Don’t you just love the fall weather?  It is FINALLY starting to cool down here in Kansas and I’m loving it.  It’s been a weird fall though.  The leaves have been slowly changing, but they’ve been falling faster than they’re changing.  It’s not been nearly as pretty as it normally is, here in Kansas.  But since it’s finally cooling down again, when I think of the fall weather, I think of soup.  This chicken stew recipe is sure to warm you up on a cold day and to satisfy everyone in your house.

My younger kids seem to be getting pickier as they get older.  Frankly, I’ve been getting sick of them complaining about what I’m cooking for dinner.  They say they don’t like anything I pick.  Today, when I served this chicken stew, it was more of the same.  It’s too hot.  I want something else.  I don’t like that.  I was a bit fed up and demanded they eat it and eat it now.  Well, it turns out they all LOVED it.  Even the 5 year old who says he doesn’t like anything.  Yay!  I used to say my kids weren’t picky eaters, but here lately my 5 and 7 year old have been the pickiest eaters yet.

This recipe came from my Freezer to Slow Cooker Subscription service.  Today, I decided to show you how we make it in the Instant Pot.  Recently, one of my Subscribers shared with me that you could make my Freezer to Slow cooker meals in the Instant Pot, and it only takes about 40 minutes.  (I had been avoiding the Instant Pot for a while….but not any more!)  I was thrilled with that idea, because I tend to FORGET to put my food in the slow cooker.  Crazy, right?  I get to about 3:00 p.m. and realize I never got it going.  Well, if I can still put my freezer meal in the Instant Pot, then I’ll be back in the game on those forgetful days.  Yay!  I decided to test it out with this recipe and it really did work wonderfully.

This recipe was not frozen ahead of time (although I did start with frozen chicken breast), but it should still work if you made it as a freezer meal.  I’ll include instructions below.  If you scroll all the way to the bottom, you can see a video of it in action.  And if you really love it and want to help me out by sharing it with our friends, just go here to share the video on Facebook.

and because we love cheese, we topped ours with it.  

Chicken Stew in the Instant Pot

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion, sliced
2 lbs peeled carrots
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon Old Bay Poultry Seasoning
3 teaspoons parsley flakes
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 lbs potatoes, quartered or halved (use red skin if you can)
1 cup milk

Directions:

Place all ingredients in Instant Pot or Slow cooker, except milk.

If you’re cooking it in the Instant Pot, use the manual setting and set it to 20 minutes if the chicken is frozen when you start.  If the chicken is thawed when you start, you can cook it for 14 minutes.  (If you’re new to the Instant Pot, make sure the valve is closed and please realize it can take up to 20 minutes to warm up and seal before the 20 minute cooking time begins.)

If you’d like to use the slow cooker, you can put the same thing in the slow cooker, but cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

When the time is up, remove the chicken and cut it or shred it up (or use kitchen shears).  Replace the chicken and add 1 cup of milk.  Stir.

Serve with some hot bread and butter.

Freezer to Slow Cooker Instructions:  

Put all ingredients except potatoes and milk into a freezer safe bag.

Before you cook it, make sure to add the potatoes.  After it’s done, add the milk.

Enjoy!