Instant Pot Chicken Breasts

More Instant Pot!  I wanted to see if the instant pot would make chicken breasts nice and tender.  I found a recipe here for cooking time guidelines.  It took about 25 minutes start to finish.  I made it with the chicken broth, but I am interested to try pineapple juice next time.  The kids did not like it of course, even though it was basically plain chicken.

Instant Pot Chicken Breasts

1 bag chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Optional for gravy:
2 T cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Pour chicken broth into instant pot, layer chicken breasts.  Season with salt, italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes thawed, 10-12 minutes frozen.  Let it release naturally for 5 minutes, then do a quick release.  In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water, then stir into the chicken broth.  Cook on saute for a few minutes until the broth thickens into gravy.  I took the chicken out and cut it into 1" pieces, then returned to the pot for easy serving to kids.

Instant Pot Beef Stew

I wanted to make beef stew and make sure that Henry could have it as well as make sure it is something that mostly everyone will enjoy (once I convince the kids to try it).  I found a couple of recipes that looked good, mostly this one from Pinch of Yum, but it did not have potatoes, so I took ingredients from here and here and put it together to make a hybrid version.  Takes approximately 90 minutes start to finish.  It was a hit with everyone!

Instant Pot Beef Stew

2 LB beef chuck roast - cut into 1-2" chunks
1 onion - diced
2 stalks celery - sliced
1/2 bag baby carrots - sliced
1 LB potatoes (5 medium) - cubed
2 cloves garlic - minced
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp italian seasoning
2 T brown sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Place everything except the cornstarch and water in the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, then let it release naturally for 10 minutes.  Release the rest of the steam, then mix cornstarch with the water and add to the broth to thicken.  It takes about 30 minutes to come up to pressure.

Instant Pot Orange Chicken

We enjoyed the Chicken and Broccoli from Life Made Sweeter, so we decided to try the Orange Chicken as well.  Her recipe is for 1.5 pounds of chicken, I doubled it so I could have leftovers and use a full bag of thawed frozen chicken breasts.

Instant Pot Orange Chicken

1 bag chicken breasts - thawed, cut into 1" pieces
4 T cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup orange juice fresh squeezed from 2 large oranges
4 T orange zest from 2 large oranges
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 cloves garlic minced
4 tsp minced ginger
dash red pepper chili flakes
1 tsp sesame oil
dash salt & pepper to taste
3 T cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

In a gallon ziplock bag, toss the first 4 ingredients: chicken with the cornstarch, salt, and pepper.  Heat instant pot on Saute function and add 1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil and fry coated chicken pieces in batches for 3-4 minutes on each side, then setting them on a paper towel lined plate.  Meanwhile mix up the sauce in a bowl: chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, orange juice, orange zest, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, sesame oil, and salt & pepper.  Return the chicken to the pot and cover with the sauce.  Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 15-20 minutes.  In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water, then add to the pot and cook on saute for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.  Serve with rice.

Instant Pot Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry

I wanted to use my new instant pot some more and Jeremy has been craving Chinese food.  We settled on this one.  I had to go to the store for the first three ingredients listed!  I also think that you could just as easily cook the whole thing in a wok, but it was fun to try out my new appliance.  We thought that it was a bit too salty as written, I think I would just not even season the meat next time and use water instead of chicken broth.  We served it with chow mein noodles and cashews, but mostly just to get the girls more interested in eating it.  Stella liked it but Leila and Henry did not.

Instant Pot Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry

6 T gluten free tamari (or soy sauce)

1 1/2 T oyster sauce

1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

dash ginger

dash red pepper chili flakes

2 cloves garlic - minced

1/2 cup water

1 1/4 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 T cornstarch

2 T water 
3 1/2 cup broccoli florets
1/3 cup grated carrots (3-4 baby carrots sliced with a potato peeler)

In a medium bowl, combine the tamari, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger, red pepper, garlic, and 1/2 cup water.  Set aside.  Turn your Instant Pot to Saute then add in oil. Once oil is hot, add the chicken and 1 T sauce mixture.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.  Pour in the remaining sauce.  Cover with lid and set to high pressure cook for 4 minutes.  It will take some time to come to pressure. Use a wooden spoon to push the valve for a quick release.  Once all the pressure is released, remove the lid.  Cancel the keep warm are set to Saute.  In a small bowl whisk the corn starch with 2 T water and add to the sauce.  Add the broccoli and carrots and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Serve with rice.

Instant Pot Macaroni & Cheese

I got an electric pressure cooker aka instant pot for Christmas and decided to break it in with some macaroni and cheese.  The top recipe in the google search was from The Salty Marshmallow.  I did not have elbow macaroni in the house, so I used farfalle but it was a 12 oz box instead of 16 oz so I adjusted the rest of the ingredients accordingly.  It was a bit too much garlic flavor, so I cut that back as well as the milk as there was already plenty of liquid.

Macaroni & Cheese

12 oz pasta
3 cup chicken broth
1-2 T butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese - shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese - shredded
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk

Place pasta, chicken broth, butter, garlic powder, pepper, and salt in the instant pot.  Place the lid on the pot and set to sealing.  Cook on manual function, high pressure for 5 minutes.  Do a quick release and stir in the cheeses and milk until smooth.