Instant Pot Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
Here’s an easy recipe for Instant Pot Chicken & Sweet Potatoes that only takes 35 minutes from start to finish. It’s a delicious chicken dish perfect for busy weeknights. This healthy recipe has simple ingredients that all come together in a flavorful and satisfying meal.
If you just want a nourishing meal that comes together quickly, then you need to consider adding this recipe to your weekly meal plan. Say goodbye to boring dry chicken with this juicy and flavorful Instant Pot chicken recipe.
You aren’t going to believe how delicious this dish is considering the ingredients are so simple.
Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- Whether you’re new to using an electric pressure cooker or you are looking for a simple one-pot meal, then this is the perfect recipe for you!
- This is a “dump and push start” recipe meaning that you literally just throw all the ingredients in the Instant Pot, push the start button, and let it do its magic. Remove the lid, stir, and dinner is served.
- On a restricted diet? This recipe is perfect for people who are eating grain-free, Whole30, paleo, gluten-free, or dairy-free. Plus, it’s budget-friendly! See all my tips for eating clean on a budget.
Cooking Chicken in the Instant Pot
You might be wary of making another chicken dish for fear that it will turn out bland and dry. 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 cubed chicken, you only need to cook it at pressure for 8 minutes.
You always need to allow about 10 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure and then time for a natural release (or quick release, depending on the recipe).
Key Ingredients
Chicken cutlets or chicken thighs can be used as the base of this recipe. Chicken is a nice source of lean protein that is low in fat.
Sweet potatoes are an excellent complex carbohydrate that help round out this one-pot healthy meal.
Onion and chopped tomatoes are pantry staples that help add nutrition and fiber to this easy recipe.
Spices like dried thyme, dried garlic, and ground cinnamon help add flavor. But, you can really use whatever spices you have in your cabinet.
Fresh lemon juice helps add a pop of flavor when added just before serving.
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.
Step Two
Next, add the dried thyme, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
Step Three
Cancel the sauté function and add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and water.
Step Four
Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally for about 10 minutes, then use the natural release and carefully remove the lid.
When you’re ready to serve, stir in the chopped cilantro and fresh lemon or lime juice.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
Recipes Tips & Substitutions
- The total cook time for this Instant Pot dinner recipe includes 10 minutes of time for the pot to come up to pressure and then 10 minutes for a natural release.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- You can use chopped chicken breasts or chicken thighs in this recipe. You can use orange, purple, or white-fleshed sweet potatoes.
- Feel free to get creative with your seasonings. If you don’t have any of the ones listed, you can always use spices like oregano, rosemary, turmeric, curry powder, or Italian seasoning.
- You can easily double this recipe so you have more servings. It’s one of my favorite meal prep meals that you can serve in different ways. Serve it plain one night, with rice another right, and as a burrito bowl another night. See all of my meal prep tips for beginners or my favorite Instant Pot meal prep accessories.
- Love sweet potatoes? Don’t miss my other recipes for Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes or for how to freeze cooked sweet potatoes.
Recipe FAQs
You can just leave them out. This recipe is very forgiving. If you’re on a low histamine diet, then leave out the onions. 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). It is best if your chicken is already diced, though.
Yes, this is a very balanced recipe that includes protein, carbs, and fat. It’s also appropriate for grain-free, paleo, Whole30, pro-metabolic, low-carb, gluten-free, and dairy-free diets.
Other Easy Instant Pot Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
- Instant Pot Beef Chili with Sweet Potato
- Instant Pot Salmon with Vegetables
- Instant Pot Pork Chops and Rice
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken & Vegetables
Also, don’t miss my epic round-up of Instant Pot chicken recipes.
More Instant Pot Resources
I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.
And, consider following me on social media so we can stay connected. I’m on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!
Print
Instant Pot Chicken and Sweet Potato Dinner
Here’s an easy Instant Pot Chicken & Sweet Potato Dinner recipe that only takes 35 minutes from start to finish. It’s a delicious chicken recipe perfect for busy weeknights. This healthy recipe has simple ingredients that all come together in a flavorful and satisfying dish.
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil (I used olive oil)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 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 stir the onion and chicken while they cook for a few minutes.
- 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.
Equipment
Buy Now →
Notes
- The total cook time for this Instant Pot dinner recipe includes 10 minutes of time for the pot to come up to pressure and then 10 minutes for a natural release.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- You can use chopped chicken breasts or chicken thighs in this recipe. You can use orange, purple, or white-fleshed sweet potatoes.
- Feel free to get creative with your seasonings. If you don’t have any of the ones listed, you can always use spices like oregano, rosemary, turmeric, curry powder, or Italian seasoning.
- You can easily double this recipe so you have more servings. It’s one of my favorite meal prep meals that you can serve in different ways. Serve it plain one night, with rice another right, and as a burrito bowl another night. See all of my meal prep tips for beginners or my favorite Instant Pot meal prep accessories.
- If you want to use frozen chicken breasts in this recipe, increase the cooking time to 18 minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Instant Pot pressure cooker
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Diet: Gluten Free
Keywords: instant pot chicken recipe, instant pot chicken, chicken dinner, chicken and sweet potatoes
Don’t forget to join the Clean Eating Kitchen newsletter. You’ll get my Clean Eating Quick Start Guide, plus links to all the latest recipes.
I really want to try this recipe, but I cannot have tomatoes in my diet. I’m worried that if I do not sub something else in place of the tomatoes, it might not have enough “liquid” for the Instant Pot. Do I need to worry about this? Can I leave the recipe as-is (minus tomatoes) and it will work out, or can you recommend an appropriate substitution?
That’s right you would need to substitute the tomatoes. I haven’t tested it with anything else. Let me know if you find a good sub!
Carrie,
Did you find there was no need to deglaze the pot after sautéing the onion and chicken before adding the rest of the ingredients and putting the lid on to pressure cook?
I haven’t had to do that but you can if you want to! 🙂
Very tasty. The sweet potatoes almost disintegrated… maybe I cut them too small. Will try releasing pressure after 5 minutes next time to see if they hold their shape better. Flavors were great and I won’t change any of the ingredients.
★★★★
Hi Carrie, how big is the actual serving size ? 1.5 cups, 150 grams? Trying to track how serving size would be measured for. Macro tracking.
I would estimate that each serving is about 1.5 cups. It is essentially the recipe divided by 4 since it makes 4 servings.
One of my all-time favorite Instant Pot recipes!!!
★★★★★
This recipe looks amazing, but I’m wondering if there’s something I could replace the onion with? My fiancée’s allergic to everything in the onion family
You can just leave out the onion! 🙂
We usually replace onions (in any recipe) with poblano peppers, but I bet any kind of pepper would be delicious.
So this looks good. But I like to eat the potato skins since they contain fiber and other nutrients. Is it okay to keep the potato skins on in this recipe? Also, how long do you saute the chicken and onions in the beginning? 3 minutes each side?
Yes absolutely!
Following.
This was delicious and very easy! I didn’t have any lime or lemon juice or cilantro but I still felt like it was very flavorful. I used Italian-flavored tomatoes because that was what I had in my pantry, and used 1/8 tsp of ground thyme. I think I could’ve used a little more, but I know ground spices are more concentrated (?) and couldn’t remember the right ratio. At any rate, I’m definitely making this again. You have a way of making it easy and interesting to incorporate veggies and protein in one easy dish!
★★★★★
Thanks, Christy! I’m thrilled you liked this recipe. And I appreciate the compliment. I actually don’t love vegetables so I try to sneak them in whenever I can without being too obvious ha ha! 🙂
It’s so crazy, but I found a printed copy of this recipe randomly yesterday and decided to make it again (the original date that I’d printed it was 9/10/19) last night. My family, including my 11 year old son, LOVED it, so I came back to your blog today to see what other recipes you have, and lo and behold, you’d ran THIS SAME RECIPE again yesterday, the day we were enjoying it. What a coincidence. This recipe is absolutely delicious, my son said it was possibly his favorite dish that I’d ever made. Thanks for making me look like a hero with such an easy, straightforward, healthy recipe.
★★★★★
Oh I love that coincidence, Jessica!!!! I had just taken some new photos for this one and decided to re-publish it. So glad you enjoyed it and your son too!
Thank you Carrie for sharing this recipe, it was delicious! Though the consistency looked quite different from your pictures. It turned out really soupy for me. What would you recommend I do next time to have it more stew-y? Should I just omit the water or would I get a burn warning?
Furthermore, I want to increase the amount of chicken breast, would I need to make modifications or?
Thanks again!
★★★★★
Hi Mali, that’s interesting because there is very little liquid in this recipe. Where do you think the liquid came from? As far as adding more chicken, that should be fine! But I really wouldn’t decrease the liquid because you will get a burn notice.