Instant Pot Pesto Ranch Chicken - Dump and Go Dinner
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
42
Comments
Simple and speedy this Pesto Ranch Chicken is a great meal to throw in your Instant Pot pressure cooker for an easy dinner. Chicken thighs are cooked in a ranch seasoned pesto to flavorful, juicy perfection.
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
42
Comments
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Chicken, Thighs, Boneless/Skinless
- ¾ cups Pesto
- 2 tablespoons Ranch Dressing Mix
- ½ cups Chicken Broth/Stock
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?
- Divide all ingredients into indicated number of freezer bags.
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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.**
- Combine pesto, ranch dressing mix and chicken broth in a bowl.
- Place chicken inside Instant Pot and spoon pesto sauce on top, covering chicken.
- Lock lid into place and seal steam nozzle.
- Cook on high pressure for 9 minutes.
- Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 4 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 8 ounces Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 565
- Total Fat
- 26g
- Saturated Fat
- 5g
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 181mg
- Sodium
- 1311mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 5g
- Fiber
- 1g
- Sugar
- 1g
- Protein
- 48g
- WW Freestyle
- 14
42 Comments
Join the discussionAnyone have an idea for a Ranch dressing sub? I don’t like using processed ingredients like this.
You might like ours! https://onceamonthmeals.com/dairy-free-ranch-dressing/
I made my own pesto and ranch, it was very good but I would cut back on the stock (too much liquid). According to directions, I used the round containers, sautéed the frozen hunk for 5 minutes and cooked in the instant pot for 9 minutes. The chicken was still frozen! I cooked it for an additional 9 minutes.
FYI, I’m new to this. You don’t need to defrost, right?
Welcome, Lisa! You are correct that you don’t have to defrost items before they go into your Instant Pot. I’m sorry to hear it was still frozen for you. Did you by chance use chicken breasts instead of thighs? I ask in part because I like to change up the cuts of meat sometimes myself. 🙂 If that isn’t the case, we have a couple posts that are pretty helpful when it comes to learning the ways of the Instant Pot. You can check those out here and here. If you run into any other bumps, feel free to jump on a chat with us between 10am and 2pm EST on weekdays or between 2pm and 5pm EST on weekends and we’d be happy to help in any way we can.
Hi. This was my first venture into frozen instant potting and I had similar results to Lisa. I used breasts and I thought the tips and tricks 201 said 8-10 minutes so I did 10. Did I misunderstand something? I cut the breasts up into smaller chunks, but I guess during the defrost the chicken stayed clumped together and didn’t cook on the inside of the clump. Also, after the saute, it was still a pretty big frozen hunk. Some liquid had come off. Is the saute suppose to break apart the pieces? Thanks!
Hi Jarrod – we’re so sorry you had this experience! When you cooked your frozen meal in the Instant Pot, did you follow the “Make from Frozen” instructions on the recipe page? Per those instructions, after the 5 minute saute, you should pressure cook for 9 minutes and then allow to natural release for 5 minutes. The saute will not break apart the pieces, it just creates some liquid so that the pot can come to pressure. If you’d like to hop over to chat with our customer engagement team (the little orange icon on the bottom right), we’d be happy to help you troubleshoot further!
I always defrost mine slightly and don’t go straight from frozen. it just doesn’t work for me with chicken.
My Instant Pot doesn’t have a poultry button? What setting would be best to use instead?
Poultry or Manual is fine. Same time. Happy cooking!
Would I just increase the time for frozen breasts? Thank you!
Here is a helpful post to help you determine the time when using breasts: https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/series/instant-pot/instant-pot-tips-tricks-201/
Hello!
Just wanted to share that I made this recipe using frozen chicken thighs…I did half the portion…set the IP to Poultry for 20 minutes and let it slow release. Paired it with Trader Joe’s Zucchini Fries. So delicious! Thanks for sharing!
So glad this recipe turned out for you Lucy! ?
This looks great! Thank you! Would you leave out mayo and milk to make the Pesto Ranch Chicken?
Yes you would Melissa! All you would need are the dry ingredients from that recipe! ?
I can’t find a place to make notes, so just for my future reference…this didn’t fully cook in my 8 qt in the time listed from frozen. I stirred it and set it for an additional 2 minutes, and it was fine. In the future I’ll just do 12 minutes to start and think that’ll be fine. 🙂 Tastes wonderful though, thanks!!! This was using boneless, skinless thighs.
Thanks for your feedback. There are a variety of things that can affect the cook time in the Instant Pot, including using an 8 versus 6 quart pot, so we always recommend doing exactly what you did – adding a few extra minutes at the end if you find a dish isn’t cooked through. We’re glad you enjoyed it!
If using bone-in thighs, would I add to the cooking time? I am using what I have at home.
Hi Deanne, The Instant Pot Cooking Times manual would be a great place to check for bone-in thighs. https://instantpot.com/instantpot-cooking-time/ It looks like 10-15 minutes for chicken cut with bones, so you could adjust your cook time accordingly. Hope this helps!
I tried to cook the recipe from frozen and had to throw it out because it kept burning to the bottom of my instant pot. I waited for 5 minutes and had partially thawed it in the sink before that. Super disappointed because it smelled so good
So sorry you had a poor experience. Perhaps next time try thawing it out prior to cooking to guarantee a better experience.
I did 10min not frozen chicken and still turned out uncooked. Thought that seemed too short! Suggestions? Put lid back on to repeat
Debrah, so sorry to hear that your recipe didn’t go as planned. We would suggest; making sure that your seal is in place, you’re cooking on high pressure (using the poultry setting may be a good idea if you are not already doing so), and that you are allowing the entire 5 minutes of natural pressure release. Additionally, if you are cooking more than 4 servings worth of chicken at a time, you will want to adjust your cooking time.
We hope this helps!
Hello! I’m fairly new to pressure cooking, so I wanted to ask before I attempt this recipe. Instructions with the pressure cooker state to always add a certain amount of water at the bottom of the pot. Is that something I do with this recipe? Or am I able to leave out the water since there is broth?
That is a commonly asked question. Recipes need at least 1/2 – 1 cup of total liquid for the pot to come to pressure. Liquids don’t have to be water. In the case of this recipe, the liquid is broth. The broth, plus the water from the chicken, will produce enough pressure for this recipe to work.
Because my freezer is always full to the limit, I leave water out of recipes and make a note on the label to add it on serving day. Added bonus, I don’t have to sauté for 5 minutes at the start. My family love this recipe.
Hi Kalen – thanks for your tip, that’s a new one for us! If you wouldn’t mind, could you send us an email or chat and let us know which recipes this works for you?
Is it the same cooking time, if I use chicken breasts instead? Also, can I do this in the slow cooker as well? Thanks!
Hi Sandy! Cooking time will change for breasts. We suggest adding just 2-3 minutes and doing a quick release to check on it. The pot will already be heated so it will come back to pressure quickly if you need to add more time. We have a great post on making adjustments to recipes in your instant pot here: https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/series/kitchen-tips/instant-pot-tips-tricks-201/
We also have a slow cooker version that you can find here: https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/pesto-ranch-chicken-traditional-dump-and-go-dinner/
Loved this but I agree on reducing the broth/stock as one reviewer stated above.
Made my own ranch seasoning mix, used Costco jarred pesto and frozen chicken breasts so I elongated the time to 15 minutes. It turned out awesome!!! We shredded it and put it on brioche buns but would be great with pasta, doodles, etc. Definitely a do again and would be a crowd pleaser for a party.
Thanks so much for the feedback!
I got a burn notice almost immediately — seems like there was enough liquid. Anyone else?
Hi Karina! I might suggest using a trivet (if you did not already) to prevent the burn notice. If you already tried this, adding a bit more chicken broth (no more than 1/4 cup) to help the Instant Pot come to pressure the day you cook it may help you. We hope this helps!
Well I love all the comments and your replies. I have a 6 quart and it only takes 45 minutes from the freezer to the plate even with breasts. I’m a little intimidated wondering how I’ve always looked out. Of course, I will continue to do as I have in the past and I am excited to try your recipe today. I will definitely let you know how it turns out.
This was really good. I used a jar of pesto and tripled the liquid since I tripled the recipe. The chicken looked dry but it was extremely moist. I used the leftover broth in my copy kat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi (without the gnocchi though I do add thin potatoes. I don’t like those slimy gnocchi balls) I debated using the leftover broth in chicken noodle soup, it’s that good.
I’ve made this a few times, always from frozen, and never had an issue. Tonight I made it and it was completely raw when I released the rest of the pressure after the 10 minutes. I didn’t do anything different or buy any different type of chicken. I’m not sure what happened?
Hi Leeann! We’re so sorry this happened to you! Thus is the nature with pressure cooking! It can be a fickle thing! Our guess is that is probably comes down to the way the ingredients froze. Perhaps the chicken was more layered/overlapped than previous times. Try adding a few minutes if this happens again – most problems can be easily fixed!
I made this “fresh” with frozen chicken breasts at 15 minutes. I rarely follow a recipe, and did for this. I happened to have ranch dressing seasoning in my cupboard. Simple and flavorful! Great for a quick meal, paired with angel hair as a filler.
That’s a great idea to pair with the pasta! Thanks for sharing!
Can I cut up the chicken breast into cubes and cook it that way?
Yes, you might want to decrease your cook time but that would still work!