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Craving tender, juicy chicken thighs with crispy skin… but only have frozen chicken thighs on hand? This Instant Pot recipe produces unbelievably moist and tender chicken with (really!) crispy, delicious skin – with zero need to thaw the frozen chicken thighs!
Before You Get Started
- If your chicken thighs won’t fit on the trivet in a single layer, stacking them is totally fine. They’ll still cook evenly, and the cook time will stay the same.
- This recipe is written for bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, but you can use boneless thighs instead if you prefer. We included adjustments for boneless chicken thighs in the recipe card below.
What I Love About This Recipe
- Cooking frozen chicken thighs in the Instant Pot only takes a couple ingredients, and it makes dinner so incredibly easy without sacrificing any tastiness.
- This Instant Pot method is a great way to cook chicken thighs for an entrée, of course. It’s also perfect for meal prepping chicken thighs or to cook chicken to use in another recipe.
- The results are deliciously juicy chicken encased in a wonderfully crisp, golden skin. What could be better?!
- Forgot to thaw chicken for dinner? No problem! This Instant Pot recipe is meant for frozen chicken thighs. It’s basically dinnertime salvation (if you know, you know).
Frequently Asked Questions
13 minutes, not including the time for the Instant Pot to pressurize or the 5 minute Natural Release.
Season the bone-in chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth into a 6-quart Instant Pot, then place a trivet in the bottom of the pot. Lay the chicken thighs on the trivet, set the Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure mode, and set the cook time to 13 minutes. When the cook time ends, Natural Release the pressure for 5-10 minutes, then broil the chicken thighs until the skins are golden brown.
The food-safe internal temperature for chicken is 165° Fahrenheit, but dark meat chicken (like chicken thighs) will be juicier and more tender if cooked to a temp between 175° and 195° Fahrenheit.
Recipe Variations
- Turn Up the Flavor: Swap out the chicken broth for pineapple juice or apple juice! As the chicken thighs cook, the meat will absorb some of the flavors from the juice. This is one of my favorite ways to switch things up a little. You could also add minced garlic and minced onion to the chicken broth for a similar effect.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Thighs
Equipment
- Cutting board
- 6-quart Instant Pot or similar pressure cooker
- Instant Pot trivet
- Tongs
- Broiler
- large baking sheet
Ingredients
- 4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs frozen, approximately 4 ounces each
- salt to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium if preferred
Instructions
- Place 4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs on cutting board. Sprinkle generous amounts of salt and freshly cracked black pepper onto frozen chicken thighs.
- Pour 1 cup chicken broth into Instant Pot insert. Place Instant Pot trivet in bottom of Instant Pot insert, then place seasoned chicken thighs on trivet.
- Secure lid on Instant Pot and lock lid with vent in Sealing position. Set Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure mode, and set cook time to 13 minutes. Instant Pot will pressurize and then 13-minute cook time will begin.
- Once 13-minute cook time ends, Natural Release internal pressure 5 to 10 minutes.
- While pressure releases, preheat broiler. Adjust oven racks as needed so that chicken thighs will sit 10 to 12 inches beneath heating element.
- After releasing pressure, transfer chicken thighs to baking sheet, placing chicken thighs skin-side up.
- Place baking sheet under preheated broiler. Broil chicken thighs 5 to 10 minutes or until skin is golden brown and crispy.
- Carefully remove baking sheet from oven. Let chicken thighs rest 5 minutes, then transfer thighs to serving plates and serve with preferred sides.
- Boneless Thighs: For boneless thighs, cook on High Manual Pressure in the Instant Pot for 8 minutes.
- Chicken Broth: For a 6-quart Instant Pot, use 1 cup of broth. For an 8-quart Instant Pot, use 1.5 cups of broth.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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I’ve made this recipe about 5 times. Delicious every single time!
So happy you love this one, Lori! Thanks for the review!
Even my fussiest eater said she loved this. Will definitely make this again.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Perfect! This is great for a newbie InstantPot-er like me, never would have thought of the broiling part, it works! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Can you do the last step in an air fryer
Sure thing! You can cook at 400 for the same amount of time, or until the skin has crisped up. Here are some great air fryer chicken recipes: https://40aprons.com/instant-pot-frozen-chicken-thighs/#search/q=air%20fryer%20chicken.
Easy, tasty and fast. Just what a grandad needs. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Easy and tasty!
We agree!
I make this regularly and it works Everytime: everyone says “it’s really good!”
So glad to hear it! 🙂
Made as directed with boneless skin on frozen thighs, cooked for 8 minutes in instant pot with quick release, then put instant stuffing on a sheet pan with the thighs on top to crisp the skin under the broiler for 10 minutes. Thighs were juicy, skin crispy, and stuffing had some crispy edges, YUM. Love that I can pull out frozen thighs and put them in the instant pot without thawing, because I either forget to thaw ahead, or thaw ahead and plans change and I don’t get the chicken used. will be my go to winter chicken thigh plan, in the summer those babys go on the grill!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I have an Instant Pot Duo Crisp. After following the Instant Pot part of your recipe, instead of transferring them to the oven to broil, I plan to just leave them in the Instant Pot, but switch out to the crisping lid. Have you tried this? If so, should I just set the crisping top to “broil” and otherwise follow your recipe as-written? Or should I do something different?
I am a beginner on the Instant Pot, so this is all brand new to me! I appreciate any advice you could offer me!
Thanks!
Hey Brie, we haven’t tried this method, but if you do please let us know how it turns out! We would think setting he crisping top to broil should do the trick, but keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn.
Made this today!!! So yummy 😋 Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
This is my new favorite recipe for chicken thighs! This came out amazing. I put a little paprika and Cajun seasoning on the skin right before I put it under the broiler so it would get a nice char. I also broiled the onions I had put in the pressure cooker. I served that all over bowls of spicy succotash (lima beans, corn, diced tomatoes with habanero, cabbage and paprika). Very little effort for an amazing dinner!
My broiler runs cool so I had to broil an additional 10 min.
We’re so glad you enjoyed this dish! It’s a great staple recipe to keep on-hand. 🙂