Instant Pot Cream of Mushroom Chicken is made healthier than the classic version of this dish – say hello to your childhood fave re-envisioned!
Ingredients in this dish
The ingredient list is relatively short for this easy, creamy chicken recipe. Here's what you need on hand:
- chicken breasts
- mushrooms
- garlic
- shallots (or onions)
- chicken broth
- white rice
- sour cream
- parsley, for garnish (optional)
How to make mushroom chicken in the Instant Pot
It's so easy to make this recipe in the Instant Pot! You're basically just going to dump everything in and press start.
Here's how to make it:
- Add all ingredients to Instant Pot in the order in which they are listed.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then allow a natural pressure release (about 15-20 minutes).
- Remove the lid once pressure gauge has fallen, then stir in sour cream and parsley.
- Let sit a couple of minutes to thicken (with or without the lid on), then serve and enjoy!
Making this dish on the stove top
It seems as though nearly everyone has an Instant Pot these days, but in case you don't, here are instructions for making Cream of Mushroom Chicken in a skillet on your stove top.
- Heat the pan and sear the chicken. To get a nice sear on the chicken, be sure to get your skillet nice and hot before adding anything to it.
When the pan is hot, add oil and place the chicken breasts into the skillet. Sear them for 3 minutes on each side and then temporarily place them onto a plate.
- Add and cook the mushrooms. Add your mushrooms to the hot pan. Cook them over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, or until they're soft and caramelized.
- Add rice, garlic and shallot into the pan with the mushrooms. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the garlic and shallot are soft and fragrant.
- Pour chicken stock, salt and pepper over the rice mixture. Stir gently to combine everything.
- Add seared chicken back to the pan. Place the chicken breasts on top of the rice, lower the heat to medium and place a lid on the pan.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes. You'll know the dish is ready when the rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Be sure to use a cooking thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 F.
- Stir in sour cream, garnish with parsley and red pepper flakes, then serve!
Ingredient substitutions
- Chicken: Instead of boneless skinless chicken breasts, you can use boneless skinless thighs or even boneless pork chops.
- Fresh mushrooms: Although the flavour of this dish is best with fresh mushrooms, if you are truly in a pinch, you can drain a couple of small cans of mushrooms and use them instead.
- Chicken broth: Feel free to use chicken stock or vegetable broth or stock.
- Sour cream: Good substitutes for sour cream include light sour cream, Half & Half, or heavy cream.
- Rice: This Instant Pot Cream of Mushroom Chicken recipe will work using any type of long or short grain white rice such as Jasmine, Basmati, etc. NOTE: Brown rice is not recommended because it requires more liquid and takes longer to cook than white rice.
Adding more veggies
You can give this meal a boost of vitamins and minerals by adding more fresh or frozen veggies. A few ideas include:
- Celery
- Carrots
- Corn
- Green Beans
- Zucchini
- Onion
What to serve as a side dish
Because there is rice in the dish, it's really a complete meal on its own.
If you want to serve something else with it, consider some buttermilk biscuits or dinner rolls, and maybe a light garden salad or some coleslaw.
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Storing and reheating
Store any leftovers in an airtight container or individual glass meal prep containers and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
The best way to reheat the leftovers is in a skillet on the stove top, over medium heat. Stir occasionally until everything is warmed through.
You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave for 2 minutes, making sure to sprinkle some water overtop first so the rice doesn't dry out.
Freezing this dish
Cream of Mushroom Chicken freezes really well, making this recipe perfect for an easy meal prep dinner on a busy weeknight.
Before you transfer the dish to freezer-safe, airtight containers, be sure that the food is completely cool first. Otherwise, when the steam from the hot food freezes, it can cause ice crystals to form on top of the meal. If this happens, it is perfectly safe to eat, but the flavour will be diminished.
To reheat, simply defrost in the fridge overnight or reheat individual portions from frozen in the microwave for 7-8 minutes, sprinkling water overtop beforehand and stirring a couple times partway through the reheat time.
Meal prep tools
- The Instant Pot DUO Plus 60 is the version I use in this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on packing this dish up for lunch
- I get free range chicken from my monthly Butcher Box
Instant Pot Cream of Mushroom Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium-sized chicken breasts, diced into 1 inch pieces
- 2 8oz packages of mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup shallots, chopped
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups white rice
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- Red chili flakes for topping
Instructions
- Add olive oil, chicken, mushrooms, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper, chicken broth and rice to Instant Pot in that order. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then allow a natural pressure release (about 15-20 minutes).
- Remove lid once pressure gauge has fallen, then stir in sour cream and parsley. Let sit a couple of minutes to thicken, then serve and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Mark says
Made this tonight. Very tasty (even though I accidentally halved the mushrooms and used a regular onion)
I will agree that the rice (used jasmine) on top is a bit undercooked. I will make this again but I think I’ll change the rice to be under the liquid next time.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy you liked it Mark!!! Mushrooms release a lot of liquid so the undercooked rice on top could be as a result of that too.
Maja says
Does the cooking time change if I changed the serving size to fit my family? And is Basmati rice ok to use?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Maja – you should be able to double the recipe and use basmati rice in place of jasmine! If doubling, add 2 more minutes to the cooking time.
Lana says
Do I need to change the cooking time for Jasmine rice?
Taylor Stinson says
I personally haven’t needed to change the cooking time, I sub in jasmine rice all the time in many of my Instant Pot recipes but I feel as though sometimes people have issues with liquid absorbing fully and I don’t know that it’s an issue related to cooking time per se. I think it depends on the brand of rice you use and unfortunately I’m not always able to troubleshoot exactly why. Usually letting it all sit an extra 5-10 minutes will allow for extra liquid absorption though and worst case scenario you can always put it on for another 2-3 minutes!
Lana says
Hi, Can I use Jasmine rice with this recipe?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Lana – you definitely can yes!
Justalurkr says
The rice is not cooked entirely. Should it be in the bottom with the liquid? The recipe smells fantastic!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey there! Wondering what type of rice you used? Sometimes it’s just a matter of letting the rice sit more to absorb the liquid. Hoping we can troubleshoot further!
Justalurkr says
I was using basmati rice for this, and letting it sit did the trick.
Taylor Stinson says
So happy to hear that! 🙂
Chelsea says
This was good. However, I would adjust a few things- I would season the chicken with salt and pepper before adding the other ingredients, and I would pour the chicken broth in after the rice to get it all moist.
Taylor Stinson says
Great ideas Chelsea – glad you liked it 🙂
Brett says
I tried this, but the rice was crunchy and not really well cooked. Perhaps next time I should increase the cooking time to 5 minutes?
Taylor Stinson says
Hmm that’s so strange, I’m sorry Brett! Wondering if it was the type of rice used?
Teresa Phelps says
Hi! I’m a bit confused and new to this; uncooked rice recipes say to cook rice 22~24 minutes with a natural pressure release of about 18 minutes…..how is it cooked in 3 mins?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Teresa…I’m not sure why there is such a discrepancy in the cook times on rice either. I’m wondering if it’s a different setting and different amounts of rice. In this recipe you’re only cooking up about 4 portions of rice. I’ve always done it this way (3-5 minutes on high pressure) and it always turns out beautifully. Any more and I fear things would get overcooked.
Cat says
Hi, just wondering if this type of thing could be done without a pressure cooker??
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Cat – I’m sure it could but unfortunately I can’t give alternative directions. Sorry about that!
Linda says
Just wondering is the rice precooked or uncooked.
Taylor Stinson says
It’s uncooked!