I’m a Thigh Girl
If you haven’t noticed yet, I lurv cooking chicken thighs in the pressure cooker. I think of all the things I can make in there, chicken thighs turn out best. I don’t like all meats shredded or soft. I’m a fan of crust, crisp and crunch. Things you can’t really achieve with the oh-so-useful Instant Pot. Enter these super juicy fennel shredded chicken!
Pressure Cooker Easy
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs however pull apart perfectly and then with a little reduction action, the liquid vanishes to a thick sauce and a little caramelizing and toasting happens for little bits of toasty chicken. I mean. It’s just so damn good. And “Instant Pot easy” that should be a thing or their new tag line. Haha I did work in marketing back in the day. No, I don’t have an actual Instant Pot, before getting my own electric pressure cooker I used my neighbor’s Instant Pot all the time, she has two and I commandeered her back up, for a month. Until my mom heard of this nonsense and sent me my own, or well, a pressure cooker. I now use the Breville FastSlow Pro, it’s pretty fancy. My mom loves Breville. If you haven’t bought a pressure cooker yet, and are a kitchen gadget junkie, it’s a cool one to consider. But all pressure cookers use pounds per square inch to cook. So tomato-tomAto right?
So for this dish, cook it at the poultry setting first, then open it and set it to reduce or saute for 10 minutes, in this time the liquid should be boiling and reducing. Stir occasionally.
Living On The Edge
Also… don’t fret, no, I don’t use a lot of liquid when cooking in my pressure cooker. You don’t need to fill it up to the line, the chicken and vegetables will release their own juices and when you open the pot they will be swimming in fluid, hence the reduction. If you’re scared you’re going to explode your kitchen, go ahead and add the “required” amount of liquid. Just keep in mind, you will need to reduce (boil) it for longer after it’s done pressure cooking, maybe even 20 minutes.
What I Love About This Dish…
Is the fresh fennel that gives it that familiar flavor that reminds you of breakfast sausage. Basil, lots of garlic, turmeric, and aromatic ginger come together for depth and warmth. This chicken is versatile and delish. Add it to some sweet potato hash for breakfast, toss it in some BBQ sauce and wrap it up in a plantain tortilla, for a pulled pork sandwich experience. We had it over a bed of fried cabbage, garnished with fennel greens, and it was perfect!
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Fresh Fennel Shredded Chicken
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Entree
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
Pressure cooker fennel shredded chicken
Ingredients
- 2lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup minced fennel bulb
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 inch nub of fresh ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried basil leaves
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp bacon fat
- 3 tbsp full fat coconut milk
- a few sprigs of parsley
Instructions
- Prepare your vegetables: dice fennel, peel and dice garlic, peel ginger.
- Add the chicken to the bowl of your pressure cooker.
- Add in the bacon fat, coconut milk, vinegar, and all the seasoning.
- Add in the fennel, garlic and the chunk of ginger.
- You just want the ginger to infuse it’s flavor in the dish, mincing the ginger up will make it’s flavor overpowering (you will remove the chunk after cooking).
- Toss with a spoon or with clean hands.
- Close the pressure cooker, set to poultry mode (Aprx 12.0 PSI for 20 minutes)
- When the machine is done cooking and the pressure has released, open the lid, stir well.
- There will be a lot of fluid in the pot, set the pressure cooker to saute or reduce mode, for 10 minutes.
- It will come to a boil. Stir twice during reductions. You want the chicken to stick a little to the bottom to get that toasty, browned part.
- When done reducing, mix with tongs or forks, the chicken should easily shred, fall apart, and it should be saucy but not soupy.
- Serve, garnish with fennel greens, and be sure to find and remove the large piece of ginger.
- Chop up parsley, add in and mix up.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 recipe
- Calories: 391
- Fat: 21g
- Carbohydrates: 5g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 44g
Emily says
Hi there. Do you have any suggestions for a substitute for the bacon fat?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
any saturated fat will do… coconut oil, ghee etc
Mandee says
This is super easy and really good! I was looking for ways to incorporate different veggies into our rotation and this did not disappoint. The fennel taste is really mild and the other spices gave it a nice taste. Our 13 month old LOVED it. I put the leftovers on salad for a few days and was an easily transported lunch on the go for baby that included a veggie. Anything I can do easily in the Instant Pot is welcome 😉
Cristin says
Another delicious recipe from you! Easy to make too. Thank you!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you!
Erica says
Delicious! I will be making this again! Made it with chicken breasts, and they turned out perfectly.
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Lovely! Thank you for sharing!
Victoria says
This is delicious, and even though the seasonings are from the more limited AIP list, the whole dish comes together feeling like something new. My non-AIP family members love it as well! We added some sliced carrots on my husband’s suggestion this last time, just to get more veggies.
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you!
Megan says
We’ve had this in our regular rotation for years now! It works great with either thighs or breasts (although we prefer breasts), and freezes beautifully. Excellent for a large family with two Instant Pots.
We also love sauteed red cabbage as a side, since it’s both gorgeous and an excellent texture addition. Sometimes I’ll serve it with rice or roasted broccoli too. Thanks for the ideas, Cristina!
Amy says
Super delicious, but there was just a thick sauce when I opened the pressure cooker – not much liquid at all. I added a bit of water so it could get crispy/glazed as it reduced. After the pressure cooker was done I had quick released the steam – could that be why? I also add a couple minutes due to being at high altitude.
Ani says
This was really good! I will halve the salt next time though.
Angie McDonald says
I cooked this last night and it is fantastic! It was my first time using fennel and I was a bit apprehensive, but it is awesome! I am also not a fan of chicken thighs (or any dark meat), but I always try to cook the recipe the way the chef intended and I was pleasantly surprised. The chicken was sooo good!!! The combination of flavors are fantastic! I have made so many of Cristina’s recipes and she has never disappointed me! This one is a keeper!
Cristina says
Thank you so much Angie!
Lois says
How can I adapt this recipe to an InstantPot, which I have, but have never used?
Cristina says
It’s already written for a pressure cooker, they all work the same essentially. I’m sure once you’ve become familiar with your Instant Pot it will make sense to you.
Jessica says
I want to make this but I don’t have a pressure cooker, how can I modify THIS ?
Cristina says
Comes out great in a slow cooker too!
Rebecca says
Do you have the recipe for the cabbage? It looks delish!
Cristina says
I just sauteed with onions on high, salt and lots of bacon fat until tender.