These Easy Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks are a hit. Cooking them in the Instant Pot is an incredibly fast and efficient way to get dinner on the table and they’re so tender.
Why You’ll Love It
- Cooking in the Instant Pot is so much faster than the oven and it doesn’t require heating up the house. The chicken drumsticks come out very tender and juicy, better than oven-baked!
- Chicken drumsticks are inexpensive and easy to make.
- In the Instant Pot, it takes just 10 minutes, plus pressurizing time. In just 25 minutes, dinner is ready and the house is still nice and cool.
Melanie says: 
WOW this was good!! My husband and son scarfed this down. The chicken was perfectly done and seasoned, exactly as promised. We did broil them for about 5 min. to get some crisp, but it’s mid-November so using the oven isn’t a problem.
» You might also like these Instant Pot Chicken Legs or Instant Pot Chicken & Broccoli.
Why Use An Instant Pot
The Instant Pot is one of the most useful kitchen appliances you can buy, because it drastically cuts down on the cooking time for developing flavors in soups and stews, getting tough cuts of meat tender, and even baking a cheesecake. And there are many accessories that will help you get more out of your Instant Pot.
If you don’t have one yet, check out our guide on which one to buy. You can also check out our Instant Pot page for more information.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken drumsticks – This recipe calls for 6 drumsticks but you can cook up to 12 without increasing the cooking time.
- Dry rub – Adds a layer of flavor. We like to use this dry rub on just about everything.
- Chicken broth or water – The Instant Pot needs the liquid to help pressurize. While the chicken doesn’t actually cook in the liquid the broth will add flavor and moisture.
- BBQ sauce or glaze – Optional. Try this honey sriracha sauce or this BBQ sauce.
Helpful Tips for Pressure Cooker Chicken Drumsticks
- You can cook as many chicken drumsticks as you want as long as you don’t exceed the max fill line. It still only needs 1 cup of water for the 6-quart pot, or 1 1/2 cups for the 8-quart pot.
- This recipe should be cooked on high pressure for 10 minutes with a 5-minute natural pressure release.
- You can crisp up the chicken skin once the chicken is done cooking, either in a toaster oven, air fryer, or under the broiler, if you want to, but it isn’t necessary.
- You can cook the chicken drumsticks from frozen in the Instant Pot, if you want to. It will take about 4 more minutes to cook, so set to 14 minutes.
Equipment Needed
Instant Pot – I use a 6-quart Instant Pot Duo Plus. You can use any electric pressure cooker you have.
Trivet – You’ll need the trivet that came with the Instant Pot. If you don’t have one, you can set the chicken directly in the pot. I like the texture of the chicken more when it’s on the trivet. It’s more tender and less dense.
Kitchen tongs – It’s easiest to retrieve the chicken from the Instant Pot with a pair of tongs.
Be sure to visit our Instant Pot Guide for more tips and great recipes!
Why Use An Instant Pot
The Instant Pot is one of the most useful kitchen appliances you can buy, because it drastically cuts down on the cooking time for developing flavors in soups and stews, getting tough cuts of meat tender, and even baking a cheesecake. And there are many accessories that will help you get more out of your Instant Pot.
If you don’t have one yet, check out our guide on which one to buy. You can also check out our Instant Pot page for more information.
How to Serve Drumsticks
It’s completely fine to serve these drumsticks as is straight out of the Instant Pot, but pressure cooking chicken can be a bit boring without sauce. If you want to dress them up a bit, try one of these options:
- BBQ sauce
- Mongolian drumsticks – Use this mongolian sauce to spice them up
- Use other seasonings, like a dry rub you like, onion powder, butter, or buffalo sauce
- Turn on saute mode and crisp the skin
- Serve them over rice with the sauce of your choice
- Add some bell peppers and tomato to the Instant Pot to make a chicken stew.
What to Serve With Pressure Cooker Drumsticks
I am a huge fan of serving salads or rice with chicken drumsticks. I think this Classic Wedge Salad is perfect. You might also try this crunchy Broccoli Salad.
If you’d rather add some carbs, try our creamy Stovetop Mac & Cheese, or this easy Black Bean & Corn Pasta Salad.
If you like to dunk your chicken like I do then you will love this Alabama White BBQ Sauce or this Yum Yum Sauce.
Can’t make up your mind? Check out this list of 10 great summer salads that all pair well with chicken.
Other Chicken Recipes You Might Like
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Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 6 chicken drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon dry rub
- 1 cup chicken broth or water adding it hot reduces pressurizing time
- 1/4 cup bbq sauce or glaze if desired
Instructions
- Coat the chicken drumsticks with dry rub or seasoning.
- Pour 1 cup hot chicken broth or water into the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Insert the trivet. Place the chicken drumsticks on the trivet. Secure the lid and turn the valve to sealing. Press the pressure cooker button and set the time to 10 minutes.
- When the time is up, allow it to naturally release pressure for 5 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually.
- Brush the drumsticks with glaze or sauce, if desired.
Equipment Needed
Notes
If you cook the chicken from frozen, add 4 minutes to the cook time.
The skin will not be crispy. If you want to crisp it, broil in the oven for 4-5 minutes.
The drumsticks pictured are coated with our honey sriracha sauce.
Nutrition
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Laura is a home cook, with 25 years experience behind the stove, who spends an extraordinary amount of time in the kitchen cooking. She loves making new recipes and finding wonderful new things to eat, both at home or abroad. She spends a lot of time researching, crafting, and perfecting her recipes.
I love how easy and quick these are to make. Great recipe…thanks for sharing 🙂
Yummy!! These are so delicious and juicy. I love all the tips that you added.
Definitely passing this along to my cousin in Savannah who is getting an Instant Pot for his new apartment!
That’s a great idea, Gita. He’s gong to love the IP.
I loved the dry rub in this recipe. Thanks it was a winner with my group.
Glad to hear that!
Sounds like a delicious dinner idea! Looks so flavorful
I’m making this with drumsticks but I’m confused if this recipe is for wings or drumsticks. I made it with drumsticks and it’s very good. However, the recipe jumps back and forth between wings and drumsticks.
Sorry about that. It’s a typo. The recipe is for drumsticks, though it can also be used for wings with the same cooking time.
I’m going to make it tonight but unfortunately my kids don’t like BBQ sauce, any other recommendations for kids friendly sauce? (I would love to do the honey Sriracha but too spicy for kiddos)
Hi Adi. You don’t really need a sauce at all, but I bet the kids would love our honey mustard sauce! It’s just mayo, honey, yellow mustard and lemon juice. It’s delish. Just do a search on the site to find the recipe.
Ado, perhaps the kiddos would like something like ranch?
What setting do you set the pressure at? Hi, med/hi, or low?
High pressure
Sounds great. Will try. Thank you.
Just tried your recipe with my brand new instant pot …. and it turned out good. My family loves it!
Hi Carly, glad your family loved them! I love my instant pot and use it all the time.
How long for 32 drummies? And do you really have to add that much liquid according to the increased drummies?
I’d suggest you add 2 minutes for 24-36 drumsticks, so pressure cook on high for 12 minutes. You don’t need to add any extra water.
WOW this was good!! My husband and son scarfed this down. The chicken was perfectly done and seasoned, exactly as promised. We did broil them for about 5 min. to get some crisp, but it’s mid-November so using the oven isn’t a problem. Come summer, we’ll no doubt skip this step. The honey sriracha glaze had a wonderful kick (my son doesn’t like BBQ sauce, so this was a big hit). This recipe combo is a keeper, for sure!
Be sure to try the honey sriracha sauce with other meats too. It goes with everything!