Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Low Carb Whole Chicken and Gravy
This Easy Instant Pot, or rather, Electric Pressure cooker recipe, for a Whole Chicken and Low Carb Gravy is perfect for any busy person when weeknight dinners are difficult because time is short. This can be made from start to finish in under an hour for any weeknight!
When it comes to weeknight meals, I’ve rarely got hours to prepare, more like less than an hour to sometimes just 30 minutes to get dinner on the table. Most nights we are all going in different directions for soccer, dance, scouts, meetings, etc. I’ve got to be prepared for changes that cause a disruption to a meal plan.
One thing I am always trying my best to do is to make sure my protein for the dinner is thawed out and ready to go. If I don’t have a protein for the menu plan, I’m out of luck and running to the market is the last thing I want to do when I’m always racing the clock.
I make whole roasted chickens in the oven often, but many times it might be on the weekend when I’m planning on being home a few hours and can have the oven running while I go about the chores. But during the week is much harder. While my hubby and kids do love the roasted chicken chicken I am pleased to say they loved this chicken just as much because of the gravy they poured all over it.
There is truly something to be said when you can get a juicy chicken, especially the breast, cooked perfectly in under an hour. Like I said, we do love roasting but it can take up to 2 hours and many of us just aren’t home long enough to get it together for that.
I’ve tried a whole chicken in the crock pot but even that was challenging for me to get it all put together in a morning before heading out the door. It wasn’t my families favorite way to eat chicken. But this……the Instant Pot has changed our world!
Even though it doesn’t give you a crispy skin, boy it is ever delicious anyway!
The Instant Pot is the way to get dinner on the table fast!
Brenda’s Notes:
- Nutrition Info is including gravy and chicken serving as well as the skin on the chicken.
- If you are looking to reduce the fat, remove the skin from the chicken.
- If you have a smaller chicken weighing 4-5 pounds I would suggest reducing the cooking time to 25-30 minutes.
Instant Pot Whole Chicken and Low Carb Gravy
Ingredients
- 6.5 pound whole chicken
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasonings
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tsp guar gum
Instructions
- Rub 1 tablespoon of oil all over the chicken and place the rest of the oil in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Mix the dry seasonings together and sprinkle all over the chicken.
- Press "Saute" and heat the oil, then add the whole chicken into the pot, breast side down. Hit "cancel".
- Give it 5 minutes to brown then flip the chicken over and pour in the chicken broth.
- Cover your pot and Press "Manual" and timer for 40 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for pressure then the timer will begin.
- Once time is done, hit "Cancel" and manually release pressure.
- Be careful of the steam when removing the cover of the pot.
- Remove chicken from the pot to make the gravy.
- Sprinkle the guar gum over the hot broth in the pot and stir continually to thicken. If it's not thickening as quick as you'd like, simple hit "saute" to warm the broth and continue to stir until the gravy is thickened. You could also add 1 more teaspoon of guar gum if it's not as thick as you'd like.
- Serve with gravy and a sprinkle of chopped parsley if desired.
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
We followed the recipe exactly. The thighs were raw. Had to put it in the oven for 30 more minutes to finish. My vegetables ended up cold because we had to wait. Gravy was thin. Finally it was done. Breasts and legs were dry. Wings disintergrated in my IP. Thighs were delicious. Wont make this again. I have too many recipes that actually work and are edible. Thanks for trying.
What was the size of your whole chicken please?
Bought Groceries for this recipe from your 4 week meal plan and didn’t realize you needed a Insta Pot. Can we make this in our crock pot or oven somehow? How long and degrees in Oven?
I have to keep cholesterol and sodium down so would prefer to use just the broth and water. Is all the cholesterol from fat in the skin?
Thank you for this recipe! I just got my Instant Pot last week so am a newbie. I was under the impression that the liquid needs to fully cover whatever you have in there for the pot to pressurize. If the broth isn’t enough to cover the full top of the chicken do you top it up with water or more broth? Or just cook it anyway without it being fully covered? Thank you!!
As you can see from my pictures the broth is not covering the whole chicken. Just follow my directions and it will work fine.
Hi there,
What’s the cooking time for a 3-4 pound chicken?
Thanks!
I’d say just 25 minutes.
Can I use arrowroot instead of guar gum? Thanks, Beth
Yes that will work.
I just received an 8 Qt Instant Pot for my birthday. I’m going to try this for our family Sunday Dinner. I can’t wait to try it, but I must admit I’m a little nervous about trying it. Wish me luck & Ill let you know how it turns out.
8 grams is the serving size?
No 8 ounces, my recipe plug in had a major glitch and converted all servings to grams on me, I’m manually trying to fix them all.
How much time for a smaller chicken in a 6 qt? Is there an alternative for the guar gum?
I’d reduce the time by 15 minutes then check. You could sub with xanthan gum.
This looks amazing! I don’t have guar gum, but I do have xantham gum, will this work? Thanks in advance
Yes that works too.
Is there a way to pop it in the oven for a crisp skin? I love this recipe in my instant pot! It literally falls right off the bone, but I miss that crisp skin.
You could probably pop it in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp it up or try broiling.
How long for a frozen chicken?
I’ve not tried a frozen chicken for this recipe. I would think it would double the cooking time but like I said I’m not sure since I’ve not tried it.
Is this a 6 or 8 quart instant pot? I only get 6+ lb birds and am reading 4 lbs only fit in 6q pots! Thanks!
Mine is 8 quart
what brand of instant pot do you have? I do not have one, and have never used a pressure cooker. I would be interested in your recommendation for one that you have used and have gotten good results.
I have the Instant Pot 7 in 1 multi functional.
Thanks for this recipes, try to make it. its helpful.
Hi! can you share the exact model of the instant pot that you have?
I am currently making this in my Instant Pot right now! I cannot believe how big of a game changer investing in mine has been! It is by far the best appliance purchase I have ever made!
Awesome! I love it too!
I love your recipes but I do wish you would give more alternatives to the Instant Pot. I’m sure it’s a wonderful device but I’d guess the majority of us don’t own one!
I understand. You can simply roast this in a 350 degree oven for about 2 hours.
Hi Brenda – looks good, but I have a regular pressure cooker. Do you know the directions for making with a regular pressure cooker or are they relatively the same?
The time would be the same but you will have to watch the pressure and keep it at a steady low hiss/jiggle.
This is brilliant! Saved to share on Facebook!
Thanks!