chicken and lentil stew [instant pot]
It may be the peasant genes in my blood, but I find brown stews are some of the most satisfying foods on earth. They are also some of the worst and most unflattering to photograph. But we’re trying!
This was the first attempt to photograph it… in March of 2018
Despite its unphotogenic nature, this is the first thing I ever made in my Instant Pot, and probably the dish I’ve made in it most frequently since. It’s a great example of the power of pressure: in just about 45 minutes start to finish, you can transform a handful of very ordinary pantry and freezer staples into a stew with the audacity to call it self Sophisticated and Interesting. It can do so because it is not a sleepy, sludgy brown, but a tonal, intentional, layered earth brown, studded with orange carrots and deep green kale and thicc-cut pork cubes bobbling like life preservers in the abyss.
It’s also a flexible recipe, as most peasantcore stews are. Green lentils and brown lentils are both sort of brown in the end, so either one you find can be used here. You could add mushrooms, sub the kale for chard, or swap the chicken thighs for whatever chicken part you put in the freezer six months ago and forgot about. Sherry vinegar, the most underrated of vinegars, is swirled in at the end to give this a très français energy that elevates a subpar weekday night substantially—but if you can’t find it, red wine vinegar is a perfectly acceptable substitute.
Adapted from Serious Eats
recipe
A cozy, healthy-enough stew for the Instant Pot with tender braised chicken thighs, smoky bacon, French lentils, carrots, kale, and a splash of sherry wine vinegar.
Effortful time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Makes 6 large bowls
you need
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
8 oz slab bacon, pancetta, or salt pork, cut into 1/2” chunks (say it with me: lardons)
1 medium onion, diced
6 large carrots, on the thicker side, peeled and chopped in 1” pieces
1 1/4 cups dry French green lentils (also known as Le Puy); can substitute regular green or brown
3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp. dry parsley
2 bay leaves
1 quart good chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 bunch kale or Swiss chard, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
2 tsp. sherry vinegar; can substitute red wine vinegar
make it
Cook the bacon. Turn the Instant to Sauté-medium heat. Heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the bacon and fry until fat has rendered and bacon has fully crisped, about 8 minutes.
Cook the onions. Add the onions and stir to coat in the fat; cook for 2 more minutes. You want these soft but not brown.
Deglaze it. Use a mall amount of your stock and scrape up all the bits, of which there will be many. Switch off the Instant Pot. Then add in the carrots, chicken, lentils, bay leaves, parsley, remaining stock, salt and pepper. Give it all one good stir to combine.
Seal it up. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure-High for 10 minutes.
Do a natural release. When it’s done, let naturally release for 5 minutes before manually releasing the remaining pressure.
Shred the chicken separately and simmer to thicken. Take out the bay leaves and toss. Remove all the chicken to a board and switch the Instant Pot back to Sauté-Low heat.
Fold in the kale. Add your kale to the now-chickenless stew and stir. Let this simmer while you shred your chicken, about 5 minutes.
Recombine and serve. Return the chicken to the pot and stir in the sherry vinegar. Ladle into cozy bowls and shower with fresh pepper; you can add more sherry vinegar if you like a little extra acid.
note
If you prefer your chicken ultra-tender, pressure cook for 12 minutes instead of 10—at step 6, the chicken will fall apart just by breaking it up with the back of your spoon, right in the pot. You can then add your kale and continue simmering as written.