Once you unlock the secret of cooking frozen chicken in an Instant Pot®, the possibilities for variations become endless. This creamy lemon chicken with orzo is worthy of a dinner with friends, though it is so easy, you’ll make it a regular on your weeknight rotation. Make sure you follow the directions for a 10-minute natural release; a quick release left us with dry and stringy meat.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Active: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
- 8 ounces orzo (about 1 1/3 cup)
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 frozen chicken breasts (6 ounces each)
- 8 cups baby spinach (about 6 ounces)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Set a 6-quart Instant Pot® to high saute and add the butter (see Cook’s Note). Once it has melted, add the mushrooms, a good pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper and cook until golden and the excess liquid has evaporated, about 6 minutes. Stir in the shallots and thyme and continue to cook until the shallots have softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the orzo, chicken broth, lemon zest and juice. Put the chicken breasts on top of the orzo and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and a couple grinds of pepper.
- Follow the manufacturer’s guide for locking the lid and preparing to cook. Set to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.
- After the pressure-cook cycle is complete, follow the manufacturer’s guide for natural release. After 10 minutes, being careful of any remaining steam, unlock and remove the lid.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board with tongs and slice crosswise. Stir the spinach, cream and Parmesan into the orzo. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a couple grinds of pepper and serve alongside the chicken.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 442 |
| Total Fat | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 38 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 100 mg |
| Sodium | 1089 mg |
Reviews
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We loved the orzo part, but the chicken was dry. I will try again with bigger chicken breasts, but if not, the pasta still made an excellent base for any protein.
Yummy and easy!
Store was out of orzo so I made it with arborio rice. The chicken was fine and the rice mixture was really good. The rice was a bit overcooked, but still very good and the lemon/spinach/cheese combo is a winner. If I do this again, I may add an extra chicken breast as I had a lot of leftover rice and little chicken.
Everything besides the chicken was good (except low flavor rating)
Chicken was so dry, boyfriend choked twice.
Quick and easy! Would probably opt for a little less lemon next time but was a hit with husband (who doesn’t like mushrooms) and my 6 year old son cleared his entire plate
This was good and easy! I omitted the spinach and used fresh chicken breasts that were on the big side so I only subtracted 2 minutes from the cooking time.
Fast, easy and delicious, and you don’t have to defrost the chicken — what’s not to love? I didn’t have fresh so I used canned mushrooms and frozen spinach and it still came out great. After reading the reviews, and because it wasn’t specified if the thyme was fresh or dry, I used only one teaspoon dried thyme but will make it with two next time. I also reduced the broth by a half cup and the consistency turned out great. I try to keep the fat down and avoid dairy, so I used oat milk instead of heavy cream. I love garlic but was glad I left it out because the bright citrusy flavor of this recipe is wonderful without it. My husband, who isn’t as crazy about lemon as I am, loved this. He asked me to make it again soon and I plan to!
The recipe was a good foundation but I made several tweaks after reading other reviews. For starters, I used only the lemon juice (no zest), fresh split boneless chicken breasts (same total weight but thinner cuts), and included some minced garlic (I added with the mushrooms). Instead of boxed/canned chicken broth, I used 3 cups of warm water with 3 tsp Knorr chicken bouillon. I had also used a combination meat seasoning on both sides of the chicken before I added to the cooker. I pressure cooked for 7 minutes to account for the chicken temp difference but still waited the full 10 minutes for the pressure to release. The chicken was fully cooked through and as juicy as breasts can feasibly get, the orzo was perfect (maybe a little on juicy side but set up nicely with the cream and Parmesan). I’d be worried to cook the orzo for too much longer unless they were really big “grains”.
If it was possible, I would give this zero stars as it was COMPLETELY inedible. The lemon was overpowering, and the orzo was so overcooked the “sauce” resembled jello. Other than lemon, the mush was flavorless and bland. This recipe would probably work better if you ditched the zest, used half the juice, and cooked the orzo on the stovetop.