Instant Pot Creamy Italian Chicken - Dump and Go Dinner
In need of a no fuss meal you can have to the table from frozen in less than 30 minutes? Try this Instant Pot version of our Creamy Italian Chicken! Luscious cream sauce bathes tender chicken breasts and al dente bowtie pasta with classic Italian flavor worth savoring.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds quarter Chicken, Boneless Breasts
- 2 tablespoons Italian Dressing Dry Mix
- 3 cups Cream of Chicken Soup
- 2 cups Water
- 8 ounces soften Cream Cheese
- 4 cups cook Farfalle (Bowtie)
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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?
- In a large bowl, mix together dressing mix and cream of chicken soup.
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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.**
- In the inner pot, mix together chicken, dressing mix, cream of chicken soup and water.
- Lock cover into place and seal steam nozzle.
- Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
- Naturally release pressure for 5 minutes then quick release remaining pressure.
- Add cream cheese to the pot, stir to combine. Change setting to saute while stirring constantly.
- Serve over cooked pasta.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 4 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 8 oz chicken & 1 cup pasta Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 831
- Total Fat
- 40g
- Saturated Fat
- 16g
- Trans Fat
- 1g
- Cholesterol
- 239mg
- Sodium
- 2297mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 49g
- Fiber
- 0g
- Sugar
- 7g
- Protein
- 63g
- WW Freestyle
- 21
78 Comments
Join the discussionYou did mean to add the chicken to the pot before cooking, too, right?
Yes! Thanks for catching that Tina. I will have our recipe team update it.
Can you explain “inner pot” – are you putting water in the bottom and then putting a closed container inside?
We’re referring to the inner pot as the pot that contains the food, the outer pot as the cooking element itself. You will not need to add any additional water, just the canned soup as per the recipe.
Do you do quick release or natural release? Thank you thank you, I’m excited for pressure cooker recipes!
Quick release. Enjoy!
Italians don’t use NY style cream cheese or canned chicken soup in sauces. We use real heavy cream, real butter and real oil. It takes less time than this recipe, too
Sounds yummy. What amounts do you recommend with the chicken in the pressure cooker?
If using canned cream of chicken soup, do you dilute? If so, approximate 1 can soup + 1 can water = 3 cups?
Hi Laina! You do not need to dilute the cream of chicken soup. This recipe has been tested several times, and we haven’t had to add additional liquid. Good luck!
I was so looking forward to this dish tonight but my IP would not come to pressure. It was definitely not operator error or machine malfunction; I wonder if the homemade cream of chicken soup was too thick. Since I tripled the recipe, I’ll have the chance to experiment. I think I will add chicken broth to thin the soup and add more liquid to the pressure cooker.
Hi Carissa, This recipe was tested by three different staff members using two different types of programmable pressure cookers. We’ve had a few users experience similar issues and add an additional 1/2 cup- 1 cup of liquid with success. It may very well have taken longer to come to pressure than normal but again, we have had numerous successes with it. We’d love to hear your results, tweaks, etc so we can continue to log feedback and adjust the recipe, if needed.
I’ve made this again and for my IP, it *is* necessary to add an additional 1 cup liquid (I use chicken broth) in order to have enough liquid to bring the cooker up to pressure. The dish is tasty–and quick–with this modification.
THANK YOU for letting us know! I passed this along to our menu team for review and modification! We do appreciate your feedback, Carissa!
I made this last night and I also had the same problem where my IP did not come to pressure. I’m not sure what you did to get it to cook but when I opened my IP the chicken was raw. I had to take it out and cook it on my stove.
This is the second serving day with this recipe and it does NOT come to pressure. It’s very frustrating. I think this recipe should be removed from the instant pot section of your site.
Hi CindyZ, So sorry for your frustration. Our menu team is looking into the issue. Several members tested it, as well as our user test kitchens, with no issues, but you are not the first to report this problem. We’ll update the recipe accordingly as we get to the bottom of the issue and re-test.
Second time making this meal and it does NOT come to pressure. So frustrating.
I made this today, but it was REALLY soupy. I think you meant condensed soup.. I used prepared soup didn’t read the comments to figure out that i needed to leave it condensed. It is very YUMMY though.
Tammy, so sorry you had this outcome. Usually cream of chicken soups do not come in a condensed version. They are just open and reheat.
You are incorrect. Cream of Chicken Soup in the US is almost exclusively condensed – we use it in recipes all the time as condensed soup, along with Cream of Mushroom Soup.
I tried this recipe last night, and added a couple of cups of water. It all cooked, but I was disappointed in the flavor. It was pretty bland.
I just made it. I used a whole packet of Italian dressing mix since it’s the only seasoning & I added 1 1/2 cups of water on the bottom of the pot because I used 3 lbs of chicken. It was really soupy too, so I ran it on saute for a few minutes constantly mixing. Then I turned it off & walked away for about 10 minutes. When I came back it was the perfect consistency! It just needed to evaporate & sit. Everyone in my family had 2 helpings!
Do you have a version that doesn’t use canned anything? Cream of anything is hard to find soy free and we would love to try your version sans Campbells. 🙂
You could try making our cream of chicken! https://onceamonthmeals.com/homemade-cream-of-something-soup/ Enjoy!
Disappointing! I placed frozen in Instant Pot, pip, on trivet, 1& 1/2 cups water inner pot, manual, high pressure, 25 min, nr 5 min. large lump of frozen chicken in center. Now heating on stove top as family is hungry and waiting?.
We’re sorry you found this recipe disappointing. It’s not meant to be a pot in pot recipe which could explain why your chicken was still frozen.
I read a response to not add the water to the pot but in step three water is included.
Yes, there are three steps of directions here. Per the serving day ingredients, you’ll want to add 2 cups of water if cooking from frozen. Enjoy!!
I see the same instructions in the MAKE IT NOW (FROM FRESH) section, step 3. “In the inner pot, mix together chicken, dressing mix, cream cheese, cream of chicken soup and water. ***** “. Has the recipe been updated to use 2 cups of water when the contents are fresh as well as frozen?
It looks like it.
Just made this today. Followed the freeze for later and I also had an issue. The chicken was frozen solid. One big chunk. I was disappointed. Flavor was ok but took an extra 15 to cook.
Jessica, sorry to hear you were disappointed. Did you quarter your meat?
I followed your directions. As other people mentioned, the Instant Pot did not pressurize. From searching other IP websites, it seems if the liquid is too thick, the IP will fail to pressurize. The cream soup undiluted is too thick so the recipe failed.
Chas, so sorry to hear this. I have passed this recipe along to our MenuBuilder team for further review. Thank you!
started cooking this dish about six months ago. I make it about every two weeks as my family just loves it! I have never had any issues with it whatsoever in my Instant Pot! I have helped out lots of newbies get started Instant Pot cooking and this is always the recipe I start them with and none of them have had issues either. Strange.
We’re happy to hear it’s a big hit at your house!!
I cook a lot of meals for 2 elderly disabled neighbors. Just got my IP a few weeks ago and gathering fast meal ideas. Previoudly, i cooked all morning every Saturday and used lots of pots. No more! Thanks for your recipes. Anxious to try them.
My IP would not pressurize with a 2 serving portion.
Sorry to hear that! This recipe is for 4 servings. Here is a helpful post you might enjoy reading for next time.
I was DETERMINED to make this work…lol! The recipe above was confusing. Here’s exactly what I did and chicken was tender and sauce was the desired consistency…not runny or too thick. NO problem with reaching pressure.
Cut 3-5 thawed chicken breasts in half so not too thick. Place into inner pot. Mix 1 packet dressing mix, 1 10.5 can condensed cream of chicken soup and 1 can of water…stir to combine (can be lumpy). Lay softened block of cream cheese on top of chicken, pour above mixture over top.
Cook on poultry setting, or manual for 15 minutes. Natural release for 5 minutes then quick release. Remove chicken to a serving dish,can break into chunks or shred or leave whole. Stir sauce until well blended. It will thicken a bit on it’s own. Pour over chicken. Serve over rice, noodles or potatoes.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve made this twice, and thought something was wrong with my Instant Pot. But my IP works fine (tested!) — this recipe just doesn’t work as-is for me.
I put in the chicken, plus the cream of chicken/water/seasoning/cream cheese mixture, and it just never gets up to pressure. 🙁 Both times I’ve just turned it back on for longer and basically let it boil the chicken… honestly, it tastes great, but it’s not pressure cooking.
Glad I’m not the only one, but it’s weird that it works for some and fails for others. I guess I will keep playing around with the recipe.
Kevin, sorry to hear you’ve had a hard time getting this recipe to turn out. Unfortunately, there are a lot of variables with pressure cooking. You might enjoy this post: https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/series/instant-pot/instant-pot-tips-tricks-201/
If you keep playing around with it and find something that works we’d love to hear back from you!
I decided to follow Perryville’s instructions. I cut up my chicken into chunks put them in the pot, put the cream cheese on top. Mixed creamed soup, water (I used bone broth), and dressing packet. turned on for 15 min and let it NR for 5. It was awesome! I accidentally used a ranch dressing packet instead of Italian and woo hoo for the mistake because it was delicious. We served over jasmine rice. I highly recommend using broth instead of water, it adds so much flavor.
Oh that sounds so great! What a tasty “mistake”! We are so glad it worked out so well for you!
It seems there’s too much liquid in the inner pot for it to pressurize… this is a brand new 8qt instant pot and the first time ive actually put more than 1 cuo of liquid in it. Still waiting for it to pressurize.. it’s been a half hour.. 🙁
How did it turn out?
Can you add pasta and cook all at once?
I don’t see why not, you just might have to adjust the time. We’d love to hear how it turns out!
Added 2 cups rigatoni pasta and 1/2 can more of water and combined all in pressure cooker and set it on chicken for 20 minutes, turned out excellent.
Fantastic!
I used my Instant Pot — I weighed just under 2 pounds of frozen chicken tenderloins, mixed two cans of Cream of Mushroom soup (what I had), one packet of Italian dressing seasoning, and the 8 oz softened cream cheese. I then added the 1 cup water to the pot after reading comments of other IP users who needed to do so. I set it to cook on manual for 22 minutes. It did take a bit longer to come to pressure–about 30 minutes–probably due to the thick condensed soup. I ended up letting it natural release for 15 minutes before the quick release. It ended up really soupy actually. I think that next time I would add much less water – if any at all. The flavor was still great and the sauce did thicken just enough that it worked really well over pasta. It didn’t turn out like what I was expecting but overall I’m pleased with the results!
Thanks for the feedback!
I found this recipe confusing. I bought condensed cream of chicken soup because that is all I found. The recipe was not specific about it either. Then, when reading comments, saw that you thought all cream of chicken soup was just open can and heat, ready to eat. I was making half of the recipe fresh and half from frozen. The instructions are not clear when making from fresh. I added the two cups of water and had to thicken up at the end since I wasn’t planning on serving soup. Just found the whole process frustrating. I am hoping that other recipes are easier to follow since I paid for the year membership.
Thanks for your feedback. We apologize that you found this recipe frustrating. We’re always available and happy to chat in the bottom right-hand corner when you have specific questions!
Made this tonight as well as one for the freezer. Served over a combo of wild, brown and wild rice instead of pasta, that will be the next go round.. Will be making another double batch….one to eat and one for the freezer…..definitely a keeper.
I also had an issue with the Instant Pot not reaching pressure, but after several attempts it was successful. Next time I think I’ll use one can of condensed soup (instead of two) and one can of water. Has anyone experimented with the order ingredients are added? At the end of the day, the meal was delish!
Love this recipe! My husband and family enjoyed every bite! Thank you for something quick and easy!
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This was a quick and easy dish! Loved it amd so did my hubby and family! Thank you for sharing.
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Can you make this in a crock pot?
Here is the recipe for the slow cooker (crock pot): https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/slow-cooker-creamy-italian-chicken/
This recipe does not work. After scraping the chicken out of my instant pot I am now trying to save the meal by cooking it on my stove in a Dutch oven. This was my second batch to try so I have already wasted 2 lbs of meat (maybe 4 if the stove top method doesn’t save the second batch). Not sure how the testers got it to work, but something is wrong with the directions.
Hi Tabitha!
So sorry you experienced trouble! As you can see from the comments on this recipe some people make it and make it and love it without any issues – while other people have issues and have to make some changes.
I am so sorry for your trouble and frustrations. Let me see if I can help you.
The most important thing to remember is that the majority of users (us included) are on a learning curve with the Instant Pot, and cooking meat from frozen using this method is a fairly new concept. So bare with us as we navigate your issues and try to learn from them.
So you’ll know, adjusting cooking times can be necessary, especially when cooking from frozen. When the meat is frozen as a group in the middle, you will find that you occasionally will have to add more time. That is simply a by-product of cooking thick pieces of frozen meat together or cooking a whole frozen meal.
A few troubleshooting recommendations:
Prior to freezing, cut the meat into smaller portions: We add this in the instructions for Instant Pot recipes, but this can help the frozen meat cook more thoroughly and through to the middle
Place the frozen meal on a trivet: This will help the heat circulate around the meal rather than mainly at the bottom.
Break up the frozen meal: If you have a large frozen chunk, try breaking up the one frozen chunk into smaller chunks, this way there is less to cook through in the Instant Pot as a whole.
Partially defrost the frozen meal: If you have time, try partially defrosting the meal so there is less frozen ingredients to cook through. (This may change your cooking times overall using this method).
Natural release for longer amounts of time or completely: Natural release will allow for cooking to continue without added more cooking time and pressure.
Lastly, you can cook fully from thawed. This is obviously outside of the cooking from frozen recommendations. This will, however, almost guarantee that your meal is cooked to completion in the time allotted.
Does that help? Do you have any other questions for me or clarification you need?
Again, I apologize for the trouble and frustration you are having, but hope you will bare with us as we learn alongside you.
Many thanks for your patience!
i’ve tried this recipe twice now and my pot will NOT come to pressure and therefore my chicken is not cooked at the end of the time. It’s only this recipe I have trouble with. Help!
Rebecca, Thanks for letting us know. We haven’t had any other reports of that issue with this recipe, but we will definitely check it for accuracy.
I made this and was very excited. The flavor was good but the chicken was rubbery. I let it release for 12 minutes. Would that do it? I am having trouble getting tender chicken breasts in the instant pot. Any help/suggestions are welcome.
Jann, one thing that may help is putting the chicken on a trivet when you cook. I often find that if my chicken is on the bottom, it can overcook. I hope that helps!
It would be nice if your web master reduced the size of the icons that show ‘Save’, ‘Share on FB’, ‘Post on G’, and ‘Tweet’. They cover quite a bit of type and make it hard to read.
Thanks for that feedback. Our team is working to resolve this for you!
In the ingredients and the directions (make it now), both state to add water. However, all the comments I’ve read state no water is needed. Can you clarify which it is? Thanks!
The 2 cups of water that are listed should be used.
It does not say to add the cream cheese to the sauce or to sauté it alone. Directions are not clear
Hi Kate, Thanks for your feedback. We updated and changed the order of the instructions to be more clear. After you’ve cooked the chicken, do a 5 minute natural pressure release before releasing the rest of the pressure. Once that is done, you would add your cream cheese to the Instant Pot to finish the sauce. You can use the saute function to help melt the cream cheese. Hope this helps.
I followed this recipe as written, and got the “BURN” error message on my instant pot.
Hi Emily, I’m so sorry you had issues with this recipe burning for you. Our Menu Builder team has reviewed and updated this recipe given feedback from others that this recipe burned for them. Do you mind letting me know 1) what size Instant Pot you used and 2) did you cook this meal from fresh or frozen? so we investigate and help troubleshoot for you.
Made this today. Huge hit with my crew…will definitely make again