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Instant Pot Creamy Chicken With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

By Julia · 17 commentsUpdated Mar 25, 2021 · Published Jan 30, 2018

This flavorful creamy chicken is a fabulous low carb dinner that takes less than 15 minutes of cooking time in a pressure cooker. Enjoy juicy and tender bites of chicken, seasoned with Italian herbs and garlic, soaked in a rich white sauce made with cream and cheese. Spinach and sun-dried tomatoes add texture and tartness.

close up view of creamy chicken with sun-dried tomatoes

Instant Pot Creamy Chicken With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

4.63 from 8 ratings
Prep
15 mins
Cook
15 mins
Total
30 mins
Makes
2 servings

Ingredients

For Seasoning Chicken:

Instructions

  1. Season Chicken: Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to make them thinner. Pat dry with paper towels. Stir all seasoning ingredients (olive oil, garlic, dried herbs, salt, pepper) in small bowl until well-mixed. Evenly spread over both sides of each chicken piece.

  2. Sauté Chicken: Select sauté mode on pressure cooker (Note 6) for medium heat. Once heated, add seasoned chicken pieces to pot, arranging in single layer if possible. Cook until chicken is lightly browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Turn off sauté mode.

  3. Pressure Cook: Add water to pot. Lift up each chicken piece and use sturdy utensil to loosen any brown bits stuck to bottom of pot. Verify that chicken pieces are evenly distributed and that sufficient water covers bottom of pot (if not, add water to cover). Secure and seal lid. Cook at high pressure for 3 minutes (Note 7), then release pressure by gradually turning release knob to venting position.

  4. Thicken Sauce: Uncover and transfer chicken to plate, leaving liquid in pot. Discard half of liquid, about 1/3 cup, so that remaining liquid barely covers bottom of pot. Select sauté mode for medium heat. Stir in heavy cream and cream cheese until melted. Simmer sauce for a few minutes until thickened, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cut chicken into strips. Turn off sauté mode.

  5. Finish & Serve: Add sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and parmesan cheese to pot, stirring with sauce for a few seconds. Transfer chicken strips back to pot, stirring to soak up sauce. Serve hot (Note 8).

Nutrition

Makes 2 Servings
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 750 (58% from fat)  
Total Fat 48g 74%
   Saturated Fat 24g 121%
Cholesterol 260mg 87%
Sodium 930mg 39%
Net Carb 6g  
Total Carb 7.5g 2%
   Dietary Fiber 1.5g 6%
   Sugars 3g  
Protein 60g  
Vitamin A 38% · Vitamin C 14% · Calcium 23% · Iron 16%

Photos

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Spinach. About 1 ounce weight. I use fresh baby spinach, not frozen.

(2) Parmesan Cheese. This is finely grated parmesan that has a sandy or almost powdery texture, not shredded, often available in pre-grated bags in the refrigerated section of U.S. grocery stores. The fine texture allows it to melt and absorb quickly into the sauce. This can be substituted with similar cheeses like pecorino romano or asiago.

(3) Sun-Dried Tomatoes. About 0.7 ounce weight. I use dry-packaged sun-dried tomatoes, typically found in the produce area of U.S. supermarkets, in plastic packaging. Oil-packaged ones are fine as long as you blot off any excess oil.

(4) Cream Cheese. About 1 ounce weight. I use regular, full-fat cream cheese from the brand Philadelphia, not reduced fat or light versions.

(5) Dried Italian Herbs. Such as oregano, basil, and/or Italian seasoning blend. I typically use oregano for its stronger flavor.

(6) Pressure Cooker Equipment. I use a 6-quart Instant Pot. You can use a different size of electric pressure cooker as long as all ingredients fit within the maximum capacity line.

(7) Pressure Cooking. Before cooking, remember to seal the pressure cooker by turning the pressure knob from “venting” to “sealing,” otherwise the pot will not pressurize. After cooking, to release pressure, gradually turn the knob back to “venting” and wait for the pressure pin to drop before uncovering. If you scale the ingredients up or down for a different number of servings, the pressure cooking time remains the same.

(8) Serving. Serve this creamy chicken dish over vegetables like spiralized zucchini, riced cauliflower, or roasted mushrooms.

More Instant Pot:

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Discussion & ratings

17 comments · 4.63 / 5 from 8 ratings

Jennie Olivero

★★★★

Very tasty recipe, we really enjoyed it. I did saute the zucchini noodles and they were a lot like pasta. We will make this again. Thanks for the recipe!
Like (1)
Michelle

★★★★★

Awesome dish with great flavor. I used smoked sun dried tomatoes which we loved. First instapot meal and was pretty easy.
Like (1)
Caitlin

★★★★★

This was such a great recipe! This was the first recipe I tried in my instant pot and it was a huge success! It goes great over zoodles, as recommended. I doubled the recipe and it worked out very well, even with the 10 cloves of garlic. Thank you!
Like (1)
Mary

★★★★

This was my first Instant Pot meal. The flavor was very good! But I doubled the sauce and served it over pasta. I also used 3 cloves garlic (instead of 5) and used 1.5 tsp Italian seasoning(dried herbs) instead of the 1 tsp. Will make again, but will make over the stove, as I'm not a fan of the Instant Pot yet.
Like (0)
Suzanne
This looks really good! I'm excited to try it!
Like (0)
Vanessa
Thanks for sharing! Are the zucchini noodles raw or do they get soaked or cooked?
Like (0)
Jenna

★★★★★

I did lighten this up a tad with only one change and that was to use unsweetened, plain almond milk in place of the heavy cream. The cream cheese and the parmesan cheese did a great job of thickening the sauce on their own and I didn't miss the heavy cream. Very delicious meal and a real keeper! Thanks for posting it!
Like (0)
Kristin
This looks very tasty... If I wanted to double the recipe to save enough for lunches for the week, would the ingredients be exactly doubled, or adjusted differently? Thanks!
Like (0)
Annette
Hi Julia, This recipe looks delicious! I would love to make it for a pot luck. What is your best advice for serving 10 to 12? Can it be multiplied that much?
Like (0)
JuliaAuthorReply to parent
Thank you Annette! Serving 10 people means multiplying the recipe by 5, which can work if your pressure cooker is large enough. It might be too tight of a fit for a 6 quart, but an 8 quart one might be doable. Avoid filling it up past the MAX line. If you have 2 pressure cookers, that would work as well. The other thing is sauteing the chicken. Since you can't fit them all at once in a single layer in the pot, it would take a really long time to individually brown them all. You might want to use separate skillets to help you with this, to save time. Also, even though you will be multiplying the recipe's ingredients by 5, the pressure cooking time should remain the same if each chicken breast is about 8 ounces. If your chicken breasts are larger, you may need to increase the cooking time by another minute or two.
Like (1)
Trish

★★★★★

Absolutely delicious!!! Will definitely make this again!
Like (0)
Vicki

★★★★

Very good.Husband even liked it.
Like (0)
Trish

★★★★★

This is one of my favorite "go to" recipes! My family fell in love with this and asks for it all the time. The only change I made was to double the sauce recipe so if we have garlic bread there is extra to soak up. Excellent! Highly recommend!!!!!
Like (0)