place the oven to broil with a rack in the middle. Line a rimmed pan with foil and place a cooling rack on top. Lightly spray the rack.
  4. Gently remove the thighs from the pressure cooker with tongs and place on the rack, set aside. Set the pressure cooker to browning and stir the sauce until thickened ~10-15 minutes. Slather on some sauce on top of the thighs. Put the pan in the oven, under the broiler for 2-5 minutes (just enough to lightly char the sauce).
  5. Flip the thighs over, cover with more sauce and broil for 2-5 more minutes or until they are nicely charred. Place the sauce in a container for serving. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

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Recipe Reviews & Comments

  1. Alja Musarro says

    December 28, 2020 at 7:10 am

    Sooo good! My chicken didn’t need as much time under the broiler. The BBQ sauce is absolutely delicious! Thanks!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Marion says

    July 2, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    Hands down the best BBQ chicken! So moist and flavorful! One of my favorite go to “Magic Pot” recipes!

    Reply
    • TKWAdmin says

      July 8, 2020 at 1:17 pm

      Yeah!!! I love hearing that Marion; thank you!!!

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply
  3. Maria says

    December 15, 2019 at 1:41 pm

    Oh gosh. I’m making thighs tonight. I wonder if dh would notice if I made these tomorrow. Haha they look delicious

    Reply
    • TKWAdmin says

      December 15, 2019 at 2:05 pm

      I wouldn’t mind! You can use this with a different cut of chicken!

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply
  4. Penny Dillon says

    June 13, 2019 at 10:44 am

    This is a great recipe. I used bone in thighs and did 11 minutes in the pressure cooker. I didn’t even broil them and they were delicious.

    Reply
  5. Kim says

    May 26, 2019 at 9:25 am

    This is seriously the best BBQ chicken I have ever had. I need to double or maybe even triple the amount of thighs. How will that effect the cooking time?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • TKWAdmin says

      May 27, 2019 at 12:15 pm

      Thank you so much Kim!!! I would add a couple more minutes of cooking time but the biggest thing is make sure your pressure cooker can hold it all.

      If you haven’t done so already, subscribe (and confirm your subscription) to my newsletter. This was you’ll never miss out on a single recipe, kitchen tip or bonus features!

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply
  6. Joe says

    May 14, 2019 at 1:06 pm

    What can I select for browning? have a IP-LUX

    Reply
    • TKWAdmin says

      May 14, 2019 at 7:27 pm

      Hi Joe!

      I just googled that model and I believe it has a Saute feature? If so you can use that. When I originally created the recipe, I used a different pressure cooker (pre-IP) that had a button called “Brown”.

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply
  7. Donna Turner says

    November 29, 2018 at 6:10 pm

    Made the BBQ chicken thighs tonight. They were delicious! And plenty of sauce left too. I plan on making bbq wings next time and the sauce would be great over shredded rotisserie chicken! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  8. KIM HERNANDEZ says

    September 1, 2018 at 8:12 pm

    I made this using Sweet Baby Rays and spices. They came out so good, just didn’t make enough. Thanks for the recipe!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • TKWAdmin says

      September 3, 2018 at 3:44 pm

      Yeah! So happy you loved it Kim!

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply
  9. Fran Schmidt says

    August 20, 2018 at 8:31 am

    These were delicious and my family loved them! Next time -and there will be a next time – I will eliminate some of the extra brown sugar and honey to ease up on the calories. Thx, TKW!

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • TKWAdmin says

      August 20, 2018 at 11:28 am

      So happy you and your family loved them! Thank you!

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply
  10. mary says

    August 11, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    Did you use frozen or thawed meat?

    Reply
    • TKWAdmin says

      August 11, 2018 at 9:05 pm

      Normally thawed. To use frozen add another minute or two to the cooking time.

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply
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