Instant Pot Balsamic Chicken with Pears & Mushrooms - Dump and Go Dinner
With just a few ingredients and your trusty Instant Pot by your side, this delicious and low calorie version of our Balsamic Chicken with Pears and Mushrooms can be ready in no time. Tangy, succulent, subtly sweet this dish is made to share around your dinner table.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds quarter Chicken, Boneless Breasts
- ⅛ cups Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
- ½ tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
- 18 ¾ ounces Sliced Pears, Canned
- 1 cup slice Mushrooms
Supplies
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).
Why would I want to freeze this?
- Divide all ingredients except pears and mushrooms among indicated number of round containers. Label and freeze.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.
- Prep from frozen
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Make It Now Cooking Directions
These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.
- **Due to the nature of pressure cooking there is always room for inconsistency. The times given here are based on 4 servings fresh. If you are using more servings you may need to increase your cooking time.**
- Place all ingredients except pears and mushrooms into inner pot.
- Lock cover into place and seal steam nozzle.
- Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes
- Quick release pressure.
- Add in pears and mushrooms. Lock lid and set to sealing.
- Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Naturally release pressure for 5 minutes and quick release remaining pressure.
- Remove lid and saute for 5 minutes to thicken up sauce if desired.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 4 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 8 oz chicken & 1/2 cup pears & mushrooms Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 376
- Total Fat
- 6g
- Saturated Fat
- 1g
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 166mg
- Sodium
- 572mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 26g
- Fiber
- 2g
- Sugar
- 21g
- Protein
- 52g
- WW Freestyle
- 1
40 Comments
Join the discussionAre the canned pears added with their juice or are they drained first?
Hi Jennifer, add the pears with their juice. Enjoy!
Do you think it would be possible to substitute fresh pears? Would I need to add water to replace the canned liquid?
It may be worth a try. Just know that the canned pears will be much softer than the fresh pears. If you are fine with the texture difference it may work out well. We have not tested it with fresh pears. Let us know how it works for you.
Can this recipe be frozen after cooked? I’m wondering how the pears and mushrooms would hold up to be defrosted after being cooked.
Amy, yes, this recipe is safe to freeze after cooking! You can read more here: https://onceamonthmeals.com/support/can-i-really-freeze-are-there-any-items-i-cant-freeze/
Does two freezer containers means this is two separate meals? I’m new here! Thank you.
This recipe makes 8 servings and they just won’t all fit in one dish. Whether you serve 8 people 1x or 4 people 2x is your choice 🙂
Would you say these recipes are geared toward high oresolution low pressure?
Hey Chantell, we would say high!
Sorry that meant to say high or low pressure
What would be a good side dish
Salad, rice, mashed potatoes, or frozen veggies would all make wonderful side dishes! Enjoy! 🙂
Is there enough liquid to do this? I’m concerned about only the balsamic vinegar. Or do we add there pear juice in the beginning?
There is! If you’re cooking fresh the chicken will add some liquid. If you’re cooking from frozen, it’s also enough as the saute first step will help add some liquid to the pot. Enjoy!
Are you supposed to add thejuice from the canned pears at the beginning, or wait until you add the pears to add the pear juice?
You add the juice when you add the pears. Enjoy!
Could you make this in the oven without an instant pot?
This recipe was converted from a slow cooker recipe – enjoy! https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/slow-cooker-balsamic-chicken-with-pears-mushrooms/
I tried this last night – my first instant pot attempt.
Why is the sodium content in the nutrition information so high (1492 mg per serving)?
1/4 tsp sea salt has just under 500 mg sodium. The canned pears should add almost nothing. There’s not much in the chicken breast. None in the vinegar. Virtually none in the brown sugar. What am I missing?
I actually try to cook with as little salt as possible, so I left the salt out completely and didn’t miss it. But I can’t help wondering. If this nutrition information is correct, one serving of this gives a person almost all his/her recommended sodium for the day!
Thanks for catching this! The sodium for this recipe has been updated. Enjoy!
I prepared this meal yesterday and put it in the freezer. The chicken is in one bag. The pears & juice (plus a little water) are in a second bag. The mushrooms are in a third. Is this correct because the list indicates 1 container but the directions to freeze, say to separate…? Also, should I thaw the meat for a few hours prior to cooking? If I attempt to stick the frozen meat into the IP directly from the freezer, I don’t know that it will fit because of how it froze in the ziplock bags (if the makes sense).
Great job on getting some meals into the freezer. The pears, mushrooms and water could have been frozen together but it isn’t a problem that you did them separately. The recommended container for the chicken was a round container so that it could fit into the Instant Pot frozen, if you didn’t do that, no worries. If it is too large to fit in the pot, yes, defrost it a little (enough to break it up) and put it in as directed. The cooking time should be the same as if it were frozen, the pot just will not take as long to come to pressure.
Thank you! I just came across your Instant Pot Tips and Tricks post and now I see that the preferred storage container is a round one so that it fits into the inner pot nicely. Smart! =)
OH MY YUMNESS!❣! I prepared this recipe today for the 1st time, with intentions of having leftovers for tomorrow. However, my family did not have the same idea in mind and ate it ALL tonight. Thank you for this recipe. This is now 1 of my favs ?
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Does “2 pounds quarter Chicken, Boneless Breasts” mean the same as 2 pounds Boneless Chicken Breast, quartered? Where I come from a quarter chicken contains both white and dark meat and is definitely not just a boneless breast, so I’m assuming the quarter is a preparation instruction? 😀
Yes, I’m sorry for that confusion. This means 2 pounds of chicken breast, quartered. Each piece should be cut into 4, so that it will cook more evenly in the Instant Pot.
Are the pears in heavy syrup, light syrup, juice or water?
You can use ones in syrup, but for the nutritional info listed, it would be pears in juice. Hope that helps!
What could you sub for the mushrooms ? Any ideas
Tofu or tempeh are typically a good substitute for mushrooms, especially per the texture. Otherwise, for this recipe, onions might be a good addition.
Do you freeze the chicken raw?
Do you thaw out before adding to IP or put in frozen?
Hi Jenna, You would freeze the chicken breast raw. And no need to thaw this recipe before cooking it in your Instant Pot! Hope this helps. Happy Cooking. ~OAMM
New to this site so forgive me if I missed something obvious! I see that the recipe is 4 servings. You responded to someone saying that this makes 8 servings (or 2 meals). How do I know that from looking at the instructions? Another questions, this looks super yummy for hubby and me but the kids wouldn’t do it. If I froze it into 4 meals (2 servings each) do i adjust the cook time at all? (pretty new to pressure cooking, too, sorry!) Thanks for your help!
Hi Ginger, as a member, if you add this recipe to a menu, all of our menu resources double so you make the recipe twice. If you’re not a member and just looking to make this recipe from the recipe page, it makes 4 servings 1 time (one meal). Ginger, if you increase or decrease the number of servings on this recipe from 4, then yes you would need to adjust your cook time in your Instant Pot. Here is a great post that will give you recommendations on adjusting your cook time based upon your number of servings. Hope this helps.
All the recipes I’ve made in the Instant Pot have at least a half a cup to a full cup of liquid to start with. How does this manage to build up enough pressure with just 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar for the liquid, especially after a 5-minute sauté? Am I missing something?
Hi Julie! The 5 minute saute’ step will create enough liquid from the meal being defrosted to help your Instant Pot come to pressure. You will also add the juice from the canned pears, as this recipe does not direct you to drain it. Additionally, if you’re cooking from fresh -the chicken will add some liquid. We hope this answers your question!
When will membership be available again? I am very interested in seeing what the Cook From Frozen instructions are on this recipe because of the softness of the canned pears.
Thanks!
Hi, Amy! We plan to reopen again to the public on January 1st, 2020! ?
We’ve have a FAQ support article you can check out to get all your questions answered ?https://onceamonthmeals.com/support/membership-model-change-faqs/