Instant Pot Baharat Chicken

This Instant Pot Baharat Chicken is one of those recipes that come from impulse purchases from the Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients section.

You know, back when we wanted to hang around supermarkets delighting in new ingredients to try.

The day I bought it, I actually left it at the self-service checkout and a lovely Waitrose partner was waiting for me at the exit holding it up for me.

"I was told to look out for the lady with the hair clip".

Yup, that was me. The lady with the hair clip which isn't even a hair clip according to the little Tapita, it's a scarf brooch apparently.

Anyway, this Instant Pot Baharat Chicken (for want of a better name) has been made several times now (by me and other lovely people who wanted to test it) and it's delicious.

Big win, the little Tapita loves it.

Baharat spice blend

I used the Baharat spice mix in the photo above, by the brand Bart. Schwartz also does its own Baharat seasoning.

If you can't find either, you might have the ingredients to make your own following a recipe like this one.

But Maria, no added liquid?

You may have noticed already that I like to push the limits when it comes to liquid in the Instant Pot.

Chicken releases liquid as it cooks so you can get away with very little liquid. 

I like to write the Golden Rules of the Instant Pot Way of Cooking and then break them 😉

You do need a very well maintained Instant Pot though.

For example, the rim of the cooker needs to be super clean.

You also need to make sure the sealing ring is properly in place before you close the lid.

In fact, just read this post and watch the videos there before you start cooking 😊

Unsure? Add 100 ml of water or stock (cold).

Also, click the photo below to join my Pressure Cooking group for lots of tips.

How to serve this Baharat Chicken

With a salad, in a wrap, on its own, with plain rice. but definitely try it with plain yoghurt!

It would, in fact, be delicious with my Za'atar Flat Breads to dip in the sauce.

What else could you add?

I've also made it with mushrooms and onions and it was lovely. It's perfect for anything vegetables that need using up.

Instant Pot Baharat Chicken

Nifty printable recipe card further down

Ingredients

600 g chicken thigh fillets

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon of Baharat spices (I found mine in Waitrose, Bart brand)

Handful of fresh coriander, stalks and leaves chopped separately 

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 more lemon 

Salt and pepper

To serve

Plain yoghurt

Serving Suggestion A 

Tortilla wraps or pita breadSalad leaves (mine Tomatoes

Serving Suggestion B

Plain rice

Method

1.

Add the chicken thigh fillets to the inner pot with the lemon zest and juice, 1 tablespoon of Baharat spices, the chopped coriander stalks and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well. 

2.

Lid on. Steam release handle pointing to Sealing (unless you have an Instant Pot with a self-sealing lid, in which case the lid will seal automatically). 5 minutes on Poultry / Manual or Pressure Cook. Natural Pressure Release at the end at it will do well on Keep Warm. 

3.

At the end, remove the chicken after quickly seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste. Then press Sauté and set it to More to reduce the sauce. Stir in some of the chopped coriander and the juice of half a lemon. Pour the sauce over the chicken and add more coriander. Then add more lemon juice.

Notes

I tried it without pouring the sauce over too. It’s good both ways.

And, with sauce or without, it’s really good with plain yoghurt stirred in!
It’s delicious in a wrap with lettuce and tomatoes. It would be great in pita bread too.

Or try serving it with plain rice or with a nice salad. 

So many possibilities 

Baharat Chicken

Maria

A delicious and super simple pressure cooked dish with Baharat spices. Tender, succulent chicken in the Instant Pot

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Fusion

Equipment

• Instant Pot

Ingredients

  

• 600 g chicken thigh fillets
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon of Baharat spices I found mine in Waitrose, Bart brand but other brands are available (good old Schwartz does it too)
• Handful of fresh coriander stalks and leaves chopped separately
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 more lemon
• Salt and pepper

To serve

• Plain yoghurt

Serving Suggestion A

• Tortilla wraps or pita bread
• Salad leaves (mine
• Tomatoes

Serving Suggestion B

• Plain rice

Instructions

 

• Add the chicken thigh fillets to the inner pot with the lemon zest and juice, 1 tablespoon of Baharat spices, the chopped coriander stalks and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well.
• Lid on. Steam release handle pointing to Sealing (unless you have an Instant Pot with a self-sealing lid, in which case the lid will seal automatically). 5 minutes on Poultry / Manual or Pressure Cook. Natural Pressure Release at the end at it will do well on Keep Warm.
• At the end, remove the chicken after quickly seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste. Then press Sauté and set it to More to reduce the sauce. Stir in some of the chopped coriander and the juice of half a lemon. Pour the sauce over the chicken and add more coriander. Then add more lemon juice.

Notes

I tried it without pouring the sauce over too. It’s good both ways.

And, with sauce or without, it’s really good with plain yoghurt stirred in!

It’s delicious in a wrap with lettuce and tomatoes. It would be great in pita bread too.

Or try serving it with plain rice or with a nice salad.

So many possibilities, let me know how YOU eat it over on my Feisty Tapas Facebook page or group, Instagram or Twitter

Can't find the Baharat spice mix?

Make your own with this method

Have chicken breasts instead of Chicken Thigh Fillets? 

Slice or dice the chicken breasts and cook 3 minutes with NPR instead.

*Terminology

 

Quick pressure release (QPR, also called quick release or QR) means venting the steam as soon as the pressure cooking process finishes, i.e. moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting.

 

Natural pressure release (NPR, also called natural release or NR) means letting the float valve pop back down of its own accord, so basically you don’t need to do anything at the end and can keep your feet up. If it takes over 15 minutes, you're ok to release the rest of the steam (by turning the steam release handle to Venting) that may be left in order to unlock and open the lid. 

 

Sometimes you'll see me talk of a combination of NPR followed by a QPR. For example a recipe may have a 4 minute NPR followed by a QPR. You wait for 4 minutes at the end of the pressure cooking time and then do a QPR by moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting. 

Keyword baharat spices, chicken, chicken thigh fillets, Instant Pot