Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Instant Pot chicken cacciatore recipe with jar sauce is easy to make in your pressure cooker. Moist and full of flavor, you just need 3 main ingredients for this low carb dinner idea! Serve over rice it’s our favorite comfort food.

This new chicken cacciatore recipe we made tonight and it came out great! I have been creating lots of easy Instant Pot recipes ever since I got mine 3 Christmas’ ago and it is the best way to make a full on healthy dinner in less than 20 minutes!

If you do not have one of these fancy pressure cookers I can’t say enough about them! I’ve used chicken thighs and chicken breasts depending on which I find on sale. I actually have a few different brands at home. I like to ensure that they all work the same, at the same rate do I can let you know. As long as yours is electric with high pressure you’re good to go.

Really healthy great recipe, using a few ingredients and inexpensive at just under $11 to fed 6 of us. You can make this in your Crockpot Express or as a Ninja Foodi recipe too. All pressure cookers with the high setting will work to get this fall apart fork tender.

I do like to make things as easy as possible. If you do want to cook from scratch completely then by all means make and use your own spaghetti sauce. Many times we are rushing home from this and that so I just use what is in my pantry. Ragu or what is on sale at the time, doesn’t matter much to make this or Instant Pot spaghetti.

Typically I will dice it up so it is done even faster like you see here. Easier to eat too, especially with kids, this way as well. If left whole small breasts will take closer to 12 minutes instead of the 4 or so here. Up to you, the larger versions would work too.

• Making Instant Pot chicken recipes makes the cook time fast!
  • Crockpot chicken cacciatore takes 5 hours to cook
  • Instant Pot chicken cacciatore takes a total of about 15
• Pressure cooker recipes are packed with flavor as the meat really soaks up the sauce

You can cook veggies, meat, and sauce together like our pressure cooker chicken and rice. Everything comes out tender all at the same time. I can walk away from the pot and let everything cook on it’s own

Ingredient Notes

Chicken breasts – boneless, skinless, cut into bite size pcs. (could use chicken thighs if you preferred) I use fresh chicken this time, and typically. I recommend fresh but small frozen breasts would work increasing the cook time to 12 minutes with a 3 minute natural release

I like to add a yellow or white Onion sliced thick to add flavor and texture to the dish but it’s optional as well as adding Bell peppers, any color works.

For the seasonings use some Chili powder more or less to taste and heat level desired. Garlic salt is a great add in as well.

Add a whole Jar of spaghetti sauce, or can use tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and diced tomatoes instead (to total 24 oz.) You could make homemade Instant Pot spaghetti sauce to start with but I am all about easy.

And if you want more veggies add quartered mushrooms. Red pepper flakes & Kalamata olives  are optionaltoo.

Chicken Cacciatore with Frozen Chicken

I talk about frozen chicken in Instant Pot a lot and yes it works well. You will want to increase the timing though if doing this. Make sure your pieces are broken apart, small in size, and change the cook time to 12 minutes. At the end allow the pressure to naturally release for 3 minutes. Veggies will be a lot softer this way so slice them rather thick.

In addition to the jar of sauce you will want to add 1/2 cup of water into that jar, put the on lid on and shake to get remaining sauce out of jar. You will need additional liquid to cook everything and this is the best way to give you the most flavor.

How Long to Cook Chicken Cacciatore in a Instant Pot

You are going to want to cook on high pressure for 3 minutes and then allow pot to naturally release steam for another 2 minutes. Then quick release pressure release to maintain juicy meat. I always add some shredded parmesan on the top when serving it over white or brown rice.

Recipe Notes

Don’t forget to dice before you add the chicken to the pot. Bite size pieces are best so they cook evenly and come out tender. If you’d like to season the chicken with any additional herbs and black pepper / salt at this time feel free.

You can slice the onions and bell peppers thin if you want them to be soft when it is done. I like them a bit firmer so I cut them a bit thicker before throwing them in, either way it’s great.

Other Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love

Spicy honey Instant Pot chicken you can make with as much heat as you’d like, or mild too. Hawaiian Instant Pot shredded chicken includes diced pineapple for a sweet and savory blend. The best Instant Pot sesame chicken is like Panda Express but way cheaper to make yourself at home.

Here’s a butter masala recipe you can try too. I love incorporating new meals into our meal planning to see which we like best. I think this is why our kids have such a large list of things they like and are willing to try anything once.