Instant Pot Roast Chicken (and Broth) Recipe

I did something that felt brave with my IP this week; I cooked an ENTIRE chicken at once.  My chicken was only 5 lbs but I was afraid that it wouldn't fit in my IP but miraculously not only did the chicken fit in there but a bunch of vegetables, water and even the IP rack.  A-mazing.

Now, about this chicken.  It turned out moist, delicious and perfectly cooked.  It required little preparation and a huge bonus was that it made 4 cups of chicken broth to use another time.  Woot woot!

I separated the chicken from the bones and kept 1/2 to use now froze the other 1/2.  The next day I cut up chicken into small pieces and added walnuts, mayo and dried cranberries.  My big girl and I had it for lunch on toast - Yummy!!

So if you have an IP and have been reluctant to cook a chicken wait no more!  Use this recipe, you won't be disappointed.

IP Roast Chicken

Ingredients
4-6 lb whole organic chicken
3 celery stalks - chopped
2 carrots - chopped
1 onion - chopped
2-3 cups of water
Seasoning Salt
Garlic Salt
Salt & Pepper

Directions

1. Place celery, carrots and onion in the bottom of the IP.  Put the rack on top and add 2-3 cups of water.
2. Season chicken with seasoning salt, garlic salt and any other preferred dried herbs (ie: rosemary, thyme, etc).  Place the chicken on top of the rack and add salt and pepper.
3. Place the IP on the MEAT setting and adjust the time down to 25 minutes.
4. Once the 25 minutes are up let the pressure naturally release for another 25 minutes.  (*If you cut it short and open the valve early the meat will be less moist!).
5. Remove the chicken and take off the meat from the bones.  Strain the broth into a mason jar to use later!  Enjoy!
*Those chicken bones could then be added back to the IP to make Bone Broth, but I'm not *that* brave yet so I don't have a recipe for you.  Ha!

Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup (tastes like Nordstrom Cafe recipe)

I've been experimenting with my Instant Pot again.  I'm a fan of tomato soups and already have go-to recipes for the stove and Crockpot, so I had to find one for my new kitchen toy, the Instant Pot!

This recipe is a mixture of the other two recipes and is fantastic because it's all done in the one pot.  Love that!  You'll need an immersion blender but if you don't have one you could use a regular blender at the end too.

I'm told it tastes just like the Nordstrom Cafe Tomato Basil Soup, try it out and let me know what you think. 

Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
1-2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 oz Carrots peeled and chopped (about 3 medium)
8 oz Onion chopped
1 Tablespoon Dried Basil
3 28 oz cans Organic Tomatoes  
1 cup Chicken Stock/Broth
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream or Half & Half
2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Optional: 2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil leaves cut into fine ribbons

Instructions 
1. Peel and chop up the carrots and onions.  I used a scale to measure out exactly 8oz of each.
2. Push Sauté on your Instant Pot and allow to full heat. Add oil and then add carrots, onions and dried basil. 
3. Sauté for 4-8 minutes, or until vegetables start to caramelize and the onions become a bit translucent. 
4. Add canned tomatoes and chicken broth. Lock on Lid and close Pressure Valve. Push manual and select 5 minutes. When Beep is heard, let the pot do an instant release for about 5 minutes before opening the lid. 
5. Turn Pressure Cooker off.  Using an immersion blender blend until soup is smooth. (alternately remove the soup and blend in portions in a blender). Add cream,  salt and pepper to taste.  Add fresh basil as a garnish if desired. Serve with cheesy or garlic bread.

This recipe made enough for about 8-10 servings so there are plenty of leftovers. 

More Tomato Soup Recipes:

Quick and Easy Creamy Tomato Basil Soup 
Tomato Basil Parmesan Crockpot Soup
Orzo Tomato Spinach Soup
Italian Tomato Chicken Noodle Soup

Vegetable Beef Instant Pot Soup Recipe

My love of my new Instant Pot is increasing with each successful recipe!  Last week I craved some vegetable beef soup and this was SO. EASY.  I'm talking easy.  I simply sautéd the meat and onion (in the pot!) and then added the vegetables to the SAME pot.  Oh man, my life may never be the same.

The family gave it two thumbs up, everyone liked it.  I'll be making it again soon.

Vegetable Beef Instant Pot Soup

Ingredients 
1 pound organic ground beef 
½ medium onion, diced 
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups frozen (or fresh) Lima beans 
2 cups organic frozen mixed vegetables 
2 cups frozen organic corn 
3 cans of diced tomatoes 
2 cups water (more if you prefer more broth)
1 TBSP dried basil 
Salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions 1. Set your Instant pot to sauté setting. Cook meat and onions until brown and onions are soft (about 5 min). When they are almost cooked add the garlic and sauté for one more minute.
2. Add all the other ingredients to the Instant pot. 
3. Add lid and and set to sealing. 4. Click the manual button and set the time for 4 minutes. Allow it to naturally release the pressure for 5 minutes and then do a quick release.
5. Remove lid, stir, and add more salt and pepper to taste. 
Enjoy!

To get your own amazing Instant Pot check out the link below.

For more Instant Pot recipes check out:

Instant Pot Chicken Soup

Instant Pot Popcorn

Instant Pot Popcorn Recipe

My little one helped me make popcorn in our Instant Pot one evening recently and it was a hit.  We used a recipe that had coconut oil and butter which we thought was fabulous but tasted "too coconut-y" to the other members of my family.  So if you're coconut oil shy then just use more butter instead.

It is such a simple recipe, and my Ikea multipurpose glass lid made it easy to see how the popcorn was coming along.  Although the actual popping made my daughter a little nervous, you can see above she chose to close her ears while watching. :)

If you don't have a glass lid for your Instant Pot look for the STABIL lid at Ikea, only $8.99!  Or if Amazon is your jam here is a universal cover option which you can use on your IP as well as other frying pans.  Or get the official IP glass lid if you only need it for your IP.

The popcorn comes out with a slightly brown color because of the coconut oil.  My daughter wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but after she tasted it she was all smiles!  

Instant Pot Popcorn

3 Tablespoons of coconut oil 
2 Tablespoons of butter 
1/2 cup popcorn kernels 

Instructions

1. Turn on SAUTE and press Adjust to raise temp to MORE. 
2. When display reads HOT, add coconut oil and butter. 
3. Wait about 1 minute then pour in corn kernels. Stir and make sure the oil is covering all the kernels. If not add more oil. 
4. Cover and in 2 minutes or so the corn will start popping. When about 2/3 of the corn has popped, turn IP off and let sit to finish popping. Add salt and any seasonings of choice.

Instant Pot Chicken Soup

I have joined the world of Instant Pot (electronic pressure cooker) cooking!  I've been thinking about getting one for over a year but finally pulled the trigger after Thanksgiving when the prices were so low.  I decided it could replace my beloved and well used rice-cooker and also work for crock-pot type recipes in a fraction of the time.

It took me about 2.5 weeks to take it out of the box after it arrived, as I found the prospect of learning a new electronic device intimidating. ;)  However, it really wasn't a big deal once I gave it a try and this easy-peasy chicken soup recipe is proof!  It was the first recipe that I made and turned out great.

I made my own recipe using many of the ingredients from my crock-pot chicken soup recipe, but with Instant Pot soup directions. 

For the original crock pot/slow cooker recipe go here.

Instant Pot Chicken Soup

Ingredients
1 lb chicken breasts (mostly thawed)
3 carrots chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 bay leaf
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 Tbsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
*cooked noodles or rice

Instructions
1. In the liner pot add the vegetables, then chicken, then herbs.
2. Add 4 cups chicken stock and 2 cups of water.
3. Close the lid tightly and make sure the vent is closed.
4. Press "SOUP"
5. When the timer goes off let the pressure release manually for about 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
*Serves about 4-6

Feel free to add cooked pasta or rice.

For my favorite Crock Pot Chicken Soup recipe go here.

To get your own Instant Pot check out this one on Target, or this one on Amazon.