Instant Pot Tomato Chicken Stew

I love a hearty and ridiculously simple stew recipe. Add to it that this recipe goes into the instant pot? And BAM! This is a winner for sure. This recipe has all the flavor of a traditional beef stew, but it’s decidedly lighter being made with chicken breast. Beef is expensive and not that great for you. One day I had the craving for beef stew, and I had chicken on hand and no beef, so I decided to give the chicken a try… and… a star was born. Give it a try, I’m certain that easy and delicious Instant Pot Tomato Chicken Stew will become a staple at your house.

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• 1.5 – 2 pounds boneless chicken breast
• 2-3 cups beef stock
• 1 28-ounce cans tomato sauce
• Baby carrots – 1 bag
• Russet Potatoes – 5-6 medium potatoes
• 2 tsp salt
• Ground black pepper (to taste – 1 tsp-ish!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning (optional – not pictured)

My Instant Pot is the actual Instant Pot brand. I have the Instant Pot DUO 6 Quart. I can’t say enough good things about this appliance. If you don’t have one, you need one. I use mine at least twice a week. It’s a slow cooker also, so it can definitely pull double duty. ***Safety note – I never, NOT EVER, leave my Instant Pot unattended. I never leave it running when I’m not home. I’m a safety nerd that way.

• Instant Pot IP-DUO60 321 Electric Pressure Cooker, 6 QT
• OXO Good Grips 12-Inch Tongs with Black Silicone Heads

Empty bag of carrots into the Instant Pot.

Peel Potatoes and cut into 4 large pieces each and put into Instant Pot.

Lay chicken breast in Instant Pot on top of veggies. Leave them whole. You don’t want them to totally fall apart during the cooking process.

Pour in tomato sauce. I skipped this picture somehow. So pretend like that beef broth being poured in is tomato sauce! I used one of the 33.5 ounce boxes of tomato sauce here. The 28 ounce cans will work as well. If you like a more chunky stew — feel free to use half sauce and half whole tomatoes and let them cook in the pressure cooker. I’m an all sauce, no tomato chunks kind of gal though.

Now it’s actually time for this picture! Pour in beef broth to just under the fill line on the Instant Pot. That’s usually 2ish cups for me. If your instant pot is bigger than that, I’d just add 3 total cups of beef broth. You certainly don’t have to fill it to the fill line. You just want there to be enough liquid to cover everything and make a nice stew consistency.

Note: You don’t have to use beef broth. You can use whatever broth you have on hand. But I think the beef broth lends to a “beef stew” flavor without the actual beef.

Add in salt, pepper, bay leaf and italian seasoning. Really, you can add whatever seasoning you like here. If you don’t have Italian Seasoning, just throw in a little parsley and thyme. Whatever you have on hand will work. And just salt and pepper will work too. If you like spicy, throw in some Texas Pete or hot sauce. It’s totally yours to play with!

Stir all ingredients in the Instant Pot to mix together. Make sure the chicken is covered by the liquid.

8. Put on lid and make sure it’s set to “sealing” on the vent. I use the “stew” option on my Instant Pot and it pressure cooks for around 40 minutes. By the time it comes up to pressure, it probably cooks an hour or so.

I let the pressure naturally release for at least 20 minutes after it’s finished cooking. I take that time to pull together some cornbread or something to go on the side of our stew. After 20 or so minutes, I use a wooden spoon to turn the vent from “Sealing” to “Venting” to make sure all the pressure is released. Stand back and let it fully release before you try to open it.

Open the pot and stir the stew. The chicken will have already started to come apart. I just use my tongs to gently squeeze the chicken and it falls apart and turns to shredded chicken in the pot with almost no effort at all. I’m always amazed by how tender it gets! I never even take it out of the pot to shred.

ENJOY! Serve with your favorite bread or crackers. I love a good corn muffin on the side!

I love this recipe. It’s so flipping easy and delicious. And with the chicken, it’s actually pretty dang healthy for you! We have this at least every other week at our house. Even in the summer. It’s just SO easy to make and so yummy to eat. The Instant Pot makes it for you! You’ve just gained an extra hour in your day while dinner cooks! I hope you give this recipe a try and love it! And as always, just keep shuffling!

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