You can really use any flavor combination here, but I’m going with a favorite because I seem to always have lemons and garlic and rosemary around.
I make a quick spice rub with fresh garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest, plus some salt, pepper, and oregano. Olive Oil brings it all together, and I like our Rosemary oil here, though I often use lemon or garlic as well. You’ll simply rub this mixture all over your chicken.
The first thing you’ll do is heat up your pot to saute mode (or just pop it on the stovetop if you have a traditional pressure cooker) . I have this electric Instant Pot. When the pot is hot, drizzle in a little more oil and then place the bird in there, breast-side down. We’re first searing the bird to get that nice golden crust and also to develop flavor in the pan. After a few minutes, you’ll flip the bird to sear the other side and then remove it from the pan.
The pan should have all of these browned bits stuck to the pan and that’s what we want!
Pour in a cup of chicken stock (you’ll notice I just tossed in some granulated broth in my cup of water) and then use a spatula to scrape off all of those bits as the water simmers.
Cut up a whole onion into 4 quarters and place them on the bottom of the pan and the place the chicken on top. The onion kind of forms a rack for the chicken, as well as adds flavor to the juices we’ll use later.
Then just turn your pressure to high and cook for 6 minutes per pound of chicken. I have to clarify that ALL pressure cookers are different. I’ve found that 6 minutes per pound tends to turn out perfectly for me, but if you try it and it’s not quite enough, or too much, just adjust and try again and you’ll find your perfect number. For me, this results in a perfectly cooked bird that’s nice and juicy all over. I like to slice off the breasts and carve them nicely and then pick apart the rest of the bird and just kind of chop it up. You can serve this as-is, or use the whole thing in recipes like salads, burritos, sandwiches, etc.
Once you remove the bird from the pot you’ll have a whole pan full of flavorful juices. Follow this tutorial to make homemade gravy to serve with it. You’ll have the flavors of lemon and rosemary already in there so it’s a perfect compliment!
