Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Chicken and Gravy–an almost embarrassingly easy recipe for a good old fashioned dinner. Serve the chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, toast or biscuits.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Chicken and Gravy
The slow cooker version of this recipe is one of the most popular recipes on my blog. Sometimes people just want super easy recipes, I guess. Recipes so simple you just memorize them. This is one of those. It worked fabulously in the Instant Pot. We served our chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes. Our neighbor kid was over eating with us and said, “this is like Thanksgiving dinner.” It did give me flashbacks to school lunch “turkey and gravy” day…one of my favorites in elementary school.
More good old fashioned favorites
Stupid easy beef stroganoff in the Instant Pot
Instant Pot mashed potatoes
Instant Pot beef pot pie
Pressure Cooker turkey breast from Pressure Cooking Today
Pressure Cooker stuffing from Pressure Cooking Today
What Instant Pot Did You Use?
To make this Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Chicken and Gravy I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1 . I also own the 6 quart Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker. They are both great pressure cookers! The first one I mentioned has a yogurt making function but other than that they are fairly similar. The price difference between the two is about $20.
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Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Chicken and Gravy
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (plus time to come to pressure and time to release pressure)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
An almost embarrassingly easy recipe for a good old fashioned dinner. Serve the chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, toast or biscuits.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat*
- 1 (1.25 oz) packet onion soup mix
- 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
Instructions
- Add water or broth into the Instant Pot. Add in the chicken. Sprinkle the onion soup mix on top of chicken. Dump cream of mushroom soup on top of chicken. Do not stir.
- Cover and make sure the valve is on “sealing.” Set the timer on manual (high pressure) for 15 minutes. When the timer beeps let the pressure release naturally for 5-10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure by moving the valve to “venting.” Remove the lid.
- Use a spoon to break up the chicken. Serve chicken and gravy over potatoes, noodles, toast, biscuits or rice.
Notes
*I used chicken thighs for this recipe because I prefer the dark meat. However, I believe you could make this recipe with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I would cook for 12 minutes with chicken breasts.
- Method: Instant Pot
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 329
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 1684 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Protein: 40 g
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I’m new to cooking with the Instant Pot, and this recipe was WONDERFUL! Easy to do/follow and everyone loved it!! Next time I was hoping to add some whole, small potatoes with it. Would I need to add any time or extra liquid to it? Sorry if this was asked before, but too many great comments to read through them all 🙂
★★★★★
I really love this idea and I think it will work great!
Made this for supper tonight. Did do a small cornstarch slurry to thicken the gravy a tad. Son wanted noodles, I wanted stuffing so made both while the IP was doing it’s thing. I had mine like a brand name chicken place’s bowl meal….stuffing on the bottom topped with buttered corn topped with the chicken and gravy. Sooooooo good and hubby raved about how tender the chicken was. It’s a keeper for sure.
Sounds so great!
The whole family loves this! Thank you!
★★★★★
You’re welcome Carl 😊
Tried this tonight. It was amazing. Made a few changes (I hate when ppl say that) BUT I only had cream of chicken and I added a slurry at the end to thicken and that is strictly a personal choice The flavors were on point and so incredibly easy. My husband served over fries and I did over bread (PA Dutch thing) Highly recommend!!
★★★★★
We all gotta make some changes Stacey! That’s how I am too lol
I want you all to know that this is one of the most delicious recipes I have ever tested! Sorry, I didn’t use the Instant pot this time, not because I don’t love the IP, but I put it in the oven in a dutch oven while I while I was baking some chicken legs. I used bone-in chicken thighs, and cooked it at 400 degrees, covered, for one hour, then at 350 degrees, covered, for another hour. It was golden and absolutely irresistable! It made it’s own gravy. I even had to take a picture, just wish I could post it here!
★★★★★
Yum Karen! You version sounds wonderful.
This was such an easy and amazing dish. It’s going to be a regular rotation and so fast to put together and cook!! Everything I’ve tried of yours is fantastic! Glad I found your site a while back.
★★★★★
I’m glad you are here too Dave! Thanks!
I have bone in chicken breasts. Would you alter the cook time.
I also want to add fresh mushrooms and broccoli at the end to make a full meal. How should I adjust my cook time?
I would use the same time. I would add in mushrooms at beginning and then broccoli after it has pressure cooked.
Would this work the same with frozen thighs or should I thaw them first?
★★★★★
Yes works great with frozen!
So good! Easy, quick and cheap to feed a family. We doubled recipe so my husband can have meals out on the truck. I like it over mashed potatoes and he likes it over noodles. Thank you for the recipe, especially during this national lockdown.
★★★★★
Glad it was helpful to you Kristal!!
I made this tonight with chicken breasts and mashed potatoes as a side! Easy, tasty, and quick dinner! Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
You’re welcome Hunter! Glad you liked it 🙂
This recipe was wonderfully easy and great. Next time I make it I will probably thicken it but it was wonderful just the was it was.
★★★★★
Thanks James I’m glad you liked it!
OMG Karen! I saw this recipe a few days ago when you re-sent it as an easy recipe using items in your pantry. It did not disappoint! I was a little apprehensive because I have done chicken breast/tenderloins many times in the IP but they tend to turn out too dry for my taste (and the hubs too). Also, I’ve NEVER used the onion soup mix before so that made me question it…but I have faith in you so I was willing to try it as is.
When I first opened the IP after the NPR and saw my chicken thighs, I thought, “Oh, they’re overcooked (they shrank A LOT)”. But after putting them on the table and serving them with some mashed potatoes, that’s when the comments started. My husband said, “Wow, these are really good” and wound up having three helpings…and my picky 5 yr old even wound up eating a whole thigh. THAT’S what sold me on the recipe. It’s officially been requested next week! 🙂
Thanks Karen for sending this out…it was a hit in our house!
★★★★★
This is great to hear! It’s funny how the easiest recipes are sometimes the most requested and loved 🙂
Firstly – I love your site and I have made many a new family favorite, thank you very much.
Secondly – I have a timing question. Bone in chicken is usually so much cheaper than boneless – if I’m using bone in thighs should I increase the time?
Thank you!
15 minutes should be sufficient for bone in thighs or legs. 🙂
thanks for the reply – I shall be making it this evening for dinner
used cream of chicken soup as I didn’t have the mushroom, and it was delicious!
Awesome! We are all using what we have these days 🙂
I made this but added fresh mushrooms, was just delicious. I do a lot of your instant pot meals. Thank you,
★★★★★
I like that idea!
I make so many of your terrific recipes and a couple are made every week or two. I’d love one day for any of the super fast, simple ones to not be cream/milk/cream soup based for us lactose intolerant folks out here! (Sometimes even lactose free milk doesn’t work due to another ingredient.) Just on my wish list, and thank you whether you do the magic or not!
Thanks Beth, I am working on getting a dairy free label on my recipes for folks like you!
I made this recipe tonight with golden mushroom soup instead of cream of mushroom soup and it’s so good.
★★★★★
Wow……..this is an awesome recipe! I used chicken broth instead of water & cream of chicken soup because hubby hates mushroom anything….. and it turned out just delicious. The ‘juice’ left over was a bit thin, so I just put some cold water & a couple Tbsp. flour in a jar, shook it well, put the pot on ‘saute’ and thickened it into a wonderful gravy.. (I added some garlic salt too) The chicken is sooooo tender! I will try it next with breast meat I think. THANKS KAREN. (Other than hard boiling eggs this is the first thing I’ve made in my IP)
Laura
★★★★★
Oh I’m so glad you liked it Laura!
Can I use frozen thighs?
Yes!
How long for frozen boneless skinless thighs?
★★★★★
18 minutes should work just fine.
I made mine with Cream of Broccoli soup. Like your other half I am not a mushroom fan.
I made this tonight. Omg it was so good. I always follow directions the 1st time. And then if it’s a keeper I make it my way. Won’t be doing that. This is a keeper just the way it is. I used better than bouillon instead of chix stock. Perfect..
Nice Patricia! I like better than bouillon too 🙂
Super easy & super delicious! Turn it into low carb & mix with steamed broccoli.
★★★★★
Great idea!
Another way to turn it low carb is to use a riced veggie of some kind. Riced cauliflower is my go to.
I really like this recipe. I modified it some and loved the results. I took 1 c water, 3 frozen thighs, put a packet of Lipton onions soup onto them. Added about 3 handfuls of organic kale, 1/2 on and 3 pieces cut celery. Added a can cream of chicken soup and at the last minute decided to add quinoa. I rinsed a cup quinoa and put it on top and added 1 1/2 c water to my 8 quart instant pot. Super good. The quinoa added protein and fiber and made it a nice gravy. Since ck was frozen put it on 25 min. Very hearty. Thanks for recipe! I’m a newby but tend to try and squealer in veggies at every turn.
★★★★
*squeeze in veggies
Awesome I’m glad it worked out for you Kathy!
This looks so wonderful! But I’m lactose intolerant so can’t use mushroom soup. I use cornstarch mixed into lactose free evaporated milk to thicken an make creamy. (Or a cornstarch slurry with a little water if creaminess isn’t wanted.) If I use evap milk/cornstarch, the good flavors from the soup – which I used to love – won’t be there. Do you have any suggestions to amp up the flavors? Maybe Better than Bouillon roasted chicken broth? I’m 99% sure the thickening/creaminess will work, since it has in everything from soup to chicken & dumplings in the IP. Thanks for helping this IP newbie/addict.
Oops, and I figure I’d add the evaporated milk/cornstarch when cooking was done, on sauté. Sorry about the typo: thicken *and* make creamy.
Where do you find lactose free evaporated milk? I’ve tried lactaid milk products and gotten sicker using those than had I used milk itself.
This was the first thing I cooked in mine! I used ranch seasoning instead of onion powder with potatoes and rolls on the side omg my whole family loves it!
★★★★★
Sounds like a great dinner Amanda!
I like the idea of the better than bouillon. It has great flavor!
This came out really good! I used a mix of frozen breast and frozen chicken tenderloins. The only thing I changed was I added about a half a cup more chicken broth and About a 1/4 package more onion soup mix. I I cooked 19 minutes but I really think 17 to 18 minutes probably would’ve been fine. At the end I took out the chicken and added a cornstarch slurry and serve it over rice made in the instant pot with chicken broth butter and a little bit of the gravy. It took me out !!!! A keeper!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it Sharisia!
Can you make this with frozen chicken? How much time would you need to add?
I went ahead and tried it. I have an 8 quart Instant Pot. I used frozen chicken breast tenderloins. I went ahead and add 2 cups water (I didn’t have chicken broth in the house currently). Added the onion soup mix and mushroom soup. Set it for 20 minutes to make sure it had plenty of time. After the 10 min NPR I checked it. I had to use a little flour slurry to it (used juices from cooking) to thicken it up a little (I like thicker gravy). Only took a minute. Anyway, long story short (too late), it turned out WONDERFULLY! Much better than the frozen dinner I almost made. I had some air fryer brussel sprouts on the side and served the chicken and gravy over bread. Was a VERY delicious and satisfying dinner. Thank you so much for this. I was able to cook dinner while I went for my evening walk 🙂
That was 2 cups instead of the 1 cup, not an extra 2 cups.
Don’t you just love that Debbi! That’s the best!
I’d do 18 minutes for frozen.
Hi Karen,
Tried the Chicken Spaghetti with Rotel and Cream Cheese as my first IP recipe and it was DELICIOUS! Thank you.
My ? is…. (and maybe a mistake)but I bought the 3 qt since there’s only 2 of us, so when using your recipes, should I always cut the liquid amt in half? Or keep it the same? And any other adjustments I should make? Thank you for ALL you do.
Hi there, read this article I think it will help you a lot: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-halve-instant-pot-recipes/
If using 2 cans of soup do I still add chicken broth?
yes you need liquid for the pot to come to pressure.
This was absolutely, 100%, the worst pressure cooker/Insta pot recipe I have ever had! The chicken was rubbery, the liquid was broth consistency and it had absolutely no flavor! I will never serve or cook this again! So disappointed!
★
Well, Kelli, from one user to another, it was either your error, or a faulty pressure cooker. I’m brand new to pressure cookers, but an accomplished cook. The use of onion soup mix + cream of mushroom soup alongside chicken is very popular. This recipe for the pressure cooker, exactly as written, comes out beautifully if done correctly. Try, try again! You can do it! Don’t give up. *thumbs up*
★★★★★
can’t eat mushrooms but can i use cream/half and half or milk in place of the can soup it will also cut down on the Sodium
It will curdle if pressure cooked so you will have to add it afterwards.
You can use cream of chicken soup.
Could I cook rice in the pot-in-pot method with this recipe?
Yes this would work wonderfully!
Karen I had an issue with my burn coming on. I went exactly by your directons. I’m so disappointed. I have the 6 quart duo. Thanks for any ideas Robin
Hi Robin, did you put the cream of mushroom soup right on top of the chicken and not let it touch the bottom of the pot?
I am a first time user. I own the crock pot pressure cooker. Are there any changes I need to make to this recipe?
I’d follow the recipe as written. I’m not familiar with the crockpot pressure cooker though. It’ll probably be really close.
This meal has become one of our favorites and has to be in our weekly meal rotation weekly. I serve over mashed potatoes.
I see alot of comments about gettign a burn notice. I have an 8qt and use two cups of broth then add onion soup mix and then the one can of cream of mushroom soup. I do not stir until after it is done cooking. I have never received the dreaded burn notice. I remove the chicken and add a cornstarch slurry to thicken my gravy and put back in the chicken.
This is one our favorites!!!
Thank you for sharing your experience!
My family doesn’t like mushroom soup. Can i use cream of chicken instead?
Absolutely!
Do I need to up the cooking time if I am doubling the recipe?
★★★★★
no! keep it the same 🙂
Hello Karen
I have a Instant Pot Duo-8..
When I make your recipes, do I have to make changes ?
Thank you very much !
Most of the time the recipes will be exactly the same. The only thing you need to be careful of is having enough liquid in your pot to the come to pressure. I think you’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of liquid to come to pressure.
I’m new at this my son got me a 12qt gowise and I cant find recipes for a gowise ever.how much liquid needs to be in a 12 qt pressure cooker when in use ?
★★★★
That is a huge pressure cooker. How many people are you cooking for? You may want to invest in something smaller. A 12 quart will be great for cooking for large groups but it will take a long time to come to pressure and it will be more cumbersome to clean up. I would think you’d need at least 2 cups to come to pressure but I’m not positive on that.
Have you made this adding wheat pasta? If so will you please send me directions. First time using ip!
no I haven’t! good luck with your IP you will love it.
I followed the directions, added some garlic powder and poultry seasoning, and it is DELICIOUS! No problems, no “burn” signal. PERFECT! Thanks soooo much for an easy, nutritious, and delicious recipe!!!!
★★★★★
It was really good! I made it with chicken breast (cut into chunks).
I added sautéed mushrooms after the chicken was done.
Served it with rice, coleslaw and green peas.
8 qt potter here! Used boneless skinless chicken tenderloins, 1 cup water, 1 packet onion soup mix, 1 can of cream of mushroom. Cooked for 10 minutes and natural released 15 (got side tracked), chicken shredded easily with a spoon. Used a tsp of cornstarch to thicken sauce and served over rice. Pretty tasty! This was only my 2nd meal attempt, I’ll be using this one again!
Thanks for sharing. I’m glad you liked it! Welcome to the Instant Pot world!
Do you know what the carb count is?
10 g per 1/4 of the recipe
This was so good and easy. I used only 2 chicken breasts, so cooked for 9 minutes and it came out perfectly. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear that!
Hello, First of all I love your recipes. I tried a lot of them and they are all amazing.
I do have a questions though. I noticed that a few people commented that they got the “burn” notice. Would that be because of the size pot they are using? I have the 8 quart and saw somewhere that you need a minimum of 2 cups of water instead of one cup for the six quart? Do you know if this is true?
If you have an 8 quart you might want to consider adding more broth to this recipe. It definitely wouldn’t hurt!
I followed it exactly and also used chicken thighs. I didn’t care for the thighs. I have food aversion and couldn’t figure out if the thighs pinkish color was normal or undercooked. Also it was very runny. If i try it again I am using chicken tenders and maybe thicken with cornstarch as I have read above.
Could you also add vegetables in the beginning to cook with the chicken?
You could probably add in some baby carrots and perhaps some potatoes but other vegetables like asparagus or green beans would get too mushy. You may want to cook the vegetables using the pot in pot method. Add a bit of water to the pan, add in the veggies and cover the pan. Place it on top of the chicken and the vegetables will sort of steam while the chicken cooks.
I can’t wait to try this in my Instant Pot. If I add cut potatoes, do I need to increase water or time?
no you don’t need to cut the water. Are you making mashed potatoes out of them. If so the 15 minutes should be fine. If you just want potato chunks the potatoes will be really soft.
This turned out really good I gave it a 4 b/c I made some changes to it. I used boneless skinless chicken breast, added poultry seasoning, a bullion cube, and 1-1/2c of chicken stock. My family loved it excited for leftovers.
★★★★
Nice! Your changes sound great 🙂
This recipe was so easy and delicious! It was my first time using the instant pot so I wanted to try something easy. This did not disappoint! I will definitely be making again!
★★★★★
Oh I’m so glad you liked it! This is perfect for a beginner.
Using a 6 qt IP Ultra. Sadly I am in the “burn signal” camp. I added another 1/2 cup of chicken broth. In the end I added a cornstarch slurry to thicken and some pepper. Served over noodles with mixed veggies and roll on the side.
Condensed soup? If using condensed do you add water or leave out?
leave it out
I used 2 cans of condensed mushroom soup and frozen chicken breasts and for the burn signal.
I love this recipe. Chicken was tender and juicy. I used breasts and had enough gravy to save for another day . 5 stars
So glad to hear this Linda!
I’m giving this five stars because it is a great base recipe and the instructions are great as well. I used around 1 1/2 to 2lbs of chicken, half thawed in the microwave. After reading the comments, I decided to put the water in first, followed by the chicken and then I used one can of cream of chicken and one can of cream of mushroom. No onion mix. I let it natural release for about 10 minutes and shredded the chicken in a plate and added it back to the sauce. Served over rice and it was great!
So glad you liked it!
I keep getting a “burn” as well. 🙁
I would probably do this but put the mushroom soup + onion soup mix, over the chicken. So layer: water, chicken, gravy on top. It’ll stop it from getting burned. And then at the end you can just mix it all together. 🙂
I just saw this on Pinterest, and seriously my first thoughts were about those school lunches. They were my favorite days too; with the ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes. Drool! Does it taste like it??
haha! yes it does taste like it!
Do I need to brown the chicken
Nope!
Can I use bone-in chicken breasts? How long would I cook?
yes that would work great. Keep the same cooking time.
Mine was not done after 18 min. I did a few extra minutes just in case. I had to run it through again on high for 6 min
That is shocking! Did it reach pressure?
You must a have Insignia , i had one it would not ever cook enough (take 3 or 4 time longer.) I took it back to Best Buy for a refund and bought a Instant Pot
I followed the directions exactly and the instapot kept registering “burn”. What am I doing wrong?
I’m sorry! Did you figure it out. Maybe add in a 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
Mine is doing the same thing. I don’t want to water down the gravy, so next time will be doing just water and onion soup, then stirring in the soup at the end along with the chopped up chicken.
when I got the burn message on my instant pot, I had to scrape the bottom on the pan to get the burnt part off. I was making meatballs. That prevented it from showing the burn message again.
also worked amazing for me with Pork Chops!!!
Cool! Same cooking time?
I would like to try this recipe but I like thicker gravy and am concerned about the water. Could I just use two cans of soup instead?
Totally!
Can I use frozen chicken breasts?
yes!
What would you suggest for time with frozen chicken breasts? First timer here!
Just do 15 minutes…the pot might take longer to come to pressure but it will work out marvelously.
How much longer Do We cook if the chicken is frozen?
cook the same amount of time. The pot will just take longer to come to pressure.
Any problems using cream of mushroom soup in instant pot under pressure?
Not that I’ve noticed 🙂
How would you adjust the time for bone-in thighs?
Add 1 hour to the cooking time!
an hour ????
LOL!! no I’m an idiot. I was thinking it was a slow cooker recipe. I would do 4-5 more minutes for bone in thighs 🙂
If i want to put potatoes in at what time on the recipe do i add them.
I would add them at the beginning.
How many chicken breasts would I use? I love your recipes. Any chance there will be an instant pot cookbook? And do you have other crockpot cookbooks?
About 2 pounds of chicken.
Hi Rose, I would use 2 or 3 chicken breast halves. Thanks so much for your comment! I don’t have and instant pot book but I do have a new crockpot book coming out! Here is the information: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/big-announcement/