The Magic of the Instant Pot

I’m not gonna lie. When I first found out that you could cook frozen meat in an Instant Pot in the late afternoon and have a delicious meal on the table by dinnertime, I was sold. Hook, line and sinker. I bought my first beloved Instant Pot and have never looked back.

So, here is my I-have-frozen-meat-in-the-freezer-and-need-a-quick-dinner solution for you busy mamas. Is it delicious? Oh, yes. Do my kids rave to me each time I make homemade chicken noodle soup and say that it’s one of their favorite meals ever? *Swoon* Yes!! Does it taste even better with Crunchy Mama Farms’ pasture raised chicken? Oh muh word, yessss!!

One of the beauties of this recipe is that you can substitute with what you have on hand and it is still oh-so-yummy! So don’t run to the store if you are missing a minor ingredient. I’ll give you substitution ideas down below.

It’s almost embarrassing that I’m even writing this down as a recipe. I literally throw in the following items into my Instant Pot and cook:

• 1 frozen Crunchy Mama Farms chicken (whatever size works for your IP size)
• 1 quartered onion
• Variety of aromatic veggies, peeled and cut into 4″-ish chunks or cut in half (our favorites are carrots, parsnips and celery)
• 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed with the side of a knife
• 2-3 bay leaves

After I have strategically placed everything inside of the pot, I fill it with water to cover the chicken and generously sprinkle everything with Braggs Seasoning, sea salt, and pepper.

I plug in the IP, close the lid, set the pressure vent to Sealing and press the Pressure Cooking button to High. If you have a 6 quart IP, a 3 lb chicken would be set at 39 minutes, a 3.5 lb at 46 minutes, and a 4 lb chicken would be set at 52 minutes. If you are using an 8 quart IP, set a 3 lb chicken to 30 minutes and a 4 lb chicken to 40 minutes. Cooking with a frozen bird takes longer for the pot to come to pressure.

The display will beep and show the word ON. It takes about 15 minutes for the IP to come to pressure. You’ll see some steam come out of the value, the red float valve will pop up and the countdown will start.

After the IP beeps to tell you it is finished, the display will show the word OFF. Do not Quick Release the pressure. It is still cooking the bird inside. The pressure will come down on its own (called a Natural Release) in about 15-20 minutes.

During that 15 minute period, cook your pasta according to the directions. Our favorite brand of gluten free pasta is called Jovial. It’s made in Italy, using traditional techniques of pressing through bronze dies. It’s organic and the texture and taste is easily mistaken for wheat pasta. So delicious! We like all of their shapes.

Pretty soon, that little red float valve button on top will drop down and you’ll know the pressure is down on the IP so you can open the lid. Open it away from you.

The chicken will be falling apart. Use tongs to pull the pieces out and place them in a dish to cool to the touch. While the meat is cooling off, set up a large bowl with a strainer over it and ladle the golden broth into the strainer. Use as much as you need for soup and set it off to the side. Now that you can touch the meat without it burning you, take the meat off of the bones and throw the bones and skin back into the pot to make more broth. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. The carrots and parsnips will be super soft. You can give them to the baby, slice them for the kids, eat them yourself or even put them back in the pot. You could even puree it and throw it into chili and no one would be the wiser. The huge, thick carrots we get from L’Cajn Farm hold up to the pressure.

I take the strainer from the broth and dump in the frozen peas and carrots from Kroger and run them under hot water until they are no longer frozen. Then I pop them into the hot broth with the chicken pieces. I drop in a huge chunk of salted Kerrygold butter into the broth and let it melt while I drain the pasta (now the world knows my secret!!). Run water over the pasta really well to get all of the starch off of it. it doesn’t stick together if it is rinsed well.

Add salt or pepper to taste and grab some bowls! Ladle in the pasta first and then add in the broth, making sure you scoop up chicken, peas and carrots.

Gather the family around the table, being thankful for the nourishing food, sweet company and time spent with each other. Since you slaved over the delicious meal, ask the family to clean up while you curl up with a good book. Ha!

This recipe is for a frozen chicken. If you have thawed your chicken, I recommend brining it before cooking. The time will change if the chicken is frozen vs thawed.

If you are new to the Instant Pot and are a little nervous about opening up the box that has been sitting in the corner of your kitchen, don’t wait any longer! Here are some excellent quick guides to give you the lowdown on this magic machine:

• https://ifoodreal.com/instant-pot-guide/
• https://sweetandsavorymeals.com/instant-pot-whole-chicken-recipe/