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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.
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.
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.
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’.
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!”
PrintPressure Cooker Honey BBQ Boneless Chicken Thighs
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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
- Pat dry the thighs dry. Add the thighs into the Instant Pot 8 qrt pressure cooker.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
Looking for more Pressure Cooker recipes?
Pressure Cooker Wings with Bourbon Honey BBQ Sauce
Pressure Cooker St. Louis Ribs with Whiskey BBQ Sauce
Pressure Cooker Perfectly Poached Chicken Breasts
Fantabulous Pressure Cooker Pork Ragu
Linda says
How much water do I add into my 8 quartz pressure cooker? It’s my first time making BBQ chicken with my pressure cooker .thank you for sharing your recipe and for your help 😊
TKWAdmin says
Hi Linda,
Are you adding more chicken to the recipe? Add another 1/2 -3/4 cup. Double check the manufacturer’s instructions as they will say what the minimum amount of liquid needed is. Some say as little as 1/2 cup while I’ve seen other PCs say 2 cups.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Kristin says
I just shared your recipe to my other IP friends. I couldn’t stop eating this!! So delicious AND easy! Going to make again tomorrow night–it’s THAT good!
TKWAdmin says
Yeah!!! Hi Kristin!
I’m so happy that you loved this recipe! I really appreciate it! Yeah, this is one that I make often. FYI… you can totally use chicken breasts, drum sticks and wings in place of the thighs. Same cooking time too! And thank you for sharing it as well! If you ever post pics online tag me @thekitchenwhisperer as I’d love to see your deliciousness!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Norma says
Question: Could I possibly skip making the sauce, and just use Sweet Baby Ray’s? This will be my first time using my pressure cooker.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Norma!
Yes you can in place of the 2 cups of honey BBQ sauce. You’ll still need to add the other ingredients – at a minimum the water,
Oh good luck and welcome to the world of pressure cooking! You’re going to love it!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Norma says
You r wonderful for replying so quickly, cause I wasn’t going to try it until I heard from you. Thank you!
Betty says
Tried these tonight and they were wonderful! The meat was so tender and the sauce was delicious. I was concerned that the sauce would be too sweet, since you start with a honey BBQ sauce and then add honey and brown sugar to it but it was NOT. We loved it. Thank you for the recipe.
TKWAdmin says
Honestly it all depends with how sweet the honey bbq sauce is that you start with. Since I use my own sauce recipe I know it’s not uberly sweet. I’m so happy that you loved this as much as I did! Thank you 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Cleeo2 says
These were fabulous! And I don’t even like chicken thighs!
I have an old-fashioned round pressure cooker. I fit about 6-7 thighs in bottom. I was being cautious as this was a new recipe and also, I wasn’t sure if they would come out good if I stacked them on top of each other. Has anyone done so and still had good results?
When done, I added fresh sauce and grilled them. They were perfect. I may try other chicken pieces this way as I prefer white meat. There is nothing like a pressure cooker. Thank you for posting this recipe.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Cleeo 🙂
Thank you so much! I stack mine, there’s nothing wrong with that. All you need to make sure is you don’t go higher than your recommended line in the pressure cooker. I’m so happy you loved these!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jodi says
I just got my Instant Pot 2 days ago. This was the second recipe I tried and my family loved it! They each said they could have eaten a plate full. I have an 8 quart Instant Pot. How many lbs of thighs could I use and how would I adjust the recipe for the sauce and cooking time? (I did have the bottom couple of thighs stick on a bit.) But it was so delicious!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Jodi
Yeah that’s awesome! I’m so happy they loved them! Oh you got the big daddy of the Instant Pot! You could increase to 3 pounds to maybe 3 1/2 pounds (honestly it’ll depend on how big the thighs are). As for increase in sauce I would another half amount of each. So for example if it calls for 2 cups of bbq sauce, go with 3 cups. However you just have to make sure you don’t submerge the thighs fully as you’re not poaching them. You could keep the same amount of sauce in the pot when you cook then when you’re broiling the chicken, add the other 1/2 batch of sauce to the pot liquid.
I’m not sure how the thighs could have stuck to the pan as they are in liquid. Odd…
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Janice Fiori says
Good looking recipe! Any idea what time I should set if the chicken thighs are frozen?
Thank you!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Janice!
Thank you! For frozen go with 12-13 minutes.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Kathy says
Though it’s freezing and snowing here, through this dish we were transported back for a few minutes or so to the lazy, hazy days of summer. This one is a keeper. Thank you!
TKWAdmin says
Oh first bundle up and stay warm Kathy. Where’s home?
Secondly, thank you so very much! Yeah I love this recipe – especially now more than ever with it being cold and snowy in Pittsburgh.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Kathy says
Home is Montreal where this morning it’s a brutal -9F with wind chill -17! On a positive note? We are expecting freezing rain by the weekend. I am looking forward to trying out some of your other recipes this weekend. Stay warm yourself – looks like there is a storm heading your way.
TKWAdmin says
OMG wow! I’ve not been up that north – furthest was Toronto. I’ve always wanted to visit. We actually got freezing rain last night and now it’s to be 50F today. Lovely!
Best Kitchen Wishes and stay safe!
Pitts says
This is so simple, what a nice recipe !
2 questions :
1. It seems to me that you’re very close from an all homemade BBQ sauce, have you thought of starting from scratch instead of store-bought ?
2. What are the benefits of thinning the sauce with water if it’s to reduce it afterwards ? Would you think it may cause a problem in the pressure cooker to only use BBQ sauce ?
Thanks !
TKWAdmin says
Hey 🙂 Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! So okay yes, I do make my own bbq sauce for this and all of my recipes. I just honestly forgot to hyperlink it above. I use this one – http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2013/10/27/sticky-honey-bbq-sauce/
When you pressure cook you want to use a thinner liquid as it needs to create steam. A thicker sauce could potentially clog up valves or not produce enough steam to properly cook the meat.
Best Kitchen Wishes!