Hangry Boy Chicken—ultra flavorful and creamy chicken that’s healthy, low in calories and high in protein. Make it in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Hangry Boy Chicken
I have a hangry teenage boy at my house. Hungry + Angry = Hangry. If you have ever had a teenage boy you know what I’m talking about. He is ultra active…lifting weights and running and is obsessed with getting “protein”. So I made him this chicken that is protein on protein. He loved it and so did the rest of us. It’s well seasoned chicken that is enveloped in a creamy sauce. The creamy sauce is made by blending cottage cheese (extra protein and low cal). It’s a little trick that I like to use when I want that creamy consistency but I don’t want to use higher calorie foods like cream cheese. I think you’ll love this chicken too! Try serving it over some brown rice with a side of roasted broccoli for a satisfying, nutritious meal.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
- Boneless skinless chicken breast–frozen or fresh. You can also use chicken thighs.
- Garlic powder–or granulated garlic
- Italian seasoning
- Onion powder
- Pepper
- Kosher salt
- Poultry seasoning
- Smoked paprika
- Cottage cheese–I used large curd, full fat cottage cheese for ultimate creaminess
Steps
Add broth and chicken into bottom of Instant Pot. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder, italian seasoning, onion powder, pepper, salt, poultry seasoning and paprika.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 15 minutes on low pressure for frozen chicken or 12 minute for fresh chicken. When the time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes (or longer) and then move valve to venting and remove the lid.
Move chicken to a cutting board. Shred or chop. Stir back into the juices in the Instant Pot.
Blend the cottage cheese until smooth. Scrape into the Instant Pot and stir.
Serve chicken and sauce over rice, potatoes or noodles or plain.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with brown rice and roasted broccoli.
- This recipe is gluten free and low carb.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- I used my Blendtec Twister Jar* to blend the cottage cheese.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- I used the large frozen chicken breasts from Costco. To determine how long to cook chicken this article is helpful. How long you need to cook is dependent on thickness. I did use the low pressure cooking time for this recipe because I feel like it lets the chicken turn out more tender and moist, especially for chicken breasts which are hard to get right in the Instant Pot.
- This recipe can easily be doubled. Just double the ingredients and keep the cooking time the same.
- Other recipes you can make with cottage cheese are Starbucks Egg Bites and Zucchini Lasagna Roll-Ups.
More Instant Pot Healthy Chicken Recipes…
I’m Happy Now Chicken
Tender cubes of seasoned chicken tossed in greek yogurt for a creamy, flavorful and healthy dinner.
Richard’s Chicken
Easy Instant Pot or slow cooker chicken with mushrooms in a savory, flavorful sauce. Tastes great over mashed potatoes or rice.
Weight Loss Casserole
Chicken, broccoli and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. With only 265 calories per serving you can eat this high protein meal guilt-free!
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Hangry Boy Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Ultra flavorful and creamy chicken that’s healthy, low in calories and high in protein. Make it in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 3/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (frozen or fresh)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 cup cottage cheese
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add broth and chicken into bottom of Instant Pot. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder, italian seasoning, onion powder, pepper, salt, poultry seasoning and paprika.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 15 minutes on low pressure for frozen chicken or 12 minute for fresh chicken. When the time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes (or longer) and then move valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Move chicken to a cutting board. Shred or chop. Stir back into the juices in the Instant Pot.
- Blend the cottage cheese until smooth. Scrape into the Instant Pot and stir.
- Serve chicken and sauce over rice, potatoes or noodles or plain.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add broth and chicken into bottom of slow cooker. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder, italian seasoning, onion powder, pepper, salt, poultry seasoning and paprika.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and reaches 165 degrees.
- Move chicken to a cutting board. Shred or chop. Stir back into the juices in the slow cooker.
- Blend the cottage cheese until smooth. Scrape into the slow cooker and stir.
- Serve chicken and sauce over rice, potatoes or noodles or plain.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Beachydreamn says
The heat from the juices won’t curdle the cottage cheese?
Karen says
It worked for me but you can temper it too if you’d like
Jennifer says
I will definitely make this again.
Karen says
Thanks for the 5 stars Jennifer!
Ashleigh J says
I didn’t have Italian seasoning so I just used parsley and omitted the paprika, but all in all, this was good. I used egg noodles, added some mixed veggies to it and took a block of colby jack and shredded it to mix it. This was a huge hit with my kids. I did use the liquid left from the chicken to mix in with the noodles and such to make it creamier. I will definitely make this again and you can change it up so many different ways.
Karen says
I love those ideas Ashleigh!
Diane Berdis says
Tasted ok. Sauce watery. Not what I expected.
Karen says
Sorry! You can thicken with cornstarch slurry if you want.
Casey B says
Have you tried this with Ricotta Cheese instead of cottage cheese? Maybe mix it up and stuff into Manicotti shells?
Karen says
Ricotta would work great!
Jennifer Newman says
Don’t you need to have at least one cup of water in your instant pot for it to steam?
Karen says
with recipes that have foods that are moisture releasing (such as chicken) you don’t need to add as much liquid
Cheryl says
In several of your recipes you indicate you used the 6 qt IP and a 3 or 8 qt can also be used. If using a 3 qt should the recipe ingredients be halved with cooking time left as written? Thank You
Karen says
If I say in the notes that you can use a 3 quart then it means it will fit as written in a 3 quart pot and you don’t need to halve the recipe (although you can if you want).