Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken - Dump and Go Dinner
With just a few ingredients and less than 30 minutes, this Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken can be on your table and ready to enjoy! Infused with hints of citrus and garlic this simple freezer meal is an easy weeknight dinner solution.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds quarter Chicken, Boneless Breasts
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 teaspoons mince Garlic, Cloves
- ¼ cups Lime Juice
- 2 tablespoons chop Cilantro, Fresh
- ¼ teaspoons Salt
- ⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper
Containers
Supplies
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).
Why would I want to freeze this?
- Divide all ingredients between indicated number of freezer containers. Label and freeze.
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock all recipe instructions
Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.
- Prep from frozen
- 8601500 Upgrade to a paid membership 47478 to unlock all instructions 5198
- 863709 Upgrade to a paid membership 24229 to unlock all instructions 67258
- 532560 Upgrade to a paid membership 86541 to unlock all instructions 48983
- 4403575 Upgrade to a paid membership 20488 to unlock all instructions 26424
- 3582707 Upgrade to a paid membership 38989 to unlock all instructions 24984
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock all recipe instructions
Make It Now Cooking Directions
These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.
- **Due to the nature of pressure cooking there is always room for inconsistency. The times given here are based on 4 servings fresh. If you are using more servings you may need to increase your cooking time.**
- Place chicken in Instant Pot.
- Mix olive oil, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour on top of chicken.
- Lock lid into place and seal steam nozzle.
- Cook on high pressure for 9 minutes.
- Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes then release any remaining pressure.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 4 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 8 ounces Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 341
- Total Fat
- 13g
- Saturated Fat
- 2g
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 166mg
- Sodium
- 217mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 2g
- Fiber
- 0g
- Sugar
- 0g
- Protein
- 51g
- WW Freestyle
- 2
27 Comments
Join the discussionI just received my Instant Pot and your recipes look perfect for us. I know you can saute to brown your meat ahead of time but your recipes for the Bruschetta Chicken and Cliantro don’t call for the saute. I am wondering how the pictures have the grill and browned look to them. I know there is a small rack that came with the pot- do I need to use that? Thank you for your recipes ahead of time and the great info you have included!
The images look grilled because this Instant Pot recipe is adapted from an original recipe where it was grilled (https://onceamonthmeals.com/grilled-cilantro-lime-chicken/). Otherwise, you don’t need to use the Pot in Pot method unless the recipe specifically calls for it.
I’m having a terrible time cooking from frozen in my IP-DUO. (Yes, I’ve done the water test)
Everything is coming out raw and still frozen. Today I saluted this for 5 min, then moved the frozen block onto a trivet, and set for 9 min. It came up to pressure in 7 min and at the end of the time it was still frozen in the middle.
This has happened on every freezer meal I’ve tried.
Any other ideas?
This recipe is not a pot-in-pot recipe so the trivet isn’t necessary. You might like to try sautéing a little longer if you think it’s necessary then just leave he chicken in the big pot. It needs to cook for 9 minutes and then natural pressure release for 5 minutes. So after it beeps let it sit for 5 minutes then release the pressure. Hopefully that helps. If you have more questions, we’re available to chat in the bottom right-hand corner.
I don’t usually saute chicken… I have to pressure cook 4 breasts for 15-20 minutes for them to be done and juicy!
Per the do nots section, you are actually not supposed to supposed to use the insta pot with frozen items, they have to be defrosted first.
It is actually completely safe to pressure cook frozen foods, because of how quickly the foods cook. So, cooking frozen foods in the Instant Pot on the pressure cook setting is fine. However, the Instant Pot should never be used to cook frozen foods on the slow cooker setting. The Instant Pot company provides recommended cook times for frozen foods here: https://instantpot.com/instantpot-cooking-time/
Whenever I cook from a frozen block, it doesn’t cook completely. Now, I thaw overnight and make sure the meal is broken up before cooking.
Is this enough liquid to come to pressure? Suggested in the IP manual is at least 1cup or liquid.
1/2 cup really will work – between the olive oil, juice, and juice from the chicken it should be plenty!
I loved the flavor but my chicken came out pretty dry and tough. I cooked it from frozen (never have cooked it fresh). I sauteed for 5 minutes and then cooked on poultry for 9 minutes and 5 minutes natural release. Anything I can try to make it not so dry?
Here are some great resources for tips and tricks:
https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/series/instant-pot/instant-pot-tips-tricks-101/
https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/series/instant-pot/instant-pot-tips-tricks-201/
Thanks Kendra, unfortunately I couldn’t find anything in those links that answered my question. I appreciate the thought! I will just try reducing the time.
Did you do a fast release pressure on the IP? Sometimes fast release pulls out the moisture from the food. Try doing slow release only.
I had the same problem of dry chicken. However, it was my first time cooking from frozen. Also, I guess I didn’t read the instructions properly and I diced the chicken into pieces kind of like a stew. It was very dry. I have another container of it in the freezer so I am not sure how to fix the problem when I decide to cook it….
Hi Jayne, You may want to dry reducing the cook time a couple minutes since you diced the chicken in smaller pieces. It should cook faster, so I’d add less time, check it, and then add more if needed to try to avoid dry chicken. Hope this helps!
Your recipe says “2 pounds quarter Chicken, Boneless Breasts.” Does that mean 2-1/4 lbs chicken or 2 lbs, quartered chicken?
It means 2 lbs of chicken breasts, each quartered.
People complaining about dryness: add the juice of one whole lime and 1/4 cup of chicken broth and you’ll never have an issue with dryness or bringing it up to pressure
Nice tip! Thanks 🙂
Made this tonight for a quick prep dinner and it was fantastic and so easy. Mixed up the indgredients and poured over frozen chicken breasts, cooked on manual for 25 minutes. It pressure released naturally for 45 minutes before we came home from soccer. Very tender and not dry. Made great chicken and cheese quesadillas.
This was easy and came out tender. But no flavor. Had to add salt and lots of a sauce to eat if
Ummmmm where’s the water???? How much do I add?
With this recipe as the chicken thaws in the IP and the lime juice – it will create enough liquid that you do not need to add any water.
My family prefers thighs over breasts so that’s what we used. From frozen we had to cook 45 minutes (30 and it wasn’t done, added 15 more, slow release both times). Turned out perfectly delicious and juicy.
Thanks so much for your feedback on how you made with with thighs, Angie!
I too found the chicken breast to be dry tasting after making this recipe as written. Very flavorful, but dry. I’ll try the slow-release tip for the 2nd one, but if I make this recipe again, I’ll be doing it with skinless boneless chicken thighs!