Instant Pot Olive Garden Chicken Scampi—sauteed chicken, red bell peppers, onions and angel hair pasta tossed in a lemon-butter-cream sauce. Tastes better than the restaurant!
Instant Pot Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
I think you’re really going to love this copycat Olive Garden dish! It’s a perfect spring recipe. Serve alongside some steamed or roasted asparagus to round out the meal. The lemon cream pasta is addicting and the chicken is perfectly browned and tender. I think it’s better than the restaurant, for sure. And all of this recipe can be made in your Instant Pot!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Flour–all purpose works great
- Garlic salt–or 3 parts salt to 1 part garlic powder
- Smoked paprika–I like to buy this in the bulk section at Winco
- Chicken tenderloins–or chicken breast cut into the size of chicken tenders (across the grain)
- Olive oil–or another oil like vegetable or canola
- Red onion
- Red bell pepper–or another color like green or orange
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
- Angel hair pasta–or spaghetti (cook 1 extra minute)
- Butter
- Fresh lemon juice–fresh is best but, if you must, you can use bottled
- Dried parsley–or fresh
- Dried onion–I like to buy this in a big container at Costco
- Kosher salt–or sea salt
- Heavy cream–or evaporated milk or half and half
Steps to make chicken scampi in the Instant Pot
- Coat the chicken in a flour mixture.
- Brown the chicken using sauté setting. Set chicken aside for later.
- Sauté the red onion and the red bell pepper until tender. Set vegetables aside for later.
- Deglaze the pot.
- Add in the pasta, butter, lemon juice, parsley, dried onion and kosher salt.
- Pressure cook for 4 minutes.
- Stir in the heavy cream and the red onions and bell peppers.
- Serve pasta with the chicken. Eat and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. This can also be made in the 8 quart pot. For the 3 quart pot you will have to work in batches to cook the chicken.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If you don’t have chicken tenders and want to use chicken breasts cut them across the grain. The chicken will need to be fresh for this recipe, not frozen.
More Lemon Instant Pot Recipes…
- Instant Pot Creamy Lemon Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken Lemon Orzo Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Lemon Chicken Soup
- Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Meatball Wraps With Spicy Garlic Sauce
- Instant Pot Lemon Rice
- Instant Pot Skinny Honey Lemon Chicken
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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Instant Pot Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Sauteed chicken, red bell peppers, onions and angel hair pasta tossed in a lemon-butter-cream sauce. Tastes better than the restaurant!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 8 chicken tenderloins
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces angel hair pasta
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp dried onion
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- On a plate stir together the flour, garlic salt and paprika.
- Dredge each of the chicken tenders in the flour mixture.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in ½ Tbsp of oil into the pot. Add in the red onion and the red bell pepper. Sauté for about 4 minutes. Move out of the Instant Pot and set aside for later.
- Add in 1 Tbsp of the oil. Place the chicken tenders into the pot in one even layer. Let them brown for 5 minutes then flip and brown for 5 minutes on the other side. (Internal temperature of chicken should be 165° F.) Use tongs to place on a plate. Cover with foil.
- Pour the broth into the pot and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Cancel off the sauté setting. Break the pasta in half and lay it in a criss-cross pattern pressing to submerge. Add in the butter, lemon juice, parsley, dried onion and kosher salt.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up move valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Stir well. Stir in the heavy cream and the red onions and bell peppers.
- Serve pasta with the chicken. Eat and enjoy!
- 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.
Karen, I use your recipes almost every night and this is one of our favorites. Lately though, the liquid isn’t cooking down enough. My pot isn’t leaking water/steam, definitely seems to be pressurized so I’m asking the Instant Pot guru if you would have any insight as to why this is occuring.
Thanks in advance for help you might be able to offer,
Janet
So strange! Maybe add a bit more pasta??
First let me start by saying i always search Karens recipes anytime im utilizi the instant pot and 98%of the time its her recipes im using. ive turned several people on to her site. Now, I had my reservations about this recipe but followed the directions to a tee figuring I must be missing something since not one of the comments echoed my concerns. But, Cooking angel hair for 4mins when you only have me cook spaghetti noodles for 2mins for your Peppered Noodles recipe? and 2 large lemons? your idea of large and mine must be two different things.The angel hair was mush and the dish tasted like you were sucking on a lemon. I WILL make this again as it had a ton of promise but I’ll be making some much needed adjustments to your recipe.
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Karen,
If I am trying to eliminate carbs by serving this over cauliflower rice or maybe spiralized zucchini, by how much should I decrease the amount of broth? Any ideas? Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Okay so I would do steps 1-4 as stated. Then I would
Keep the pot on saute and add in the butter, and let it melt.
Stir in the cauliflower rice or zucchini, lemon juice, parsley, dried onion and kosher salt.
Toss until cooked through. Stir in the heavy cream and the red onions and bell peppers.
Serve with the chicken. Eat and enjoy!
Thank you! Just what I need to know!
Janis—have you tried roasted red bell peppers? The are much tastier than raw, sauteed peppers. I think you will like the flavor of roasted red peppers in any recipe calling for red pepper.
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I haven’t tried this but must respond to the comment about unsubscribing. Karen has the best recipes. I have never had a bad one. I tell all my friends about her. I look forward to the recipes. Really got me into the instant pot. THANK YOU KATEN!
Thank you for that info!
Hi Karen!
I was wondering if this could be made with shrimp and scallops instead of the chicken, and if so, how would the times vary? Thank you, I absolutely love all your recipes!
I think you could…however they cook very quickly so perhaps you would just start with step 5 and stir them in with step 7 and cook on saute until they are cooked through?
What setting of sauté do you use most of the time?
I use the highest setting “more”
This recipe is delicious but I think it requires cooking skills, which can create challenges for me. All of Karen’s recipes are easy and delicious and I’m so glad I found her website! I had difficulty with the flour sticking to the bottom of the pot–I think I cut the chicken in pieces that were too large and then it took too long. I think next time I will try sauteing the chicken in a skillet separately because the flavors of the dish are great.
★★★★★
Wondering timing for doing this in my crockpot. Same instructions?
This was easy to make and tasted SO GOOD! Picky autistic son said he wasn’t going to eat supper because he was unfamiliar with it, but ended up trying it and LOVED it….even had seconds. Will definitely be making this again.
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ahhh that’s so nice! I’m glad for him and for you!
I will definitely try this recipe! I know it will be a five star winner. Every one of your recipes are absolutely delicious!!! Will there be any changes if I use chicken thighs that I’ve skinned and deboned, and if I use 12oz Angel hair pasta, 12 pieces of chicken, in an eight quart IP. Thank you for all you do!
GOD BLESS,
Ella
★★★★★
If you cut the thighs into pieces it should be great!
I just made this boy was it good I had creamed spinach as a side dish with garlic knots ty Karen
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Thanks Brenda! So glad you enjoyed this meal!
Made this tonight! Hubby loved it! Haven’t found a bad one yet. Wasn’t sure about this one. Only comment he made was “are these pimento’s”? No honey red peppers “Oh ok”
All the recipes I make give us left overs so we get 2 meals out of every one.
Have enjoyed every single one. Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad that you are enjoying the recipes Bobbi! And you husband too 🙂
Way to go Kim B.. I was just going to post a comment but you said it all…
Your Instant Pot recipes are outstanding but the email for the daily recipe is irritating and wastes my time.
Simply advertise the recipe name rather than the folksy chat that gives no info I’m tempted to unsubscribe from this site
When you leave negative comments like this you are wasting our time. We try to help each other on this blog/email. I love reading helpful comments, so you would be doing all of us a favor if you went ahead and unsubscribed. You will be the one losing out.
Go ahead and unsubscribe. I do not believe it will upset Karen. She has many, many subscribers who appreciate the time she take to share her recipes.
Wow, rude…please do unsubscribe if that will help to make you less judgmental.
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Just nasty! What were you raised by wolves? “Folksy chat”…….I see someone needs friends! I shouldn’t waste my time responding to this but how rude! You haven’t helped anyone with this comment! People like you are what’s wrong with this world!
Don’t just be tempted, by all means UNSUBSCRIBE!!
Absolutely delicious Karen!!
Thank you for all you do 😉
God bless 😇
★★★★★
I was really excited when I saw this recipe because it is my favorite dish at Olive Garden! I made it right away and I was amazed. It was so good! One thing that impressed me was how the sauce thickened up when I stirred in the heavy cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about how good it was! Thanks so much for what you do, Karen!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you tried it Denise! This one was sooo good!
This is what I order anytime we go to Olive Garden. I don’t care for cooked bell peppers so I ask for none. I look forward to making this in my kitchen, sans peppers.
Thank you for this!
I think you’ll really love it Janis!
Janis—have you tried roastied red bell peppers? The are much tastier than raw, sauteed peppers. I think you will like the flavor of roasted red peppers in any recipe calling for red pepper.
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I don’t like bell peppers, and I especially don’t like them cooked in any form. But thank you for the suggestion.
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