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

• 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.

📝 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.

🍗 You Might Also Like These Other Chicken Recipes

• Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
• Chili Lime Chicken

Have You Tried This Recipe?

Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!

🔖 Recipe

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.

5 from 5 votes

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Equipment

• an Instant Pot or pressure cooker
• a trivet or sling

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 tbsp Jamaican Jerk Seasoning You will need about 1 tbsp per chicken breast
• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp avocado oil You can also use olive oil.
• 1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth This is optional, but if you often get a burn message on your Instant Pot, you should use this method.

Instructions

 

• First, clean your chicken breasts of any excess fatty pieces and add them to a bowl.
• 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.)
• Next, set your instant pot to saute and add a tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil to the pot.
• Let the oil start to get thin and spread across the bottom of the pot.
• 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.
• Next, if you have ever experienced a "burn" message on your Instant Pot, deglaze the pot with chicken broth, then place a trivet or sling in the pot. Place your seared chicken on the trivet.
• 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.")
• Let the pressure naturally release and then remove and slice or shred your chicken. Store the chicken in the delicious juices that have collected.

Notes

I have gotten some feedback from readers, so I wanted to add a few notes:

If you are worried about getting a “burn” notice when cooking chicken, you can “deglaze” the bottom of your pot with 1/2 - 1 cup of chicken broth after searing your chicken, then cook the chicken on the trivet in your Instant Pot. If you cook it directly in the liquid, it will be really juicy, but can come out kind of bland.

I don’t ever use liquid when cooking chicken - I have always thought that the extra liquid sucked the flavor out of the chicken. My Instant Pot is a 6 quart DUO from 2012. I don’t know if that has anything to do with my results, but I never ever get a burn notice - not once. I’ve cooked chicken this way 2 - 3 times a week since 2012 and have not ever had an issue. *shrug*  Since it seems to happen a lot to others, I’m going to recommend that you add liquid and cook on a trivet if you have ever experienced that.

The other issue that has been brought to my attention is the long cooking time. Yep, 15 minutes is a long time. BUT, this makes the chicken fall-apart tender and loaded with flavor. We love to eat it this way, but if you don’t, you can certainly reduce the cooking time.

Tips

• Serve with crispy sweet potato noodles - you won't regret it!
• You can store jerk chicken (once cooled) for 3 - 5 days in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1breastCalories: 321kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 49gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 145mgSodium: 393mgPotassium: 992mgFiber: 3gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 2440IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 2mg

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Pressure Release 5 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Dinner

Cuisine Jamaican

Servings 3

Calories 321

Keyword easy chicken recipe, instant pot chicken recipe, jamaican jerk chicken, whole30 chicken recipe

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