Pressure Cooker for Frying Chicken at Home Like KFC

Last Updated on December 8, 2022 by Claire

You need a pressure cooker for frying chicken if you love fried chicken but don’t want to keep spending money on takeouts. You can save a lot of money on fried chicken by using a pressure cooker to make them.

Pressure cookers are extremely efficient for making fried chicken quickly, evenly, tenderly, and juicy without destroying its natural flavor or texture.

Planning to buy a pressure cooker for frying chicken and you can’t decide on the best for the job at hand? You’re in luck.

In this article, I’ll be giving you a list of the best pressure cookers for frying chicken based on my research and a few reviews from others, and also a guide on how to use a pressure cooker for frying chicken.

Pressure Cooker for Frying Chicken

Best pressure cookers for frying chicken

There are hundreds of different models of pressure cookers in the market making it almost impossible to review all and say which is the best out of the lot. However, with a little ingenuity, I’ve been able to narrow it down to the 5 listed below:

  1. Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1 Deluxe XL 8 qt. Pressure Cooker & Air Fryer
  2. Crock-pot Express Crisp Pressure Cooker
  3. T-fal P4500736 Pressure Cooker and Pressure Fryer
  4. NutriChef PKPRC66 Electric Pressure Cooker
  5. Emeril Everyday Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer
 Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1Crock-pot Express CrispT-fal P4500736 Pressure Cooker &  FryerNutriChef PKPRC66Emeril Everyday Pressure Cooker
BrandNinjaThe Rival CompanyT-falNutriChefEmeril Everyday
FeaturesAuto Shut Off,

Ceramic Pot,

Digital Control,

Dishwasher-safe Pot,

 On/Off Indicator,

 Programmable

 

All-in-one appliance,

Removable Crisping Lid,

One-touch meal settings,

Manual Pressure function,

Locking Lid designed for added safety

2 pressure settings,

Rugged stainless steel constructions,

Secure locking mechanism,

Induction compatible,

Dishwasher safe

Integrated pressure safety valve and lock-top lid,

Re-heat/keep warm function,

Digital display panel with time control,

8 built-in preset cooking modes,

Kitchen timer alarm notification,

Non-stick Teflon-coated

Pressure Cook Tender – Air Fry Crisp

8 Quart Family Size

Cook IQ technology

Greaseless fryer

44 Programmable Cooking Functions

LCD Digital Display

Rapid Air Technology

ShapeRoundRoundHand pot- shapedRoundRound
Cook pot capacity5 quarts, 8 quarts8 quarts6.3 quarts5+ quarts8 quarts
Dimensions(LxWxH)16.1 x 14.57 x 14.2915.75 x 15.75 x 21.5811.5 x 14.47x 8.8911.2 x 11.2 x 11.822.6 x 17.91 x 16.5
Finish typeChromeStainless SteelStainless SteelPlastic, Stainless SteelMetallic
Voltage120 volts220 volts110 volts120 volts110 volts
Weight (Package)26.04lbs26.2lbs7.7lbs13.5lbs28.6lbs

1. Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1 Deluxe XL 8 qt. Pressure Cooker

Ninja is an established brand name that is associated with manufacturing quality, durable, and feature-rich pressure cookers and air fryers.

The Ninja foodi 12-in-1 is a state-of-the-art extra-large capacity cooker that is composed of ceramic non-stick material in and out and features a Digital display panel and tender crisp technology to make sure your food will be perfectly cooked and ready to eat immediately it’s done cooking.

The best thing about the Ninja FD401 Foodi 12-in-1 Deluxe XL is that it has many other features that make cooking easier and faster than ever before and makes sure that everything inside remains fresh and crisp!

According to Ninja, it has a 12-in-1 functionality which means it features a: slow cooker, meat cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker, an electric fryer/deep fryer/steamer, steamer baskets/steam racks/stainless steel steam baskets/wire rack steamer basket standoffs/rice paddle holders/steaming baskets.

Although the brochure mentions that it can only hold 4 lbs of chicken, you can fit some more chicken pieces in there by stacking them on top of each other.

It’s suitable for ‘first-timers’ and allows quite a bit of experimentation to check which of its 12 programmable functions works best for you when cooking. The big, bright and clear Digital display panel allows you to easily regulate the temperature and select a frying preset of your choice.

You must note that using the crisp food technology required you to cover the pot with a separate detachable lid and this posed a problem due to the hinged lid of the pot.

Simply based on the number of features this appliance possesses, it could be rated as the best pressure cooker for frying chicken currently available in the market.

Features:

Auto Shut Off, Ceramic Pot, Digital Control, Dishwasher-safe Pot, On/Off Indicator, Programmable

Pros

  • Extra large capacity pot with ceramic coating.
  • It has 12 programmable functions.
  • It has tender crisp technology that cooks food 70% faster than traditional cooking methods.
  • Makes very crispy fried chicken
  • Dishwasher safe due to the ceramic and nonstick coating

Cons

  • Big size means it takes up more space
  • Pricey
  • The ceramic coating can chip off very easily if you’re not careful
  • Cleaning and maintenance are difficult
  • Available only in big sizes

2. Crock-pot SCCPPA800-V1 Express Crisp 8-Quart Pressure Cooker

The Crock-pot is so much more than just a pressure cooker as it allows you to enjoy the benefits of pressure cooking and air frying in one pot. It’s an easy-to-use and consumer friendly big sized multi-cooker with a crisp lid that attaches directly to the pot and does the job on its own.

The Crock-pot will only switch on when the crisping lid is in place, runs silently during cooking, and automatically shuts down when the cooking cycle is finished. It’s a very useful pot for making roasts, brisket, or a whole chicken in a very short amount of time.

Like me, you can decide to buy a large and small pot to save yourself a lot of time when cooking, as opposed to buying just one pot.

Features:

An all-in-one appliance: pressure cook, slow cook, brown/sear, saute, steam, and now finish off foods to crispy perfection

The removable Crisping Lid allows for a crispy finish to be added to all dishes-including rotisserie chicken, ribs, and more.

Save Time and make healthy meals at a fraction of the time that traditional cooking requires with convenient one-touch meal settings

The manual Pressure function lets you set any cooking time at either high or low pressure, allowing you to customize recipes

Locking Lid designed with an airtight locking lid that stays sealed under pressure for added

Pros

  • Easy to clean non-stick pot
  • Runs silently during cooking
  • Has a crisping lid
  • Simple and consumer-friendly to use
  • Cheap and affordable compared to others in its price range

Cons

  • Available only in big sizes
  • You need to familiarize yourself with the owner’s manual to take good advantage of the features it has

3. T-fal P4500736 Clipso Stainless Steel Dishwasher Safe PTFE PFOA and Cadmium Free 12-PSI Pressure Cooker

T-fal P4500736 is a sleek, sturdy, and well-built 6.3 quarts capacity electric pressure cooker with 25 preset functions (although you can only really use 6 of them).

It has a hinge lock to securely hold the lid in place, a nonstick inner pot, and steaming racks which can be used for various purposes.

The T-fal also features an excellent ‘crisp fry’ technology, which makes it one of the best pressure cookers for making healthily prepared steaming hot fried chicken at home.

This is a cost-efficient pressure cooker that has made frying chicken very easy, fast, and healthy for you and the family.

Although I haven’t had any experience with the T-fal pressure cooker, there are a lot of positive reviews praising it.

Here’s what a reviewer had to say “with its 6.3 quarts capacity, I was able to fit almost 1 whole seasoned chicken inside, select a specially programmed frying preset, and my chicken was ready in 10 minutes. This is unusual for other fryers as you cannot put that much food in them and frying chicken takes a long time.

Features:

2 pressure settings – choose between 10 and 15 PSI to cook various types of meals.

Rugged stainless steel constructions – ensures optimal cooking and long-lasting performance.

Secure locking mechanism – ensures risk-free opening and closing

Induction compatible – Suitable for all heat sources including induction

Dishwasher safe – with the lid removed, the base can go in the dishwasher for hassle-free cleanup

Pros

  • Simple and convenient to use, simply select any of the available preset functions and leave it to cook
  • No supervision needed
  • Multiple preset frying functions to save time
  • Makes perfectly cooked chicken in minutes

Cons

  • There’s a little learning curve involved as you need to be familiar with its features before using it
  • A little pricier compared to other affordable pressure cookers with similar features

4. NutriChef Electric Pressure Cooker

The Nutrichef PKPRC66 is an extremely energy-efficient, Teflon-coated, fast, feature-rich, and safe electric pressure cooker with 8 built-in preset cooking modes for cooking, boiling, braising, steaming, and frying chicken.

It is loaded with different safety features such as a secure lid lock to not only preserve the natural taste and aroma of your fried chicken but also prevent injuries due to mishandling arising from spills due to pressure build-up. The secure lid lock feature also allows it to cook your foods very fast resulting in very low electricity consumption and reduced energy costs.

Depending on your preferences or the type of food you’re cooking, this pressure cooker is smart enough to switch on a ‘keep warm’ feature when your preset cooking cycle ends to keep your food fresh and warm for you.

The Nutrichef PKPRC66 electric pressure cooker is very easy to clean and handle, with a design that prioritizes user safety, multi-functionality, low power consumption, reliability, and durability.

A detachable power cord is also included for easy movement and storage.

Features:

Integrated pressure safety valve and lock-top lid

Energy and time-efficient food prep

Re-heat/keep warm function

Simple and hassle-free operation

Cook smarter: prepares food up to 70% quicker

Electric cooker multi-function food prep retains beneficial vitamin and mineral nutritional value

Extra-wide non-stick inner cooking pot container

Digital display panel with a time control

8 built-in preset cooking modes

Kitchen timer alarm notification

Easy-to-clean stainless-steel housing

Non-stick Teflon-coated removable cooking inner pot

Used for rice, soups, meat, poultry, vegetables, and more

Pros

  • Reduces energy consumption by about 60%
  • The secure lid lock feature helps to prevent injuries from mishandling the cooker during or after cooking
  • Reliable and durable
  • A ‘Keep warm’ feature to keep your chicken fresh and warm after you finish cooking
  • Detachable power cord
  • Fast cooking times
  • The inner pot is Teflon coated
  • Cheap and inexpensive to own and operate

Cons

  • There’s a steep learning curve involved before the usage
  • The manual is difficult to understand
  • You cannot regulate pressure according to your preferences

5. Emeril Everyday 8 QT with Accessories Pressure

Emeril designs the most simple, easy to use, versatile, and functional domestic pressure cookers.

According to Emeril, its sleek 8 quarts capacity Everyday pressure cooker and air fryer feature safety valves, pressure releasing mechanisms, and a nonstick pot to aid heat circulation and pressure build-up around the food.

It also features 12 different pre-programmed cooking and frying settings for various needs, a multifunctional, and easy to set up and use design.

Compared to the other cookers on this list, at 8 quarts, this cooker has plenty of space to hold more content for pressure cooking. But a downside to this is that it occupies a little more space than most people would like it to.

It possesses good build quality, short cooking times, and is simple to clean and maintain all at the same time.

Features:

Pressure Cook Tender – Air Fry Crisp

8 Quart Family Size

Cook IQ technology

Greaseless fryer

44 Programmable Cooking Functions

LCD Digital Display

Rapid Air Technology

Pros

  • Simple, easy to setup and use design
  • Safety valves and other very effective safety features
  • Huge cooking capacity

Cons

  • You need to take a good look at the owner’s manual before operating it
  • Average build quality compared to other pressure cookers in the same price range
  • Takes up more space due to its larger size
  • Available only in big sizes
  • Second most pricey appliance on this list

How to use pressure cooker for frying chicken

It’s not advisable for you to follow the recipe’s directions for making fried chicken in a pressure cooker as the results can be pretty disappointing.

The secret is to focus on preparing ‘crispy’ chicken instead of just ‘fried’ chicken by learning to work with the pressure cooker and not against it.

Although you can’t use your pressure cooker to fry chicken in oil, you can simply cook the chicken pieces using your pressure cooker.

While pressure cooking the chicken, toast breadcrumbs on the stove, then take out the chicken and coat it with flour, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs. Then begin baking the chicken in the oven until the bread crisps up and the chicken looks crunchy.

Ingredients for 2 – 4 servings

  • 8 pieces of chicken
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons (28 g) of unsalted butter
  • 1 cup or 240 ml of cold water
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • 2 extra-large eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup (125 g) of all-purpose flour
  • 1 to 1 ½ cups (62 to 93 g) of panko toasted breadcrumbs.

Stage 1: Pressure cook the chicken pieces

  1. Pour 1 cup (240 ml) of cold water into the pressure cooker and put a steamer basket inside it

You must ensure that any steamer basket you decide to use must fit inside your pressure cooker.

  1. Arrange the 8 chicken pieces in the steamer basket. If you’re cooking a larger quantity, you can stack the chicken pieces neatly to avoid overcrowding.
  2. Put the lid on the cooker making sure it’s well secured, and then begin cooking the chicken at high pressure for 6 to 9 minutes.

But if you’re cooking larger meat cuts, they’ll probably need closer to 9 minutes to pressure cook.

  1. When you finish pressure cooking the chicken, turn off the heat and select “Full Natural Release.”

This will release the in-built pressure gradually, allowing you to open the lid of the machine with absolutely no risks to you.

However, you must note that most pressure cookers take a minimum of 10 minutes for the pressure to be naturally released.

Stage 2: Making the crispy breading

  1. Set a skillet on the stove and add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and then turn on the burner to the medium heat setting. Making the butter melt and mixing it with the oil.
  2. Add and stir 1 to 1 ½ cups of panko breadcrumbs into the butter and oil mixture, then stir until the breadcrumbs have absorbed the mixture.

Note that you can substitute panko breadcrumbs for dried breadcrumbs but it won’t taste as crunchy. If you’re cooking smaller thighs, you only need 1 cup of the breadcrumbs.

  1. Cook and stir the breadcrumbs constantly for about 3 to 5 minutes until they become rich and golden brown. Then stir in kosher salt according to your taste.

You need to keep a close eye on the breadcrumbs while cooking else they can burn quickly.

Stage 3: Baking the chicken

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (204 °C), bring out a large baking sheet and put a large wire rack on it. The wire rack will allow air to circulate under the chicken as it bakes making the chicken even crispier.
  2. Check the chicken temperature to see if it’s reached 160 °F (71 °C), you can do this by inserting an instant-read meat thermometer into the thickest part of a chicken thigh to ensure that it’s reached 160 °F (71 °C).
  3. Keep in mind that the chicken will cook more when you put it into the oven to crisp up.

Lift the steamer basket out of the pressure cooker and lay the chicken pieces on a baking sheet. Take a paper towel and blot the chicken pieces until they’re completely dry.

  1. Season the chicken and coat them with flour. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and slot, put 1 cup (125 g) of all-purpose flour into a shallow bowl and place the chicken pieces in it. Then turn the chicken over so they’re completely coated with the flour.
  2. Crack 2 eggs into a bowl and mix them until they’re uniform in color, transfer the chicken from the dish of flour and lower them into the beaten eggs.
  3. Put the baking sheet and the chicken into the preheated oven, and bake the chicken until the breadcrumbs become crispy and the chicken appears to be fried.
  4. Take it out and serve. Turn off the oven and take the chicken out of the oven, then put the chicken on a platter and serve it immediately with your favorite sides.

Can I make brown and crispy chicken without oil in a pressure cooker?

No, although you can cook the chicken in the pressure cooker, you’ll need to coat it and bake it in the oven to get truly crispy chicken. Moreover, pressure fried chicken nutritionals are much better than open frying (See CSNews).

Conclusion

Choosing the best pressure cooker for frying chicken is a matter of personal preference. This decision is usually determined by which one best serves your needs or purposes, price, features, and how you intend to use the appliance.

In some ways, each one is better than the others and vice versa. All have certain advantages and disadvantages that make them stand out from each other.

Lastly, always adhere to the manufacturer’s instructions for checking, regulating, and releasing the pressure of your pressure cooker. It’s best if you use the “natural” method for releasing pressure and don’t be in a hurry to cool things down faster by running water over the lid.