Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Roasting a chicken in the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot is easy as easy can be. Seriously. The hardest thing I’d say is actually heafting up that 3 1/2 – 4lb bird into the roasting pot. Again, seriously! Keep on a’ readin’ to see exactly how you can achieve this yourself. NO MORE DRIED OUT ROTISSERIE CHICKEN FOR YOU, MY FRIEND!! HELLO NINJA FOODI ROAST CHICKEN!

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

NINJA FOODI ROAST CHICKEN (also Instant Pot directions)

So today’s instructions are going to be given on the premise of using the Ninja Foodi. You can use the exact same instructions to make Instant Pot Roast Chicken except that you’ll have one extra step that I’ll include down below.

Let’s start by seasoning the water. YES,.. the water!! I know right? But believe me when I say that adding seasoning to the water will help make your end product just THAT much more tasty! Add one or two drops of liquid smoke to the water.  I know it sounds odd.. but it really gives it that little bit extra, you know??

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

So put that water at the bottom of the cooking pot and then place the air fry basket inside, on top of the water.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Let’s now season the chicken.  Easy peasy. 

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Season the chicken with the spices listed below (both inside and out, btw),  but don’t remove the tie around the chicken. You could, but then it gets all splayed out and a bit more difficult to wrangle.. and come on now.. who wants to wrangle a raw chicken?? Nah, not me thanks! 🙂

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

FOODI ROAST CHICKEN: Pressure cooking

So after seasoning, place the chicken in the air fry basket, breast side up. Place the pressure cooking lid on the pot, lining up the arrows and turning to lock.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Be sure the lid switch is in the sealing position.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Press “pressure” on High, for 15 minutes. Let it go! Keep in mind the pot will take some time to come to pressure. The LCD display on the front will circle around for a bit and then the time will display and start counting down.  When the time is up, do a quick release by turning the toggle switch from “sealing” to “venting”.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Carefully remove the lid, and with oven mitts, lift out the air basket tray. Drain the liquid accumulated in the main pot. Return the chicken and the basket back into the Foodi bowl.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

In a bowl, melt the butter and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder together. Brush this over the entire chicken as well as possible.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

FOODI ROAST CHICKEN: Air Crisping

Cover with the air fry lid and choose the “air crisp” function, turn the temperature to 400 degrees and choose 15 minutes again for the time. Let it go. The best part about this is that you can peek on the chicken as it’s crisping, so you can get the perfect amount of crisp and browning that you’d prefer on the chicken!

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

So when you have reached the desired crispiness that you’d prefer, be sure to check the temperature of the chicken at the thickest part of the breast, or between the leg and the body of the chicken. It should read 165 or so. It’s ok if the temp is a few degrees away because as it sits it will still continue to roast and come up to the desired temperature. Remove the chicken and basket from the unit and set aside.  Cover with some foil to keep warm while you make the gravy. 

FOODI ROAST CHICKEN: Making Gravy

There should be some drippings in the main bowl of the unit. Cancel everything on the unit and then press saute. Add  2 tbsp of butter and the flour to the pot. Let the butter melt and then incorporate that into the flour. Continue to stir it around to “cook” the flour, and get a bit of color on the whole thing.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Add two cups of stock (commercial or homemade), one cup at a time. As the first cup thickens, add another cup and continue to cook that until it thickens as well.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Directions for the Instant Pot Roast Chicken:

Follow the directions I’ve put above for the pressure cooking part of cooking the bird.  Then, when the cooking time is up, do a quick release and remove the lid when the silver pin drops indicating it’s safe to do so.

Carefully remove the chicken into a baking pan. Baste the chicken with the butter mixture mentioned above and then set your oven to “broil”. Place the chicken under the broiler and watch it closely! When it achieves the browning and crisping that you prefer, remove and let rest.

Set the Instant pot to “saute” and continue on with making the gravy as described above.

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken


I hope that you try cooking your own rotisserie type chicken in your Ninja Foodi, so you can see how easy it is to get stellar results with a minimum amount of effort!!

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Serve the chicken with some yummy mashed potatoes or a really delicious recipe for 3 Minute Maple Carrots. Or, if you want a bit more decadence, try out this Brown Butter Parmesan Corn!

Foodi Roast Chicken will quickly become one of your “go-to” recipes for busy weeknights! Thank you for coming by The Salty Pot today! If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below and let me know what you thought of it!

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Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken
Ninja foodi 5 in 1 grill whole chicken

Ninja Foodi Roast Chicken

Yield: 1 whole chicken

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

This Ninja Foodi Roast Chicken has all things you love about Roast Chicken. Juicy inside, crispy top, and best of all, it's done all in ONE POT, and in LESS TIME than conventional oven roasting!!

Can I cook a whole chicken in Ninja Foodi grill?

You can pressure cook a whole chicken in the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot in 15 minutes. Make sure to pressure cook the chicken with water, placing the chicken on a trivet above the water level. After quick releasing the pressure release valve, air fry the chicken until the skin is crisped to your liking.

How do you grill chicken in a Ninja Foodi Smart grill?

Press the grill button, set the temperature to MEDIUM, and set the time to 25 minutes. Once “Add Food” flashes, add chicken breasts onto the grill, and close the lid..
Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. ... .
Flip meat one last time and baste one more time. ... .
Allow meat to rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving..

Can you cook a whole chicken in a Ninja air fryer?

Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Rotisserie Chicken Season both sides and put in air fry basket with breast side facing down. Close air crisp lid and set to 360 degrees for 30 minutes. Reset to 360 degrees for another 30 minutes. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before slicing.