Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken–creamy chicken and sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan cheese and garlic. Make it fast in your Instant Pot!
Get the SLOW COOKER tuscan chicken recipe here
Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken
This recipe is so super tasty. Lots of creamy sauce and tender bites of chicken. Plus lots of flavor from the sun-dried tomatoes and cream cheese. The bonus is that this recipe can be made gluten free and low carb too.
A few notes about the ingredients:
Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and cut off the excess fat with my kitchen shears. Chicken thighs stay tender and moist. I like to buy mine in a big bag at Costco. Chicken breasts can also be used in this recipe. Just note the cooking time difference in the recipe card.
Sun-dried tomatoes: I like the flavor and texture of jarred sun-dried tomatoes for this recipe. I have used the dehydrated tomatoes but they don’t taste very good and the texture is off. Usually I can find the sun-dried tomatoes in the produce area of the grocery store.
Spinach: Fresh or frozen spinach will work for this recipe. Spinach gives the recipe a pop of color. Just stir in the amount that you want. I like a lot of spinach but you can also just throw in a couple handfuls. If using frozen spinach turn the saute setting on to heat the spinach through or you may just want to thaw the spinach first.
Recommendations
Garlic: I mince my own garlic with a garlic press* but you can also use the jarred minced garlic.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Instant Pot Garlic Parmesan Bacon Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Chowder
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
Creamy chicken and sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan cheese and garlic.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 cup chicken broth
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup half and half, warmed
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 (8 oz) jar sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, drained and chopped
- 3 oz coarsely chopped spinach
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Saute: Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onion and saute for 4-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 20-30 seconds. Deglaze the pot with the chicken broth.
- Add ingredients: Nestle the chicken into the pot and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
- Pressure cook: Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for chicken breasts or 15 minutes for chicken thighs (add 2 minutes if they are frozen). When the time is up let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Make the sauce: Use tongs to place chicken on a cutting board. Turn the Instant Pot to the saute setting. Stir the cream cheese into the liquid in the pot. In a small bowl, stir the cornstarch and warm half and half together until smooth. Then pour the mixture into the pot. Stir until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is thickened from the cornstarch. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
- Final touches: Shred or cut the chicken and then stir it back into the pot. Stir the sun-dried tomatoes and the spinach into the pot. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over rice, cauliflower rice, steamed vegetables, egg noodles or potatoes.
Notes
This is gluten free. Just make sure to check your chicken broth label.
This recipe can be low carb. Use heavy cream instead of half and half and omit the cornstarch. To cut carbs even more leave out the tomatoes. Serve over cauliflower rice.
Pot in pot rice can be made at the same time as the chicken.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- 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.
Delicious! I made half a recipe for the two of us. Will have one round of leftovers. I usually use chicken thighs but used tenders this time. Didn’t bother to shred or dice after cooking–they were the right size for a nice presentation in strips. Perfectly cooked. Makes plenty of sauce. We really loved his dish!
★★★★★
I love chicken tenders for that reason!
Hi There- I’m planning on making this this weekend, using chicken tenders (thawed). Do I need to cut the time back?
I’d only cook for 5 minutes with chicken tenders.
Hi, could I use just a pound of chicken instead of two?
Yes absolutely
Why are the chicken thighs put in whole and shredded later Karen?
Could they be cut in cubes first to eliminate that step?
Sure if you’d like. I just find it’s easier to throw them in frozen.
Made this tonight. Absolutely delicious, only thing is there is just the 2 of us, & I am wondering how well this will freeze. Thank you!
I bet it will be just okay. Not great. Not terrible.
I made this last night for supper it was delicious.
My grandson doesn’t like tomatoes so he wondered what the red things were his mother said it was a new vegetable. He was glad there was rice,he loves rice. He
Cleaned his plate and smiled big. I totally forgot to take a picture but it was beautiful just like the picture. I used thighs and they were so tender shredded so easy.
This is definitely one I will make again. Thank you for posting it.
Oh this warms my heart. I love the “new vegetable” story!!!
Why not just use a rasp for the garlic . Much quicker and easier to clean.
Good to know! Thanks for the idea.
I have to use plant based protein like chick cutlets like Morning Star brand or tofu. All for a health problem. Can I use either of them or can you suggest something else I can substitute? Thanks Gary
I really am not familiar with those products so I’m not sure how they would work out.
Looks yummy! My family is not keen on spinach. I wonder if you could do broccoli instead? I’m thinking add it to the pot before cooking. What do you think?
Why not use broccoli? I would add red and green bell pepper also! Any vegetable would be great for this. Just be careful not to add soft vegetables (IE: zucchini, peppers etc) until near the end of cooking! You don’t want them to fall apart. Do you care for mushrooms? Let us know how it comes out?
Broccoli would be great! But I wouldn’t throw it in there. It will be disintegrated. I would add it in afterwards. Maybe steam it in the microwave first.