How To Cook Frozen Chicken

Who can resist delicious chicken dishes that only take minutes to make? Our Instant Pot is our go-to appliance for making chicken in the shortest amount of time possible. We’ll show you below how to cook frozen chicken in an Instant Pot, but the oven and the air fryer work great as well! Whether you are craving pasta with creamy sauce or a crispy salad topper, we have three quick and easy freezer-to-plate methods that transform your tough, crumbly frozen chicken into tender and juicy meat with little effort. We want to help you quickly turn frozen chicken into dinner!

Oven Method

The oven method is the most traditional way of cooking frozen chicken. If you don’t have an air fryer or instant pot, don’t worry! You can still get delicious, moist, and flavorful chicken. This method does take a little longer than the others, but it works!

Air Fryer Method

The air fryer method is quicker than the oven and the chicken comes out so well. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may not be able to fit as many chicken breasts in the basket as you would in the oven. I was able to fit three chicken breasts in my air fryer. When I cook frozen chicken in the air fryer I like to add a breadcrumb topping, but you can leave the breadcrumbs off if you’d like.

Instant Pot Method

The instant pot method is my favorite method. The chicken comes out so moist and it is perfect for slicing or shredding. You will need a trivet for this method. Most instant pots come with a trivet, but I lost mine so I bought a silicon trivet at Target. If you don’t use the trivet and you put the chicken directly into the broth or water, it will essentially boil the chicken instead of steaming it and the texture will be more rubbery. See the recipe card below for our instant pot method!

Can I Cook Frozen Chicken in a Slow Cooker or Crock Pot?

The short answer is no, and I will explain why. The USDA recommends that chicken, raw or cooked, does not sit in the “danger zone” for more than 2 hours. The “danger zone” is between 40 degrees and 140 degrees. It needs to be either stored in the fridge at lower than 40 or be kept warm at 140 or above. Since most crock pot recipes are longer than two hours, the frozen chicken will be in the “danger zone” for too long. Thawed chicken heats up fast enough to clear the 140 threshold before the 2 hour mark, but the frozen chicken does not. Read Next: 35+ Best Chicken Breast Recipes