20 Minute Whole Chicken

  • 10MINS
  • 20MINS
  • Serves 4
  • 411KCAL

If you’ve got an electric pressure cooker then you should try this slimming friendly 20 Minute Whole Chicken – low in Points and calories!

  • Christmas pinchofnom.com
  • Bakes and Roasts pinchofnom.com
  • Dairy Free pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy 20 Minute Whole Chicken pinchofnom.com

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories411
  • Carbs46g
  • Protein23g
  • Fat17g
  • Saturates4g
  • Sugars10g

20 Minute Whole Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card below. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff in the blurb!

There’s nothing better than a roast chicken as part of a traditional Sunday lunch or just as great source of lean protein to last you all week!

Our 20 Minute Whole Chicken saves you spending hours in the kitchen, plus cooking a chicken whole is much more cost-effective than buying pre-prepared chicken portions.

A pressure cooker is required for this recipe as it’s that which makes the cooking time so short. The vegetables that the chicken sits on really helps to boost the flavour of the stock and keeps the chicken off the bottom of the pressure cooker. They’re not intended to be eaten so don’t worry if it doesn’t look like you have enough veg for 4 portions!

What diets is this 20 Minute Whole Chicken recipe suitable for?

This 20 Minute Whole Chicken recipe is suitable for dairy free diets.

It can be made gluten free as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions;

  • Chicken stock cube

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

Do you need any special ingredients to make this 20 Minute Whole Chicken?

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Instant Pot

If you’ve never heard of the Instant Pot you really should go and check it out over on Amazon.

It’s like a slow cooker/pressure cooker hybrid, and it’s probably one of our favourite and most used kitchen gadgets. It makes cooking this 20 Minute Whole Chicken SO much easier.

If you are going to use the stock from the chicken, we suggest using a fat separator to skim off any excess fat.

Ensuring your chicken is properly cooked is very important before serving. You can do this with a food and meat thermometer.

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

Quick, easy and convenient
Will defo be doing it this way again!
I used my air fryer for the crispness

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This post contains affiliate links: what this means

You can pick up an Instant Pot on Amazon.

You can buy a fat separator from Amazon.

You can also cook this in a slow cooker.  You can pick up slow cookers in most large supermarkets, or online from Amazon.

You can pick up a food and meat thermometer like this one from Amazon.

How many calories are in this 20 Minute Whole Chicken?

There are 411 calories per portion in this 20 Minute Whole Chicken, which means it falls into our Weekly Indulgence category.

You could also cut the portion size in half, and serve it with an extra vegetable accompaniment to cut the amount of calories down!

This 20 Minute Whole Chicken is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

In the Instant Pot pressure cooker

Step 1

Mix all the seasoning ingredients together, then rub all over the chicken. Lift the skin up on the breast and rub some seasoning between the skin and the breast.

Step 1 pinchofnom.com

Step 2

Put left over lemon (after zesting and squeezing) in the cavity.

Step 2 pinchofnom.com

Step 3

Put the Instant Pot into Sauté, spray with some low calorie cooking spray, then brown the chicken on all sides. A couple of minutes on each side should be enough to colour it.

Step 3 pinchofnom.com

Step 4

Take the chicken out and turn off Instant Pot.

Step 5

Add a bit of the stock to the pot, and make sure to scrape any bits that may be stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you don’t do this the Instant Pot won’t come to pressure.

Step 6

To add flavour to the chicken, place the garlic, onion, potato, celery and carrots on the bottom – pour in the stock and lemon juice.

Step 6 pinchofnom.com

Step 7

Place the chicken on top.

Step 7 pinchofnom.com

Step 8

Put the lid on the Instant Pot with the valve set to sealing – cook on Manual for 20 minutes for a small chicken, 25 minutes for a medium 30 minutes for a large.

Step 9

Let the pressure release naturally (aka NPR) then take out the chicken and let rest for 5 minutes before taking the skin off.

Step 9 pinchofnom.com

Step 10

If you wish to use the juice that comes from the chicken, make sure to skim off the fat or use a fat separator and blitz to make a jus. Or, if you prefer a thicker sauce, blitz the juice with the discarded, cooked vegetables.

In the slow cooker

Step 1

Mix all the seasoning ingredients together, then rub all over the chicken. Lift the skin up on the breast and rub some seasoning between the skin and the breast.

Step 2

Put left over lemon (after zesting and squeezing) in the cavity.

Step 3

Spray a frying pan with some low calorie cooking spray, then brown the chicken on all sides. A couple of minutes on each side should be enough to colour it.

Step 4

Take the chicken out and add a bit of the stock to the pot.

Step 5

Place the garlic, onion, potato, celery and carrots on the bottom – pour in the stock and lemon juice.

Step 6

Place the chicken on top.

Step 7

Cook in the slow cooker on medium – high for 5-6 hours (check after 4-5 hours). The juices should run clear and the internal temperature should reach at least 75°C (165 °F).

20 Minute Whole Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with this 20 Minute Whole Chicken?

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Gravy pinchofnom.com
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How do you know when a 20 Minute Whole Chicken is cooked?

Cooking time will vary slightly, depending on the size of chicken you are using. Use the info below as a guide.

  • A small chicken will take 20 minutes.
  • A medium chicken will take 25 minutes.
  • A large chicken will take 30 minutes.

How long can you keep a 20 Minute Whole Chicken in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of 20 Minute Whole Chicken in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Can I freeze 20 Minute Whole Chicken?

We do not recommend freezing this recipe.

How do I reheat 20 Minute Whole Chicken?

From chilled: Place in a microwave-proof container with a loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.

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20 Minute Whole Chicken

If you’ve got an electric pressure cooker then you should try this slimming friendly 20 Minute Whole Chicken – low in Points and calories!
  • Prep Time
    10 MINS
  • Cook Time
    20 MINS
  • KCals 411
  • Carbs 46G

Ingredients

For the Chicken

  • 1 whole chicken see above for cooking times
  • 1 onion cut into slices
  • 1 potato peeled and sliced
  • 1 carrot peeled and sliced
  • 1 stick celery chopped roughly
  • 3 cloves garlic peeled
  • low calorie cooking spray

For the Seasoning

  • 1 tbsp thyme
  • 2 tbsp paprika
  • the zest of 1 lemon reserve the juice for the stock
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

For the Stock

  • the juice of 1 lemon use the zest for the rub
  • 1 chicken stock cube made up with 400ml / 1½ cups of boiling water

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

In the Instant Pot pressure cooker
  1. Mix all the seasoning ingredients together, then rub all over the chicken. Lift the skin up on the breast and rub some seasoning between the skin and the breast.
  2. Put left over lemon (after zesting and squeezing) in the cavity.
  3. Put the Instant Pot into Sauté, spray with some low calorie cooking spray, then brown the chicken on all sides. A couple of minutes on each side should be enough to colour it.
  4. Take the chicken out and turn off Instant Pot.
  5. Add a bit of the stock to the pot, and make sure to scrape any bits that may be stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you don't do this the Instant Pot won't come to pressure.
  6. To add flavour to the chicken, place the garlic, onion, potato, celery and carrots on the bottom - pour in the stock and lemon juice.
  7. Place the chicken on top.
  8. Put the lid on the Instant Pot with the valve set to sealing - cook on Manual for 20 minutes for a small chicken, 25 minutes for a medium, 30 minutes for a large.
  9. Let the pressure release naturally (aka NPR) then take out the chicken and let rest for 5 minutes before taking the skin off. Discard the cooked vegetables.
  10. If you wish to use the juice that comes from the chicken, make sure to skim off the fat or use a fat separator and blitz to make a jus. Or, if you prefer a thicker sauce, blitz the juice with the discarded, cooked vegetables.
In the slow cooker
  1. Mix all the seasoning ingredients together, then rub all over the chicken. Lift the skin up on the breast and rub some seasoning between the skin and the breast.
  2. Put left over lemon (after zesting and squeezing) in the cavity.
  3. Spray a frying pan with some low calorie cooking spray, then brown the chicken on all sides. A couple of minutes on each side should be enough to colour it.
  4. Take the chicken out and add a bit of the stock to the pot.
  5. Place the garlic, onion, potato, celery and carrots on the bottom - pour in the stock and lemon juice.
  6. Place the chicken on top.
  7. Cook in the slow cooker on medium - high for 5-6 hours (check after 4-5 hours). The juices should run clear and the internal temperature should reach at least 75°C (165 °F).

Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?

With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.



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8 comments

See what others have to say

HelenThursday 11th February 2021

Can I ask what makes this meal 20 points on weight watchers? All the ingredients are either 0 points or very low points on purple. Is it because it’s cooked in an instant pot?

Reply

    HollyThursday 11th February 2021

    Hi Helen, just had a look at this recipe and that was an inputting error sorry about this, it has now be amended on the recipe page and the points are now correct.

    Reply

SamWednesday 13th March 2019

Hi, is it High pressure on the Instant pot or normal? Thanks Sam ps. I adore your recipes!

Reply

JONATHONSunday 25th February 2018

WHEN YOU SAY PUT THE CHICKEN ON TOP DO YOU PUT IT ON THE VEG AND STOCK OR DO YOU PUT ON A TRIVET ?

Reply

AimeeMonday 4th September 2017

Hi, I’ve just ordered and Instant Pot and can’t wait to try this! Stupid question though; when you blitz at Step 10 do you blitz all the veg that was included please? Thank you 🙂

Reply

    Emma TMonday 11th September 2017

    Hi Aimee,

    Step 10 is advising that if you want to use the cooking juices, to skim off the fat and to blitz the remaining cooking juice for use as a jus – you can eat the veg separately!

    Hope that helps!

    Reply

Chrislyn CoolmanThursday 31st August 2017

hi, what size instant pot did you use ? 6 L or 8 L ?
I love your recipes. Thank you ,

Reply

    KayThursday 31st August 2017

    The 6L

    Reply

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