With a simple chicken leg quarter recipe on hand, you'll have dinner with no hassle at all. Juicy and flavorful dark meat chicken isn't too far away.
Instant Pot Chicken Quarters are a quick and convenient way to enjoy a classic dish with juicy, tender results. The pressure cooker helps infuse the chicken with deep flavors while maintaining its natural tenderness.
We love chicken quarters around here because they're cheap and versatile. For these chicken quarters, I took my seasoning rub from my beer butt chicken recipe and rubbed it onto the quarters so that they'd be flavorful and awesome.
Whether you're a novice cook or a seasoned chef, this dish is a breeze to prepare and is perfect for a comforting weeknight dinner or a special occasion. Serve your chicken with a side of vegetables or rice for a complete meal that everyone will enjoy.
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- The recipe is very simple. Using basic seasonings and your Instant Pot, you can create juicy, well-flavored chicken quarters with very minimal effort and prep.
- You can crisp the skin. If desired, you can follow along with the additional steps to crisp up the skin on your cooked chicken quarters. Perfect for those of us who like the chewy skin on chicken.
- It's frugal. Chicken quarters are one of the cheapest cuts of chicken, and seasonings are something found in most kitchens already. By utilizing the two and not adding anything too fancy, we can create a flavorful dinner that's easier on the budget.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Chicken leg quarters- You will need about 4 or 5 chicken quarters for this recipe. How many you can fit into the instant pot will depend upon the size of the legs and your instant pot, so it will vary.
Seasonings- For this recipe, we just need some basic seasonings like Salt, Ground black pepper, Italian seasoning, Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic powder, and Onion powder.
Water- You will need water for the instant pot to help us pressure cook the chicken. 1 cup is needed for 6 quarts and smaller IPs, but 8qt and bigger need 1.5 cups of water. Refer to your owner manual if needed.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
📖 Variations
You can use water, broth, or even beer for more flavorfully cooked chicken. Just make sure that there is at least 1-1.5 cups of liquid in the pot to help the chicken cook properly.
🔪 Instructions
Step 1: Blend together the spices for the chicken rub in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Pour one cup of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot and place in the trivet.
Step 3: Rub the chicken with the seasoning mixture on both the fronts and backs of the quarters as best as you can.
Step 4: Stack the seasoned chicken quarters upright like books on a shelf on the trivet. I like to alternate which sides the drumsticks are on.
Step 5: Set to High Pressure for 15-20 minutes for thawed chicken or 25 minutes for frozen.
Step 6: Release the Pressure, naturally, for 5 minutes after the timer beeps, and then release the rest manually.
Step 7: Check internal temperature and make sure chicken is a safe 165 degrees F before eating. If not, bake at 350 degrees F until temp has been reached.
Optional Step- Set your oven to High Broil and place chicken on a baking sheet.
Step 8: Broil on high for 3-5 minutes to help crisp up the skin.
Serve warm with side dishes.
🍴 Recipe Tips
To make this Instant Pot chicken quarters recipe, you will need to stand the chicken up on the trivet like books on a shelf. Standing them upright like this allows them to fit into the pot. You may need to trim a little fat or skin here and there to help them fit more easily.
After the chicken has been cooked, you can take an optional step of broiling the quarters in the oven to help crisp up the skin to a nice golden brown. Recommended, but not required.
Chicken safety
You will know that your chicken has finished cooking properly when you can insert an instant read food thermometer into the meat and have it register as 165 degrees F. The meat and juices may still have a slight pink coloration to them but they should not look raw.
If it hasn't reached temp, you can place them in the oven for a few minutes at 350 degrees F to help get it to the safe-to-eat-zone. (Baking it would be faster than cooking it in the Instant Pot again and allows you to periodically check on the internal temperature.)
💭 FAQs
Chicken quarters (or chicken leg quarters as some call it) are the dark meat of a chicken, from the hip bone down. It includes the thigh and drumstick of a chicken in a solid piece that can be later separated or cooked whole as desired by the consumer.
For frozen chicken quarters, just make sure that they aren't frozen too much. You want them to be able to be stacked without being one clump of solid ice. As long as they're partially frozen and can be fitted into the Instant Pot, you can cook them on High Pressure for 25 minutes with a Quick Pressure Release.
Cheaper cuts of meat are almost always meats that have the least amount of work involved. Unlike boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a leg quarter doesn't require nearly as much work to cut off the whole. Therefore the cost is lower as there is less expense involved in the prep.
❤️ More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
If you tried this Instant Pot Chicken Quarters, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Quarters
Ingredients
- 4 whole Chicken leg quarters ($6.97)
- ½ teaspoon Salt ($0.05)
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper ($0.02)
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning ($0.05)
- ½ teaspoon Paprika ($0.05)
- ⅛ teaspoon Cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder ($0.05)
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder ($0.05)
- 1 cup Water (for cooking) ($0.00)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, blend together the spices for the chicken rub. Set aside.
- Pour one cup of water into the bottom of your Instant Pot. Add in the trivet.
- Rub your chicken leg quarters with the spice rub.
- Stack your chicken quarters up like a bookshelf, side by side on the trivet. I like to alternte my legs so that they aren't all on one side.
- Close the lid and seal the vent.
- Set to High Pressure for 15-20 minutes. 25 minutes if the chicken quarters are still partially frozen.
- Naturally Release the Pressure for 5 minutes after the timer beeps. Then release the rest manually.
- Check internal temperature of chicken. Make sure it reaches a minimum of 165 Degrees F. If not, place in the oven at 350 Degrees F until it comes up to temperature before eating.
- Set the oven to High Broil and lay your chicken quarters on a baking sheet, skin side up. Broil for 3-5 minutes until skin is crisped to desired doneness.
- Serve warm with your favorite side dishes.
DDeborah D says
At last, I have found a recipe that has the correct cooking time for instant pot chicken quarters.
Crista says
My chicken leg quarters were completely thawed and I actually only did 3, and they were nowhere near done after 15 min in the instant pot, 5 minutes depressurizing, and 5 min of broiling...still bloody inside.
Nicole says
Aw I'm so sorry to hear that. Did you use large chicken quarters? Did you check their temperature before broiling them? I've had chicken quarters finish anywhere from 15-25 minutes and it varies per piece. Also, unless you butchered the chicken yourself, that's not blood. It's hemoglobin that is in the tissues of the bird, and the color lingers even after it has been cooked, so discoloration shouldn't be used as a measure for chicken "doneness." I recommend an instant-read food thermometer to check to see if the meat has finished cooking next time.