Instant Pot Caprese Chicken—an easy dump and go Instant Pot or slow cooker recipe. Chicken with a flavorful tomato sauce and sprinkled with mozzarella, parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Serve over orzo or another favorite pasta.
Note: The SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below.
Instant Pot Caprese Chicken
No joke! I was licking my plate clean because I loved this simple and easy sauce so much! The balsamic adds a flavor boost that left my whole family is awe of this Instant Pot caprese chicken. You really need to add this easy dump and go Instant Pot recipe to this week’s menu.
A few notes about the recipe…
Orzo–I chose to serve my chicken and sauce over orzo. I actually used the pot-in-pot method to cook the orzo. I added 1 cup orzo and 2 cups water to a pan and placed a tall trivet* in the Instant Pot with the chicken and set the covered pasta pan* on top. However, I do not recommend this to you as the orzo did come out quite soft. It was like the texture of Spaghettios (which embarrassingly I actually love).
Chicken–I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs that were frozen. You can use breasts or even bone-in chicken pieces. Frozen is fine, the pot will take a bit longer to come to pressure.
Crushed tomatoes–don’t skip these! The texture and body and flavor from the crushed tomatoes (as opposed to a can of diced tomatoes or tomato sauce) is phenomenal. I like to buy the smaller 14.5 oz cans of crushed tomatoes for recipes like this.
More Recipes…
Instant Pot Italian Chicken Pasta
Instant Pot Ziti and Meatballs
Instant Pot Chicken Spinach Parmesan Orzo
Easy Slow Cooker Tortellini Lasagna
Instant Pot Caprese Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 2–3 Tbsp cornstarch + 2–3 Tbsp water
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese or 4 oz fresh mozzarella pearls, drained
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
For the Instant Pot:
- Pour chicken broth into Instant Pot. Add in chicken. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and balsamic vinegar. Dump the tomatoes on top.
- Cover and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 15 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- If a thicker sauce is desired make a cornstarch slurry. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp of cornstarch with 2-3 Tbsp of water, until smooth. Then pour the mixture into the Instant Pot. The cornstarch mixture will thicken up contents of pot quickly. Add in the mozzarella, parmesan and basil. Serve the chicken and sauce over your choice of pasta.
For the slow cooker:
- Add chicken into slow cooker. Drizzle chicken with olive oil and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and balsamic vinegar. Dump the tomatoes on top.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Add in the mozzarella, parmesan and basil. Serve the chicken and sauce over your choice of pasta.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
Can I use frozen chicken in the slow cooker version of this recipe?
yes!
This looks well worth trying! Quick note about the orzo: I have made it quite successfully with another recipe that used much less time (5 minutes as opposed to the 15 minutes this calls for, with a 7-minute natural release), AND I did not put a lid on the pot. I combined 8 oz. orzo, a little salt, and 2 cups of water. Also successful (same timing and proportions) with rotelli. I do recall that another pot-in-pot experience with orzo didn’t work as well but don’t have details why that might have been. My suspicion for why it got so soft when you made it with this would focus on the cooking time plus that lid, both of which would push more of the water into the pasta.
Thanks Phyllis for the tips!
Karen we love your recipes! I have frozen chicken tenders from Costco. Can they be used in this recipe? What is the general rule for chicken tenders?
Yes I would use a 5 minute pressure cook time for frozen chicken tenders. Will be great!
Awesome recipe! It is now a weekly go to for us! Thank you! Do you think we could use something like xanthan gum in place of cornstarch? If so how would you recommend trying it? (We just have extra trying to use it up) thank you!
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Yes you can do that! A little bit goes a long way, so it’s best to start with a small amount like 1/4 teaspoon and add more as needed.
One of the things I love about the Instant Pot is the Keep Warm function, so dinner can be ready but we may not eat for several hours or we eat at different times.
But would the cheeses melt if added and then left for a fair or long amount of time?
Thanks in advance for your help, Karen, as usual! I’m actually making this today.
I would not add the cheese into the pot. I would just let everyone add the cheeses to their individual portion! Should be great 🙂
I really loved this! I served over orzo as well (cooked separately). I was really surprised how much it did remind me of spaghettios! Which I love! Yum. Will make again…very easy.
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I love spaghettios too! It’s that one food from childhood that I really love still
I don’t eat meat but I made these for my boys and everyone loved it! I seasoned up the Orzo real good and added some Asiago and romano cheese and I think that really leveled up the playing field 🤣 it kinda turned out like the mizithra spaghetti at the spaghetti factory.
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YES to adding the asiago!! Yum!
Made this last night!!!another winner from you Karen. I can definitely see what you said about licking plate clean……the balsamic in the sauce is just so yummy!!! You are the only place I get my instant pot recipes from….thanks so much.
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I know, the balsamic is everything!!! Thanks so much for being here Michele.
I have this recipe on my menu for this week. I have an abundance of fresh tomatoes. Can I use the fresh instead of the canned?
I am not sure honestly how that would turn out. I haven’t tried it with fresh. The crushed tomatoes are really the star of this dish.
It was excellent. I used frozen boneless thighs (3) and 1 frozen boneless breast. It had great flavor. Served it with 12 oz. of pasta.
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I love the flavor of this dish!
I made this last night and we loved it! The flavor was awesome and this will definitely be put into our rotation of favorites! Thank you!
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I’m so glad you liked it Kathy!!!
We appreciate all your hard work on these delightful
Recipes! Thank you!
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You’re so welcome Saundra!!!
Looks great! I’m going to freeze the chicken and sauce in freezer bags, then dump into the slow cooker while I work. I like versitle recipes like these. Keep ’em coming!
Love this idea Karen!
This recipe looks delicious! I don’t have an Instant Pot, but I am going to use my Crockpot. I hope it turns out the same way as the Instant Pot. Thanks for sharing……Janice
I bet you’ll love it!
Hello Karen
Is it possible to use frozen boneless chicken breasts? If so, what is the cooking time?
Thank you!
She says on the page:” Chicken–I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs that were frozen. You can use breasts or even bone-in chicken pieces. Frozen is fine, the pot will take a bit longer to come to pressure.”
Yes thank you! That’s what I would do.