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Chicken Cacciatore is a classic Italian dish made in the Instant Pot. The sauce is made with crushed tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms. And the chicken is tender and juicy. Easy dinner recipe ready in about 30 minutes.
In Italian cuisine, alla cacciatora refers to a meal prepared “hunter-style,” which is often made with onions, herbs, tomatoes, bell peppers, and sometimes wine. This version is true to its roots: The chicken is braised in the pressure cooker with an assortment of veggies, white wine, and plenty of tomatoes. Toss in some olives at the end for a briny addition. It’s absolutely amazing – perfect comfort food!
For a stovetop version, check out my One Skillet Chicken Cacciatore recipe.
Instant Pot Cookbook for Two & A Giveaway
The recipe I am sharing with you today is from my friend’s Erica’s new cookbook. I am excited for the launch of her beautiful new book, The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook for Two! If you’re looking for ways to eat healthy meals, the Instant Pot Cookbook for Two is for you! It has 125 perfectly-portioned recipes for the pressure cooker. It has everything from breakfast to dinners to dessert, lots of naturally glutenfree and paleo options, too. I have tried several of the recipes, and they were all amazing! This Chicken Cacciatore will be added to our regular weekly rotation. A lot of the other recipes are made with easy to find ingredients and are very quick to make. The cookbook also includes some essential and very helpful tips for using an Instant Pot. The cookbook is now available on Amazon. Use the code 2PRESSURE42 to save $2.00 off on Amazon. Code valid through 5/20.
I am happy to share that you can enter for a chance to win a FREE cookbook on my Instagram profile, starting 6/14/18 at 8am CST. One lucky reader will get one of the first copies of the Instant Pot Cookbook for Two. Just head over to Instagram and enter the giveaway. Good luck!
What To Serve Chicken Cacciatore With
You can serve the chicken cacciatore with mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, gluten-free noodles, zoodles and even spaghetti squash. I served it over mashed potatoes because I had some leftover mashed potatoes on hand.
Healthy Chicken Cacciatore (Low-Carb, Keto, Gluten-Free, Paleo)
This Chicken Cacciatore recipe made in the Instant Pot is generally healthy because it uses whole foods and has no highly-processed ingredients. Depending on whether you want to make a low-carb, keto or paleo chicken Cacciatore, you can use zoodles, spaghetti squash or mashed cauliflower which are low-carb, keto & paleo. The Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore recipe is naturally gluten-free.
Can You Freeze Chicken Cacciatore
Yes, chicken Cacciatore freezes well. Set in container what you want to freeze, making sure the meat is covered by the sauce, and then label the box and freeze. To reheat, let defrost, bring to a simmer and let the chicken heat up throughout.
It’s a great recipe to add to your meal planning rotation too. You can cook a couple of batches of this recipe on the weekend, and eat one part of it same weekend and freeze the rest for later. It will save you so much time.
More Quick & Easy Instant Pot Dinners
- Instant Pot Goulash
- Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
- Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
- Instant Pot Ham and Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
INGREDIENTS
- 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced shallots
- 1/2 cup diced green bell peppers
- 1/2 cup chopped Baby Bella mushrooms
- 3 garlic cloves, , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- 1/2 cup white wine (or stock)
- 14 oz crushed tomatoes with their juices (1 can)
- 2 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 6 oz Kalamata or black olives, (optional)
- pinch red pepper flakes, (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Wash the chicken and pat dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper.
- Preheat the pressure cooker pot on sauté mode. When the display reads hot, add the oil, then add the chicken thighs in a single layer, cooking for 5 minutes on each side, or until browned. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add the shallots, bell pepper, and mushrooms and sauté until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and herbes de Provence and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
- Pour in the wine & deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon and stirring them into the liquid. Cook until the wine is reduced by half.
- Set the chicken on top of the contents of the pot, then pour in the tomatoes and their juices and the tomato paste.
- Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes, then allow the pressure to naturally release, about 10 minutes. Open the vent at the top and remove the lid.
- Stir in the olives and red pepper flakes (if using). Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired.
- Serve over pasta, mashed potatoes, spaghetti squash, or polenta, garnished with basil or parsley.
TIPS & NOTES
NUTRITION
Use the tag #DeliciousMeetsHealthy when posting a picture of your recipe, and make sure to follow @deliciousmeetshealthy on Instagram!
|Can you substitute chicken breasts in this dish
yes, absolutely.
I have not made this yet, but it looks delicious. How should I adjust the cooking time for boneless chicken thighs?
You can cook them for 10 minutes instead of 12. Hope you enjoy it!
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It is so frustrating when instant pot recipe times are misleading and don’t account for pressurizing time. This is definitely not a 30 minute meal.
Pressurizing time adds only about 10 min. (15 min max) which is hands-off time. My presentation in the recipe card is limited by the features (or lack thereof) in the recipe card which someone else has developed.
Misleading is if I write that the cooking time is 25 minutes which might suggest that you have to adjust the pressure cook time to 25 minutes instead of 12 min.
Frustrating is when you offer your work, time, and resources to other people for free and they come back and criticize you for small things.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the recipe and happy cooking 🙂
WOW< served it over spaghetti squash. GREAT flavors. Light yet satisfying. Definite keeper!
I really like the recipe. I add more veggies than the recipe calls for but ohter than that it turns out really well as is. I don’t find a lot of IP recipes that are flavorful without a lot of added fat or sauce but this one is delicious and it is better the second day.
I did not give it five stars because it take WAY longer than 10 minutes to prep.
I forwrded it to my daughter in laws.
I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and that you even shared it with your daughter-in-law! 🙂 Thank you!!
I also appreciate your feedback regarding the prep time. I think chopping the vegetables (shallots, garlic, and bell peppers) and taking the other ingredients from your pantry/fridge shouldn’t take too long.
I updated the recipe to show 15 minutes of prep time instead of 10.
It was good, a little acidic, I added sugar. But a secret ingredient to decrease acidity is to add some baking soda, and Bam! Acidity is gone. But be careful too much baking soda will ruin your whole dish, so add half teaspoon to a teaspoon at a time. Depending how much marinara you’re making. I will make this recipe again
Can I double the recipe? If yes, Will I need to increase the time?
Hi Kat, if everything fits in your instant pot and is below the MAX line on the inner pot, you can double the recipe. I would increase the cooking time to about 18-20 minutes (depending on what kind of chicken pieces you are using – chicken breasts, boneless or bone-in thighs). Hope this helps! Enjoy!
The flavors in this chicken sound incredible. And I am all about trying new dishes in the instant pot. Def saving for later!
Another yummy chicken dish my hubby would enjoy and it is even freezer friendly! I love how you combine it with mashed potatoes. Great photos, Neli!
This looks delicious – I love chicken cacciatore! Now I wish I had an Instant Pot haha. Thanks for that tomato paste tip, I will do that next time for sure!
That sauce looks amazing – so rich. Proper autumn comfort food.
I’m always looking for tasty new dishes to try in the Instant Pot and this looks incredible. I could definitely see this going down a treat in my house.
I love a good cacciatore, so many variants on this recipe and this one sounds superb… Must check out that book, so good to see someone focusing on recipes for two instead of the larger family 🙂