The Recipe That Sold Me on the Instant Pot

Skip the included Instant Pot recipe book, forget the Facebook groups that put the fear of God in you: If you want to experience the brilliance that is the Instant Pot, try this Chicken & Dumplings recipe that was my eye-opener to this amazing device.

Like many people across the USA in December 2018, I received an Instant Pot for Christmas. I didn’t know much about it to be honest, and I’ve already failed miserably at the Slow Cooker, the Total Chef and the rice cooker which are still taking up valuable real estate in my upper cabinets. But pretty much every one of my friends ALSO received an Instant Pot so I figured I’d give it a chance. Initially I wasn’t impressed with the flood of texts with stories of, “You make 27 boiled eggs at once in this thing!” and, “Popcorn is pretty good in here!”. I tried wings, pasta, soups etc., but nothing really saved time - I could have done all of these with my oven in equal or less time.

But finally, a recipe given to me by my mother for Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings opened my eyes and tastebuds to how wonderful this device is! Try this especially comforting winter-weather meal during the week after a long day and you’ll be impressed by how quick, easy and tasty it is. Your entire family will love it.

Mom’s Instant Pot Chicken & Dumplings

NEEDED: An Instant Pot and a ladle.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 TB butter

• 1 TB baking powder

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• An extra 2 TB all-purpose flour set aside

• Salt & pepper

• 1 cup milk

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 2 celery stalks finely chopped

• 2 carrots finely chopped

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• Italian blend seasoning

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts uncooked, cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 cup frozen peas
  

DIRECTIONS:

1) Melt 2 of the 4 TB butter in a small bowl in the microwave.

2) In a medium bowl, mix the baking powder and the 1 3/4 cups flour plus a pinch of salt. Pour in milk and melted butter and use a wood spoon to mix the dough mixture together. The dough will be gooey, and you’ll see air pockets - perfect! Set this aside until we’re ready.

3) In the Instant Pot, set it to SAUTE on normal level and melt the remaining 2 TB butter. Pour in the onions, celery, carrots and garlic and stir occasionally so all get coated in the butter and start to cook down. This should take 4-5 minutes. Shake in some of the Italian seasoning and a pinch of pepper. Then add in the 2 TB flour and immediately mix together, coating the vegetables in this flour mix. Saute for another 1 minute and keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.

4) Pour in the chicken stock and stir. Then add the frozen peas and the raw chicken. Then turn the Instant Pot OFF.

Tip: Wet the spoons to make the dough easier to drop into the pot. The dough is quite sticky!

5) Adding the dough for dumplings: The size of your dumplings is completely up to you. Many people like BIG dumplings, in which case, spoon in 2 TB sized clumps of the dough into the Instant Pot. Make sure you evenly space out your dough balls without touching each other. You should get about 9 dumplings.

I prefer SMALLER dumplings as I find they’re less overpowering and mixes better with the flavors of the broth and vegetables. For this, spoon in smaller clumps of dough, about 1-inch rounds, and try to space them evenly throughout the liquid.

6) Follow your Instant Pot’s directions for locking the lid and prepping to cook. Set the pot for Pressure Cook on HIGH for 3 minutes. You’ll want to make sure your quick release valve is shut (I always forget this). Your pot will take about 5-8 minutes to come up to pressure and then your 3-minute cook timer should kick in.

7) Once complete, perform a QUICK RELEASE to release all the steam and wait until the quick release cycle is complete. Be careful unlocking the lid and of any remaining steam before removing. You’re now ready to ladle the Chicken and Dumplings into bowls and serve!

Let us know how this goes, and if you have your own eye-opening Instant Pot Recipe, feel free to share!