Instant Pot BBQ Chicken (pressure cooker) - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

This Instant Pot BBQ Chicken is the easiest way to cook your chicken for any summer barbecue! It’s juicy and tender every time, make ahead friendly and can be tossed on the grill to crisp it up!

If you’re not in the thick of summer barbecues yet, it’s really only a matter of time.

Memorial Day is next week (our long weekend was this week in Canada!), and it seems like once we get past that point, it’s all about barbecues, long weeks in the sunshine (or the rain or even the snow here in Manitoba — fingers crossed that doesn’t happen this year), popsicles, and flip flops.

I’ve been loving on my Instant Pot for more than a year now, and I wanted to figure out the best ways to get the most use out of it this summer.

This Instant Pot Potato Salad is happening on repeat here — it’s perfect with any grilled meats, cold sandwiches, you name it!

And these Instant Pot Chicken Tacos are another of our favorites for the summer — so easy to throw into a taco salad, wrap, or sandwich for on the go lunching!

Today we’re adding this Instant Pot BBQ Chicken to our family of suitable Instant Pot summer eats, and it’s going to be one we make over and over and over again (burgers and hot dogs? No. Thanks. I don’t love my Instant Pot that much).

What kind of chicken works best with this pressure cooker bbq chicken?

I was debating how to go about making this recipe — whether I wanted to use boneless chicken breasts, which I knew would probably end up being shredded with the sauce, or going with bone-in cuts that can be slathered in sauce and crisped in the oven or on the grill.

In the end, I knew it would actually be pretty easy just to dump some bbq sauce on this Instant Pot Shredded Chicken you all love, so I wanted to do something different.

I opted for bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks because I think they’re perfect for getting a little messy at a summer cookout, and the flavor and juiciness just can’t be beat.

Plus, kids love chicken drumsticks!

You can also use chicken breasts with this recipe if you like — I recommend a cook time of 8-10 minutes depending on how large they are.

How to make Instant Pot BBQ Chicken:

1. First, we cook our chicken in the Instant Pot with some chicken broth or juice or other clear liquid until it is super juicy.
2. Then remove it from the Instant Pot, slather with your favorite barbecue sauce (or try one of my favorites: Pineapple Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce or Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce), and stick it under the broiler for a few minutes until the skin is crispy and caramelized, or (my favorite) pop it on a hot grill, skin side down, until crispy.
3. Devour!

How to make this bbq chicken ahead:

I think one of the best things about this pressure cooker bbq chicken is that you can pressure cook the chicken ahead of time, then pop it in a container in the fridge for up to 24 hours before saucing and grilling.

This makes it the perfect recipe for a big barbecue because you know the chicken is cooked and juicy, and all you need to do is finish it off.

It takes out so much of the guesswork to getting perfect grilled chicken!

What to serve with Instant Pot BBQ Chicken:

• Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes
• Easy Potato Salad Recipe
• Creamy Ranch Bowtie Pasta Salad Recipe
• Layered Broccoli Salad