Food is so expensive these days, but a whole chicken continues to be one of the most economical proteins you can buy to feed your family.

Cooking a whole chicken in the instant pot (or pressure cooker) is one of the easiest and most foolproof ways to cook a whole chicken. It’s mostly hands off and you end up with moist and juicy chicken to use in a variety of meals, plus you get to make homemade chicken broth with the bones.

What you’ll need for Instant Pot Whole Chicken:

• A whole chicken. I get mine two at a time at Costco.

• Carrots

• Celery

• Onions

• Garlic

• Bay leaf

• Salt

• Peppercorns

• Water or other liquid (broth, wine, juice)

How to cook a whole chicken in the instant pot:

The quantities do not need to be specific.

I cut up a couple of carrots, a few stalks of celery, a couple small onions or one bigger one, toss in a few garlic cloves, a few bay leaves, a small handful of whole peppercorns. You can leave out any of these things if you don’t have them, or you can add other herbs, seasonings, or veggies that you like. You can add cumin and chili powder for a more latin flavor, or ginger and lemongrass for an asian flavor. You can add bunches of fresh herbs which gives amazing flavor if you are going to use this for something like chicken soup or chicken and dumplings. I usually keep it more basic so I can use the resulting meat and broth in a variety of ways, but you can do whatever sounds good to you.

The veggies add flavor to the chicken and the broth, but they also as a sort of a rack for the chicken, to keep it off the bottom of the pot. Pour about a half a cup of water or other liquid in the bottom of the pot. You need a bit of liquid to get the steaming process going (read your pot’s instructions to see what the minimum is), but I try to keep it minimal because the chicken and the veggies release a lot of liquid when they start cooking.

Clean out the chicken if it’s got the parts inside (some come with, some don’t), and season it well inside and out with salt. Place the chicken on top of the veggies. If your chicken came with all the parts, I usually toss everything but the liver in the pot as well, they will add flavor to the broth you are going to make later. I leave out the liver because it is a really strong flavor. You can freeze your chicken livers and save them until you have enough to make something with. Or I usually just toss them in a frying pan to cook and feed to the dogs.

Put the lid on your Instant Pot and set it for 30 minutes on high pressure, let it cook and then leave it to slow release, that usually takes a good 20 minutes more.

When you open your pot you will have a wonderfully juicy chicken. Take it out and let it cool enough to pick the meat off.

I use this chicken in soups, stews, chicken salad, and more. I love having cooked chicken in my fridge for quick high protein lunches.

Now you get to make homemade chicken broth!

If you’ve never made homemade chicken broth you are in for a treat. This is the easiest way to do it and you will be amazed at how much more flavor it has over canned broth.

Put all the bones, skin, and other scraps back in the pot, top it off with water, paying attention to your pot’s max fill line, and teaspoon or so of salt if you like salty broth. Close up the pot again and set it for an hour. After the hour you can quick release if you want or let it slow release, it really doesn’t matter.

Strain off the broth and go again! Yes! I usually get two batches of broth from one pot of chicken bones. For the second batch you’ll want to add a bit more salt, you can add more veggies if you like, and some folks recommend adding a little acid - lemon juice or vinegar - to help draw even more flavor out of the bones. Set it for an hour again. The second batch of broth might not be quite as rich as the first, but it will still taste amazing. I sometimes combine the two batches together, so all of my containers of broth have the same flavor.

You can freeze or store in the fridge. Mine rarely makes it to the freezer because I use it up so fast.