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Hearty, comforting, and so many fun flavors. This Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore is a classic Italian dish that can also be made in the Slow Cooker for an easy weeknight dinner. It’s healthy, low-carb, Keto-friendly, Paleo, and Whole30 approved. This is also one of the Instant Pot recipes I always turn to when I want a flavorful meal that’s both simple and satisfying.
A healthier way to enjoy Italian Cuisine!
Who says you can’t enjoy fantastic Italian food on a healthy diet? Whether it’s a low-carb Keto diet, Whole30, Paleo, and others, there is always a way to enjoy food from Italy in a nutritious way. I was on a mission to prove this to my husband who replaced his beloved pasta for vegetable noodles instead.
This Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore recipe is savory, delicious, and get dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes! It’s packed with protein from the chicken and some fiber from the vegetables for the perfect, satiating meal.
And BOOM. We enjoyed my Classic Spaghetti with spaghetti squash, my Walnut Crusted Lemon Chicken Piccata, Chicken Alfredo, and now this Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore.
As a nutritionist, what I love about Italian food is that you can easily use plenty of fresh herbs and fresh ingredients to get really bold flavor. Chicken Cacciatore is a perfect example. I used a ton of vegetables (some that my kids picked out, but whatevs), and fresh herbs along with chicken braised in a yummy tomato sauce. I often find myself adding mushrooms to meals like this because they bring so much depth and really take on the flavors beautifully. We served over spiralized zucchini and potatoes, soooooooo delicious!!!
How to make Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore:
To braise the chicken in this recipe, you will use either the Instant Pot or the Slow Cooker. I have been partial to my Instant Pot lately because of our crazy hectic schedule.
Here are the ingredients you will need:
- Chicken thighs
- Avocado oil or olive oil
- Mushrooms
- Green bell pepper
- Canned tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Onion
- Garlic
- Red wine vinegar
- Spices: oregano, rosemary, thyme, and paprika
- Artichoke hearts
- Chicken broth or red wine
This is definitely a set it and forget it recipe. All of the ingredients get dumped into the slow cooker or Instant Pot. If you use the IP, I do recommend sautéing the onions, garlic, and chicken prior to dumping the rest of the ingredients into the pot to pressure cook. This gives a bit more flavor to the recipe. If you love this kind of hands-off meal, be sure to check out my Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs it’s another cozy, dump-and-go favorite!
- For this recipe, start by selecting the saute function on your Instant Pot. Add oil and chicken to sear, then remove from the pot. Then toss in your onion, followed by garlic and cook.
- Next, pour chicken stock or wine in the pot to deglaze the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
- Mix together your dry spices, then add tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, and spices over the onion and garlic.
- Top the sauce with chicken, then remaining vegetables: mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and bell pepper.
- Secure the lid on your pressure cooker and turn it to the sealing position. Select manual and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Use a quick release once cooked.
- Add any additional salt and black pepper to taste and serve over noodles, zoodles, or potatoes and garnish with fresh basil and thyme if using. Feel free to sprinkle a teaspoon of parmesan cheese, too!
Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore Recipe notes:
- The sauce will thicken up nicely and I think tastes more delicious as time goes on. I say all that to let you know, this is a perfect dish to make ahead! I often make dinner early in the day if I’m photographing (better lighting). Leftovers tasted even better the next day.
- I am very partial to chicken breast, and have a thing against chicken with bones or even other chicken parts. Chicken Cacciatore translates to Chicken hunter-style, and is generally a combination of different chicken parts. Feel free to swap out breasts for thighs, or use bone-in chicken thighs if that suits your taste.
- Red wine is such a nice compliment to flavor on this dish! You can easily use chicken broth in it’s place, but I love the elevation of flavor here.
- I used a ton of different herbs and flavor in this recipe, don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients. If you don’t have one particular herb on hand, don’t sweat it.
- Also, the sauce may seem rather runny at first, but will thicken up.
Variations
As written, the recipe is Keto and Whole30 friendly. However, you can swap out the chicken broth and red wine vinegar for 3/4 cup red wine. I have tried that on a different non-Whole30 occasion and it was so yummy!
The sauce in this recipe is a tasty tomato-based sauce that you can enhance any way you would like! For a bit of Mediterranean flavor, add some kalamata olives. To get a bit more herby flavor, add a bay leaf when cooking. For a bit more of a kick, incorporate red pepper flakes!
Some recipes for chicken cacciatore call for dredging the chicken in flour. It is totally delicious without it.
Because I am absolutely devoted to giving you all fast and super simple dinners that you can make on a busy weeknight, I think you will love this list of 50 of the easiest Whole30 One Pan Meals! You’ll find this Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore, more Instant Pot dinners, and other one pan meals you can make on the stovetop or oven. Even if not doing Whole30, there are plenty of healthy dinners to try!
Serving
As mentioned above, we prefer this over zucchini noodles or potatoes for a complete meal. You an also serve over pasta, that makes it more kid friendly. Some crusty bread on the side is a great way to soak up the leftover sauce. It would also be so yummy on cauliflower rice.
I love to serve alongside my Easy House Salad or a green salad with green goddess dressing.
Storing
This recipe freezes really well! It makes a lot, so feel free to put half of it in the freezer and enjoy at a later day. Just bring to room temperature, and let simmer on the stove to reheat. It also makes great leftovers with the flavor developing the longer it sits. It will hold up just fine in the fridge for about 5 days.
Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breast, or thighs, either one is fine
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 medium sized yellow or white onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 14 oz can diced or pureed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 large green bell pepper, diced
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup diced, marinated artichoke hearts
- 3/4 cup chicken broth*
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme to serve and garnish, optional
- 2 tbsp fresh basil to serve, optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Slow Cooker:
- Salt and Pepper your chicken. Place inside the slow cooker.
- In a small bowl mix together the dried spices: oregano, paprika, thyme, rosemary, & salt.
- Top chicken with onion, garlic, tomatoes, chicken broth, vinegar, and tomato paste. Sprinkle spices on top.
- Cover chicken with remaining vegetables: bell pepper, mushrooms, artichoke hearts.
- Cover and cook for 4-6 hours on low or until chicken is tender and cooked all the way. Stir the sauce, add in additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve over noodles, zoodles, or potatoes. Garnish with basil and thyme.
For the Instant Pot:
- Select the saute function on your Instant Pot. While waiting to heat, salt and pepper your chicken. Cover the bottom of your Instant pot with oil, and add chicken. Cook on each side for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the pot. Add in any extra oil if needed, then toss in your onion. Cook for about 2 minutes, add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Select the cancel function. Pour chicken broth (or wine if using), in the pot to deglaze, scraping up any brown bits off the bottom that might have stuck (this helps to prevent burning).
- In a small bowl, mix together your dry spices: oregano, paprika, rosemary, thyme, and salt. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, and spices over the onion/garlic mixture. Give it a quick stir.
- Now top the sauce with chicken, then remaining vegetables: mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and bell pepper.
- Secure the lid. Select manual and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Once cooking is complete, use a quick release. You can use a towel to cover the valve to prevent a mess. Once steam is completely released, open the lid.
- Stir around the mixture. You can let sit for several minutes to thicken up the sauce, or serve immediately. Add any additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over noodles, zoodles, or potatoes and garnish with fresh basil and thyme if using.
Notes
This was OUTSTANDING!! Adding it to my personal recipe book for regular rotation!
Made this for the first time this evening in the instant pot – devoured by everyone! So much flavour and depth, will become a regular I think. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Poorly written. The oil and vinegar are in ingredients but not in the procedure of the recipe. It is like putting together a kit and finding extra pieces not used, and wondering why it does not work as planned!
The oil is under the Instant Pot instructions (not needed for the slow cooker). The vinegar is in both sections.
Did you use bone-in chicken thighs or skinless boneless? Do I need to adjust the instapot settings or timing if I have bone in chicken thighs?
You can use either one. I prefer boneless/skinless. It does not make a difference on the timing.
I eat it with quinoa, but you could also eat it with rice for gluten free, or potatoes, spiralized zucchini, or cauliflower rice. It even tastes awesome on it’s own, but it’s great to have something to soak up the delicious gravy.
So easy and delicious I made it twice in one week, once with bone-in thighs and once with boneless breast. I included carrots and parsnips as well. This is a keeper!
If I use fresh chicken drumsticks, does time to cook change?
I have not tried with drumsticks, but it should be the same cook time!
I made your IP version which was very good. Now I’m trying it in my slow cooker. I noticed you omitted the vinegar and olive oil in this version. Was I supposed to include?
Wow, great recipe! We had never made cacciatore, but I am glad to add this to my arsenal!
I did mine in a large cast iron skillet, stovetop and oven, so I thought I’d share that in case someone else was wondering about it. Turns out to be very quick to make!
Here’s how I did it:
Pre-heated Oven with Cast Iron in Oven, to 400 degrees.
Removed Hot Pan and On stove top, browned bone-in chicken on all sides. Set chicken aside and added tomato paste to cook a bit, then Onions and garlic, then added all the seasonings and liquid. Nestled the chicken back in with drained artichokes, mushrooms, peppers and my addition: olives.
Returned to 400 degree oven and my bone-in chicken was done in just 20 minutes!
Note: I had a ton of sauce left, I thought it would cook down more in the open cast iron, but I had at least 3 cups of lovely liquid. It was very rich, so did not need reducing. I used it to make keto noodles and determined that next time. I might just freeze it to use for a quick weeknight meal with some more chicken.
I think this dish would be great for make-ahead or freezing…with all that sauce, one could double up the other ingredients and freeze 1/2 for a future meal.
Thank you, Mary for your detailed and kind review! So many good tips in here!
Does this recipe call for bone-in or boneless chicken?
boneless, but you could also use bone-in.