Chicken Provencal stew in Instant Pot
Ingredients
 | 4-6 pieces of chicken |
 | 10 chopped black olives |
 | 1 red and 1 green bell pepper* |
 | 1 white onion, minced |
 | 1 cup of tomato coulis |
 | * 1 eggplant to replace the 2 bell peppers if you dislike bell peppers |
 | (Optional) 4-5 medium-sized potatoes |
 | (Optional) 1/2 cup of chopped bacon or lardons |
Spices, herbs and flavoring ingredients:
 | 2 tablespoons of olive oil |
 | 1 teaspoon of dried thyme |
 | Pinch of dried parsley |
 | 2 leaves of basil |
 | 2 crushed cloves of garlic |
 | Salt and pepper |
Accents for the sauce:
 | 1 cube of chicken stock with 1/2 cup of water |
 | 1 tablespoon of flour |
 | 1/2 cup of dry white wine |
How to make Chicken Provencal
- Sauté the chicken in the Instant Pot for about 5 minutes, turning to lightly brown both sides. You’re not cooking it through, just giving it color and flavor.
- Remove the chicken temporarily and cook the onions in the same pot for a couple of minutes, letting them soften and pick up all those browned bits.
- Return the chicken to the pot and add the remaining ingredients (except the flour). Stir gently to combine.
- Seal the Instant pot and cook on High Pressure for 12 minutes. Let the Instant Pot work its magic.
- Allow a natural pressure release for 15 minutes once the timer finishes, then carefully vent any remaining steam.
- Prepare a slurry by mixing the flour with one tablespoon of water until smooth. No lumps, we want a smooth sauce.
- Stir in the slurry and press Sauté again for about 5 minutes, letting the sauce simmer and thicken to a rich consistency.
- Let the Chicken Provençal rest on the Keep Warm setting for 10 minutes to let the flavors settle and deepen.
- Taste and adjust with salt and pepper if needed before serving. Then serve it while warm.
A chicken provencal recipe is one of the easiest to prepare especially with the Instant Pot and a few herbs of provence, for that summery French-Riviera feeling.
And I’m not just saying that because my extended family is from the area. It is actually because cuisine provençale is very popular in France and bien répandu (widespread).
The traditional cuisine around here is very distinctive with its use of local ingredients of herbs, tomatoes, and olives. The combination of flavors dates back to when the Greeks and Romans installed themselves in Marseille around 600 BC.
A chicken provençale combines all those flavors in a classic meaty stew, with all the typical ingredients from that classic French pantry. Enough for a meal hearty enough to serve a family with hopefully some portions leftover for the next day.
Cooking tips
The Chicken Provençale is a pretty flexible recipe, that you can adapt as you wish.
Red & Green Peppers: The traditional recipe includes red and green peppers, but I know that those have a rather strong flavor which may not be to everyone’s taste. I have a rather picky eater at home who won’t eat peppers, so I sometimes substitute it for eggplant.
Potatoes: If you want to make the chicken provençale even hardier, you can also add 4-5 potatoes into the Instant Pot.
Frozen Chicken: You can use frozen chicken, but keep in mind that the skin will probably not taste as good and fall off. If you do decide to leave the chicken frozen, you don’t need to add any additional time. The Instant Pot will take longer to heat up, so just leave the cooking time the same.
Bacon Lardons: These tiny pieces of bacon are very versatile, so French people tend to throw them into every recipe. They are optional in a chicken provencal.
☞ READ MORE: Classic French Recipes remade in the Instant Pot
Recipe without alcohol
The Chicken Provencal recipe below includes about 1/2 cup of dry white wine, to give it that extra tone. But unlike the Coq au vin, which really should include wine since it has “vin” in the name, the traditional Poulet à la Provençale doesn’t insist on wine.
You can easily leave it out, especially if you are using a good quality chicken stock.
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Chicken Provencal Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of chicken approx. 4-6 pieces
- 1 minced white onion
- 1 cup of tomato coulis
- 1 chopped red pepper *
- 1 chopped green pepper *
- 10 black olives chopped in half
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
Herbs and spices
- 1 cube of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 crushed cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 2 leaves of basil
- Pinch of dried parsley flakes
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Optional
- 1/2 cup of bacon lardons
- 4-5 potatoes
Instructions
- Press Sauté on the Instant pot and sear the chicken lightly for 5 minutes.
- Once the chicken is browned, remove temporarily from the pot and sauté the onions for a couple of minutes.
- Add the chicken and the rest of the ingredients (except the flour) back into the Instant Pot and cook at High Pressure for 12 minutes.
- Once the countdown has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes.
- Mix in the flour with a tablespoon of water to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the Instant Pot.
- Press the Sauté button again for 5 minutes to let the sauce thicken.
- Let the Chicken Provencal rest for 10 minutes on the Keep Warm function.
- Taste to add salt and pepper if necessary.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note: We are not certified nutritionists and these estimates written and produced for entertainment purposes only.
What side dishes should you serve with Chicken Provençale?
The traditional French accompaniment is tagliatelle pasta or mashed potatoes. But there are many other possibilities as well such as white rice, brown rice, bulger, polenta, or even a chickpea salad.
What drinks should you serve with it?
Chicken Provencal is usually paired with red wine, such as a local Côtes du Rhône or Côte de Provence from the same region in France. You can read more about French wines here.
How to store it?
Chicken provencal is one of those recipes that does well the next day. It also does well frozen as long as you let it cool to room temperature before freezing.
Let it cool, and then place in an airtight glass container.
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