Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Chicken with Spinach and Artichokes over Brown Rice

 Y'all, I try; I really do.  Let's be honest here though, I don't use recipes when I'm cooking, so even though I try to get a picture of all of the ingredients at the beginning,  I AM MAKING IT UP AS I GO!  I frequently have to add ingredients later.  Forgive me?

Here we go! Last night I came home after 3 days of camping with our Girl Scout troop,  and I was beat!  I didn't want to cook.  After rifling through my fridge and freezers, this is what I came up with, and I loved it! It was a bit more work than I had planned, but I'll definitely be making it again.

I started by putting short grain brown rice, salt, butter, and water in my rice cooker while I used my IP for the rest.

For our family of five, I used 8 chicken thighs that provided a few leftovers, but this recipe could easily be divided for fewer portions.  Remove the skin and fat from the thighs and season them with salt and pepper.  Set your pressure cooker to saute, and add 2 tablespoons of butter.  Sear the chicken in the butter, and dice 1/2 an onion (I love this Global knife for cutting onions) and press the garlic while the chicken is browning.  Remove the chicken to a plate.

Look at all those browned bits in the bottom of the pot!  I used 1 cup of white wine to deglaze the pot and scrape up the browned bits.  Add the diced onion, pressed garlic, and 1 to 1.5 cups of chicken stock to the pot.  Return the chicken to the pot and set it to high pressure for 10 minutes.

 While the chicken is cooking, heat 2 packages of frozen chopped spinach and then press to strain the liquid.  Slice 1 block of cream cheese (low-fat if you wish) into smaller blocks.  Grate 1/2 Cup of Parmesan.  Strain 1 - 2 cans of artichokes (depending on how much you like them) and rough chop them into bite-sized pieces.

When the chicken is finished cooking, turn the pot off and let it naturally release pressure for at least 15 minutes.  You can do a Quick Pressure Release if necessary at that point, but it is better to let it release naturally when time permits.  Natural release helps maintain the moisture in the chicken.

Remove the chicken to a plate or foil-covered pan while you finish the creamy sauce.

Turn the pot to keep warm if it's still fairly hot or saute if you allowed full natural pressure release.  Stir in the cream cheese until melted, add the spinach and stir to combine.  Add the Parmesan and artichokes.  If the sauce is too thick, you can add 1/4 cup of milk at a time to reach the right consistency for your preference. 

Add brown rice to the bowl and top with a chicken thigh, creamy spinach & artichoke sauce, and some crushed red pepper.  Yum!

Click here for a printable version of my Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Chicken with Spinach and Artichokes over Brown Rice.