Instant Pot Chicken in Red Wine Sauce

Author Notes

From Ann Mah’s Instantly French! Cookbook:

While this old-fashioned country recipe traditionally uses an entire chicken—preferably a tough old bird—here I use chicken thighs, which braise beautifully in the pressure cooker. For the braising liquid, I like to use an inexpensive (don’t spend more than $10), medium-bodied red wine like a Beaujolais Villages. Buttered broad noodles are a traditional accompaniment.
—Ann Mah

Test Kitchen Notes

Every fall, I look forward to firing up my big and mighty cocotte with the promise of slow-braised goodness awaiting me at the end of the weekend. A tough piece of chuck slowly yielding to pot roast perfection, a mountain of short ribs getting coaxed to be the best versions of themselves after an hours-long interlude: These are the magical transformations that make cold-weather meals.

Yet the crisp fall air always seems to coincide with an uptick in tempo of life, in general. School starts, work picks up, the holidays loom (Thanksgiving is in less than a month y’all). All this to say, life gets busy! And so it’s no surprise that there are legions of Instant Pot fans among us.

Truth be told, I do not own an Instant Pot myself, but with diehard devotees around me singing the praises of under-30-minute beans (no pre-soaking!) and pho in an hour, I’ll admit I’m getting dangerously close to giving one a try. In the meantime, I have the good fortune of enjoying recipes through the magic of our test kitchen―and here’s a winner any Instant Pot owner should bookmark, stat. (And if you're on the fence and mulling over an Instant Pot purchase, this will be helpful for you, too.)

Ann Mah, an American author and food writer currently living in Paris (swoon), has written about her love for the Instant Pot on our site before. And now she’s taken that admiration headfirst in her new book, Instantly French!, the first French cookbook for the electric pressure cooker.

In it, you’ll find a multitude of classic French recipes, including the perennial favorite, coq au vin, or chicken in red wine sauce.

“Coq au vin, a French country classic, has its roots in the farm days of yore, when a tough old male bird―his purpose of breeding outlived―needed hours of stewing in to become palatable,” explains Ann. “These days, the recipe is usually made with a whole chicken or hen, and braised for hours. But with the magic of the electric pressure cooker, this traditionally slow-simmered dish becomes weeknight fare.”

Here are Ann’s tips for a knockout Instant Pot coq au vin:

Stick to the thighs: In her recipe, Ann cleverly turns to just chicken thighs, which saves both time and money. “Unlike white meat, which may turn stringy and dry when braised, thighs emerge from the pressure cooker beautifully succulent and fall-apart tender.”

Save your money: Ann recommends an inexpensive (read: $10-or-less territory), medium-bodied red wine like a Beaujolais Villages for the braising liquid.

Prevent sauce disappointment: To avoid a thin, watery sauce (a commonplace IP complaint because of the lack of liquid evaporation in the vessel), Ann shares two tips: “First, use a modest amount of liquid (here, one cup of wine). Second, after you've pressure-cooked the chicken, thicken the sauce with a beurre manié (or, ‘kneaded butter’) made of equal parts flour and butter. Beurre manié is extremely easy to make: Just use a fork to mash butter and flour together (to save time, you could even prepare a large quantity and store it in the freezer, divided into 2-tablespoon portions). When you need to thicken a sauce, simply throw a frozen lump into your boiling braising liquid and whisk away.”

Fall-apart tender dark meat in well under an hour, plus springy, eggy noodles to help sop up all the sauce? This may just be the Instant Pot purchasing excuse you’ve (I've) been waiting for.

Featured in: 41 Best Instant Pot Recipes for When You Want Slow-Cooked Flavor, Fast, 10 Instant Pot Chicken Recipes for Comforting Dinners All Week Long and 10 Quick & Easy Dinners the Whole Family Will Love.

Notes: Sauces are one of the pressure cooker’s weak points, as liquid cannot evaporate and reduce while it is sealed. Flour or other starch added to the pressure cooker before sealing could burn on the bottom or clog the vent holes. Given these factors, the sauce of a dish braised in the pressure cooker is thin. It’s up to you, then, to thicken it.

A classic beurre manié—or “kneaded butter”—is the perfect solution. Composed of equal parts flour and butter that have been mashed together, the paste is whisked into hot braising liquid at the end of the cooking time, turning the sauce thick and glossy, without lumps.

Beurre manié is extremely easy to make—just use a fork to mash butter and flour together on a plate. But to save time, you can prepare a large quantity in the food processor. Divide it into 1-tablespoon portions and store them in the freezer. When you need to thicken a sauce, simply throw a frozen lump into your boiling braising liquid and whisk away.

This recipe is a part of Wine Week—seven days celebrating all things wine—presented in partnership by our friends at Bread & Butter Wines. —Food52