Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Italian Chicken

3-Ingredient Italian Chicken is an easy but flavorful and saucy chicken recipe that can be made in the Instant Pot or Crockpot.

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3-Ingredient Italian Chicken

When you just don’t have the energy to make dinner this is the recipe for you! I was feeling tired and lethargic and just couldn’t muster the energy to make dinner. This dinner was so fast (about 3 minutes of initial prep time) to make. And guess what? It tastes really yummy. The chicken is tender and the seasonings are perfect. No need for anything extra! It only has 3 main ingredients too. Plus you can use frozen chicken. It’s not much to look at but I think you’ll really like this chicken.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts–or a combination of the two. You can use frozen or fresh chicken.
• Dry zesty Italian dressing mix–you can also use ranch dressing mix.
• Cornstarch–to thicken the sauce

Instant Pot Steps

Add chicken broth and chicken into Instant Pot. Sprinkle the chicken with the Italian dressing mix. 

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for fresh chicken or 15 minutes for frozen chicken. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Shred the chicken or use a fork to break it up. 

Thicken the sauce by making a cornstarch slurry. Stir together 2-3 Tbsp of cornstarch and 3 Tbsp of water. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the slurry into the pot to thicken the sauce. Once thickened turn off the Instant Pot.

Serve chicken and sauce over rice or mashed potatoes. 

Notes

• Serve the chicken and sauce over the top of rice or mashed potatoes. I made brown rice. Serve some salad or vegetables on the side.
• This recipe is gluten-free, just make sure to check your dressing mix and your broth.
• This recipe is dairy free.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Other recipes you can make with Italian dressing mix are Instant Pot Creamy Chicken and Instant Pot Italian Chicken Casserole.

Can I make the rice at the same time?

Pot-in-pot rice is a method of cooking rice in a separate container placed inside the Instant Pot. This method allows you to cook rice and the chicken at the same time. Here’s how you can cook rice at the same time as the chicken.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup of white rice
• 3 cups of water

Instructions:

1. Add the rice to a heatproof container that fits inside the Instant Pot (I often use this stainless steel pan*). Add in the rice and water.
2. Add the chicken ingredients into the Instant Pot.
3. Place the heatproof container with the rice on top of the chicken, using a tall trivet* to keep it elevated.
4. Close the Instant Pot lid and set the valve to sealing. Cook as stated in the recipe card.
5. Carefully remove the heatproof container with the rice from the Instant Pot. It will be perfectly cooked!

Note: You can use long grain white rice, converted rice, basmati rice, jasmine rice. Brown rice uses a longer cooking time (22 minutes) and won’t work for (pot-in-pot) this particular recipe.

More 3-ingredient Instant Pot Recipes

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. 

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*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.