Instant Pot Buttery Lemon Chicken
Try this Instant Pot Buttery Lemon Chicken recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Instant Pot Buttery Lemon Chicken recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 25.414839983308 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.243656666647731 g
- Fiber 2.77700003972839 g
- Protein 2.62939999994319 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0670016666630689 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (140g)
- Sodium 10.2759999996213 mg
- Sugar 22.6378399435797 g
- Trans Fat 0.0673166666602285 g
- Calories 109 calories
Step-by-step
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode. When it’s hot melt ghee or butter.
- Add onion, garlic, paprika, parsley, and pepper to melted ghee, and sauté until onions soften.
- With your Instant Pot still set to sauté, sear the chicken on each side for about 3-5 minutes. The chicken should be a caramelized brown color.
- Pour chicken brother, lemon juice, and salt over chicken and stir.
- Lock lid into place and close steam valve. Set Instant Pot to poultry setting.
- Once done, let depressurize naturally – it shouldn’t take very long.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot, but leave the sauce in the pan. Gradually stir in arrowroot flour to thicken sauce.
- If you’re serving chicken on top pasta, mix cooked pasta in with thickened lemon sauce. Otherwise drizzle sauce over chicken.
The Acid-Fat Dynamic
Adding half a cup of lemon juice directly to poultry creates a potent chemical challenge. Citric acid breaks down connective tissue rapidly under pressure, yielding tender meat. Fat from the ghee or butter coats the palate to counter that sharp acidity. Searing the poultry first triggers the Maillard reaction. Sugars and amino acids brown on the surface at temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit, building deep savory notes before pressure cooking begins.
Thickening Without Gluten
Arrowroot flour requires lower heat than cornstarch to gelatinize starches. Whisking it into hot pan juices at a 1-to-1 ratio produces a glossy finish without clouding the bright yellow color. Avoid boiling the sauce aggressively after adding the starch, or the gelling agents will break down and thin out.
Judging Doneness Visually
Pressure cookers cook poultry quickly. Insert a thin metal skewer into the thickest part of the meat to test internal readiness. Clear juices flowing from the puncture indicate the proteins have fully coagulated.
