Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken with dairy-free sun-dried tomato sauce and spinach is a rustic, enticing main dish! Serve it up with rice, noodles, or your favorite side dishes for a complete meal. If you don’t own an Instant Pot, no sweat! I have included a slow cooker option as well.
When you’re in the mood for restaurant-quality food with rich, palate-pleasing flavors, this Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken is for you!
Not only does it come together in less than 30 minutes, but it brings countryside vibes, like you’re visiting your favorite Italian restaurant.
The most amazing part is how much flavor is infused into this meal given how little time it takes to prepare.
I love how simply this recipe comes together. All we do is prepare the creamy sauce, then add the chicken to the pressure cooker. Pressure cook, then WHAMO we’re gifted with the most flavorful dinner!
If you enjoy straightforward recipes like this, you’ll also love my Creamy Mushroom Chicken, Creamy Pesto Chicken and my 30-Minute Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken.
But for now, let’s go over the ingredients needed to make this Tuscan chicken recipe!
Ingredients for Creamy Tuscan Chicken:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: The star of the show! Pick up 1.5 to 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs to make this recipe.
Onion & Garlic: Huge flavor makers! The onion gets sautéed until it is just about caramelized to make an incredibly flavorful sauce.
Avocado Oil: Used for sautéing the onion and garlic, we use avocado oil because it has a high smoke point and neutral flavor.
Coconut Milk: Full-fat canned coconut milk makes for an incredible dairy-free sauce! If you’re a long-time follower, you know all my creamy recipes use coconut milk instead of regular milk, as I eat dairy-free the majority of the time, as do many of my followers.
Chicken Broth: To add more volume to the sauce, I use chicken broth. If you have vegetable broth or beef broth on hand, either will work!
Gluten-Free Flour: Used to thicken the sauce. You can also use tapioca flour or regular all-purpose flour if you aren’t gluten-free. I use Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Bright, cheerful sun-dried tomatoes bring a deep flavor to the sauce that is completely unparalleled!
Dried Parsley & Sea Salt: Used for flavor, dried parsley adds an herby essence and sea salt brings out all of the flavors.
Spinach: Because: vegetables. I add baby spinach to add a vitamin and color boost, but you can easily skip it if you aren’t into it.
The coconut milk takes the place of cream to make a lusciously rich sauce. If you are worried you’ll taste the coconut, I promise you won’t. There is so much flavor from the onion, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes, that the flavor of the coconut is completely undetectable.
If you do dairy, feel free to replace the coconut milk with half & half or heavy cream. Just be sure to heat it slowly so that it doesn’t come to a full boil and separate.
How to Make Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken:
Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with sea salt and set aside.
Press the Sauté button on your pressure cooker and add the avocado oil and onions. Sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sauté another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, gluten-free flour, dried parsley, sea salt, and sun-dried tomatoes and whisk well until the clumps of flour are out. Bring the sauce to a full boil and cook for a few minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
Add the chicken to the pressure cooker and give everything a stir so that the chicken breasts are coated with sauce.
Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes, then naturally release for 10 (If you’re new to pressure cooking: Press “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” button and adjust the time for 8 minutes.
Make sure the pressure release valve is closed (sealed).
The pressure cooker will take a few minutes to heat up, then it will run its 8-minute pressure cook course.
After the 8 minutes is up, allow the pressure cooker to sit for another 10 minutes to begin the natural pressure release process).
Open the pressure release valve to release the remaining pressure. Stir in the spinach and put the lid back on for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the spinach to cook.
Serve the creamy Tuscan chicken with your choice of side dishes, and enjoy!
I enjoy this dish with my Easy Sautéed Vegetables Recipe and steamed brown rice.
It would also be lovely with my Mediterranean Scalloped Potatoes, Lemon Garlic Rosemary Rice, or Apple Cider Glazed Roasted Carrots.
Slow Cooker Option:
If you prefer using a slow cooker, no worries – I’ve got you. Here’s what you do:
Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with sea salt and set aside.
Add the avocado oil and onions to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sauté another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, gluten-free flour, dried parsley, sea salt, and sun-dried tomatoes and whisk well until the clumps of flour are out. Bring the sauce to a full boil and cook for a few minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
Transfer the sauce to your slow cooker along with the chicken breasts. Give everything a stir so that the chicken breasts are coated with sauce.
Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on High for 4 to 6 hours or Low for 6 to 8.
Stir in the spinach and put the lid back on for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the spinach to cook.
Serve and enjoy!
Enjoy this magical trip to the Italian countryside! 😉
If you make this recipe, feel free to share a photo on Instagram and tag @The.Roasted.Root.
Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Ingredients
Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (15-oz) can full-fat coconut milk
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley***
- ½ tsp sea salt to taste
- ⅔ cup sun-dried tomatoes drained
- 2 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 handfuls baby spinach optional
Instructions
- Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with sea salt and set aside.
- Press the Sauté button on your pressure cooker and add the avocado oil and onions. Sauté the onions, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sauté another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, dried parsley, sea salt, and sun-dried tomatoes and whisk well until the clumps of flour are out. Bring the sauce to a full boil and cook for a few minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
- Add the chicken to the pressure cooker and give everything a stir so that the chicken breasts are coated with sauce.
- Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes, then naturally release for 10 (If you’re new to pressure cooking: Press “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” button and adjust the time for 8 minutes. Make sure the pressure release valve is closed (sealed). The pressure cooker will take a few minutes to heat up, then it will run its 8-minute pressure cook course. After the 8 minutes is up, allow the pressure cooker to sit for another 10 minutes to begin the natural pressure release process).
- Open the pressure release valve to release the remaining pressure. Use tongs to remove the chicken and place it on a plate before stirring in the gluten-free flour. Place chicken back in the pot and stir in the spinach. Cover the pot with the lid for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the spinach to cook. There's no need to cook the meal longer - the existing heat is enough to cause the spinach to wilt.
- Serve the creamy Tuscan chicken with your choice of side dishes, and enjoy!
Nutrition
This was good! My daughter and I are both dairy intolerant so it fit the bill. I used coconut cream and added a little bit extra coconut milk and chicken broth to make sure there was plenty of liquid. I actually used some fresh tomatoes as well as sun-dried. I added the flour after pressure cooking due to the other comments and also made sure to scrape the bottom before cooking. My instant pot did fine. Added some basil also and the spinach. Turned out great! Two teenagers loved it too.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, April! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the results and that your Instant Pot didn’t have any issues with the recipe 🙂 Happy cooking!
This recipe had so much potential but my instant pot threw a “burn food” error halfway through the cook and ruined my dinner. I should’ve known better than to add a thickener during the pressure cook portion. It’s a huge no no to add thickeners that will stick to the bottom and not allow the liquid to steam and roll. Thickeners should always be added after the cook.
My IP never came to pressure and the burn notice came up. I don’t think I deglazed but didn’t realize I should. Two of my chicken breasts were fully cooked so I transferred everything to my Dutch oven and added broth until my chicken was all cooked! It worked out!
I’m glad you were able to figure it out, Melissa! I used to use Instant Pot’s pressure cooker and used to get burn notices often, but switched to Crock Pot’s pressure cooker and haven’t had any burn notices ever since. I know you need at least 2 cups of liquid for Instant Pot but for some reason that doesn’t always do the trick. Nevertheless, I’m glad it all worked out!
How do y’all not get the burn warning after sautéing? Happens every time for me 🥴.
Totally tasted the coconut milk, still tasty though. I think I’ll add more spices next time.
Hi Trish,
I haven’t gotten the burn warning. You could try to add more coconut milk and more broth and see if that helps.
@Julia, we got the burn warning repeatedly as well. We add more broth. And got the message again. Does the size of the chicken breast’s in relation to amount of liquid matter? Should you thicken the sauce at the end instead of adding flour at the beginning?
Hi Annie,
I’m so sorry to hear it isn’t working! I don’t think the amount of chicken should matter. It may be best if you thicken the sauce after pressure cooking (in other words, sauté the onion then add everything in, stir and let it run its course. After it has fully cooked, you can remove the lid, take the chicken out, and hit the Boil or Saute button to bring everything to a boil. Add the flour and whisk constantly until the sauce reaches your desired thickness.
I use the Crock Pot brand of pressure cooker, and there’s no issue with it (in fact, I’ve used less liquid in it and it’s worked great), so I imagine it’s a problem with the liquid since Instant Pot requires at least 2 cups. My sincere apologies for the inconvenience – I assumed since there was ample liquid it wouldn’t present a problem in the Instant Pot.
I hope this helps, and my apologies again for the inconvenience!! xoxo
@Annie, I just learned this the hard way. Always thicken after the cook, not before. The flour sticks and there’s not enough liquid to boil and build pressure.
Hello, I would like to prepare this dish but I can’t have coconut milk. Could I substitute non-daily creamer for the coconut milk, for instance non-dairy Almond milk creamer? Thank you so much. I love opening my mail when there is a delicious recipe from you. Take special care and be well.
Jeanette
Hi Jeaneatte! I wouldn’t recommend substituting the coconut milk with anything other than half & half or heavy cream. Many non-dairy milks either separate when heated to a boil, they don’t contain enough fat to make the dish taste rich and creamy, and the flavor will be off. I wish I had a better answer for you!! xo
This looks so delicious, but I do not yet own an Instant Pot, so can you recommend an alternative cooking method – stovetop perhaps? Thanks!
Hi Sherry!
I added instructions for using a slow cooker to the post. If you’d like to make the recipe on the stove top, follow all the same instructions but cover the skillet and cook the chicken for 20 to 30 minutes, or until it’s cooked through 🙂 Hope you enjoy! xo