Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s was different from now. My mother was a fabulous cook, but used cream of mushroom, chicken, and celery canned soup in recipes to save time. Nowadays, there are food snobs who shun using canned soup and choose to take extra time to make their dishes. While our family never ate the cream soups as a meal, they were often used as ingredients to make casseroles creamy, homemade soups a little thicker, and vegetable casseroles smooth and cheesy. The following Instant Pot Creamy Chicken & Mushrooms is an adaptation of a recipe found in a favorite cozy series starring Hannah Swenson, and is anything but “light.” The original recipe is called Stroganoff Light in the book, and is made in the slow cooker. While Hannah, the star of the series actually uses canned mushrooms (come on now, isn’t this the 21st century? - such a food crime) in her version and it is far from authentic stroganoff which originated in Russia, it gave me the idea to use the ingredients and make a yummy and actually elegant main dish worthy of company coming over for a fancy dinner.

This dish can be made a day ahead and reheated and you can choose whether you want to serve it over rice or noodles. The Russians would be appalled if this dish were referred to as “stroganoff” since it absolutely isn’t, so please call it anything but that. This one, however, is really delicious.

8 Servings

2 tablespoons butter
2 to 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of fat, veins, etc.
2 teaspoons granular chicken bouillon
1/2 cup water

1 pound sliced mushrooms
1 chopped medium onion
2 10 3/4 ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 10 3/4 ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1 cup sour cream

Cooked noodles, or rice

1. Melt the butter in the pan of the Instant Pot on the sauté setting.
2. Add the chicken breast halves and quickly brown on both sides.
3. Sprinkle the breasts with the granular bouillon and pour the 1/2 cup water over all.
4. Sprinkle the onions over the chicken breasts and add the mushrooms and garlic.
5. Dump the cans of soup over all and with a rubber spatula, gently mix the soups.
6. Cover the pot, set the valve to sealing, and set the pot to manual for 8 minutes.
7. When the cycle is finished, let sit 10 minutes, then release the pressure and remove the chicken breasts to a plate to cool for a minute or two.
8. Add the cream cheese to the pot and let it sit in the sauce while you cut the chicken breasts into small bite-size squares.
9. Whisk the cream cheese until the sauce is smooth and add the cut up chicken.
10. Stir in the sour cream and heat on the sauté setting that has been set to low. Serve over noodles or rice.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 585 Calories from Fat 383
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 65% Protein 25% Carb. 9%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 43 g
Saturated Fat 20 g
Cholesterol 159 mg
Sodium 1196 mg
Total Carbohydrate 14 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 37 g

Vitamin A 23% Vitamin C 8% Calcium 0% Iron 16%