Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
This Instant Pot chicken cacciatore recipe puts a modern twist on a classic Italian dish, making it the perfect choice for a weeknight dinner. Tender, juicy chicken is braised in a rich, flavorful gravy and served over pasta, noodles, or rice for a comforting and satisfying meal.
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 recipe has a touch of sherry, and chicken Marengo has a good dose of (usually) red wine.
I love the simplicity of this chicken dish. If I had made it on the stovetop, it would have taken over an hour. I heart you, Instant Pot.
My mom loved her pressure cooker too but I didn’t think much of it. Now that I’ve used one, I’m hooked and try to find more recipes to make in it.
The flavor of this cacciatore has always put a smile on our faces.
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Helpful tips
- I’ve made this recipe with bone-in chicken thighs and with skinless chicken thighs without the bone. It’s delicious both ways. You can also use chicken breasts if you prefer.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- If you do saute the chicken in the instant pot, use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan for all the browned bits.
- 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 instant pot.
- Some people prefer chicken breasts more than thighs, use whichever you prefer.
- If you want to keep it low-carb, serve it over zucchini zoodles or cauliflower rice.
How to make instant pot chicken cacciatore
Pre-step
Get your Instant pot and a sauté pan if you’re going to sauté the chicken outside of the pressure cooker, as I did.
Step one
Gather red pepper, green bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms.
Step two
Chop the onion and bell peppers into chunks and slice the mushrooms. (A)
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.) (B)
Step four
Either saute the chicken thighs in the pressure cooker with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin 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 the chicken out of the pan and set aside. (C)
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. (D)
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Step six
Place chicken, skin side up, on top of the veggies. (E)
Step seven
Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, bay leaf, and garlic paste (or garlic cloves.) (F)
Step eight
Give it a gentle stir, place the lid on the instant pot, and make sure the venting knob is in the sealed position. Press the manual pressure cook button, ensure it is set to high pressure, the mode is normal, 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 13 minutes.
Step nine
Once the cacciatore is done, either wait 15 – 25 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 until the steam stops escaping and the float valve drops.
Transfer the chicken and tomato sauce to your serving dish. I use my Dutch oven.
Doesn’t that gravy look outstanding? I spoon some pasta on a plate and add the chicken and sauce right on top.
Look at all those chunky veggies!
Now for the overhead view.
The taste of this dish is simply outstanding.
I hope you enjoy this instant pot chicken cacciatore recipe as much as Christopher and I do.
Other popular chicken recipes
And as always, may all your dishes be delish!
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Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
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 (omit this if you want this to be Whole30 compliant)
- 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)
Instructions
- Heat a sauté pan on medium. Once that heats up, add 1 tablespoon oil and after that heats up, add chicken skin side down. (You may have to do this in two batches). Sauté for 3 minutes, flip and cook for an additional minute. Remove chicken and set aside.2 tablespoons olive oil, 7 chicken thighs
- Plug the instant pot in and press the sauté button. After it has heated up, add one tablespoon of oil and add the onion and red and green peppers. Sauté for 3 minutes.2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion, 1 medium red bell pepper, 1 medium green bell pepper
- Add mushroom, salt, and pepper and sauté for 1 minute.10 ounces mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Add chicken, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, sherry (if not doing Whole30), oregano, basil, bay leaf, and garlic paste.28 ounces crushed tomatoes, 1 cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup dry sherry, 2 teaspoons oregano, 2 teaspoons basil, 1 bay leaf, 3 teaspoons garlic paste
- Seal the IP, make sure the venting knob is set to seal, and push the pressure cook button; make sure it is set to high pressure, the mode is on normal and set the timer to 13 minutes.
- Once the pressure cooker beeps that it is done, either let the IP release pressure naturally or put on an oven mitt and carefully release the pressure, by tapping the knob to the vent position for a quick release.
- Transfer the chicken and gravy over to a serving dish or serve out of instant pot container.
- Ladle some chicken cacciatore over some pasta or rice along with some vegetable.
- Serve and enjoy.
Equipment
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Helpful tips
- This recipe works well with bone-in chicken thighs, boneless skinless thighs, or even chicken breasts. Each cut brings a slightly different texture and flavor, but all are delicious.
- If using boneless, skinless chicken, there’s no need to brown it, and the pressure cooking time should be reduced to 10 minutes.
- I used organic, free-range chicken thighs with skin and bone for this version, but feel free to adjust based on your preference.
- Dry sherry adds a lot of depth to the flavor, so I recommend trying it with the recipe at least once, but you can omit it if you prefer.
- For large thighs, I browned them in a skillet outside the Instant Pot to help keep the skin intact, but you can also sauté them directly in the pot if you don’t mind the skin tearing a little.
- If browning in the Instant Pot, use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the insert.
- I usually skip sautéing the vegetables in the Instant Pot, but with large chicken pieces I like to do it to reduce their volume and avoid overfilling the pot.
- Thighs are my preference for tenderness and flavor, but chicken breasts work just as well if that’s what you like.
- For a low-carb option, serve this dish over zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice.
Nutrition
Originally published May of 2018.
I love chicken cacciatore, and I can’t even remember the last time I had it. This was delicious.
Thank you, Gloria!!
2 questions, can you use bone-in chicken thighs? If so, any guess on how much longer it would take? And can you use minced garlic instead of the paste? Can’t wait to try this!
Hi Karen! Yes, you can use bone in thighs and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Just add 5 minutes to the pressure cook time and that should do it. It’s super delicious and you’ll have lots of extra gravy (red sauce) for pasta, etc. I hope you enjoy it! Elaine
Just wanted to come back and say I made it and loved it! It was delicious! Served it over egg noddles and it was a big hit! Thanks!
Yay Karen! Thank you so much for telling me. I appreciate it and I’m glad you enjoyed it!
So first off…I just printed this recipe off for our dinner menu next week. YEAH ! So excited to try this recipe out! Next – I love that you have made this so easy!! Can’t WAIT to try this! Love my Instant Pot!
Yay!! I’m always trying to find more ways to use my instant pot!! I hope you enjoy it!
Instant pot is really amazing.This chicken was absolutely delicious. My family loved it.
Thank you, Natalie.
If there’s one thing I love it’s this dish. The chicken and sauce over the pasta. Perfection.
Thanks, Chris.
Wow I’m loving all the flavors in this chicken dish. Very tasty and one more great recipe for my Instant Pot.
Thanks so much Michelle!
Can you make it with chicken breast and if so how long should I cook it? It looks delicious!
Hi Julie! If it has the bone, then 13 minutes. If not than I would say the same as the thighs which is 10 minutes! I hope you enjoy it. It’s so tasty! I updated the recipe card to reflect the time in the notes section. 🙂
I have a different brand of pressure cooker than an IP, are you setting your pressure to low, medium or high?
Mkorsch! I always set it to high!
I want to make this recipe. It looks delicious. Is it possible to cook the pasta in the instant pot? I’ve read other recipes that break the pasta and lay it on the top.
Hi Joyce! I’ve never tried cooking pasta in the IP before but I did some research. Here’s what I have deduced. You have to cook the recipe as written and then carefully do a quick release. Once it’s safe to open, fish out the chicken and set it aside and cover with foil to keep warm. Add the pasta of your choice and seal the IP again. Cook on the manual pressure cooking setting on high for 4 minutes and when it beeps that it’s done, let it naturally release for 5 minutes and THEN do a quick release. I hope this makes sense. Good luck. I’d love to know how it is cooking the pasta in the sauce. I hope you enjoy the recipe and thank you so much for your comment!
This recipe is so delicious! Thanks for the extra instructions for cooking the pasta, I did this but I use pasta from Costco which seems to take longer to cook, so I cooked the spaghetti for 5 minutes then let it sit for another 5 minutes on slow release before starting the quick release. Turned out great and I will definitely be making this again!
Thank you, Victoria! I’m so glad to hear that. And thank you for letting me know.
I love this dish. It’s easy enough for daily rotation, and pretty and awesome enough to serve for special occasions. 🙂
Thanks Anita. You hit the nail right on the head!
This instant pot chicken cacciatore recipe was awesome. My family loved it and that tender chicken and delicious gravy made this recipe perfect.
Thanks so much Dennis! I appreciate it. It’s perfect during the weekend because it is so quick to make.
I made your recipe for a gathering the other day and everyone kept asking for the recipe. It was totally a hit!
I’m so pleased to hear that Shadi! I ‘m glad you all enjoyed it.
Cacciatore is one of my favorites but to be honest it is time-consuming so using the Instant Pot to make this delicious recipe is genius! What a time saver and so good.
Thanks Sharon. I love my Instant Pot more and more every time I make it.
This was such a delicious dish; love all the perfectly balanced flavors! Can’t wait to make this again later this week!
Thank you Sara! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
What a delightful dish has all the perfect ingredients and so easy!
Thanks, Adriana.
Oh my goodness! This chicken cacciatore recipe was amazing! I love that this is another great recipe that I can use my Instant Pot with! Score!
Hehe. Thanks Jess. That’s how I feel when I find another IP recipe!
This chicken was so comforting! Plus, I love that you make it in Instant Pot! It make the cooking whole process so much easier!
Thanks Veronika. I hope you enjoy it when you do try it!
This cacciatore is a life saver for busy weeknights! It is so hearty and delicous. Great recipe Elaine!
Thanks Leanne!
This was delicious! The flavors are perfect for me and love that it’s so easy to make. I love using my instant pot as much as I can.
Hehe. Thanks Jo. I adore my instant pot too! 🙂
This chicken cacciatore is loved at our house. I’m loving it because the instant pot does most of the work and the kids love it because of it’s delicious.
Thanks Kelly! It’s so easy to make and I’d never go back to making it the old fashioned way.