Instant Pot Chicken and Gravy pairs tender bits of juicy chicken with a creamy and flavorful gravy.
This easy chicken and gravy recipe is classic comfort food that’s ready in about 30 minutes.
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I think most of us have a few tried-and-true Crockpot chicken recipes on hand. The ones where you toss in all the ingredients, and at the end of the day, you have a delicious meal, like tender chicken in a flavorful sauce.
Crockpot recipes take time and planning, and I don’t always have a lot of time (and I don’t always plan well 🙈). While getting everything into the Crockpot should be simple, it’s not always.
That’s why I’ve followed the steps to convert a slow cooker meal to a pressure cooker meal and transformed this family favorite meal into a pressure cooker chicken and gravy recipe.
The Instant Pot allows for last-minute planning, and I can still get a hot, flavorful, and comforting meal on the table for my family.
The best part is that this Instant Pot chicken and gravy recipe only takes about 30 minutes to make, which is why it’s one of my favorite Instant Pot chicken dinner recipes.
You can also do something similar with pork chops–check out my Instant Pot pork chops and gravy recipe!
More Instant Pot Chicken Dinner Recipes You’ll Love:
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken and Stuffing
- Instant Pot Mississippi Chicken and Noodles
- Instant Pot Jerk Chicken
Make Dinner Easy with Instant Pot Shredded Chicken and Gravy
Life feels busier than it did when I was a kid. Growing up, dinner time was always important in my parent’s house. It was rare that we would have an activity that conflicted with supper and nights around the table were our norm.
As my children get older, I realize the importance of family time and hope that my children have the same fond memories of family mealtime as I do.
Cooking Instant Pot chicken and gravy or any of our favorite Easy Instant Pot Weeknight Dinners takes away a lot of the stress and gives me a fighting chance of hanging on to just a few more precious moments with my family.
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How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Gravy
It’s really easy to make this flavorful chicken and gravy in the pressure cooker.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Low-sodium Chicken Broth
- Chicken Gravy Mix
- Black Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
How to Make It:
(Full printable recipe is available below)
Add Chicken. First, you’ll cut each chicken breast in half and place it into the Instant Pot along with the chicken broth.
Cook the Chicken. Next, you’ll sprinkle the gravy packets, black pepper, and garlic powder over the chicken breasts, but don’t stir (I don’t stir it in because I don’t want to take a chance on having the thickener in the gravy packet to thicken the liquid and cause scorching on the bottom of the pot during cooking).
Close the Instant Pot and cook at high pressure for 6 minutes followed by a natural pressure release.
Shred the chicken. Next, you’ll remove the chicken to a cutting board to shred, slice or chop it leaving some larger pieces. Stir in the cream of chicken soup, stirring until everything is well-combined, then return the chicken to the pot.
Serve. Last, you’ll serve the chicken and gravy over Instant Pot mashed potatoes, Instant Pot white rice, biscuits, or noodles.
Notes and Adaptations:
- I use low-sodium chicken broth in this easy chicken and gravy recipe because the gravy packets have a good bit of salt in them.
- I highly recommend using homemade cream of chicken soup, because it adds such wonderful flavor, but you can certainly use the canned variety if preferred. Simply use 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup plus one can of water.
- You can change up the flavor a little by using one packet of chicken gravy mix and one packet of ranch dressing mix.
Recommended Equipment:
- Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker
Instant Pot Chicken and Gravy
Instant Pot chicken and gravy is the classic comfort food you know and love, but with a pressure cooker makeover!
Ingredients
- 2.5-3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, each cut in half
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 packets chicken gravy mix (0.87-oz each)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 cups homemade cream of chicken soup
Instructions
- Place chicken breast pieces into the insert pot of the Instant Pot. Pour chicken broth into the pot.
- Sprinkle gravy packets, black pepper, and garlic powder over the chicken breasts, but do not mix.
- Close the lid and set the vent to the sealed position. Select a cook time of 6 minutes at high pressure.
- After the cook time is complete, allow a natural release of pressure. Once the pressure has released and the valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board and shred, slice, or chop (I always shred it but leave some larger chunks).
- Add homemade cream of chicken soup to the gravy in the Instant Pot, whisking until it's fully incorporated and smooth. Return chicken to the gravy and stir to combine.
- Spoon chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, rice, biscuits, or noodles to serve.
Notes
- I use low-sodium chicken broth in this recipe because the gravy packets have a good bit of salt in them.
- I highly recommend using homemade cream of chicken soup, because it adds such wonderful flavor, but you can certainly use the canned variety if preferred. Simply use 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup plus one can of water.
- You can change up the flavor a little by using one packet of chicken gravy mix and one packet of ranch dressing mix.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 993Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 486mgSodium: 783mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 179g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.
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Can you make this with frozen chicken breasts and if so, how long would you pressure cook them?
Hi Krista! I think that should work fine–the cook time will depend on the size of the frozen chicken breasts. I generally do 10-12 minutes for smaller ones or about 15 minutes for larger ones. Enjoy! 🙂
Hello,
Would I be able to use a frozen whole chicken??
Hi Juli, that’s a great question! I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t say for sure. It might work just fine, but I am a little concerned the gravy could scorch if it cooks for the longer cook time required with a whole frozen chicken. To be safe, I would probably suggest first cooking the chicken separately in the Instant Pot (you can follow these instructions if needed: https://ifoodreal.com/instant-pot-frozen-chicken/), then pulling some of the chicken off of the bones and following the instructions using the cooked chicken instead, and decrease the cook time to 1 minute (since the chicken is already cooked). I hope that helps! 🙂
I went ahead and tried it. As i only have c while chickens all of which were frozen. So I just increased the cooking time to compensate. It worked great!!! I also doubled the recipe because of the size of the bird. Nothing scorched at all!! This is an amazing dinner!!!! Thank you so very much !!!!
Can you use the can of chicken soup if so can you add the milk to make it a full two cups?
Hi Erica! Yes, if you’d like to use the canned cream of chicken soup instead of homemade, I generally recommend whisking together 1 can of soup + 1 can of water (or milk, if you prefer). Enjoy! 🙂
Large or small can of the soup?
Hi Jenna–it would be a 10.5-ounce can (the smaller size). Hope that helps! 🙂
I would rather use boneless, skinless thighs. How would that change the time in the Instant Pot?
Hi Donette! Boneless thighs tend to require a slightly longer cook time than boneless breasts, so I’d probably just bump the cook time up to 8 minutes (I’d still cut the thighs in half first). Enjoy! 🙂
I had such high hopes but the chicken was so rubbery that i could not shred it and so it has become expensive dog food. The gravy part smelled good but i did not do the final step of adding the soup – since it is going to the dogs . last time i’m trying chicken in instant pot. ♀️
Hi Jo! I’m sorry it turned out rubbery–I haven’t had that happen with this recipe. Sometimes that can happen if the chicken doesn’t cook long enough (that’s why I cut the breasts in half, so the smaller pieces cook well in that time). If the chicken seems rubbery, you can always add a couple more minutes of cook time and see if that helps.
This recipe was easy and delicious! I made it as written except for a little addition of some dried thyme & a LOT more black pepper to suit our tastes. We served on rice tonight along with California Blend vegetables, and I had compliments all the way around! Thanks for this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Johna! Thanks for sharing your tweaks–I love the idea of adding some California blend veggies, too! 🙂
It’s just my husband and I so I will be halving this recipe. Would this affect the cook time?
Hi Danielle! No need to change the cook time if halving the recipe. Enjoy! 🙂
Whoopsie I accidentally put the cream of chicken in first before cooking. ( I guess I should’ve read the directions better) we will see how it turns out!
Hopefully it still turned out okay, Tamara! I’m sure it was still tasty, just maybe a slightly different texture–but it’s all going to the same place, anyways, right? 🙂
Can I make this recipe with McCormick Simply Better Chicken Gravy twist top cartons instead of the powdered gravy mix? It’s all I have at the moment.
Hi Janey! I haven’t tried it with that type of gravy, unfortunately, so I’m not sure if it would work. My main concern is that it might be too thick to boil properly, causing scorching on the bottom of the pot. Sorry I can’t say for sure!
The Simply Better Chicken Gravy has a slightly thinner viscosity than cream of chicken soup, and since I don’t have any cream of chicken soup, I was thinking I could substitute it with the chicken gravy instead. I guess the only way to know if it would work is to try it and see. =) I’ll make it tonight for dinner using the chicken gravy in place of the cream of chicken soup, so I’ll be sure to share how it turns out.
Yes, please let us know how it turns out, Janey! 🙂
Has anyone tried to add reames frozen noodles to this? Just wondering how I could add those in!
Hi Renae! I haven’t done it with this recipe, but I’ve used Reames noodles in a couple of other Instant Pot recipes. I think it would probably work! If you use a 12-ounce package, you may not need to increase the liquid in the recipe, since they don’t absorb as much liquid as dried noodles do. But if you do more noodles than that, I’m guessing you’d need more liquid (and possibly more gravy mix, too). I’d probably adjust the cook time to 5 minutes, since it will take longer for the pot to come to pressure with frozen noodles in it. I hope that helps! Let us know how it goes if you give it a whirl!
I made this tonight. I made it with the homemade cream of chicken soup (which was very good btw). I had to add some cornstarch to thicken up the gravy a little but once I did that it was all good. The chicken was very tender. Served over mashed potatoes, this was a very good IP meal!! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing, April! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
The gravy packet didn’t completely dissolve. Had to toss out some chunks.
I’m sorry to hear that, Brenda! I wonder if some brands dissolve better than others? I’m glad you were able to salvage it! 🙂