First, inject your whole (thawed) chicken with your Italian dressing. If you can find Italian dressing without the big colorful chunks in it to inject that would make it easier. The chunks get stuck in the marinade injector.
Next, dump any remaining Italian dressing on the top of your chicken.
Then, place your trivet and 1 ½ cups of water in your Instant Pot.
Place your whole chicken on your trivet in your Instant Pot.
Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to the “sealing” position.
Then press the “Pressure Cook” button. Next, press the “Pressure Level” button until you have selected “High Pressure”.
We use the Instant Pot guide time which states 8 minutes of high pressure per pound. Turn the timer on for 44 minutes if you have a 5.5-pound whole chicken. Once the pressure builds up, the timer will start counting down.
Once the timer has completed allow your Instant Pot to do a Natural Pressure Release. This means you do not open the quick-release pressure valve and instead let the pressure release on its own. It should take about 20 minutes.
Your chicken is now ready to eat and the next steps are optional. (We check our chicken with a digital meat thermometer to make sure it has reached its required internal temperature.)
If you want to make the skin on your chicken dark and crispy you can continue with the following steps. Now you want to spray the outside of your whole chicken with your Avocado spray and sprinkle it with some cajun seasoning.
Dump the remaining liquid out of your InstantPot and wipe it down with a napkin. Then place the inner pot, the trivet, and your whole chicken back in your Instant Pot. (side note– you can add a little corn starch and cold-water slurry to the juices you just dumped out and simmer on the stove for a few minutes to make a gravy!!)
Now place your air fryer lid on your InstantPot. Set it to 400 degrees for 10 minutes. If you like your skin extra crispy you can air fry it for a second round at 400 degrees for another 10 minutes again!! If you don’t have a air fryer lid for your Instant Pot you can place it under the broiler in your oven instead.
That’s it! You can now serve your delicious Instant Pot Whole Chicken and Italian Dressing! Enjoy!