Chicken and Gnocchi Stew for the Instant Pot®

Instant Pot Chicken & Gnocchi Stew

I live in Florida. We don’t get an Autumn, but we can pretend. If we lived somewhere with seasons, it might be getting a little cool by now. Everyone would welcome a velvety stew.  Here, it is almost 5 pm and 90˚. I still love this stew.

I made this in this Instant Pot®. You could use roasted chicken, but I think the pressure cooker gave it extra flavor. I also made the chicken the night before, so the flavors would meld. Cooling the chicken overnight also allowed me to remove most of the fat from the liquid. Use thighs and not breasts. The thighs have a hearty flavor and it is okay if you overcook them a little. Finally, you can substitute chicken stock for the water and chicken base, but the base is so much richer than normal stock.

Servings: 6-8

Hardware: A knife and a cutting board, measuring cups and spoons, a veggie peeler, Instant Pot Duo® (IP), silicone oven mitt, tongs, a large bowl, a small bowl, a fork, food safe gloves and a wooden spoon

Time: Active time: 15 minutes; Cook: 35 minutes; Stew in about an hour

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken thighs
• 2 large carrots (8 ounces)
• 2 celery sticks (4 ounces)
• 1 small onion (4 ounces)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 sprig rosemary
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon chicken base (I used Better than Bouillon)
• 1 cup + 4 cups water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1-pound gnocchi
• Salt and pepper

1. Peel the carrot and wash the celery. Cut them into pieces that are 2-3 inches in size. Peel and crush the garlic. Peel and quarter the onion. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
2. Put the white wine, 1 cup water, rosemary and 1 tablespoon soup base into the IP. Turn on the sauté setting and allow the liquid to boil. Stir to dissolve the chicken base.
3. Put the trivet into the pot. Place the carrots, celery, onion and garlic on top of the trivet, put the chicken on top of the veggies. Place the lid on the IP, making sure the valve is set to ‘sealing.’ Turn on the pressure setting and set for 10 minutes. When time is up, allow it to release for about 15 minutes and using the silicone oven mitt move the valve to ‘release.’
4. When the float falls, move the chicken to the large bowl. Fish out the rosemary and discard. Remove the trivet.
5. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, put on the food safe gloves and remove the meat from the bones. Discard the skin, fat, gristle and bones.
6. Pour 4 cups water and the rest of the chicken base into the IP. Return to a boil. Put one tablespoon of cornstarch into the very cold cup of whipping cream. Use the fork to stir until the cornstarch dissolves. Pour the cornstarch-y cream into the soup. It will thicken as it boils. Return the chicken to the pot and add in the gnocchi. As soon as the gnocchi floats (3 minutes) the soup is done. Stir in the dried parsley. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

 

Chicken and Gnocchi Stew for the Instant Pot®