Instant Pot Easy Chicken & Sweet Potato Dinner
Here’s an Easy Instant Pot Chicken & Sweet Potato Dinner recipe that only takes 35 minutes. It’s a delicious chicken recipe perfect for busy weeknights. Gluten-free, grain-free, and so simple!
You aren’t going to believe how delicious this Instant Pot Chicken dish is considering the ingredients are so simple. I originally created this recipe back in 2008, and it’s one that I make again and again.
If you’re like me and you just want a nourishing meal that comes together in about 35 minutes, then you need to consider adding this recipe to your weekly meal plan.
Why You Need to Make This Recipe
You might be wary of making another chicken dish for fear that it will turn out bland and try. It turns out that chicken is ideal for pressure cooking, since the moisture is trapped inside the pot. I have yet to have a chicken dish that wasn’t juicy and full of flavor. Trust me, you’ve got to try this Instant Pot Chicken recipe.
For Instant Pot chicken, the general cooking times are:
- Whole, bonelesss chicken breasts – 10-12 minutes
- Cubed chicken breasts or chicken tenders – 8-10 minutes
- Boneless or bone-in chicken thighs – 8-10 minutes
- Whole chicken – 23-25 minutes (or six minutes per pound)
Since this recipe uses chicken pieces, you only need to cook it at pressure for 8 minutes.
Recipe Steps
Step One
The first step is to sauté the chicken and onion in the pot with a little olive or avocado oil. You can skip this step if you are in a real hurry, but it will add extra flavor to the dish. Next, add the dried thyme, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
Step Two
Cancel the sauté function and add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and water. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
Step Three
When you’re ready to serve, stir in the chopped cilantro and fresh lemon or lime juice.
FAQs
You can just leave them out. This recipe is very forgiving. You can get creative with the spices, too. Just use what you have and love.
Yes, you can use frozen chicken. Just add 10 minutes to the time (so 18 minutes total).
Other Easy Instant Pot Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken & Potato Stew
- Instant Pot Beef Chili with Sweet Potato
- Instant Pot Salmon with Vegetables
- Instant Pot Shrimp Scampi
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken & Vegetables
Also, don’t miss my epic round-up of Instant Pot chicken recipes, all gluten-free and dairy-free.
I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.
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Instant Pot Chicken and Sweet Potato Dinner
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Here’s an Easy Instant Pot Chicken & Sweet Potato Dinner recipe that only takes 35 minutes. It’s a delicious chicken recipe perfect for busy weeknights. Gluten-free, grain-free, and so simple!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped*
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken cutlets, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 3 cups)
- 1 14.5-ounce canned chopped tomatoes, with the juices
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional, for topping)
- 1 medium lemon or lime, juiced
Instructions
- Drizzle your cooking oil into the Instant Pot bowl and press the Sauté button. Let the oil heat up for about two minutes.
- Place the onion and chicken in the pot and use a wooden spoon or spatula to move it around. Add the thyme, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
- Cancel the sauté function and add the water, chopped sweet potatoes, and tomatoes, and stir to combine.
- Lock on the lid and set the cooking time to 8 minutes on high pressure.
- When the cooking time is up, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick-release the remaining pressure. Remove the lid and stir in the cilantro and lemon or lime juice.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator in a tightly-sealed container for up to 4 days.
Notes
- This dish will keep up to several months in the freezer in a tightly-sealed container.
- Leave out the onions if you don’t have one or don’t like onions.
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Instant Pot pressure cooker
- Cuisine: Healthy
Keywords: instant pot chicken recipe, instant pot chicken, chicken dinner, healthy instant pot recipe
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I had a long day at the clinic and wanted to see if the Easy Chicken with Sweet Potatoes was a fast and simple as described. I started at six PM with some modifications : I used shallots for half the volume of onion (I used sweet onion), twice the cinnamon, twice the thyme, twice the salt, three times the black pepper, some bright sweet paprika, some smoked paprika, chicken stock instead of 1/2 cup H2O. The prep took me about 30 minutes (I like to take my time and relish the chopping, measuring, and feeling all that I am handling). I also browned the skinless, boneless chicken separately then added the onion and shallots and spices. Everything else was the same. I had a red and orange bell pepper on the counter but I forget to chop and use them. Everything else was as in the recipe.
Set the Instant pot into action and in about 23-24 minutes I took of the lid and added only half the lemon juice. I ladled a bowl of the IP Easy Chicken and Sweet Potatoes onto some fluffy Jasmine white rice. OMG… this is sooo delicious, fast to fix, and with ingredients I had at home already. I love you recipe, Carrie, this is a wonderful dish that tastes great, easy to prepare after work, and such a comforting food that is so tasty. Thank you, Carrie! This recipe goes into my “favorites” folder.
★★★★★
How long do I cook this recipe in my IP since my diced chicken is already cooked
I would cook the chopped sweet potatoes with the tomatoes and broth for 6 minutes and then stir in the cooked chicken at the end.
Didn’t have canned tomatoes…. but did have a can of Trader Joe’s fall salsa. It came out amazing. Great recipe!
★★★★★
Awesome, that’s a great substitution! So happy it came out well for you.
I just made this and I’m eating it as I type. I had to comment to say this is amazing. I had almost everything in my kitchen to make this except for the thyme, so I used some sweet paprika instead. I also doubled the spices and I had some leftover chicken stock I had to use up, so I used that instead of the water. I had a lime at hand so I used that. I didn’t even make rice to go with it. I’m just having it as is, and I love this! I will definitely make this again. Thank you for an awesome recipe! So good! The cinnamon in it is fantastic.
★★★★★
I’m so happy you liked it, Renee! Thanks for the feedback!
This recipe is a big winner! I tweaked it slightly by using fresh garlic and thyme. I also didn’t peel the sweet potatoes; the skins separated easily after cooking and stirring, and were not noticeable when eating.
I tasted it before adding the lime juice and cilantro: it was fine, but a little boring. The lime juice and cilantro added a delightful brightness! I will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Thrilled you liked it, Nancy, and thanks for sharing the changes you made.
I almost passed this by because it looked “mushy” but it called for exactly the ingredients we had on hand, so decided to try it. It was amazing! We ate every bite, and will be making it often. Don’t forget the lemon juice! I kid you not; this recipe is a winner.
So glad you enjoyed it, Peggy!
Excellent recipe! I had to find a recipe that was both dairy free and gluten free for a family that has those dietary restrictions who just had a new baby. I never like to make recipes for the first time to take to someone else, so I first made this a few days ago for my husband and myself. We both loved it! I think the flavors are even better as leftovers. Since it is rather soupy, we ate it over rice. I followed some of the advice of Dr. Steven Gurgevich (another reviewer) and doubled the amounts of the thyme, garlic powder, cinnamon and sea salt and tripled the amount of the ground pepper – otherwise I followed the recipe as written. Really fantastic IP recipe and healthy as well!
★★★★★
Not sure where I went wrong on this one. I thought this had very little flavor, and the flavor I did get was more of a sour flavor. I did not expect it to taste sour, but I’m also highly sensitive to anything sour/bitter so maybe that’s the way it was supposed to taste? Also the sweet potatoes pretty much disintegrated when I mixed everything up. I’m also thinking I had too much water. I halved the recipe but left the water amount the same because I didn’t think the pot would come to pressure with only 1/4 cup of water. If I make this again I may try increasing the amount of spices and leaving out the tomatoes and lemon juice to see if that cuts down on the sour taste.
This was so good! Such an interesting and satisfying flavor. I followed the recipe exactly and used lime juice at the end. Will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Great, so glad you enjoyed!
The sweet potatoes came out over cooked, I would try a minute less the next time, otherwise delicious and low in calories too!
★★★★