Summary:
This hearty Italian Chicken Stew has tender, shredded chicken accompanied by vegetables like onions, celery, carrots, and tomatoes. Fresh basil, bay leaves, and dried oregano provide additional flavor, and kalamata olives lend a pleasant tartness.
Italian Chicken Stew
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Natural Release: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 0.75 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (Note 1)
- 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1/2 cup 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 table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon
dried oregano - 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Sauté Vegetables: Select sauté mode on
pressure cooker (Note 2) for medium heat. Add olive oil to coat bottom of pot. When display reads HOT, add onion, celery, and carrot. Stirring occasionally, cook until softened, about 5 minutes. - Add Liquids: Add diced tomatoes (including liquid in can), chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaves, oregano, salt, and pepper to pot, stirring together until tomato paste is dissolved. Turn off sauté mode.
- Pressure Cook: Add chicken thighs to pot, submerging in liquid. Secure and seal lid. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by 10 minute natural release. Manually release remaining pressure.
- Shred Chicken: Uncover and use tongs to transfer only chicken to plate. Discard bay leaves, if desired. Turn on sauté mode for low heat. As liquid simmers, use 2 forks to shred chicken and return them to pot. Add kalamata olives.
- Thicken & Serve: Continue simmering until liquid reduces to stew consistency, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off sauté mode, and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve while hot (Note 3).
NUTRITION
| Makes 4 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving (1 cup): |
| Calories 230 (57% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 15g | 23% |
| Saturated Fat 1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol 70mg | 23% |
| Sodium 390mg | 16% |
| Net Carb 7.5g | |
| Total Carb 10.5g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 3g | 12% |
| Sugars 5.5g | |
| Protein 16g |
PHOTOS
Delicious! I doubled the amount of chicken, and kept all other ingredients and timing the same. So, so, so good!
Tripled the recipe, leaving out the olives, for 3 adults and 3 kids (ages 10, 7, and 2). It filled the pot almost above max fill line. There were NO leftovers. The older 2 boys went back for seconds and the youngest ate almost his entire bowl. The adults also went back for more. Definite winner in this house. Looking forward to making it again.
I would like to use bone in chicken breast pieces. For how long should I cook it?
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!
I used a 300g chicken breast cut into 6 pieces. I added zucchini and green beans in the beginning, then stirred through a rinsed can of 4 bean mix at the end when simmering. No olives. Absolutely delicious. Definitely a new regular addition to my meal prep. I got 4 serves. Thank you
SERIOUSLY, YOU DON’T MISS! This was absolutely delicious and so easy. I doubled the recipe and am so thankful I’ll have leftovers. Only change I made was to use dried basil because I didn’t have any fresh (winter in the PNW). Your recipes are my favorite. Truly.
This was absolutely delicious! I didn’t have the olives, but I added a few quartered potatoes, and added peas at the end. My husband and I loved it. I had a similar recipe from my mom, but it took most of the day to make. This was very similar to her recipe but a snap to make. Thanks for the recipe.
Just made this again tonight and loved it! We both had seconds. 😉
Julia. What an awesome chicken stew. The flavor is great. I thickened it a little with cornstarch. My wife not really into trying new recipes, this one hit the spot with her. Thanks loads. For Tasha, put in a tablespoon of the brine in the liquid, add that little tang.
I have a big smiley face on this recipe.
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 🙂
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.
Loved this