Instant Pot Chicken Stew

It's been a while since my last Instant Pot recipe post and I wanted to share another good recipe with you. I love Beef Stew, so I figured any type of stew would probably be great done in a pressure cooker. I decided to see if I could come up with a good recipe for a Chicken Stew. Most of the recipes I found sounded OK but didn't sound like they'd be anything special. Then I came up with the idea of finding a decent Instant Pot Chicken recipe but doing the base of it using what's found in a chicken soup recipe. Wow... it turned out great!

Instant Pot Chicken Stew - make the whole meal in your Instant Pot!Photo byCindy Rybaczyk / Lake County Florida - Here's What's Happening

So here are the two recipes that I used to give me an idea of what to do - I started off with a recipe off of Instant Pot's website for Homestyle Chicken and Vegetables. It sounded good but to me, I didn't expect it to have all that much flavor based on what was in it (maybe that was the reason for the 4-star rating by those that have tried it). Next, I did some searching and found a recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup. I thought that the soup recipe would have the flavor I was hoping for and decided to combine recipes (without the noodles) to make Chicken Stew. Here's what I did (all changes are listed below):

Any time I make a stew, I love to include carrots.Photo byK8onUnsplash

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped up for the base
• 2 onions, chopped up for the base
• 8 California carrots (3 peeled and chopped up for the base, the rest peeled and sliced)
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped up for the base
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 4 chicken breasts on the bone, skinless (just a preference)
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 32 oz container of Progresso Chicken Broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 24-ounce bag of Honey Gold Fast Prep, Triple Washed, No Peeling Baby Potatoes (our local grocery store Publix has them - they're really good - I used this in place of cut-up Yukon Gold potatoes)
• 4-6 tbsp Wondra flour (great for gravies, less likely to clump than regular flour)

You can use Honey Gold Fast Prep Baby Potatoes, or you can cut up Yukon Gold potatoes instead.Photo byHai NguyenonUnsplash

Directions:

• Set your Instant Pot to the high saute setting. Begin by heating the olive oil. Add in the garlic, onion, chopped carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the thyme and rosemary until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Place chicken meat side down into your Instant Pot. Add in the potatoes and sliced carrots, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Add in chicken broth and bay leaves. Secure the lid, and set your Instant Pot to pressure cook, making sure that it is set up to pressurize. Adjust the time to 20 minutes. Let your Instant Pot work its magic!
• When the timer beeps, let the pressure release naturally until the float valve drops (this should take between 20-30 minutes; I left mine for about an hour and it was fine).
• Remove the chicken so you'll have room for thickening to make the gravy. In 1/4 cup cold water, stir in the flour until blended. Add in a 1/4 cup of the liquid from the pot - stir until blended. Set your Instant Pot back on saute, add the Wondra flour mixture, and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until you have a thickened base.
• Remove the bay leaves (if you can find them; if not, someone will!) and serve - chicken breast, baby potatoes, sliced carrots, and gravy. The chicken will be extremely tender and may fall off the bone (or have bones that have fallen off), so make sure you are careful when serving / enjoying!

Bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, salt, & pepper add to the flavor of this delicious stew.Photo byFaran RaufionUnsplash

I've posted a few other recipes for dinners you can make in your Instant Pot - Chicken Marsala and Beef & Guinness Stew. For new Instant Pot users just becoming familiar with cooking in an Instant Pot, check out I Have an Instant Pot - Now What? The videos in it are from Six Sisters Stuff and they teach you how to use your Instant Pot to make various side dishes, entrees, and meals.

Many of my articles to date have dealt specifically with Lake County, Florida, but I'm expanding and covering recipes and restaurants I enjoy. If you're interested in following along, here's what you need to do - download the Newsbreak app, create a User Account, and follow me at Lake County Florida - Here's What's Happening! If this sounds like a good recipe to you and you think others may enjoy it as well, please share it with them. Enjoy!