Remove the neck and giblet bag from the chicken cavity. You can discard the neck and giblets or save for another use. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
Rub the chicken skin all over with butter and minced garlic and place some pats of butter under the chicken skin. Next, sprinkle salt and pepper in the inner cavity and on the outside skin. You can also sprinkle the chicken with other desired seasonings. Ideas for additional seasonings to use: paprika, Italian seasoning, rosemary, parsley, onion powder.
Stuff the inner cavity of the chicken with chunks of chopped onions and sliced lemon. (This will add additional flavoring to the meat while cooking.)
Tip: You can prep a fresh whole chicken in advance and seal in freezer safe plastic bags. A great way to ensure the frozen whole chicken fits inside the Instant Pot when ready to cook is to place the prepped and wrapped chicken inside the inner pot and place the entire pot in the freezer. This will help the chicken freeze in the right dimensions of the Instant Pot. Once the chicken is frozen you can remove the inner pot. This tip and photo were shared with permission from Rich Lum, a member of the Instant Pot Community Facebook group page.
As an alternative, you can purchase these Sure Fresh 72 ounce round storage containers from the Dollar Tree store to place your prepped and wrapped chicken for freezing.
When ready to cook, remove the lid from the Instant Pot and select the Saute button on the front panel, then press the Adjust button to see the "more" heat setting for browning. Once the inner pot has heated up and registers "Hot" on the panel, place the whole chicken inside and brown on both sides about 5 minutes. Then press the Keep Warm/Cancel button to turn off and remove the browned chicken and set aside. Note: If the chicken is frozen, browning the chicken in the saute mode, will help it thaw a little to cook quicker in the Instant Pot.
Add one cup of water or chicken stock into the Instant Pot Inner pot, then place the metal rack with the handles facing up along the sides of the inner pot. (the handles will make it easier to remove the chicken after cooking is completed.) Place the chicken on top of the metal rack. Next, place the lid on the Instant Pot and close to seal. Now make sure the pressure valve is also closed to seal.
Press the Manual button, high-pressure setting. Depending on the weight of the chicken set the cooking time for 6 minutes per pound. Note: Cooking time is the same for fresh and frozen chicken. For frozen chicken, it just takes longer for the chicken to come to pressure. When finished cooking, allow for Natural Pressure Release for 15 minutes, then quick release the steam valve to release the remaining pressure.
To remove the chicken, make sure you have silicon mitts on your hands for protection, grab the metal handles on each side of the chicken and gently lift the chicken out of the inner pot and slide onto a plastic cutting board or platter. Then pour out the juices into another heat proof container and save for gravy or reserve to use in soup broth or chicken stock. Don't throw the juices out, that is liquid gold! If you do not have handles on your metal rack to lift out the chicken, then first pour out the juices into another heatproof container, then carefully slide or pour the chicken onto a serving tray and cover with foil until you are ready to eat.
*If you want to crisp up the skin, turn the oven on to 450 degrees, place chicken on baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes to brown the skin.
Chicken is ready to serve for a meal, or you can pull the chicken meat off the bone to use in other meals or freeze for later. Save the bones to use along with the left over juices to make a beautiful chicken stock or Bone Broth in the Instant Pot.
Serves 4
Pressure Cook a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot: https://whatscookingamerica.net/pressure-cooker/whole-chicken-instant-pot.htm