Instant Pot Hot Thighs OH MY!

Instant Pot Hot Thighs Oh My!  Are you serious Ted?  Well I am a fan of hot wings, but I hate all the little bones so I decided to do the next best thing and that was to take chicken thighs and cook them up the same I would as for wings.  This is an Instant dinner in the Instant Pot and my kids love this fast inexpensive meal.

• The ingredients are simple and you probably have most of it already.
• Chicken Thighs – bone in with skin on.
• 2 Cups Chicken Broth or Stock
• Garlic Salt
• One bottle of Hot Wing Sauce
• Once bottle of BBQ Sauce
• Ranch Dressing
• Chopped Scallions for garnish.

Turn on your Instant Pot to Sauté = HIGH. Add one table spoon cooking oil. While the Sauté mode is heating up, pat dry the chicken with a paper towel, this will help the meat get that brown caramelized sear we are looking for.

Once the Pot reads “Hot”,put the chicken thighs in, give them a good shot of garlic salt and sear them on both sides. I prefer to do this in my Large Saucier.  I can fit more in and get the job done quicker than with the Instant pot.  The Instant Pot is really not designed to put a good sear on a pice of meat because the sides are so high that the meat can steam itself in the searing process.  If you are careful not to crowd the pot and make sure to pat the meat with a paper towel before, you can improve the results.  However if you look at the picture of the chicken in my saucier, you can see the difference between that and the small diameter 6 quart.

If you seared the chicken on your stove and not in your Instant Pot, Pour 2 cups of chicken broth in the pot at this time.  Transfer the chicken from the pan on your stove to the Instant Pot.

If you seared the chicken in your Instant Pot then remove the chicken, pour in the two cups of broth and take a wooden spoon and deglaze the pan trying to get the brown bits off the pot and into the broth. Then add the chicken back into the Pot with the broth.  No, you do not need a trivet.

Select the smart cooking program “MEAT/STEW”  Pressure = HIGH, Keep Warn = ON, Set the time for 12 minutes, then when the cooking cycle is over, Natural Pressure Release for 10 mins, then Quick Release (QR) any remaining pressure.

Open the lid and separate the chicken between two large mixing bowls and add hot wing sauce to one bowl and BBQ sauce to the other bowl,  then toss the chicken in each bowl to coat.  Sprinkle some chopped scallions for garnish and serve with Ranch dressing.