Go Back
+ servings
Square photo of two bowls with the chicken cacciatore on pasta
Print

Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore

This Instant Pot chicken cacciatore recipe is my twist on a classic Italian dish for the ultimate weeknight dinner. Tender, juicy chicken braised in a mouthwatering gravy and served over pasta or rice…does it get any better than that?
Course Dinner
Cuisine Italian
Keyword chicken cacciatore, easy chicken dish, instant pot chicken, instant pot chicken cacciatore
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 17 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Servings 7 servings
Calories 243kcal

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 sealed and push the pressure cook button 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.
  • Ladle some chicken cacciatore over some pasta or rice along with some vegetable.
  • Serve
  • Enjoy

Notes

Helpful Tips
  • I've made this recipe with chicken thighs that have the skin and bones intact and with skinless chicken thighs without the bone. 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 instant pot.
  • Some people prefer chicken breasts more than thighs, use whichever you prefer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 243kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 710mg | Potassium: 872mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 876IU | Vitamin C: 51mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 3mg