An Easy Instant Pot Chicken Stew Recipe everyone will love! Done in under 30 minutes, this pressure cooker chicken stew is hearty & delicious.
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A warm bowl of stew is the best thing to cozy up with during the chillier fall and winter months.Â
You are going to love this easy instant pot chicken stew because it is loaded with protein and veggies and so simple to put together on a busy night.Â
It’s also super easy to customize based on what you have in your pantry and can easily be made paleo and whole 30 if you omit the peas.Â
(If you would rather use your slow cooker, be sure to check out Crockpot Chicken Stew. You should also try our Instant Pot Beef Stew)Â
Why we love this Instant Pot Chicken StewÂ
There is so much to like about this easy chicken stew recipe! Here’s why it is one of our favorites:
- Quick & easy – This stew takes less than 30 minutes to make, meaning you’ll have a healthy dinner in no time!Â
- Lean protein – I use boneless skinless chicken breasts in this recipe, which are lean and high in protein (40g per serving!)!
- Loaded with veggies – I load this soup up with a ton of carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, and peas. The more veggies the better in my opinion!
- Made in one pot – One-pot meals are great for weeknights because it means less clean up and this stew all comes together in your instant pot!Â
Chicken Vegetable Stew Instant Pot Ingredients
To make this instant pot chicken stew you will need:Â
- boneless skinless chicken breasts
- onion, garlic, baby carrots, celery
- russet potatoes
- frozen peas
- tomato paste
- olive oil
- chicken broth
- bay leaf, fresh rosemary, salt & pepper
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.Â
How To Make Chicken Stew in the Instant Pot
Making this easy chicken stew is so easy and it all comes together in your instant pot. Here’s how to make it:Â
- Set instant pot to sauté for 10 minutes and add olive oil to the pot. Sear the chicken for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned on all sides
- Add onions, garlic, celery, and carrots and sauté for 4-5 minutes
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except frozen peas. Cover instant pot and set to Sealing, Manual Pressure for 12 minutes.
- Once it is finished cooking, let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure.Â
- Discard the bay leaf, stir in the frozen peas and enjoy!
What size Instant Pot is needed to make this Chicken Stew Recipe?
You can make instant pot chicken stew in any size instant pot. I’m using an 8-quart instant pot, but you can use a 3, 6, or 10 quart instant pot.
If you would rather make chicken stew in your crockpot, we have a delicious Crockpot Chicken Stew recipe!
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR INSTANT POT CHICKEN STEW
This pressure cooker chicken stew is easy to customize depending on what you have on hand or in your pantry.
Olive oil: You can substitute melted butter, vegetable oil, or coconut oil for olive oil.
Meat: You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the chicken breasts in this recipe. You can also substitute beef for chicken in this recipe or we also have a Healthy Beef Stew recipe, Ground Beef Stew with Potatoes and an Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe.
Potatoes: You can sub in halved fingerling potatoes for this recipe. I have not tried sweet potatoes in this recipe, but I think they would become too mushy!
Peas: You can omit peas from this recipe.
Wine: A 1/3 cup of red wine adds a nice depth of flavor to this recipe – although it’s totally not necessary.
Rosemary: If you don’t have fresh rosemary, you can substitute half the amount of dried rosemary.
Can other vegetables be added to the stew? Yes, you could definitely add other vegetables to this stew. Butternut squash would be delicious. You could also add green beans, corn, or double up on the other vegetables already in the stew.
Easy Stovetop Chicken Stew:
You can easily make this in chicken stew on your stove
- Cut chicken and veggies.
- In a large pot heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sear the chicken for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned on all sides. (Doesn’t have to be cooked through, just a little cooked).
- Add onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until fragrant and slightly translucent.
- Add all remaining ingredients. Stir to combine.
- Cook on medium-high heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point, the stew will be ready to eat but you can reduce the heat so the stew comes to a simmer + cook for additional 30 minutes.
Crockpot Chicken Stew
Check out our Slow Cooker Chicken Stew recipe! To make this in the slow cooker:
- Chop all veggies + cut raw chicken into cubes. In slow cooker insert, stir all ingredients together except peas.
- Cook on low for 6 hours. When ready to serve, stir in peas until defrosted
Storing and Reheating Pressure Cooker Chicken Stew
How to Store: You can store this stew in the fridge or freezer. We like these containers for freezing!
Refrigerating: This instant pot chicken stew will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator
Freezing: This stew freezes very well. Store in airtight containers and allow it to cool completely before freezing. If stored properly it should stay good for 4-6 months. We also have a blog post about freezing food that you can find here.
Reheating: You can reheat from the fridge in the microwave or on the stove. If frozen, defrost the night before in your refrigerator or just pop in a microwave/pan and heat!
Tips for the Best Instant Pot Chicken Stew:
It’s pretty easy to make chicken stew but here are some tips for making the best stew!
- Pound chicken breasts– Pound your chicken breasts before cutting into cubes. This helps them to be super tender!
- Use fresh herbs if you can– Dried spices work great in a pinch but fresh herbs really make this extra delicious!
Chicken Stew FAQ
Yes, you can put raw chicken in the instant pot. As long as you are cooking the chicken for at least 8 minutes under high pressure – the chicken should be fine. We don’t recommend cooking frozen chicken in the instant pot, but some people do.
We don’t recommend thickening this Instapot Chicken Stew. If you want to thicken, mix one tablespoon of either corn starch or arrowroot powder with one tablespoon of water. Stir in the slurry to the stew during the last 30 minutes while it’s cooking and allow it to thicken. If you want a thick creamy soup, try our Chicken Corn Chowder.
Chicken takes about 8-10 minutes to cook thoroughly in the instant pot.
Other healthy instant pot recipes:
Love chicken? If so – here are some of our other favorite healthy chicken recipes!
We love a healthy and cozy soup/stew! We love soup SO much that we actually have a free healthy soup ebook! We also have a post filled with Healthy Soup Recipes! Here are some of our other favorite recipes:Â
Instant Pot Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in cubes
- 1 cup onion chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups baby carrots
- ¾ cups celery chopped finely
- 1.5 cups russet potatoes cut in ½ inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped
- 1.5 cups chicken broth low or no salt
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Cut chicken and veggies.
- Set instant pot to sauté, 10 minutes. Add olive oil to the pot. Sear the chicken for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned on all sides. (Doesn’t have to be cooked through, just a little cooked).
- Add onions, garlic, celery and carrots. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until fragrant and slightly translucent.
- Add all ingredients except frozen peas. Cover instant pot and set to Sealing, Manual Pressure for 12 minutes. It will take the pot about 5-7 minutes to come to pressure.
- Once finished cooking, let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Discard bay leaf, stir in frozen peas and enjoy!
StoveTop Instructions:
- Chop all veggies + cut raw chicken into cubes.
- In a large pot heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken cubes in + sear for 1-2 minutes (does not have to cook through).
- Add all onion, carrots + celery. Sauté for 5 minutes until fragrant and slightly soft.
- Add all remaining ingredients except peas. Stir to combine.
- Cook on high heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat so stew comes to a simmer + cook for additional 30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, stir in peas until defrosted. Discard bay leaf and enjoy!
Crockpot Instructions
- Chop all veggies + cut raw chicken into cubes.
- In slow cooker insert, stir all ingredients together except peas.
- Cook on low for 6 hours. When ready to serve, stir in peas until defrosted.
- When ready to serve, stir in peas until defrosted. Discard bay leaf and enjoy!
Christine says
Can I substitute sweet potatoes for the russets?
Liz Marino says
I wouldn’t recommend using sweet potatoes instead of russets. They’ll be too mushy!
Lisa Dufour says
Delish as always. Have cooked it all 3 ways and it always come out great!
Gabrielle says
I can’t wait to make this- can you check cooking time please? It says cook on high for 30mins then cook for a further 30mins ? Hour cooking time?
Thankyou
The Clean Eating Couple says
The cooking time is correct!
Shelley says
Love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times now and love the flavors. It also re-heats easily for lunches. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sarah says
I just made this for the first time and it definitely won’t be the last. Such good flavors and I love that it has so many vegetables (even though I totally forgot the peas but will remember them next time!). I think this will reheat great for lunch at work. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
Heather Irving says
Amounts in ingredient list? Or am I missing something?
The Clean Eating Couple says
Think you’re messing something. Click jump to recipe, the whole recipe is there!
M Sellers says
While this recipe took me a little longer to prepare than 25 minutes, it was well worth it. I didn’t have fresh rosemary, but used dried instead and it worked out extremely well. The recipe was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making this again. I used the instant pot as instructed but this could very well be done by sauteing on the stovetop first, then finish cooking using a crockpot as well.
Trudi says
YUM i o=oftern forget to add spices! Why I do not know they are ON the decor goodness sade!