A quick weeknight chicken dinner with creamy mushroom gravy, made in the Instant Pot pressure cooker.
Imagine a cream of mushroom soup crossing paths with tender cooked chicken breasts, and you’ll get a good idea of what this dish is like. The chicken is pressure cooked in an Instant Pot until tender and juicy, while smothered with sauteed mushrooms and a smooth brown sauce.
Both thick and creamy, the sauce is a rich gravy made using heavy cream and finely grated parmesan cheese, thickened with a bit of corn starch. It’s flavored with some garlic and just a pinch of cayenne powder for added kick.
I’ve been hearing from a lot of readers who’ve received their first Instant Pot as a gift for their birthday or for Christmas. Many of them have made my Instant Pot chicken tikka masala and are looking for more chicken dinners that are also low in carbs and keto friendly. This mushroom chicken dish is similarly healthy and flavorful.
I initially experimented with making pork chops with mushroom gravy but ended up making this with chicken instead, as I much prefer the taste of chicken with this particular sauce. Moreover, I haven’t found a way to cook pork chops in the Instant Pot so they don’t easily overcook and become tough.
I use two chicken breasts in this recipe, each weighing about 6-8 ounces. If your chicken breasts are larger, you may want to increase the pressure cooking time by 1-2 minutes. Note that the recipe doesn’t call for pan searing the chicken before pressure cooking — just drop the chicken in and start the pressure cooker. Easy and simple.
This recipe yields 2 hearty servings, so it’s ideal for dinner for two. You won’t have to deal with any leftovers. If you’re wondering what to serve this with, I suggest appetizers such as bacon wrapped jalapenos or low carb biscuits.
Instant Pot Chicken With Creamy Mushroom Gravy
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound total)
- 10 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- salt and pepper
For the gravy:
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch of cayenne powder (1/8 teaspoon or less)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels. Generously season all sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Select the sauté mode on the pressure cooker for medium heat. When it has reached temperature, add olive oil to coat the bottom. Add mushrooms, cooking until they release their juices, a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add cream, water, garlic, and cayenne. Stir together until well-mixed. Turn off the sauté mode.
- Add chicken breasts to the pot in a single layer, nudging aside the mushrooms. The chicken should be sitting at the bottom of the pot, submerged in the liquid.
- Cover and lock the lid, and seal the vent. Select the manual mode to cook for 6 minutes at high pressure. Let it naturally release pressure for 5 minutes, followed by a gradual manual release.
- Uncover and transfer the chicken breasts onto serving plates.
- Stir the liquid left in the pot, and scoop about 1/4 cup into a small bowl. Combine with corn starch and stir until completely dissolved.
- Add corn starch mixture to the pot. Gradually stir in parmesan cheese. Let simmer on the sauté mode until thickened to form a gravy, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Turn off the sauté mode. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon gravy on top of the chicken. Garnish with fresh parsley.
NUTRITION
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 680 | |
| Total Fat 38g | 58% |
| Saturated Fat 22g | 108% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 252mg | 84% |
| Sodium 910mg | 38% |
| Potassium 990mg | 28% |
| Total Carb 10.5g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.5g | 2% |
| Sugars 0g | |
| Protein 60g |
I’m compiling recipes to try with my new appliance. This chicken recipe reads like it’d be saucey enough to toss in a cup of rice or raw/fresh cauliflower to soak up the sauce. Has anyone tried that?
We made this and when we opened the pressure cooker there was the chunky chicken fat every, like you get when you boil chicken. Did anyone else have this issue?
I haven’t experienced that before. Chicken breasts are pretty lean, so I’m surprised to hear that. If you make this again, trim off any excess fat on the chicken breasts.
Made this today and wow it is delicious! Made a few changes, based on some leftovers I needed to use up. Sauteed the mushrooms with 1/2 a small onion I needed to use. Added some fresh thyme from my window pot ( mushrooms need thyme!) as well as 2 small leaves of sage. My style of pressure cooker wouldn’t let me decrease the cooking time for poultry to anything less than 15 minutes. I forgot there are ways around that, but still let it cook 15 minutes on high pressure. The meat was perfect, moist, and delicious. Can not wait… Read more »
THIS WAS SOOOOOOO GOOD! I made it twice in one weekend. My only comment is that the recipe made enough sauce for 4 pieces of chicken, and when I made it the first time there was an excess of sauce. Other than that, this was excellent. The second time around I added more mushrooms and more garlic. This was an excellent introduction to the Instant Pot. Thank you!
I loved this! I added more mushrooms because I always enjoy extra mushrooms. Thanks for a quick and healthy recipe.
Could you use coconut cream instead of normal cream?
I made this tonight, it was pretty good. I sautéed minced garlic with the mushrooms. After adding the cornstarch and parmesan, the sauce did not have very much flavor, I added 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1 tsp of garlic salt, sauce was amazing, not to thick with the extra cheese added. I served the chicken and sauce over noodles with broccoli on the side..
Can I use boneless chicken thighs instead?
I finally tried this with pork chops instead of chicken. I used the info from your instant pot pork chops so sauted them first and then adjusted the cook time to 30 minutes. They turned out so tender and juicy! Delicious! I realize I forgot the cheese in the gravy so will add that another time. I left out the cayenne pepper as I wasn’t sure how that would be with pork? I felt like the gravy could use a hint of some seasoning but not sure what. Even adding salt and pepper did a lot. The pork chops were… Read more »
I’m happy to hear that it turned out well for you. Thanks for sharing your feedback, Judy!
A little ground sage would be good to compliment the pork. I would add an 1/8 th of a tsp to begin since sage is a strong herb. Thyme and rosemary are also lovely herbs that go well with por and mushrooms.
Maybe some Sherry or Marsala wine in the sauce?
Can you use frozen chicken breats for this? Or must they be defrosted first?
I recommend defrosting them first.
Can I use the chicken with the bone?
Can you do this in a slow cooker?
I would love to try this recipe but wondered if one can double this recipe using twice the ingredients?
Yes, you can double the ingredients. Keep the pressure cooking time the same.
Awesome over rice!
This was so delicious! I changed it slightly to use what I had – added 2 garlic cloves and an onion, used shiitake mushrooms and shredded Italian cheese mix with Parmesan, provolone, Asiago.. I had it with tater tots and doused them in the gravy. Will definitely make this again!!
Yum! Glad to hear you were able to tweak this to your liking, Carmen.
Do u think I could use FF half & half instead of heavy cream?
That would probably work. The gravy would be less thick but should still taste great.
So good! I made as instructed, but added dried basil. I also doubled the recipe. I served it with buttered egg noodles and peas. Thanks for a great keeper!
Basil is a nice touch. Glad you enjoyed this!