Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Jerk chicken made in the Instant Pot is such an easy way to get dinner on the table or to meal prep for the week. It is so flavorful and will easily become one of your favorite ways to cook chicken.

🥘 Ingredients Needed

• chicken
• Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
• a cooking oil, such as olive oil or avocado oil

🍽 Equipment Needed

• tongs or a fork
• an Instant Pot

🥣 How to Make It

We love to make jerk chicken in the Instant Pot. It is seriously, so easy and so good.

First, clean your chicken breasts of any excess fatty pieces and add them to a bowl. (Picture 1)

Next, fully coat your chicken on both sides with jerk seasoning and let it sit for 25 – 30 minutes. You should need about one tablespoon per chicken breast. (You could let it sit overnight if you want or let it sit as little as 15 minutes, but I wouldn’t do less than that if you want to get the most flavor.) (Picture 2)

Next, set your instant pot to saute and add a tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil to the pot. (Pictures 3 – 4)
When the oil starts to get thin and spreads across the bottom of the pot, it should also become fragrant. (Picture 4)

At this point, you can add your chicken to the Instant Pot and sear each side for 2-3 minutes. You don’t want to fully cook the chicken in doing this, you just want to get a crust of seasoning on each side. This also helps to lock in moisture and keeps the chicken really juicy. (Picture 5)

Next, turn the saute function off and put the lid on your Instant Pot. You can press the poultry button or use “Manual Mode” or “Pressure Cook” on high for 15 minutes. (The button name depends on the model of your IP – I have an older model that has “Manual”, but the newer pots have “Pressure Cook.”) (Pictures 6 – 8)

Let the pressure naturally release and then remove and slice or shred your chicken. (Pictures 9 – 10)

🍳 Serving Suggestions & Uses

We like to serve jerk chicken with crispy sweet potato noodles. It is one of our favorite dinners – I also think this meal is why my husband decided to marry me 😉

🥫 Storage/Shelf Life/Reheating

For storage, let your chicken cool and store it in the leftover juices in the instant pot. This will keep your chicken super moist. It should keep in the fridge for 3-5 days or you can freeze it for up to 6 months.

✏️ Helpful Tips

• Use an oil with a high smoke point, like avocado oil – an Instant Pot gets really hot!
• Serve this with Nom Nom Paleo’s Sweet Potato Swoodles – I use regular sweet potatoes and it is delicious.
• Let the chicken sit with seasoning on it for at least 15 minutes. It is SO tasty when the flavors have a chance to blossom.

🐔 Looking for More Chicken Recipes?

• Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
• Chili Lime Chicken