Instant pot Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
Whether you need a “dump and push start” recipe or a clean, diet-friendly recipe, this Instant Pot Chicken and Sweet Potato recipe is perfect for busy weeknights. This recipe is grain-free, Whole30, Paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free. And, most importantly, it’s makes for a full-flavored 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. It’s more efficient than cooking in a skillet or oven. Let the pressure cooker do all of the work.
You aren’t going to believe how delicious this dish is considering the ingredients are so simple. Plus, it’s budget-friendly too! See all my tips for eating clean on a budget.
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. They are on my list of Orange Vegetables.
- 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.
Be sure to check the full recipe card at the end of this post for the exact measurements.
Recipe Substitutes
- Chicken – chopped chicken breasts or chicken thighs can be used.
- Sweet Potatoes – orange, purple, or white-fleshed sweet potatoes are great. You can also try Japanese sweet potatoes which have a purple skin but white flesh.
- 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.
Recipe Steps
Step One
The first step is to sauté the chicken and onion in the Instant Pot with a little olive or avocado oil for just a few minutes. Do this using the “sauté” function on the Instant Pot.
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 to the pot with the chicken and onion.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
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.
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 high 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).
Recipe Tips
- Prep the sweet potatoes while the chicken sautés to save time.
- 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.
- 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.
Storage Tips
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave before serving.
- You can also freeze this recipe for up to 2 months. The sweet potato texture may be altered slightly, but it is definitely a freezer-friendly meal.
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.
It’s better to use boneless chopped chicken breasts or thighs so that the sweet potatoes don’t get overcooked.
Yes, you can, but some people prefer to peel sweet potatoes so they have a smoother texture once cooked.
The key to juicy moist chicken is to not overcook it. Another tip is to cook your chicken in a pressure cooker! The lid helps trap the moisture and prevent the chicken from getting rubbery or dried out.
No, the cooking time stays the same.
More 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.
Don’t Miss These Instant Pot Resources!
Instant Pot Sweet Potato and Chicken
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. 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.
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
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 263
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 235.1 mg
- Fat: 12.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.5 g
- Fiber: 2.2 g
- Protein: 27.5 g
- Cholesterol: 98 mg
Don’t forget to join my newsletter list to get exclusive clean eating recipes and tips. The newsletter is 100% free with no spam; unsubscribe anytime.
About the Author: Carrie Forrest is the author of the best-selling Instant Pot-authorized cookbook, The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook. She has a master’s degree in public health with a specialty in nutrition and receives over 5 million annual visitors to her site. Send Carrie a message through her contact form.
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.