Instant Pot Peach Chicken & Basil
Full of fresh flavors, simple prep, and ready in no time Instant Pot Peach Chicken & Basil is just the thing for a healthy, simple dinner any night of the week.
Are you on the Instant Pot train yet?
It admittedly took me a long time to even consider adding an electric pressure cooker to my lineup of small kitchen appliances.
The thing is, I’m all about simple when it comes to cooking.
I don’t like a lot of stuff cluttering up the kitchen counter, and I really believe that less is more in cooking, and in life.
So let’s just say that I take adding another kitchen gadget pretty seriously.
After hearing rave reviews from friends and readers, though, I finally decide to take the plunge.
And guess what? I’m so glad I did.
The huge advantage of the Instant Pot over the Crockpot is that the former allows you to achieve the slow cooked taste and texture without the long cook time.
So, if you happen to find yourself scrambling to get dinner on the table with only a few minutes to spare the Instant Pot will be your new best friend.
That and the fact that it’s completely hands-off after everything goes in makes it a welcome addition to crazy weeknights.
This recipe for Peach Chicken & Basil is perfect for the Instant Pot, and takes advantage of bold, bright summer flavors.
Since the Instant Pot doesn’t heat up the kitchen, it’s also perfect for summer cooking, and this recipe puts all those fresh flavors into one place. It’s so fun adapting some of my slow cooker favorite recipes to instant pot versions – like with this spinach artichoke chicken recipe.
Once you get the onions sauteed and the sauce blended up it’s as easy as dumping everything in and walking away.
Love that!
And, if you don’t have an Instant Pot but you have a Crockpot, check out this recipe for Slow Cooker Peach Chicken with Basil.
I hope you’ll try this one soon. Now, let’s make some Instant Pot Peach Chicken & Basil!
recipe & kid friendly adaptations
1 | Serve the chicken and sauce over cooked rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice.
2 | Serve leftover peach chicken in a bowl or in a wrap.
3 | This recipe works with chicken breasts or thighs, so use whatever you prefer and have on hand.
this recipe is…
Dairy FreeGluten FreeNut FreePaleoWhole30
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Instant Pot Peach Chicken & Basil
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1 large white or yellow onion, very thinly sliced
- 4 peaches, no need to peel, sliced, divided
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, divided
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- ¼ cup tightly packed basil leaves, thinly sliced
- Hot sauce to taste, optional
Equipment
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to an electric pressure cooker. Turn to saute, add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt and saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add 2 sliced peaches, ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, garlic, chicken stock, chicken, and remaining ¾ teaspoon salt to the pressure cooker.
- Secure the lid, select the manual setting, and set it to high pressure for 15 minutes.
- When the pressure cooker timer is done, quick release the pressure.
- Remove the chicken, and shred or chop into bite sized pieces. Add back to the pressure cooker, along with the remaining 1 tablespoon balsamic, stirring to combine with the sauce. Taste and add additional salt if desired.
- Serve the chicken and sauce topped with 2 sliced peaches, a sprinkling of basil, and hot sauce to taste.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition disclaimerThis post contains affiliate links
Help! All the links to the slow cooker version take me back to the instant pot recipe! Thanks!
Those links should be working now, Kara!
I made this today (served it with white rice and a salad) and it was so good! The peaches in the instant pot were so warm and yummy with the chicken. It’s just my husband and I and we only each ate 1/6th of the chicken. I love recipes like this where we can have easy leftovers for lunch the next day. We didn’t have basil on hand and it was still great. Thanks Robyn, this is a new favorite 😊
Lexy, fantastic, so happy to hear you enjoyed! I’ve found the leftovers freeze well, so you could totally pop in the freezer for another night. Cheers!
I LOVE this recipe! This is on my rotation of meals and I make it at least once a month. It’s so easy and delicious and fresh. It’s a fan favorite!
Yay, yay, yay! So glad you’re enjoying this one, Nicole!
Hi! When do you put the basil in? Am I missing it?
Hi Mattie! The fresh basil goes on in step 6 as a topping. Just sprinkle it on and you should be good to go!
Delicious! It’s the end of summer and I had some delicious Colorado organic peaches and basil from my garden, that I needed to use. This recipe is awesome! I put it over some sauteed chard from the garden and it was a fantastic combo. I’ll make some rice tomorrow. Thanks!
Sheri, sounds amazing! Nothing better than Colorado produce. Yum!
Can I use canned peaches?
Hi Stacey, I haven’t tried it, but I think canned peaches will likely dissolve in the cooking process. It should still taste good, but will have a different texture. If you give it a try let us know how it goes!
Just made this last night and we loved it!!! I threw in some canned peaches when sautéing the onions and a few more with the fresh peaches the recipe called for. I also added a little bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce at the end. Perfect summer recipe and I will definitely be making this again!!
Kelly, yay, so happy to hear you enjoyed this one! Great to know it works with a mix of canned and fresh peaches as well!
I had a bag of peaches I bought from Trader Joes, so I was super excited to stumble across this recipe tonight. It was so easy and so fabulous! I served it over some steamed cauliflower rice. It was brothy like a soup and totally hit the spot! Thank you!
Stephanie, yay, so glad you enjoyed this one! Serving it over cauli rice sounds so yummy. Cheers!
Would the cooking time be the same if it wanted to halve the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Lauren, I haven’t tested it so I can’t say for sure, but I’m thinking it would actually stay the same. You could try reducing the cooking time by 5 minutes if you’re worried about the chicken getting dried out. If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out!
The dish was delicious! I halved the amount of chicken (a little over 1 lb, 2 breasts) but kept the amount of all the other ingredients the same. The chicken was just a little on the dry side and I cooked at 10 minutes. But I am very glad I kept all the other ingredients the same. Can’t have too many onions and peaches right? I will DEFINITELY be making this again and will just try 8-9 minutes. Thank you!
Lauren, yay, so glad it worked out, and thanks for much for sharing how it turned out for you. Super helpful! Cheers!
Hi Robyn,
Can I make this with a combination of chicken breast and thigh pieces?
If I increase the quantity to 2.5 lbs. of chicken, would that increase the cook time?
Thank you.
Hi Nancy, yes, you should be able to use a combination of both. I haven’t tested it with 2.5 pounds, so I can’t be sure on the cooking time. You can always try it with the cook time recommended, quick release, test for doneness, and if it needs more time, re-seal and cook for a few more minutes. If you give it a try let us know how it turns out!
Thank you Robyn. Next time I will try a combination of breast and thigh meat. And thank you as well for your advice regarding cook time for 2.5 pounds. I’ll keep you posted regarding my success with increasing the amount of chicken.
I did make this delicious dish today (with 2 pounds of chicken breast) and my sons (in their 20s) enjoyed theirs over brown rice while my husband and I had ours warm over a salad. This dish will definitely be in our summer meal rotation and I’m passing your slower cooker version on to my sister-in-law.
Nancy, fantastic, thanks for letting me know! Love that you were able to feed your crew and adapt for your sons and you and your husband as well. Thanks for passing the recipe along, too! Cheers. 🙂
You should not need to increase cooking time when you’re adding more meat or ingredients to the recipe. And you should never quick release meat… not ever! it will not give you an accurate idea on timing. Always natural release meat for a minimum of 10 mins. Thighs and breasts only vary by 1 to 2 minutes for their recommended cooking times so I imagine they would cook just fine together.
I’m looking forward to trying this flavour combination but I will only high pressure cook it for 9 mins in my 8qt.. I have cooked 3-4 lbs of thighs in my 8quart and 9 minutes was still just right.
Hi Jacqueline, if you don’t quick release the pressure the chicken will be quite dry and over cooked, but if that’s your preferred method, then go for it. This recipe has been tested at the amount of time listed, with a quick release at the end of the time. I do hope you enjoy the flavors!
How long do you suggest when using chicken tenders?
Hi Judy, I haven’t tested this one with chicken tenders, but as long as you use the same amount by weight the cooking time should be the same. Hope you enjoy!
Love this! I put basil in while cooking as well as on for serving. Also used coconut oil as that was all I had. Thickened the sauce with cornstarch at the end of cooking and it was a fabulous meal.
Sandy, yay, so glad you enjoyed this one. Great tip about thickening the sauce with cornstarch at the end. Thanks for sharing!
Anideal recipe for chicken thighs and fresh peaches in the instant pot. I made the rice separately, but I wonder if it could be added to the pot. Probably not.
Hmmm, I haven’t tested this with adding the rice along with the other ingredients. You would likely need to add additional liquid so the rice had enough to absorb from the start. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!