These Instant Pot chicken wings only require three ingredients and five minutes of pressure cooking until they are fall-off-the-bone tender. Try this Instant Pot Recipe today!

I am so excited to start showcasing more recipes on the site and one BIG request I got from readers was for more easy Instant Pot recipes. 

It seems I talked many of you into buying one of these appliances on a Black Friday sale and then dropped the ball on giving you ideas for ways to use it. 

That’s really nice, huh?

In all honesty, three ingredient recipes have been on repeat in our house especially these easy ribs (one of our most pinned recipes on the site) and these pulled pork sandwiches. 

It seems when I get a formula down, with my cooking, I just keep repeating it. 

As tailgating season is approaching, I wanted to show how you can cook the chicken wings in your Instant Pot in just about 30 minutes or so. 

Best Instant Pot Wings Recipe

shop this steamer basket for your Instant Pot- you will love the handle on this for removal!

Although I don’t get sucked into the gadget game very often, I have found this steamer basket to be invaluable for cooking both my meat and my eggs. The basket fully holds what is inside and then can be lifted out by the center handle. I use it about once a week so I can confidently recommend this is a great addition to your kitchen arsenal.

When I first started blogging, I created a Honey Bourbon Chicken Wing recipe that I prepared in my slow cooker and I was so proud of my styling.


It was after this photo was posted that someone commented that they were surprised I didn’t, “trim my chicken wings.” 

How do I Trim Chicken Wings for My Instant Pot?

Trim the wings? 

I had no clue what that even meant. 

Wings weren’t something we ate in our house and I’m not the kind of girl who eats wings at a restaurant. It’s because I had no experience eating these that I didn’t know how to trim them for our family or what the wing was supposed to look like.

If you are still learning in the kitchen, I just want you to know that I’ve been learning right along with you. This wasn’t the first time I was wrong about the best way to prepare a dish and I really doubt that it will be the last. 

If you are looking for guidance on how to trim your wings for cooking, I found this tutorial very helpful for getting started. 

Once you have trimmed your wings, you are ready to toss them with salt and pepper. 

Next, you will add one cup of water to the bottom of your Instant Pot and rest your rack on top. Although I used water, I have also used chicken stock that has been leftover in my fridge. 

If you don’t have my rack, you can also use the rack that your pressure cooker came with. 

Rest the seasoned chicken on top of the rack, seal your Instant Pot, and then set the Instant Pot for High Pressure for 5 minutes. You will allow the Instant Pot to do a Natural Release for 5-10 minutes. 

What the Heck is Natural Release?

Not sure what the difference is between Natural Release and Quick Release? That’s okay! This appliance definitely comes with a learning curve. 

I found this diagram that should help visually explain the big differences between these two types of venting. 

When we are told to Quick Release our pressure cooker, that just means that you are going to turn that steam release handle (located on your lid) to the Vent position on top. This allows all the steam to come out fast and at once. 

When we do Natural Release though, we just allow our pot to cool a bit on its own and then after 10 minutes, the steam that is released will be much less and the float valve will drop naturally over time.

Keep in mind, this does not adjust cook times, but only the length of time you are waiting to start working on the next step in the recipe (our broiler finish!).

Remove wings from the pressure cooker and place them on a baking sheet that has been lined with tin foil and has a baking rack on top to allow the circulate underneath. 

With a basting brush, you can apply your favorite barbecue sauce or you can really spice them up with buffalo sauce or hot sauce. Since our family is wimpy-wimpy-wimpy, we stick to our Sweet Baby Ray’s.

Since the chicken wings are fully cooked, you will not need to bake chicken wings ahead of time. Instead of deep frying these, we rely on the less messy and lower calorie option of just broiling the wings for about five minutes on each side.

I also love any dish that doesn’t require me to shred the chicken for preparation. Once you slide these out of the broiler, you are ready for dipping and eating these.

Please do keep your eyes on the oven though because they can burn on top if they aren’t carefully watched and may need adjusting during the broiling.  

Once these are done, slide them into a serving bowl and pair with your favorite dipping sauce. 

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do and I’m thinking it is going to be the perfect recipe to tailgate with. I can imagine preparing a batch of these in my pressure cooker and then throwing them into my slow cooker to keep warm for game days.  

This isn’t the only Instant Pot recipe that I’ll be sharing this month though. I’m also looking forward to sharing a pot roast pressure cooker recipe that I perfected that I just know you will want to add it to your menu planner too. 

Best Instant Pot Wings Recipe

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Looking for more fun tailgate ideas? Check these posts out!

try these gluten-free meatball sub bites

this slow cooker pumpkin chili is always a tailgate winner

you can’t go wrong with these sweet potato fries with a lemon meringue dipping sauce

this diy bar cart was made from a tool cart and a coat of spray paint. go, team!