Juicy, tender and succulent chicken breast bathed in a thick flavorful sauce that’s easy to make in the pressure cooker?!?! Believe it!

It’s not easy to get good results frozen (or even fresh) chicken breasts in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot. Usually, because the chicken breast meat is so tender and lean, the meat cooks very quickly, too quickly -infamously turning chicken breast into stingy meat tassels.

But there’s another way.

In the meat episode of the Pressure Cooking School, I share two ways to save chicken breasts from their tasteless demise. And, today, I’ll show you a third: stewing.

Stewing is basically boiling meat and veggies in a flavorful sauce. This keeps the meat from drying out and the sauce has a chance to add more flavor. It’s paradoxically faster, too, because when the meat is covered with cooking liquid – you get to use the Natural Pressure Release Exception!

See Also: Pressure Cooking School – free video series!

No liquid? No way!

Several popular versions of Instant Pot Butter Chicken do not require any cooking liquid. It’s a fun idea, and it might work sometimes for some people – but these recipes do not work consistently. I say this from experience and after getting many e-mails from desperate readers with half-charred half-raw dinner asking me what they did wrong.

While the thinking behind those recipes assumes that the chicken or tomatoes will release enough liquid for the cooker to reach pressure – the reality is that this will only work for chicken breasts that have been pre-processed in a particular way by the manufacturer. Frozen chicken meat and most natural chicken breast preparations do not release liquid quickly enough to prevent the other ingredients from burning before the cooker reaches pressure (if it reaches pressure at all). Plus the tomato sauce, apparently the other source of cooking liquid, is actually too thick and viscous to boil and generate steam on its own.

See Also: Pressure Cook Tomato-based Recipes Like a Pro!

Besides the high probability of a failed dinner, consider the additional wear-and-tear on the silicone parts and electronics that are not designed to withstand the high temperatures of a lengthy “dry saute” with the lid closed.

Say “Yes” to liquid!

Adding liquid to a recipe does not necessarily mean that it will water down down the flavor. It’s an opportunity to introduce more flavor if used wisely. For example, the liquid in this recipe dissolves the tomato paste – which is really just a concentrate – turning it back into a sauce (without the burn).

Also, the water can be replaced with the double-concentrate chicken stock (more on this on pg. 49 in the sidebar “Know Your Strength” in my cookbook Hip Pressure Cooking: Fast, Fresh, and Flavorful ; ) turning up the chicken flavor even more.

Freeze!

Just be aware that since the meat is frozen, and it will instantly cool down the water, or stock, in the recipe the pressure cooker will take a few extra minutes to reach pressure. And, just to be safe, don’t forget to take the meat’s internal temperature (in the thickest part of the thickest chop) before serving – details included in the recipe instructions, below.

See Also: How To Pressure Cook Frozen Meat

Ready? OK, let’s stew it!

Pressure Cooker Accessories Pr. Cook Time Pr. Level Open 3 L or larger none 5-7 min. High(2) Normal