Instant Pot Teriyaki Apricot Chicken

“MOM, chicken AGAIN????!!” How many times have I heard that? Ugh. I came up with this boneless chicken recipe to change things up a bit. It’s an easy one-pot meal that the whole family will love. Feel free to change up the fruit you use, I used the apricots because I happen to have a can of apricots that I didn’t know what to do with. I thought you could easily substitute pineapple or mandarin oranges, whatever YOU happen to have in your pantry!

*NOTE* The key to successfully making recipes in the Instant Pot without getting a BURN notice is to NOT STIR the ingredients that you are going to pressure cook. Carefully stack the ingredients on top of each other (even the sauce!) and you will not have a problem.

Ingredients

• Boneless chicken breasts (I used 6, but you can add or subtract from that) If you use thin breasts, they can be FROZEN!!
• 2 Cups White Rice with 2 Cups Water
• Medium sized Onion, diced
• 2 tsp Ginger
• 1 Tbsp Cumin
• 4 Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• Can of Apricots (chunks)
• 3/4 Cup Teriyaki Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s brand)
• 1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
• 3 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

SLURRY INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tbsp Corn Starch
• 4 Tbsp Cold Water

1. Rinse rice well and put in instant pot with 2 Cups of water.
2. Using stacking technique, (see NOTE above), Add meat, spices, onion and apricots (fruit). DO NOT STIR.
3. Add Teriyaki Sauce. DO NOT STIR.
4. Cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes, with a 10 minute Natural Release.
5. Add Brown Sugar and Vinegar. Stir.
6. Change Instant Pot function to SAUTE.
7. Make Slurry: Combine Corn Starch and Water and whisk together.
8. Add Slurry to thicken while you carefully stir mixture and chicken.

Any questions? Did you make this recipe? Please leave feedback/comments below! I would love to hear from you! ENJOY!!!

Suzy

Instant Pot Taco Bowls

This is a great weeknight dinner that can be made hands-off, so you can get some other stuff done while it’s cooking. It’s a little unusual, because I don’t saute the meat, I cook it in a block (like it comes in the package), essentially steaming it. A big PRO is that you can cook the meat FROZEN, just in case you didn’t get it out of the freezer in time to cook! (Oh no, none of us would do THAT, now would we? wink wink!!)

Ingredients

• 2lbs Ground Beef, Chicken or Turkey (frozen or thawed)
• 1 bag Corn Chips (or Pre Made Taco Bowls-a bit pricey!)
• 2-15oz cans Black Beans, drained
• 24oz jar of Salsa
• 12oz jar Chili Con Queso
• 1lb bag frozen Corn
• 1 cup Water

1. Add water to bottom of inner pot, and place ground meat on trivet
2. Cook meat. FROZEN: 25 mins on High Pressure, THAWED: 15 mins on High Pressure. Natural release for 10 mins. Check meat temperature to ensure safe cook (Beef: 145F-165F, Turkey/Chicken: 165F)
3. Remove trivet. DO NOT DRAIN WATER. Crumble meat in pot.
4. Stir in beans, salsa, corn and con queso with meat.
5. Pressure cook 0 (YES ZERO) mins on High Pressure, IMMEDIATELY Quick Release.
6. Line serving bowls with a layer of corn chips and spoon mixture over them. Add toppings, if desired.

SUGGESTED TOPPINGS: Sour Cream, shredded Cheddar Cheese, Taco Sauce, Avocados, Diced Onions or Chives.

Any questions? Please leave comments below and I’ll be sure to answer any questions you may have. I’d love to hear from you!! Enjoy!!

Suzy

Instant Pot Honey Mustard Chicken Sausage

I made this last night for dinner in my 6 Qt Instant Pot. Quick prep and clean up, and it was delicious! As with most of my Instant Pot recipes, if you don’t have the sausage, you can do substitutions. Pork Chops, Boneless Chicken Breasts, or Chicken Thighs, just to name a few! After all, it’s all about the sauce!!

Ingredients

• Chicken Sausage or substitution meat
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 1/2 Cups Mayonnaise
• 1/2 Cup Honey
• 1/2 Cup Spicy Mustard

1. Place meat on rack in pot. Add water. Pressure cook for 6 minutes on High, Natural Release, 5 minutes.
2. Remove meat, drain all but 1/2 Cup of water.
3. Whisk together Mayonnaise, Honey and Mustard in a bowl, and add to water. Whisk until smooth and add meat, coating in sauce.
4. Saute mixture until it starts to bubble ( 3-5 minutes-keep an eye on it!). Set Instant Pot to Keep Warm and cover for 15 minutes.

This smooth and creamy sauce is a great alternative to the usual jarred sauces (so much SALT!!). Enjoy!!

Suzy

PS- Yeah, I like ground pepper LOL

Salsa Chicken One-Pot

I really love to make one-pot meals, not just for the easy cleanup, but the fact that you can make large portions and freeze them for another day. This is a great ‘leave it and forget it’ recipe, but you sure don’t have to leave it for long, as it cooks in only 6 minutes after pressure buildup. A great 30 minute (or less!) meal idea. Since this recipe has so many great flavors, you really don’t need to spend too much on the salsa ingredients, (jarred store brands will do) or, even better, if it’s the growing season, you can use soft tomatoes and peppers that you might find marked down at the grocery or,  (even better) in your own backyard garden!

Equipment Necessary

• 6qt or larger Electric Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

• 2lbs Ground Chicken
• 1 Large Onion, diced
• 2 (15oz) cans Black Beans, drained
• 1 (12oz) jar of Salsa
• 1 (15oz) jar of Salsa Con Queso
• 1lb Dry Ziti Pasta
• 1 (6oz) can Tomato Paste
• 1 (8oz) cup jarred Taco Sauce
• 3 Cups Water
• Sour Cream (optional)

1. Saute the Ground Chicken and Onion using the Saute option on your pressure cooker.
2. Cancel Saute function, add rest of ingredients.
3. Cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes, then do a Quick Release. Serve with dollop of Sour Cream, if desired. YUM!

Leftovers freeze great, and a quick one-pot cleanup. Please leave any comments or questions below, I would love to hear from you! Enjoy!

Suzy

Pressure Cooker Pea Soup

I’ve been making Pea Soup for my family for many years, but when I received my Pressure Cooker it opened up a whole new world for me! I used to have to slow cook (on the stove) most of the day to get those split peas to cook, but no more of that. This is a one-pot fool-proof way to make a yummy thick pea soup in less than 20 minutes! YUM! You can make it with store-bought chicken broth, or boil up that leftover ham bone and use the broth from that! If you don’t have a ham bone, no biggie. Just use some leftover chicken!

Equipment Needed

• 6 to 8 Quart Pressure Cooker
• Hand Held Blender (this is necessary to get the right consistency!)

Ingredients

• 4 Cups Chicken or Ham broth
• 2 Cups Water
• 1 Large Onion, Diced
• 2 Cups (or as little as you have) Cooked Chicken OR Ham, cut into chunks (Optional)
• 1 Pkg (1lb) Green or Yellow Split Peas, rinsed well and soaked for about an hour
• 1 Pkg (1lb) Frozen Carrots OR 1lb baby carrots OR 2cans sliced carrots
• Salt and Pepper to taste (I just sprinkle it over the top!)
• 2 TBSP Adobe Seasoning OR 2 TBSP Garlic Powder

1. Put all your ingredients in your cooker and stir. When your soup is done, you can add more seasonings if you prefer. The amounts in the Ingredients List are just suggestions!
2. Pressure Cook on HIGH for 12 minutes, then do a Natural Release (NR) for 10mins to help reduce all that liquid spitting out the top! LOL
3. Blend with hand blender until smooth and creamy. Serve with Sourdough Bread for a delicious, hearty meal YUM!!

You’ll get ALOT of servings out of this. Yields about 5 quarts of soup. Freezes well!

Chicken Stir Fry

This chicken stir fry is always a big favorite in my house. One of the great things about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can make it with any leftover meat (Beef, Pork, Turkey, etc), and, you can spice it up just the way your household likes it!  I made it this time with a package of marked down chicken tenders, some fresh peppers I had bought marked down and froze, and a package of broccoli florets that were on sale for 99 cents!! The sauce I make for this is my own recipe, spiced the way we like it, but if you want it more or less spicy, than you can custom make it for your own taste! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!!  Enjoy!!

TOTAL COST for 6 servings:  $4.07 + cost of spices

Ingredients

      

• 1 Package of Tyson Chicken Breast Tenders, or any leftover chicken, cut up into pieces
• 3 Medium sliced fresh peppers (or frozen!)
• 6 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 Package of frozen (or fresh) broccoli florets
• 2 Medium onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• SAUCE: 6 tbsp cornstarch, 9 tbsp soy sauce, 1 cup chicken bullion (prepared), 1/4 cup Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Sesame Spice** NOTE: If you don’t have any sesame spice, you can substitute Lemon Pepper, Garlic Powder, Parsley, or any spices you have on hand.
• Salt and Pepper

1. On high heat (my electric stove is set at 8),  add Olive Oil to bottom of 6 qt stock pot (so you have enough room to cook everything in one pot!). Add cut up chicken pieces to pan. If precooked, just sear them on each side until they are brown. If they are raw, then you will need to cook them through, so flip them every few minutes until they start to get brown on each side. This takes about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.  Remove from pan.

 

 

2. Leave the remaining oil in the pan, and add the sliced onions. Sear them until they are clear in color, and a little soft. This takes about 5 minutes.

 

 

 

3. Add celery and sear for 3 minutes, or until clear, and then add the peppers and the broccoli (all frozen) to the pan, and cover. This will let the vegetables steam while you make your sauce in a separate bowl.

 

 

 

4. In a small bowl,  add soy sauce, then bullion (already prepared into liquid), and cornstarch, all the while whisking it vigorously, to make sure the cornstarch is all broken down and not lumpy. If you don’t have a whisk, you can use a fork, but make sure you beat it well!!**TIP: If you’ve never made sauces or gravies before, the best way to explain how to mix them is as if you were beating eggs to scramble them or for an omelet. Try and get some bubbles going in there, and that will let you know you are done!

5. After steaming your vegetables and tossing them until they are soft (about 10 minutes), then add the chicken back to the pot, and toss everything together. Quickly add your sauce (remix it right before adding it to the pot to make sure it didn’t settle) and toss all of your ingredients back and forth a couple of times to make sure everything gets coated with the sauce. Remove the pan from the heat (the sauce thickens FAST!!) and keep tossing. Your dish is ready to serve!!

**THIS DISH FREEZES GREAT, SO IF YOU HAVE LEFTOVERS,

PUT THEM IN A CONTAINER FOR ANOTHER MEAL**