Name: Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 4 chicken cutlets (or 2 chicken breasts sliced in half lengthwise); 1 yellow onion, diced; 2 stalks celery, diced; 8 oz mushrooms, sliced in half; 1 carrot, diced; 1 red pepper, chopped; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tsp Italian seasoning; 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper; 1/2 cup red wine; 1 (680mL) jar pasta sauce; 1 lb rotini pasta; Parsley, for garnish

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe Print Recipe

This Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore is delicious comfort food – it’s loaded with chicken and vegetables in tomato sauce then served over pasta.

How to cook chicken cacciatore in the Instant Pot

Add ingredients to Instant Pot in the order they are listed, except for pasta and parsley. Do not stir.
Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal. Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 8 minutes.
Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot.
Serve chicken overtop of pasta in large bowls, garnishing with parsley if desired. Serve and enjoy!

Ingredient substitutions

olive oil – feel free to use any neutral flavoured oil such as sunflower or canola oil instead
chicken cutlets – you can also use chicken breasts sliced in half lengthwise, this is essentially how you make chicken cutlets
yellow onion – you can use red onion, white onion or shallots in place of yellow onion
celery – just leave the celery out if you don’t have any on hand
mushrooms – you can also leave the mushrooms out if you don’t like them. Any variety of mushroom will do, though I prefer button or cremini
carrot – I highly recommend adding the carrot as it adds some heartiness to the dish, but you can leave them out if you’re in a pinch
red pepper – any colour bell pepper will work in this recipe, though I do prefer red or yellow best as they are sweeter
garlic – you can use jarred garlic in place of fresh, and in a pinch garlic powder will also work
Italian seasoning – just use an equal mix of dried basil and oregano if you don’t have Italian seasoning at home
red wine – you can leave the red wine out if you don’t have any on hand, or a dry white wine will work too
pasta sauce – you can use crushed tomatoes in place of the pasta sauce, then add a pinch of brown sugar (you need this to cut the acidity, trust me!)
rotini pasta – any pasta shape will work here, or egg noodles

Why is it called chicken cacciatore?

Chicken cacciatore is Italian country fare. The word means hunter, so the dish was usually eaten by hunters or families who lived on farms. The version most of us are used to is with chicken, but traditionally it has been served with wild game that was hunted, such as rabbit or pheasant – it was usually brought in and braised in tomato sauce with mushrooms, onions, bell peppers and a bit of wine.

What is traditionally served with chicken cacciatore?

Typically chicken cacciatore is served over pasta or egg noodles. Traditionally, it’s been served with rustic bread or polenta, but today it’s served with pasta, egg noodles or rice. In my version, I’ve served with pasta for a more filling meal and because most people have pasta on hand in their pantry.

Storing and reheating

You can store the leftovers of this meal up to 5 days in the fridge. You can store both the pasta and the chicken together in individual meal prep containers. Sprinkle some water overtop of the dish and then reheat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring halfway through. You can also reheat in the oven, but it would take a lot of time and hydro (LOL) so I don’t recommend doing that.

Freezing the leftovers

You can freeze the leftovers (pasta and chicken together) for up to 3 months. You can freeze in individual servings in glass bowls then reheat straight from frozen for 7-8 minutes in the microwave, stirring halfway through.

You can also freeze individual portions or the entire portion in appropriately sized foil containers that you can then reheat in the oven at 350 for about 40-45 minutes.

More Instant Pot pasta recipes

Meal prep tools for this recipe

Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing the leftovers
I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
Get a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is cooked through