Instant Pot Creamy Ranch Chicken

This Instant Pot Creamy Ranch Chicken is comfort food at its finest and will have your family begging for seconds. Incredibly creamy ranch chicken with noodles all cooked in the Instant pot and ready in less than an hour from start to finish. An epic one-pot wonder and totally delicious!

The Best Instant Pot Creamy Ranch Chicken

I don’t even know where or how to start telling you about this creamy ranch chicken, except to say OMG! I think that out of all my Instant Pot recipes I’ve shared with you so far, this has got to be my favorite recipe!

If you love anything ranch, you are going to fall in love with this chicken and noodles recipe because it’s the bomb! It’s seriously creamy, full of ranch flavor, every bite is filled with chicken and noodles and everything ranch. That’s all I’m going to say about it, because this is one of those dishes you just have to experience for yourself, and you’ll see how right I am.

• Chicken – I chose chicken breast for this recipe, boneless and skinless to make for easy shredding. The great thing is that you can use fresh or frozen chicken breasts here. You can substitute with boneless and skinless chicken thighs.
• Egg Noodles – I love using these egg noodles in this dish because they cook up incredibly fast.
• Ranch Seasoning Mix – One of the star ingredients, if not the star ingredient in this dish. Make your own by using my recipe here or use store bought.
• Cream Cheese – You’ll need a block of cream cheese. I like to use Philadelphia because I find it’s the creamiest. You can use light or regular.
• Cream of Chicken – You’ll need a small can of cream of chicken soup, this will also add to the creaminess of the dish. While I don’t usually use cans of soup like this, I’m all about it in this recipe, because it adds lots of great flavor with the least amount of effort required.
• Diced Green Chiles – To add a little kick to our ranch chicken, but if you’re worried about this being spicy, don’t. These chiles are very mild.

How To Make Instant Pot Creamy Ranch Chicken

1. Pressure cook the chicken. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Add the chicken, ranch seasoning mix and water to the instant pot. Stir to combine. Close the lid. Seal the valve and set the Instant Pot to Manual/High Pressure for 15 minutes. For fresh chicken, it will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure. Frozen chicken will take around 12 to 15 minutes to come up to pressure. When the time is up, let the Instant Pot release naturally for 5 minutes then quick release remaining pressure.
2. Shred the chicken. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board or bowl and shred with two forks.
3. Add remaining ingredients to the Instant Pot. Add the cream cheese to the instant pot, you can break it up a bit if you want, or cut it up in pieces. Transfer the chicken back to the instant pot as well and remaining ingredients, including the egg noodles.
4. Cook the noodles. Close the lid. Seal the valve and set the Instant Pot to Manual/High Pressure for 3 minutes. Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer’s guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
5. Stir and serve. Give the noodles a stir and adjust with salt or pepper if necessary. Garnish with fresh parsley if preferred, and serve.

Can I Use Frozen Chicken Breasts?

Yes, absolutely. The cooking time is the same, it will just take longer for your Instant Pot to come to pressure than with already thawed chicken.

How Long Does It Take To Cook Chicken In The Pressure Cooker?

For thawed chicken it really only takes 5 minutes to cook it in your pressure cooker and 10 minutes if it’s frozen. But since I wanted this chicken to be easily shreddable, I cooked it for 15 minutes.

What’s The Difference Between The Poultry Setting And High Pressure?

It’s really the same thing. The difference is that the default poultry setting is pre-programmed to set the pot to cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 15 MINUTES.

Natural Release Versus Quick Release

This basically refers to the method of depressurizing the Instant Pot after cooking. For natural release you do nothing. Just let the Instant pot gradually come down in pressure on its own.

How To Make Creamy Ranch Chicken In The Slow Cooker

You can easily make this recipe in your slow cooker. Simply add all the ingredients to you slow cooker, excluding the egg noodles, stir everything together and cook on LOW for 4 hours. After 4 hours, take out the chicken, then add it back to the slow cooker along with the egg noodles, and continue cooking for 1 more hour on LOW. Stir everything together and serve.

This creamy ranch chicken is a meal on its own because it comes complete with noodles. However, you can serve it up with with some greens or salads. Here are a few suggestions:

Leftovers

This creamy ranch chicken pasta is just as delicious the next day. Store leftovers in an airtight container or freezer bag in the fridge for up to 3 – 4 days.

Freezing

If you want to freeze your leftovers, let the chicken and noodles cool completely then freeze in an airtight container. Your instant pot creamy ranch chicken will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer, if stored properly.

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