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This Healthier Instant Pot Coq au Vin is for those cold fall and winter nights when you want a fancy slow braised chicken, but you want it ready in less than an hour. All made in the instant pot (or the slow cooker), using simple, wholesome ingredients that you might already have on hand. This dish is warm, flavorful, hearty but healthy, and so delicious. Great for both a simple family dinner and holiday entertaining.
What better way to start Monday off than with an easier, healthier take on a fancy French classic? Especially one that involves cooking with red wine? Yes, this is a good Monday recipe.
Coq au vin is a family favorite. Every time I make it, I love it more and more.
Coq au Vin is the fancy French way of saying chicken braised in red wine. It’s a truly delicious and hearty recipe that’s perfect when served over mashed potatoes. Add a side of crusty bread to soak up all the flavorful red wine sauce…la perfection!
Today I’m simplifying the traditionally lengthy recipe by cooking this entirely in the instant pot in less than an hour. If you prefer to use the slow cooker I’ve included directions for that too, you choose. But by far, the most requests this past month have been for more instant pot recipes.
It seems as though everyone is getting on board with the instant pot. Which makes me happy, because I actually love it too. It definitely took me a while to get on the instant pot train. But once I got the hang of cooking with it, I quickly realized why everyone loves their instant pot so much. It’s kind of like cooking magic, and I do think it cooks the best chicken every single time…
Which is why I am excited for today’s recipe!
As mentioned, coq au vin is traditionally a French style chicken that’s slowly cooked in red wine on the stove top. Some recipes require four plus hours of cooking, multiple steps, a good amount of ingredients, and a lot of hands on time. That’s all great if we have the whole day to spend in the kitchen, but I totally get that most of us just don’t.
Enter this healthier, easier take on Coq au Vin that’s made entirely in the instant pot.
It’s simple, it’s quick, it’s flavorful…and just oh so good. The secret? A little bit of bacon, red wine, and plenty of fresh thyme (fresh herbs are my current obsession).
Here’s how you make it. You ready? It’s simple.
Cook up the bacon and get it nice and crisp. Add in the onions, garlic, and tomato paste, cooking until fragrant. Then add the wine, chicken and herbs. Cover and cook for a bit. In about 20 or so minutes, you’ll be done.
I know it sounds too good to be true, but I promise, it really is this simple.
A few notes.
Traditionally, coq au vin is made with whole chicken pieces. I used chicken breasts, which not only cook up quicker, but are also a lighter choice than skin on dark meat. The red wine helps to keep the chicken from drying out. The instant pot cooks the chicken until it’s perfectly tender and tastes as though it’s been slow cooked all day long.
It’s going to seem like a lot of wine to use, but trust me, it’s going to be great. The wine is the heart of the recipe, providing flavor while also helping to tenderize the chicken, so don’t skip it.
Highly recommending these mashed potatoes and a crusty side of bread. And for anyone looking for a simple stove-top version, check out this recipe.
Also? Maybe pour yourself a glass of wine while you’re cooking. It’s Monday and that just sounds like a nice idea…
If you make this coq au vin please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Healthier Instant Pot Coq au Vin
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 452 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2-3 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts
- 2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 thyme sprigs
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- mashed potatoes, for serving
Instructions
Instant Pot
- 1. Set Instant Pot to sauté. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon. If there's excess bacon grease, drain off all but 1 tablespoon. 2. To the instant post, add the onion, garlic, and tomato paste and cook an additional 5 minutes. Turn the instant pot off. 3. Add in the red wine, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, chicken, carrots, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. 3. Once done cooking, use the natural or quick release function. Set the Instant pot to sauté and bring to a boil, boil 5 minutes or until the liquid reduces slightly. Turn the instant pot off. Remove the bay leaves and thyme and discard. Stir in the parsley and reserved bacon.4. Serve the chicken and sauce over mashed potatoes.
Slow Cooker
- 1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. If there's excess bacon grease, drain off all but 1 tablespoon. 2. To the skillet, add the onion, garlic, and tomato paste and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to the bowl of your slow cooker.3. To the slow cooker, add in the red wine, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, chicken, carrots, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. 3. Once done cooking, cook, uncovered on high for 15-20 minutes to reduce the sauce. Remove the bay leaves and thyme and discard. Stir in the parsley and reserved bacon. 4. Serve the chicken and sauce over mashed potatoes.
Delicious and very easy! I used 8 pieces of bone-in chicken from Trader Joe’s (a whole chicken broken down) and seared/browned the chicken in bacon grease before removing and starting with the onion step. Very impressed with the flavorful broth and moist chicken. Yum!!
Sounds so amazing! Thank you so muc for trying this recipe, Lindsey! So glad it turned out so well for you! xTieghan
I saw some great recipes
Thank you Pam! xTieghan
This was so yummy The best combo o flavors with the wine and thyme, I used chicken tenders and they never get dry LOVE it and will be making again. Great dish for a crowd
Thank you Arline! xTieghan
I swear, this is the BEST instant pot recipe I’ve EVER made…and I’ve made many, many, many…. I only had dried thyme but it still was super delicious!!!!!! I bet you could do beef as well, if you’re not in the mood for chicken. YUMMMY!!!!!!!!
Thank you Karen!! I am so glad you loved this! xTieghan
I made it & it was DELICIOUS!!!
When I first served it my husband was not happy that it had so many carrots. He is not a big carrot fan. But after he ate it he said the carrots didn’t taste like carrots. The red wine sauce really socks into then.
We just finished leftovers tonight & it was even better. I will definitely make it again.
Thanks for the recipe!!!
I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
Just made this for dinner! Absolutely delicious with some crusty bread!! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much Kendall! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! xTieghan
This recipe was a HUGE hit in my house! We have someone with a mushroom allergy so we substituted large cubes (approx. 1″) of eggplant and it worked great! We used to whole eggplant, and that roughly equated to 3 cups of eggplant. The eggplant did breakdown a lot in the instant pot, but it was so flavorful we didn’t mind at all! I will definitely be making this recipe again. The only change I would is switching from breasts to either bone in thighs, or a whole broken down chicken. Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe!
Sounds amazing! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Tori! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
We don’t eat pork. Would it be okay to sub turkey bacon instead?
Hi Tia,
That would absolutely work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Question. Do I see carrots in the recipe? I didn’t see them in the recipe and if so when do you put them in. VERY new to Instant Pot.
Hi Karen! Yes, you do! The recipe calls for 4 carrots and they are added in step 3! I hope you love this recipe! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I don’t usually make rich meals like this and it was amazing ! I used shallots instead of onions, and I also swapped in dehydrated and canned chanterelle mushrooms that I harvested last fall. I didn’t have bacon so I just added olive oil as a fat. At the end I wanted to thicken it so I added some tapioca four which made it like a gravy. It was So. Good. Thanks for sharing !
Hi Jamie! I am so glad you decided to try this one and it turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
I made it from the Half Baked Harvest Cookbook and it never thickened up….really thin red wine sauce. It says cook for 10 minutes once it boils, I cooked it for half an hour as the carrots were not cooked. The family did not enjoy it at all!
Hi Sue! I am sorry to hear that! Is there anything that could have gone wrong while making this? I would love to help, but not sure what happened! xTieghan
It’s very tasty! The family loves it! My only question is that the sauce doesn’t look at dark as the one in your picture. Any idea why?
HI! Was it possible you omitted and ingredient? Or used a lighter colored wine? Glad you enjoyed! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you!! xTieghan
Your cup of broth turned it into soup. I’ll go back to my older recipes, as the gravy is much richer on the stove. Close, but no cigar
Did this in the Instant Pot. Very flavorful but chicken was very very dry. Cut it into pieces and threw back into sauce. Made twice the amount of sauce because we have noticed that 99% of the time InstantPot recipes never have enough sauce or salt.
Hi Susan! I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you have any questions, please let me know! xTieghan
I thought this was an instant pot recipe. I was quite disappointed that it turned into a slow cooker recipe. The only thing you use the instant pot for are tge bacon an onions. VERY MISLEADING.
Hi Lisa! This is an instant pot recipe! The chicken is cooked in the instant pot along with everything else. Please let me know if there is something I can help with! xTieghan