Instant Pot Italian Chicken Stew
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 12 ounces boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 14 ounce can unsalted diced tomatoes
- 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives pitted and chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Select the saute mode on the pressure cooker for medium heat. Add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot.
- When the display reads HOT, add onion, celery, and carrot. Cook for about 5 minutes to soften them, stirring occasionally.
- Add diced tomatoes including liquid in the can, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaves, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir to dissolve the tomato paste. Turn off the saute mode.
- Add chicken thighs and submerge them in the liquid. Secure and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by a 10 minute natural release. Manually release remaining pressure.
- Uncover and use tongs to transfer the chicken to a plate. Discard the bay leaves, if desired. Turn on the saute mode for low heat.
- As the liquid simmers, use 2 forks to shred the chicken and return them to the pot. Add kalamata olives.
- Continue simmering until the liquid reduces to a stew consistency, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the saute mode, and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve while hot.
NUTRITION
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 230 | |
| Total Fat 15g | 23% |
| Saturated Fat 1g | 5% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 70mg | 23% |
| Sodium 390mg | 16% |
| Potassium 80mg | 2% |
| Total Carb 10.5g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 3g | 12% |
| Sugars 5.5g | |
| Protein 16g |
What’s In This Stew
This stew has tender and shredded chicken accompanied by vegetables like onions, celery, carrots, and tomatoes. Fresh basil, bay leaves, and dried oregano provide additional flavor, and the kalamata olives lend a pleasant tartness.
This recipe is pretty forgiving in terms of vegetables. You can easily substitute the onions, celery, and carrots with any leftover ingredients you might already have. Or if you have a favorite ingredient that you love to add to your Italian dishes, you can toss that in at the end.
I use boneless and skinless chicken thighs. You can substitute with another cut of meat, as long as you also adjust the pressure cooking time. You want the meat to be very tender and nearly falling apart, so that it can be easily shredded.
Equipment
I use a 6 quart Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. The stew only takes about 1 liter of volume, which is a little over 4 cups. Each serving is 1 cup.
If you’re looking to make more than 4 servings, you can easily double or triple the recipe. In fact, a 6 quart Instant Pot has a 5 liter maximum capacity. If you do so, you don’t need to alter the pressure cooking time.
Adjusting The Taste
To avoid an overly salty stew, pay attention to these ingredients:
- Diced Tomatoes: Make sure that these are unsalted. It should say on the can’s label if it’s unsalted vs seasoned.
- Chicken Broth: Make sure it’s low or reduced sodium.
If you can’t find unsalted diced tomatoes and/or low sodium chicken broth, don’t add salt until the very end. After the stew has finished simmering in the last step, do a taste test. Add salt and pepper until the stew is seasoned to your preference.
I made this last night for dinner and it was fabulous! I had everything on hand but diced tomatoes and fresh basil so I chopped a can of whole peeled tomatoes and used dried basil, I also used boneless, skinless chicken breasts as this is my preference and added more carrots and olives (we love both). I served with garlic toast and my hubby came back for seconds, having two full bowls which meant just enough leftovers for me to have lunch today. I will definitely make a double or even triple batch next time. Our favorite Instant Pot dish yet!
Delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Made this last night for a supper this week and we all loved it, hubby and 1 year old included. We omitted the olives because we aren’t big on olives and we also ran out of tomato paste so I subbed tomato soup and it turned out beautifully. Such wonderful flavors for a chilly night and so filling. I did make a double batch so I could have leftovers for lunch. I had some boneless and skinless chicken thighs already chopped in the freezer so we used those from frozen and increased the cooking time to 10 minutes. I simmered quite a while to get it thicker, probably about 30 minutes. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks!!
Using frozen chicken thighs likely contributed to the liquid content and hence the long simmering time. Glad you guys enjoyed it, and hope you get a chance to make it again 🙂
I would like to use bone in chicken breast pieces. For how long should I cook it?
My husband ‘hates’ olives in any form except oil. What can be substituted for olives in this recipe?
You can substitute with some capers. If capers are also unacceptable to your husband, then I would just omit it entirely without substituting.
I have made this five times. The taste is amazing, just give me another serving. Leftovers taste as good or better the next day. The Instant pot makes this simple and it feels like it is ready quickly.
While in season, garden tomatoes work great also.
Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for the feedback, Ed! I’m looking forward to make this more often, now that the weather is cooling down.
Loved this
Yum! Like cacciatore. Must try this soon!
You would love it! 🙂