These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs are cooked in a creamy and delicious sun-dried tomato sauce. They’re quick and easy to make in an electric pressure cooker for a simple weeknight dinner!
The tuscan inspired sun-dried tomato sauce adds so much flavor to a family meal, but it’s still 100% kid-friendly. For more easy instant pot recipes, see my Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes Dinner or my Instant Pot Sour Cream Pork Chops!
I have to make a confession: I think I like chicken thighs better than chicken breast.
There, I said it. And especially when the chicken is cooked in the instant pot or slow cooker. Chicken thighs are so much juicier and flavorful. But maybe that’s just me 😉
I might be even more in the minority here, but I always buy skin-on chicken thighs, and all of us love the skin.
Here we’re browning them first before cooking them in a flavorful sun-dried tomato sauce in the electric pressure cooker. So easy, simple and delicious!
These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
- are quick and easy to make
- can be cooked from frozen if necessary
- stay juicy and tender for the perfect easy dinner
We’re currently trying to cut down our food budget (it always gets out of hand at some point!) and using chicken thighs can be a lot cheaper compared to other cuts. Good thing I like them so much 😉
This is one of my favorite way to make them, along with my Instant Pot Lemon Chicken, my Chicken and Asparagus Sheet Pan Dinner and my Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken Stew.
How to make Instant Pot Chicken Thighs in Creamy Sundried Tomato Sauce:
Read on for the detailed steps, or scroll down for more tips to make this recipe foolproof (like cooking the chicken from frozen!) and the printable recipe card.
► 1 Prep: The first thing I like to do is prepping all the ingredients that need to be chopped or minced or whatever. So you’ll dice an onion (make sure it’s finely diced or you’ll end up with huge chunks of onion in your sauce) and mince some garlic. I buy my sun-dried tomatoes pre-chopped, but if you don’t you’ll have to do that yourself, too.
► 2 Brown Chicken: Set your instant pot to “sauté” and add a little oil. Don’t worry if the pot isn’t super hot yet, it will suddenly be blazing and if you wait for it to get very hot, the chicken will likely burn.
This is the Instant Pot I have, if you’re in the market for a new one! Though I wish they would have had it in the pretty colors they do now when I bought mine 😉 (This is an affiliate link and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through.)
Add the chicken thighs skin-side down and brown until golden and crispy, about 3-5 minutes. Turn them around and brown the other side for 2-3 minutes – don’t worry about cooking them through, they don’t need to be fully cooked yet. Remove to a plate.
► 3 Start the sauce: Add the onion to the instant pot (do not drain the chicken fat, it adds so much delicious flavor!) and sauté for 1-2 minutes, until starting to soften. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook for a few seconds, then switch off the instant pot (it will probably be very hot now and continue cooking anyways). Pour the chicken broth in the pot (careful, it will sizzle and splatter at first!) and stir to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Getting all the browned bits is very important, or you may get a “burn” warning during pressure cooking!
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
► 4 Pressure cook: Add the chicken back to the instant pot.
Close the lid (make sure it plays the sweet closing sound) and set the sealing valve to “sealing”. Pressure cook the chicken thighs on “high” for 12 minutes, then naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes (just switch off the instant pot and leave it alone).
Release any remaining pressure manually. I like covering the valve with a kitchen towel for this, so all the steam doesn’t dampen my cabinets and ceiling.
► 5 Finish the sauce: Open the instant pot and remove the chicken thighs.
Place them on a plate and cover them with aluminum foil or a soup plate to keep them warm.
Combine some milk (or half and half, or cream!) and cornstarch and stir it into the sauce in the pot. Set the instant pot to “sauté” and simmer until thickened while stirring constantly.
It should only take a minute or two! Stir in some grated parmesan and serve over the chicken.
Tips for the Best Instant Pot Chicken Thighs:
- make sure there are no browned bits left on the bottom of the instant pot after stirring in the chicken broth. Otherwise you might get a “burn” warning while pressure cooking!
- try to stick to the 10 minutes of natural pressure release, so the meat has time to relax after being cooked under pressure. Otherwise your chicken could turn out tough.
- if you want to add more greens to this meal, feel free to stir about 3 ounces of washed baby spinach into the sauce with the parmesan cheese. I don’t because my kids tell me they don’t want leaves in their dinner… But they’ll happily chomp on raw baby spinach on the side, so that’s what works for us 😉
Can you cook this with frozen chicken thighs in the instant pot?
Yes, you can. It will be a little less flavorful because you cannot brown the chicken, but it still works.
Skip browning the chicken in the instructions, but stick to the recipe otherwise. Cook for 15-18 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken thighs) instead of 12.
Make sure the chicken thighs are separated and not stuck together/stacked, or they might not cook through.
Always check your meat with a kitchen thermometer when cooking from frozen – chicken should be cooked to 165°F.
I love using a kitchen thermometer like this one to make sure my food is cooked to a safe temperature! (This is an affiliate link and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through.)
Can you make this recipe with chicken breast?
Yes, you can!
Follow the recipe, but pressure cook the chicken breast for 6 minutes instead of 12 (or 10 minutes if using frozen chicken breast!).
Be sure to stick to the 10 minutes of natural pressure release, or your chicken will be tough and chewy.
What can you serve with these creamy tuscan chicken thighs?
This creamy sauce was meant to be mopped up by all the delicious things!
Here are some of our favorite sides:
Starchy Sides
- mashed potatoes
- pasta
- smashed potatoes
- rice
Vegetable Sides
- sautéed green beans
- sautéed zucchini
- roasted asparagus
Salad Sides
- spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing
- cucumber tomato salad
- caprese pesto pasta salad
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Instant Pot Pineapple Chicken and Rice
And if you liked these recipes, there’s plenty more to make family meals easier for you! Be sure to join my FREE recipe circle here to get easy recipes by email.
P.S: If you tried this recipe, why not leave me a comment below to let me know how you liked it?
Instant Pot Chicken Thighs in Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs seasoned with salt and pepper on eitehr side
- 1 small yellow onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes chopped
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup milk OR heavy cream OR half and half
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Equipment
Instructions
- Brown chicken: Set your instant pot to “sauté”. Heat the oil, then brown the chicken thighs on either side. Remove to a plate.
- Start sauce: Add the onion to the instant pot and sauté until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and Italian seasoning and cook for a few seconds. Switch off the instant pot. Stir in chicken broth and sundried tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pressure cook: Add chicken thighs back to the instant pot. Close the lid and set the valve to “sealing”. Choose “pressure cook” on the “high” setting for 12 minutes. Naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes before releasing any remaining pressure manually.
- Finish sauce: Open the lid. Remove the chicken and cover with foil on a plate. Combine milk and cornstarch in a measuring jug. Set the instant pot to “sauté” and stir in the milk slurry. Simmer until sauce has thickened. Stir in remaining ingredients and serve sauce over chicken.
Notes
Video
Nutrition (this is an estimate)
Add a recipe review