Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore Recipe Jar Sauce

This healthy Instant Pot chicken cacciatore recipe is so easy to make and just takes 3 minutes to cook 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.

Chicken Cacciatore InstaPot

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 Ninja Foodi too. All pressure cookers with the high setting will work to get this fall apart fork tender.

My mom used to make this when I was a child but it was in our slow cooker. That would take all day long to cook, this is great if you’re forgetful like me.

Ninja Foodi Chicken Cacciatore

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.

Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore with Jar Sauce

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.

Instant Pot 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.

Where did chicken cacciatore come from?

Y’all the name means hunter in Italian. It’s said they’re the first to eat this dish. If you go to your favorite restaurant like this you will find it on the menu. There are many tweaks to it so you likely won’t get the same 2 at different places but the base is the same.

Cooking chicken in a pressure cooker

Beef is great in this machine too but with poultry it just breaks it down so fast. 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

Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore Breasts

Full of flavor from the spaghetti sauce (could use homemade recipe for spaghetti sauce but I am all about easy), seasoning and the flavor from the bell peppers it’s a great dinner idea. If I can pressure cook a meal we all love in under 30 minutes it’s a huge win. This chicken cacciatore in my pressure cooker got a thumbs up from all of us.

• 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
• Onion
• Bell peppers
• Chili powder
• Garlic salt
• Spaghetti sauce – we like this one
  • Can use tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and diced tomatoes instead (to total 24 oz.)
• Quartered mushrooms, red pepper flakes & Kalamata olives  are optional

What does Hunter style mean?

It is just a term used to describe this dish which is sometimes made with wine. Prepared with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and herbs it comes from the Italian definition cacciatore which means to hunt. You could add some red wine into the mix for added flavors or make your own homemade sauce with it.

What do you serve chicken cacciatore over?

• You could add chicken to a plate as is for a low carb dinner
• Or make this easy Instant Pot white rice and serve it on top
• Over egg noodles works well too

I call it a best recipe win when all of us like it, it’s easy to prepare, and it costs under $20 to feed all of us.

• This checked all those boxes, plus I had enough for lunch the next day. 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.

How long does chicken cacciatore last in the fridge?

Usually 3-4 days is the general rule if stored in an air tight plastic container or freezer bag. You need to make sure it has cooled before packaging it up. Looking for more easy Instant Pot chicken recipes?

• 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.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

There’s a video in the post showing you how we make it at home. 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.

Here’s a quick step by step but there’s a printable recipe card with recipe tips at the bottom of this post too:

1. Pour half jar of spaghetti sauce on bottom of pot. Cube chicken into small bite size pieces and add into your Instant Pot.
2. Pour rest of spaghetti sauce over that. Add 1/2 c. water into your spaghetti sauce jar, put on lid and shake to get remaining sauce out of jar. Pour this liquid on top of chicken.
3. Cut bell peppers and onion into strips (thicker if you want them firmer when done, thinner if you want them really soft). Add into your pressure cooker.
4. Sprinkle your chili powder, garlic salt, and any other seasonings you like over that.
5. Set your Instant Pot to manual, pressure, high, for 3 minutes.
6. Allow to naturally release steam for 2 minutes, then quick release, lift lid carefully and serve over rice!
7. As always, check chicken when done to make sure it is thoroughly cooked thru, 3 min. is plenty of time if cut into bite size pcs. initially.

After you lock the lid and timing is done, allow pot to naturally release steam for 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.

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