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Instant Pot Light Cream Cheese Chicken - Updated 5/15/18 - Dump and Go Dinner
Instant Pot Light Cream Cheese Chicken - Updated 5/15/18 - Dump and Go Dinner
4
Servings
5
Ingredients
40
Comments
Creamy, light and ready in a flash, this Instant Pot version of our Cream Cheese Chicken is an easy, waistline friendly recipe great for springtime or the holiday season alike.
4
Servings
5
Ingredients
40
Comments
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ pounds quarter Chicken, Boneless Breasts
- 7 ⅛ ounces Cream of Chicken Soup, Fat Free
- ⅔ ounces Italian Dressing Dry Mix
- 2 cups Water
- 5 ⅓ ounces Cream Cheese, Fat Free
Containers
Supplies
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
Easy Assembly/Dump and Go
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 bowl, combine soup and dressing mix.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
Prog. Pressure Cooker
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 chicken breasts, soup, dressing mix and water into Instant Pot.
- Lock cover into place and seal steam nozzle
- Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes then quick release remaining pressure.
- Add cream cheese to the pot, stir to combine. Change setting to saute while stirring constantly.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 4 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 8 ounces Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 252
- Total Fat
- 5g
- Saturated Fat
- 1g
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 118mg
- Sodium
- 1190mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 9g
- Fiber
- 0g
- Sugar
- 4g
- Protein
- 39g
- WW Freestyle
- 2
40 Comments
Join the discussionThis was amazing!! But when do you add the pasta? I made it with frozen chicken breasts and wasn’t sure about adding more liquid and time for pasta so I just made it separate…
That was correct! This recipe is for the Chicken and the pasta should be made separately. We hope you enjoyed!
This burned to the bottom of the pan during the sauté part and never got to pressure.
Wendy, sorry to hear this recipe didn’t turn out for you. I am assuming you were cooking from frozen? How long did you saute for?
I had same problem. Seems like it needs water.
Mine did too.
I.m still not used yo my instapot.
Do you cut the chicken up or put it in whole?
Yes, you should quarter the chicken first. Enjoy!
HI, if I make this using from frozen chicken breasts what setting and how long should I cook it?
Thank you!
Micki, that’s a great question! When using frozen chicken breasts I usually add 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the breasts. You would keep it on the same setting just manually adding the time! Hope that helps 🙂
Excellent, my wife even liked it. It’s a keeper
I just started WW. What is the difference in the WW plus and WW Smart points? Which points am I following? I go to my first meeting tomorrow. Thanks
Smart points is their new system. You will likely learn more at your meeting! Good luck!
Does this need water added, seems like it’s not enough liquid? This tasted great but didn’t cook right. I made it ahead and froze the ingredients. Cooking day I let it thaw for about an hour on the counter in the sealed container just enough so it released easily and dropped in. I set to pressure cook on high for 12 minutes since it was a recipe for 6. It did natural release for about 15 minutes until I was ready and it was not only not done the chicken was raw and partially frozen.
I turned it back on again, it took a long time to come up to pressure and start cooking. The little metal float peg never came up but the cooking time started. The peg still never came up and as soon as the cooking was done I was able to open the pot without pushing the pressure release. It was cooked but the chicken was tough. I did it a 3rd time. Still never came to pressure but was cooked now and very burnt on the bottom.
The problem is not the pot because I added water and set it to “sanitize” for 30 minutes and it came to pressure and the pin popped up.
Help! We liked the taste and I would make it again but why did it not cook? IP says minimum liquid is 1 cup, the condensed soup seems too thick to do the job.
Hey, Julia! When cooking from frozen you’ll want to follow the third set of directions which instructs you to saute for 5 minutes, cook for 10 minutes on poultry, and then NPR for only 5 minutes. Because there are so many variables with pressure cooking 1-2 minutes can make a difference. Here is a helpful post on this. In regard to the liquid, you really only need 1/2 a cup and it just has to be liquid. We’re always available to chat in the bottom right-hand corner if you have more questions!
I guess I did leave it out of the info I wrote up but I did saute for 5 minutes first then I pressure cooked on high for 12 minutes but it never came to pressure and was still partially frozen. My IP ultra does not have a poultry selection.
Sorry to hear this! Hopefully the blog post we linked will be able to provide a point of reference and it will turn out better next time!
I read the non-light version of this recipe and they have updated it to add water because of numerous people having the same problem. I will do that next time.
Are you using the standard condensed Cream of Chicken soup or some other brand that is not condensed?
We are. We also have a recipe to make your own if you would like – https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/recipe-roundups/homemade-cream-of-something-soup/.
This is the third time I’ve tried this recipe. Once frozen, twice not frozen. It burns to the bottom of my pot every time. I’m following the directions exactly. The taste is good, but I’ve had to finish it on the stove or in the oven every time because my pot starts burning.
Meg, I am so sorry for your trouble and frustrations. Let me see if I can help you.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Does that help? Again, I apologize for the trouble and frustration you are having, but hope you will bare with us as we learn alongside you.
Good morning-I’d love to try this recipe, especially with the Greek yogurt cream cheese that I have which is even less fat than light cream cheese, and more protein.
My question-I see all the comments about needing some liquid-I’m going to use Campbell’s lowfat condensed soup-shall I also add 1/2 cup water?
Looks delicious-thank you!
Hi Susan! Instant Pot cooking always involves a bit of experimenting as there are a lot of factors that can affect the way the recipe comes out (are you cooking from frozen? How small did you cut the chicken pieces? etc). We’d recommend trying the recipe as written to start, as it has been tested by our test cooks with success. But if you find after that you do need additional liquid, start small! I hope that helps! Let us know how it goes!
I made it. Everyone loved it! I added 1/2 cup water. Did not burn at the bottom at all.
I made it from fresh and followed the recipe. Instant pot kept saying ” Burn ” I ended cooking in sauté. It was delicious. I’ll try again but next time cut up the chicken into pieces & add water. Any thoughts? I loved the flavour.
Hi Lynne – I’m so sorry you had trouble with this recipe — I think adding a little liquid next time is a great idea to start with. Let us know how it turns out. ~OAMM
That was too easy!!!! Already had the ingredients so this was a very yummy quick dinner. Served it over cauliflower rice.
I sliced the chicken breasts thin before freezing and thawed in fridge overnight. Sautéed 5minutes, cooked manual 10 minutes.Cooked pasta separately. Didn’t burn, but sauce was very thick so will make a note to add 1/2 water next time.
Thanks for the feedback Maria and your suggestions! Let us know how it turns out for you next time with more water. ~OAMM
I made this last night and served over rice. Yum. I rinsed the soup can out with water and added it to the chicken. The only problem I had was that the cream cheese did not incorporate completely in the sauce. I did break it in small pieces. I sprayed the pan before adding the chicken,then sprinkled the seasoning over it, and added the cr. Cheese. Next time I will combine the soup and cheese in the mixer first or use the submersible blender stick to cream it after processing.
Thanks Susan for your feedback. I definitely think it’s a great idea to mix the soup and cheese together first so it incorporates together. Let us know how it turns out for you. Happy Cooking! ~OAMM
I have tried to make this recipe twice now. Both times is has burnt before it has gotten to pressure the first time I did as the recipe stated second I added water still burnt before pressure. This is made without the meal being frozen How do I fix this?
I’m so sorry you’re having trouble with this. It seems about half the people have issues, and the others have none. I have made this many times as written without issue. However, it appears that for those having problems, adding some water or broth has helped.
I wish I had read the comments before making this dish. I followed the instructions and added 2 cups of water per the serving day ingredients listed. It made a nice soup. I had to remove the chicken, boil it down and use cornstarch to thicken it. 1/4 cup water would have been plenty! I’m new to this. Lesson learned. Now I need to go read the comments on all the other freezer meals I made.
Hi Jim, we’re so sorry to hear that your recipe turned out too watery for your taste. This recipe was updated due to feedback from other members stating it was too thick. We appreciate you letting us know how it turned out for you and will be sure to pass this along to our menu building team.
We had it again tonight and used 1/4 cup water instead of 2 cups. No issues with burning and It was great!
Thanks for your feedback, Jim! We’re glad to hear you were able to adjust this to work for you. Due to the nature of pressure cooking, there is always room for inconsistency, so feedback like yours helps other members tremendously.
I prepared the meal for this Chicken dinner in my Instant Pot (made it to cook and serve immediately) and had no issue with the water or burning. (It sounds like the recipe has been updated with the correct water measurement). As I’m doing WW, we enjoyed this on Cauliflower Garlic Mashed Potatoes rather than noodles. (Here’s the link to that recipe.) https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230816/garlic-mashed-cauliflower/. I actually made 1.5 of the recipe and it was hard leaving some for leftovers for tomorrow. The sauce was incredible. So quick, so Delicious! Meals this good and flavorful takes the “die” out of “diet”!
Hi Sue! Thanks for the great serving idea! Sounds delicious!