Pressure Cooker BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

10 easy recipes to use up a bunch of potatoes

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Sweet potatoes seem to last forever when baked in the oven, but not so when you use an electric pressure cooker! I always whip out the Instant Pot when I want sweet potatoes on the fly—it’s now my favorite way to cook them as they always come out moist and tender—never burnt.

Quick weeknight dinner at Instant Pot

I love making this dish in an electric pressure cooker for several reasons:

It’s a lot quicker than using the oven – about half the time.
Everything is cooking at the same time – the chicken and sweet potatoes
I can make a side salad (or just relax) while it does its job—the pressure cooker’s alarm will tell me when it’s done, and it comes out perfect every time.

New to Instant Pot? Check out our post How To Use an Instant Pot: A First-Timer’s Guide.

How do you do everything in one pot?

This recipe uses an additional accessory – a tall metal steam rack. How to cook the chicken and sweet potatoes at the same time.

While the chicken cooks in the bottom of the pot, the sweet potatoes sit on top of the steamer and cook on top.

Which sweet potatoes to buy

This recipe is based on using sweet potatoes in one serving. They’re a little smaller than you usually buy – they should weigh around 4 1/2 to 6 ounces each. This is the size commonly found in bags in the produce section of the grocery store rather than being sold loose.

If you’re using larger sweet potatoes, you won’t fit six of them in the steamer; You can also just use fewer sweet potatoes and increase the cooking time if you like. Large ones (8 to 10 ounces) take 12 to 15 minutes to cook.

Perform a quick depressurization

To avoid overcooking your sweet potatoes, you should definitely do a quick depressurization right at the end of the pressure cook program.

The sweet potatoes only need 10 minutes under pressure, and leaving them in the pot an additional 10 minutes before releasing the pressure will make them too mushy. Because when the alarm sounds, there is still a lot of heat and pressure building up in the pot, so the food will continue to cook until the pressure is completely released.

You can leave everything in the pot on the “Keep Warm” setting after it’s cooked if you like, but you’ll still need to release the pressure quickly.

Don’t worry if the skins tear! You may find that the sweet potatoes’ skins will split open during cooking – this is perfectly normal when pressure cooking, and they’ll still be delicious! The skins of pressure-cooked potatoes (both sweet and regular varieties) are soft rather than crispy.

How to store and freeze

Leftover stuffed sweet potatoes will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. You can make them for dinner in one night and then reheat them for lunch a few more days as well. They need 2 to 3 minutes to heat up in the microwave.

You might want to omit the cheese topping if you know you’re going to be reheating the sweet potatoes – it tends to get chewy and tough once the sweet potatoes and chicken are warmed through.

If you like, you can freeze the chicken filling separately– Simply portion them into silicone muffin pans or mini loaf pans. Individual portions defrost much faster and you can heat as many as you like at once.

Want more Instant Pot Chicken recipes?

Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
How to cook chicken in the pressure cooker
Pressure cooker shredded chicken taco meat
Pressure Cooker Chicken Salad Wraps
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

preparation time
5 minutes

cooking time
45 minutes

total time
50 minutes

portions
6 servings

If you are preparing this recipe in an 8 liter pressure cookerincrease the water to 1 cup.

Stovetop Pressure Cooker Instructions: Reduce the pressure cook time to 8 minutes and follow the rest of the recipe as directed. Different burners have different heights – make sure the steamer and sweet potatoes fit in the pot before proceeding.

Hob instructions: Steam the sweet potatoes in a steamer for about 20 minutes, or until you can pierce them with a fork. While the potatoes are steaming, separately cook the chicken in a pan, sear over medium heat as in recipe below, then sauté the onions and garlic, deglaze the pan with water (increased to 1 cup), add Add the chicken back in, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Shred the chicken, reduce the cooking liquid in the pan with the barbecue sauce until thickened, then add the chicken back in and toss to combine. Continue with the stuffing and grilling steps as directed.

For the chicken:

1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (If they are more than 8 ounces, cut them in half)
1/2 teaspoon kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Middle yellow onioncut
2 cloves garlicchopped
6 (4 1/2 to 6 ounces each) sweet potatoes, as uniform as possible in weight and shape
1/2 Cup water
1/2 Cup barbecue sauce (homemade or your favorite brand)

For the toppings:

3/4 Cup grated Cheese Cheddar (Cheddar, Monterey Jack or a mix)
2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
2 green onionsthinly sliced

Roast Chicken:

Season the chicken breasts all over with salt and pepper.

Select the sauté setting on your electric pressure cooker and heat the oil until shimmering, 3 minutes. Using tongs, lower chicken breasts into saucepan and sear 3 minutes per side (6 minutes total) until lightly browned. Transfer the chicken to a bowl.
Cooking onions and garlic:

Add the onion to the pot and sauté until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another 30 seconds or so until no longer raw.
Assemble everything in the pressure cooker:

Add the water and use a wooden spoon to knock any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Return the chicken to the pot and toss with the onions and garlic.

Lower a tall metal steamer rack into the pressure cooker, making sure all legs touch the bottom of the pot. Arrange the sweet potatoes in a single layer on top of the rack.
Pressure Cooking Potatoes and Chicken:

Secure the lid of your pressure cooker in its locked position. Cancel the sauté program and then select the manual or quick cook program for 12 minutes at high pressure. (It takes about 10 minutes for the pot to build up pressure before the cooking program starts.)

While the recipe cooks, line a sheet pan with foil and set aside.
release pressure:

Once the cooking program is complete, perform a quick depressurization by moving the depressurizer to the vent position to release the steam. (At this point, the pressure cooker can be left on the Warm setting for up to 10 hours.)

Use tongs to gently place the sweet potatoes into the foil-lined sheet pan. Place the chicken on a cutting board or bowl.
Make the BBQ Sauce:

Mix the barbecue sauce with the liquid and the onions in the saucepan. Cancel the keep warm program, select the sauté setting and allow the mixture to cook and reduce, stirring occasionally, until thick and translucent (timing will vary slightly depending on how much sugar is in your bowl) for 8 to 10 minutes barbecue sauce is).
While the sauce is reducing, shred the chicken with two forks
Toss the chicken with the BBQ sauce:

Turn off the sauté program. Put the chicken back into the pot and mix.
Stuff and grill potatoes:

(You can skip this step if you wish. Everything is already cooked through—just for the cheese to bubble and brown.)

Overheat your grill with a grate positioned a few inches below the heating element.

Halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise, then fill with the chicken mixture. Top each sweet potato with 2 tablespoons grated cheese.

Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown in spots. Remove from the oven, then sprinkle with coriander and spring onions. Serve hot.

Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days and can be reheated in the microwave.

nutritional information (per serving)
423	calories
12g	Fat
36g	carbohydrates
42g	protein