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Green Salsa Chicken in an Instant Pot

April 29, 2018   20 Comments

If you have been under a rock, you may not have noticed the Instant Pot. I made green salsa chicken in mine and it was a hit.

Green Salsa Chicken in an Instant Pot

What is an Instant Pot? The latest and greatest kitchen appliance that will not fit in your cabinet.

Isn’t it cute? It costs about $99 and everyone is talking about it (except me). I was reticent because I have so many appliances already. I have a rice cooker, slow cooker, and pressure cooker. Why would I want this?

This is a photo of the box that it comes in and I think the marketing is quite compelling.

The Instant Pot is a SEVEN in ONE appliance. It is a Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Saute/Browning, Yogurt Maker, and Steamer & Warmer.

Will it keep you from ordering take out? I think it might.

One part that I really like is the “sauté” function because I hate having to cook my onions or brown the meat in one pan and then transfer the food to the slow cooker or pressure cooker. This way, you only have to clean one pan!

It makes all sorts of stuff and I found it very easy to use. I almost didn’t need the instruction manual to get it going.

I think it might be a little small for my usual slow cooker meals because I like to cook a lot of food and freeze some of it. My slow cooker is about 50% bigger.

I did love being able to program the pressure cooker and not worry if I was going to blow up my house. It was very relaxing to “set and forget”. After the meal finishes cooking, the Instant Pot goes to a “warm” setting which is great for busy nights when I am running around.

I am going to try a couple of meals in the Instant Pot and continue to share its pros and cons.

For my first recipe, I decided to make a green salsa chicken because I have made a chicken taco filling in my slow cooker and I wanted to compare the pressure cooker method.

This recipe is super easy and has only a few ingredients. I did buy bone in chicken thighs and remove the skin because I think that the bone ensures that the chicken remains moist. No one likes dry chicken.

First, I turned on the Instant Pot and used the “Saute” function to quickly brown the chicken. Then I added the green salsa to the chicken and used the pressure cooker function. My dish was done in about 25 minutes.

This is like a chicken stew (and my family loved it).

This product was received for review consideration. No other compensation was provided.

Green Salsa Chicken Recipe

1.8 from 25 reviews

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Ingredients

8 chicken thighs, bone in, skin removed
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons oregano, dried
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups jarred green salsa (AKA tomatillo sauce)
cilantro (optional)
jalapeno, chopped (optional)

Instructions

In a large bowl, toss chicken, vinegar, salt, and oregano. Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add the olive oil. Brown the chicken in two batches about 1 minute per side until opaque. Add all the chicken and the green salsa, cover, and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Use a quick release to bring down the pressure.

Serve with cilantro and chopped jalapeno if desired.

Nutrition Facts

For one chicken thigh = 155 calories, 6.5 g fat, 3.2 g saturated fat, 0 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar, 17.2 g protein, 2.2 g fiber, 300 mg sodium, 4 Freestyle SmartPTs

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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20 Comments:

Please tell me, is the advantage of the 'Instant Pot' the fact that it cooks the chicken in 20 minutes after the sautéing part? I too am reluctant to purchase yet another kitchen gadget...especially one that takes up this much room - and I have the luxury of working from home, so having chicken simmering on the stove after sautéing isn't a problem for me - what's the verdict? Buy it or use my standard cookware and plan for extra time for having the lid on and letting the chicken cook till done? Thanks!

Does the 20 minutes cooking time also include the time for the pot to reach pressure and then come down again. In a review on Amazon of a pressure cooker, one of the reviewers noted that this process could at least double the advertised cooking time - something that definitely have to be taken into when considering time needed from pot to plate!

Ditto Sue's comment. I went on an appliance purge several years ago as I had way too much stuff on the counters in my small kitchen. Would this be a suitable replacement for my large crockpot? I don't own a pressure cooker and the appeal of 1 appliance that does the job of many is tempting. I'm self employed so some days I am out all day and others I'm working from home. So the slow-cooker and auto warming is a plus.

Lisa, I own one and I love it.. In fact I made chicken soup in it yesterday. They have a a 10 quart one I believe. Mine is 8 quarts.

It really infuses the flavor into the food..

It is big so I keep mine in the laundry room on a shelf just off of the kitchen. There are really many things you can cook in it. I do recommend it..

@Sue - I think that if you have time to be around your food - this doesn't make sense. This recipe is essentially a stew and if you have time to simmer it - why would you want an Instant Pot? I will say that it turned out perfectly but it would be the same after a slow simmer on the stove of maybe 30-40 minutes. I would check at 30 and see what I thought.

@Jane - excellent question. The time does not include the heating time to pressure - which in my experience so far is 5-10 minutes. It would depend on how much is in the pot.

@Gail - I would keep my large crockpot and use the Instant Pot as a pressure cooker. Mine doesn't have the volume of my large crockpot but I fill my crockpot to the TOP.

If a friend of yours has one, borrow it and see what you think. Thanks for the excellent questions!

Gosh I would love to get one, but my husband would have a fit, lol. I love kitchen items and running out of room. The floor of my pantry and bottom shelf are full and I have a large pantry. 😄

I had all the same questions. I have had mine over a year. Love it!! Food has the best flavor. Only kept the crock pot to keep food heated for family holidays. My daughter and daughter in law both ask for one for Christmas. I hope more recipes are coming??

First, let me say how much I hate cooking. I am obsessed with my Instant Pot! I make my own greek yogurt, refried beans, I can cook my potatoes and hard boiled eggs for potato salad at the same time. I have even started making my dog's food! I didn't even know making your own yogurt was even possible but it is the best I have ever had. It is very cost effective compared to store bought Greek yogurt. I have also made cottage cheese but it ended up being about the same cost. I like Cabot so I will stick to that.

This also works as a slow cooker but don't throw out your big one. This will replace my small one though. It also works as a rice cooker although I haven't used the rice feature yet.

Believe it or not, I have the new IP Duo60 Plus 9 in 1 in my amazon cart right now. Just haven't prepared myself for my husband's response when he sees a second one. My IP hasn't left the counter since I got it - and I don't like counter clutter.

Best hundred bucks I have ever spent.

Would you decrease the cooking time with boneless thighs?

I love that you've discovered the Instant Pot. I love mine! I haven't cooked a lot of things in it because I'm not much of a cook but I make the same things over and over - bone broth in hours instead of a day or two, cheesecake (need I say more?), chicken wings, etc.

Thighs are pretty forgiving, much more than breasts and can handle it if you cook a minute loner. Maybe someone else who has more experience will chime in.

My husband loved the chicken. When I saw the recipe I thought it was perfect because I already had thighs for my next batch of dog food. Guess who got them! Not the dog!

Was your chicken frozen or refrigerated?

What kind of release. Natural or Quick/Manual?

I have a slow cooker that comes in 2 parts - a griddle, which is the heat base and a rectangle shaped pot. If I need to saute something I can do it in the pot. The griddle plugs in and the pot is put on top of the griddle to cook. I can also put the pot in the oven.

I resisted getting one more small kitchen appliance, but now that I have one I LOVE IT! I agree you have to take into consideration time to build pressure and time to let the pressure come down ( I use the quick release a lot). It is still quick and the food just tastes better - more flavorful and moist. I love throwing frozen chicken or ground beef into it an in a few minutes I have meat ready to easily shred ( chicken ) or use for tacos, casseroles or other dishes. A pot of beans in 45 minutes with no soaking.

@Linda - I use the quick release. Thank you for the question! I will put this in the recipe.

I have a Clipso (T-Fal)k stove top pressure cooker (about $50). It is great and easy to clean. It usually takes about 10 minutes at med heat for it to come up to pressure. I make stews, soups, roasts, ham hocks, and veggies in it. We made boneless ham hocks the other night. We cooked them up and then added canned lima beans. It was extraordinarily tasty. Nutrition and flavor are so much better when using a pressure cooker.

This is a good recipe from Lisa. You can make your own salsa verde (green sauce). Just get some tomatillos if you can find them at your grocer, add chicken broth, and chile peppers (op)., some oregano and/or cilantro. The nice thing is that you can also add celery (peeled of its strings), carrots, chayote and other veggies that will not change the flavor of the original recipe by much. If you don't mind a couple of extra calories, top this recipe with queso fresco (not melted). I use this cheese for all chile verde recipes. You can make enchiladas from this recipe, just use corn tortillas and top the enchiladas after they are baked with queso fresco.

I do a natural release. Actually, I always use NPR when cooking meat unless a recipe states to do a quick release.

can I use chicken breasts in this recipe?

Yes, you can! In fact, just last night I used to massive breasts, frozen solid and stuck together. Normally breasts don't take too long, especially when using the trivet. No trivet, just put them right in the salsa. This is a go-to meal when I haven't taken anything out for dinner. Not positive on the thawed cooking time but frozen, 20-23".

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