Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Name: Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 22 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil ((divided)); 7 chicken thighs ((skin and bone in)); 1 medium onion ((chopped in chunks)); 1 medium red bell pepper ((chopped in chunks)); 1 medium green bell pepper ((chopped in chunks)); 10 ounces mushrooms ((sliced)); 28 ounces crushed tomatoes; 1 cup chicken broth; 1/4 cup dry sherry; 2 teaspoons oregano ((dried)); 2 teaspoons basil ((dried)); 1 bay leaf; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon pepper; 3 teaspoons garlic paste ((or 3 cloves of garlic, crushed))

Last updated on September 18, 2020. Originally posted on October 14, 2019 By Elaine 84 Comments

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This instant pot chicken cacciatore recipe is so tasty and easy that it makes for a great weeknight meal. The chicken is incredibly tender, the gravy is robust and delicious, and the instant pot does most of the work.

Chicken with gravy on pasta in two bowls with a pan of the chicken behind it

When I was growing up, we had chicken cacciatore a lot. My mom alternated between serving us this delicious dish and serving chicken marengo. And even though the dishes are similar, I definitely get a hankering for each of them for different reasons.

The difference between the two is: this instant pot chicken cacciatore has a touch of sherry and chicken marengo has a good dose of (usually) red wine.

I love the simplicity of the instant pot chicken cacciatore. If I made this on the stove top, it would have taken over an hour. I heart you, IP.

I’ve talked about loving my instant pot before, but I can’t even tell you how it has simplified my life. Now when I think of making dinner or something for the blog, the first thing I ask myself is, “Hmmm, can I make it with my instant pot?”

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Ingredients and substitutions

Olive oil – I always use extra virgin olive oil because of the peppery and delicious taste.
Onion – I use Vidalia onions because I love the slightly sweet taste but if you prefer to use a yellow onion, that’s fine.
Bell Peppers – I use two different colors – green and red. The red gives it a slightly sweet taste and the green pepper is more conventional.
Mushrooms – I enjoy baby portobellos in this recipe but white button mushrooms are fine too.
Chicken thighs – I used organic free-range chicken thighs with the skin on and bones in for this recipe but you can use boneless and skinless thighs if you prefer.
Crushed tomatoes – I use a 28 ounce can.
Chicken broth – I enjoy Trader Joe’s free-range organic broth.
Dry sherry – Feel free to omit this though it does flavor the gravy quite nicely.
Herbs – I use dried organic oregano and basil.
Bay leaf – It is always a great addition to tomato sauce.
Salt – I use fine grain sea salt.
Pepper – Use as much as you want. I can’t because hubby is sensitive to it.
Garlic paste – I love this paste because it’s quick, easy and truthfully, no one knows the difference. The only thing that may be remarkable about this paste and garlic cloves is there aren’t noticeable chunks of garlic floating around. If you love chopping garlic, one teaspoon of garlic paste = one clove of garlic.

Helpful tips

I’ve made this recipe with both skin and bone thighs and thighs that have been boned and the skin removed. It’s delicious both ways.
If you do use boneless and skinless, there is no need to brown them. You will also change the pressure cook time to 10 minutes.
This recipe can be made without dry sherry but it’s so flavorful, I say try it like this first.
The thighs I used were huge so I decided to brown them outside of the Instant pot, mainly because I wanted the skin to stay attached and sometimes that doesn’t happen when you are sautéing in the deep IP insert. But if you don’t want to use another pan and don’t care about tearing the skin, sauté the chicken in the IP.
I also don’t usually sauté the veggies anymore when I use the IP but I chose to because I wanted them to shrink somewhat since the thighs were so big and I didn’t want to overfill the IP.

How to make chicken cacciatore

Pre-step

Get your Instant pot and a sauté pan if you’re going to sauté the chicken outside of the IP, as I did.

Step one

Gather red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion and mushrooms.

Peppers, onions and mushrooms on the table

Step two

Chop onion and bell peppers into chunks and slice the mushrooms.

Cut up onions and peppers in a metal bowl with chicken in the background

Step three

Open the can of crushed tomatoes and gather the herbs, bay leaf, salt, pepper, chicken broth and sherry. (You don’t need to put the herbs in the can, I just did it for the photo.)

Crushed tomatoes in the can with herbs and bay leaf with broth, sherry and garlic in the background

Step four

Either sauté the chicken thighs in the IP with 1 tablespoon of olive oil or do as I do and heat up a sauté pan on medium. Add olive oil and once that heats up, add the chicken skin side down and sauté for 3 minutes. Flip and sauté for 1 minute more.

Take chicken out of the pan and set aside. (A)

Step five

Plug in the instant pot and push the sauté button. When it has heated up, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and once that heats up, add the onion and peppers and let them sauté for 3 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms, garlic paste, salt and pepper and sauté for one minute more. (B)

Chicken on a platter, then in the instant pot - veggies sautéed, chicken added and tomatoes added on top

Step six

Place chicken on top of the veggies. (C)

Step seven

Add crushed tomatoes, herbs, bay leaf and garlic paste. (D)

Step eight

Lock the IP and make sure the venting knob is sealed. Press the pressure cook button, make sure the pressure is set to high and set the timer for 13 minutes.

Note for your timing: it takes between 10 – 15 minutes for the IP to come to pressure before it starts counting down the 10 minutes.

Step nine

Once the cacciatore is done, either wait 10 – 15 minutes for the pressure to release naturally or put on an oven mitt and after 5 minutes, carefully vent the pressure by tapping the venting knob for about a minute before locking it into the vent position.

Transfer the chicken to your serving dish. I use my Dutch oven.

Cast iron pan filled with chicken cacciatore with two bowls of pasta in the background

Doesn’t that gravy look outstanding? I spoon some pasta on a plate and add the instant pot chicken cacciatore right on top.

A green shallow bowl filled with pasta with chicken and red gravy on top

Look at all those chunky veggies!

Now for the overhead view.

Overhead view of the chicken on pasta with gravy on top. There is a green napkin and knife and fork on it

I hope you enjoy this instant pot chicken cacciatore recipe as much as Christopher and I do.

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And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

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