Chicken & Chorizo Stew (for the Instant Pot)

Today felt like autumn and it made me happy. We were able to open the windows for the first time in at least a month and a half. Granted, I have a weird cold/sinus infection, so I spent the day inside reading comic books, but it was still nice to feel the cooler air. It’s strange that August is nearly over, already, though. I’m not sure why, but this year feels like it’s going by incredibly fast.

Last night was the first time I had really cooked in a week or so; being sick makes it difficult to want to do things, let alone work with food. (Coughing and sneezing in the kitchen? Nope. Haha.) But I figured it was time to finally make some chicken soup, since that usually is a bit of a cure-all, at least taste-wise and psychologically. Of course, I forgot to pull the chicken out of the freezer before work; this is a regular occurence. When I got home, I also saw the package of Johnsonville Chorizo Sausage and decided that using both meats was what I really wanted for dinner. And, since I have an Instant Pot, I didn’t even have to thaw anything! Just threw the chicken breasts and the sausages into the pot, poured in a cup or so of water, and cooked on manual pressure for 40 minutes. The beautiful red-orange of the broth in my photos is due to this, and I must say, that was an unexpected lovely side effect. After the meat was done, I sauteed an onion and a few red potatoes in some olive oil and black pepper for a few minutes, then added the meats back in (now chopped and shredded), poured in two more cups of water, and set the IP to cook on the Meat/Stew setting for 15 minutes. After that was done, I stirred in a whole bag of spinach. It.was.perfection.

I’m certain this can be made without an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, but I’m not quite sure you’ll achieve the same wonderful broth. Also, feel free to add salt to taste, but it definitely wasn’t necessary with the mix of flavors!

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Chicken & Chorizo Stew (For the Instant Pot)

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds chicken breast

1 package Johnsonville Chorizo (5 links)

1 onion, halved and sliced

3-4 small potatoes, roughly chopped

Olive oil

Pepper

2-4 cups water

1 package baby spinach (Fresh Express has a 5oz bag; this is what I used)

If your chicken and sausages are still frozen, pop them in the Instant Pot with 1 cup water and set at manual high pressure for 40 minutes. (If they are not frozen, 15-20 ought to do it, depending on the thickness of the meats.) Once the timer goes off, release the pressure according to the IP instructions. Once pressure is released, transfer chicken, sausages, and broth into a separate bowl.

Press the Saute setting on the IP, pouring in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in onions, potatoes, and a few sprinkles of pepper, and stir often, for 3 minutes. Shred the chicken, chop the sausage links into small pieces, and pour everything back into the IP, including the broth. Add 2-3 cups water, depending on how soupy you want it to be, stir everything quite well, then further cook for 15 minutes on the Meat/Stew setting.

Once the pressure has released again, stir in the spinach until well combined. Serve immediately.

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This is one of those foods that I will likely make again just to experiment with. It was incredible just like this, but I’m already thinking how it could become more of a tortilla or taco soup, or how a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt would be amazing on top, etc, etc. I have so many ideas. Plus I’m just so proud of that broth. I really did not anticipate the color leeching out of the chorizo the way it did, and it permeated the entire dish.

Dang, now I’m really wishing there had been leftovers.