Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore

It’s been a while!

Hi friends, we hope you’re all doing well. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for us, so we haven’t been very active on the blog. This doesn’t mean we’ve stopped cooking, just that we’ve had less time for the recipe development, photography, and story-writing that goes into each of our posts.

What kept us so busy?

There’s been school events, hosting friends, appointments, meeting up with friends, Christmas shopping, and more! In fact, this past week, between Liz and I, there was something going on every weeknight and  all weekend! It was all good stuff, but it really did turn our weekly routine upside down!

Now with the holidays upon us, there won’t be much spare time for us until Christmas break. That means we have to get things done as efficiently as possible, and that goes for meal-making too. Thank goodness for our Instant Pot (which, by the way, has a permanent spot on our countertop now).

Sales… Specials… Promos… Ads…

As you have most likely noticed, Black Friday and Cyber Monday advertisements have taken over. There are some really great deals to be had…one of which is for one of our favourite kitchen tools, the Instant Pot. I’ve seen it on sale almost everywhere and the enthusiasm for this is high–understandably so. This means that there will be plenty of new Instant Pot owners looking for tasty recipes to make. We weren’t planning another Instant Pot recipe so soon after our Great Canadian Beef Stew, but all this excitement, and our current state of time-deprivation, inspired me to prepare and share a new recipe now.

Tastes like chicken… 🙂

Our family loves chicken! I’d have to say it’s one of our favourite proteins. I love steak and I have pork often too, but if I had to choose just one protein to eat for the rest of my live, it might be chicken. I grill and roast chicken often, but for today’s recipe, I thought I’d make a nice comfort meal in the Instant Pot.

Chicken Cacciatore is definitely comfort food. It has a nice rich broth that just begs for crusty dunkable bread. It also makes the house smell so good… “like home” if that makes any sense.

Is it as good as low and slow?

Given the time, I’d still prefer to slow cook weekend meals (which, in spite of its name, you can also do in an Instant Pot). I find it relaxing and comforting to know there’s something slowly cooking away in the kitchen, for a special meal. Plus there’s nothing wrong with the scent of a slow cooked meal lingering for hours in the house… call it potpourri for foodies 😉

Having said that, we’re starved for time, so making meals using the pressure cooking features of the Instant Pot is a great way to get delicious home-cooked meals on the table on busy days… and that’s awesome! There’s very little or no compromise in flavour and your family will thank you. Take-out or delivery is convenient, but you can only have so much of that.

Try our chicken cacciatore Instant Pot recipe–and while it’s cooking away, go cross something off your holiday to-do list. Hey…we’re all busy, but we still have to eat, so cook delicious food quickly, and eat well, friends!

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Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

This delicious rich Italian dish gets a speed boost in the Instant Pot without compromising flavour. Don't forget the crusty bread... So tasty!

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken chopped into 8 pieces (1.6 kg or 3.5 lbs)
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 medium onion , diced
• 3 cloves garlic , diced
• 1 green bell pepper , seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper , seeded and chopped
• 1 can (796 ml or 27 fl oz) whole peeled tomatoes , roughly broken apart with a fork
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp drained capers
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup black olives
• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley , roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Season the chicken pieces with the salt and pepper.

2. Dredge the chicken in the flour to lightly coat all the pieces.

3. Heat the Instant Pot on the Sauté setting.

4. Once the pot reaches the sautéing temperature, pour about 1 tbsp of the olive oil in the pot.

5. Brown one batch of chicken pieces (4 pieces), and set aside.

6. Add 1 more tbsp of olive oil and brown the next batch. Set aside.

7. Pour in the remaining olive oil and add the onions, garlic and bell peppers.

8. Sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onions start to soften.

9. Add the wine and stir/scrape to deglaze the pot.

10. Place the chicken pieces back in the pot.

11. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, capers and pepper flakes.

12. Close the lid.

13. Close the steam valve (sealing) and press the Poultry button (15 minutes).

14. At this point, the Instant Pot will take roughly 12 minutes to build pressure and then cook 15 minutes.

15. Once the Instant Pot beeps, use the quick pressure release to let out the steam in about one minute.

16. Once the float valve drops (the steam is completely released), open the lid.

17. Add the black olives, basil and parsley, and give the pot a light stir.

18. Press the Keep Warm/Cancel button and serve the chicken with rice or pasta. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

• I used the Instant Pot Duo 6 Quart.
• In this recipe, the cooking time includes the time it takes the Instant Pot to reach high pressure.

Nelson Cardoso