Name: Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: PT-466480H47M40S
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on); 2 tbs garlic (minced or chopped, or about 6 cloves); 1/2 cup chicken broth; 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream; 2 tbs parmesan cheese, grated; 1 tsp thyme, dried; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp ground black pepper; 2 tbs olive oil

Juicy and tender Instant Pot chicken thighs smothered with a rich and creamy garlic parmesan sauce. Easy recipe with simple ingredients.

I love cooking chicken in my Instant Pot. Ever since I jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon a few years ago, it’s been an adventure for the ages. And of course, who can resist a recipe that has “creamy garlic” in the title? I mean, just about anything that’s creamy garlic is going to be a winner in my book! So, let’s take the creamy garlic, the chicken, and the Instant Pot andput them all together to make an awesome recipe.

Simple Ingredient List

This recipe is extra awesome because it uses a simple list of ingredients, many of which you probably already have on hand. We’ll use fresh, bone-in, skin on chicken thighs, garlic, dried thyme, paprika, chicken broth or stock, heavy whipping cream, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Chicken Thighs are Perfect for Instant Pot Cooking

Chicken thighs are considered by many to be the best part of the chicken. It’s a mixture of white and dark meat that is really full of flavor and is known for staying tender and juicy. It’s also very forgiving to cook in a Instant Pot. Oh, and chicken thighs are also very affordable.

Season, Brown, Pressure Cook

We start with a very simple spice mix which we rub onto our chicken thighs with just a little olive oil. Then we heat some oil in the pot and brown the chicken thighs on both sides for about 3 minutes per side. We want to get a nice golden color. Then remove the chicken to plate and add in the minced garlic to saute for 1-2 minutes. Garlic will brown and burn pretty quick so once you add it to the pot, keep it moving with a wooden spoon until it just starts to show the slightest hint of golden color. Press cancel to stop the saute process and the chicken broth to the pot. Use the wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom of the pot. This is simply the process of scraping the bottom of the pot to get all the little cooked on bits to come up. This is very important! It adds a big part to the flavor profile. The chicken thighs then go back into the pot, the lid gets secured and we pressure cook on high pressure for 18 minutes, followed by a 10 minute release time. Remove the chicken to a plate and get ready to make some sauce.

Make the Sauce Right in the Pot

No need for another pot or using the stove, we’ll make our amazing creamy garlic parmesan sauce right in the Instant Pot. With the cooked chicken removed to a plate, we set the pot to saute mode and slowly add in the heavy cream. Pour it in a bit at a time and whisk it in. Once it’s all incorporated, add the parmesan cheese. Stir the sauce frequently for about 5-7 minutes, then press cancel. The sauce will thicken nicely in a couple of minutes.

You’re now ready to serve! I like to place the chicken thighs in a casserole dish with the sauce poured over the chicken. Then, leave a ladle or big spoon in the dish so that you can pour additional sauce over the chicken once it’s served on your plate. The chicken will be so amazingly tender and will pretty much fall apart with a fork. The you can mop up more of the sauce with each bite. Oh it’s SO good!