This Hearty Instant Pot Coq Au Vin is classic comfort food and a French traditional recipe. This coq au vin pressure cooker recipe is made with dry white wine, but red wine can be substituted. It pairs so well with heavenly Instant Pot mashed potatoes and parsnips.
Table of Contents
Introduction
For the most part, my family tends to eat spicy (not necessarily pungent or hot, but full of spices) foods with lots of flavor ingredients. Our Indian palates just gravitate toward those kinds of dishes and even in my Instant Pot, I cook the same dishes, whether Indian chicken curry, Mexican pork tacos, or Thai panang curry
So this coq au vin Instant Pot easy recipe is a departure from most recipes I’ve posted so far. It has relatively few spices and it’s subtle, but it’s just so dang tasty! And you need to try it with Instant Pot mashed potatoes and parsnips.
Coq au vin (pronounced as Kok-oh-van and translated as ‘rooster with wine’), is a rustic French stew traditionally made with red wine – usually Burgundy wine. The original recipe for this classic French dish was popularized in the US by the iconic chef Julia Child. Coq au vin blanc (white coq au vin) uses dry white wine.
I prefer the white wine version of coq au vin better than the red wine version. As with most of my Instant Pot recipes, this electric pressure cooker recipe is an adaptation of my stove-top version.
TIPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Wine
In addition to the white wine, I also use brandy to deglaze. But if you don’t have brandy on hand, just omit it and deglaze with wine instead.
Try it with white wine or red wine (such as a pinot noir), and see which one you and your family like better. The white version has a milder flavor.
Broth
If you use homemade chicken broth (so easy to make in the Instant Pot), the taste is going to be even better. Here’s a chicken broth recipe from Pressure Cooking Today. Store-bought chicken broth works great too.
Browning
The part of this pressure cooker coq au vin recipe that takes time is the browning of the chicken pieces. You’ll have to do it in a couple of batches because you don’t want to overcrowd the meat, so it can take up to 20 minutes total.
But it’s totally worth it – browning seals in flavor and also produces the little browned bits that add great flavor while the chicken cooks.
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels before browning them.
If the inner pot gets too hot while cooking any of the ingredients, turn off the Instant Pot for a couple of minutes until cooled down.
Also, make sure you deglaze the inner pot when you’re done browning the chicken. Deglazing is when you pour small amounts of liquid in the inner pot and scrape up the brown bits. Find out more about what deglazing is.
Browning can be done in a skillet too. Sometimes that’s easier because you can fit more pieces on the stovetop than the inner pot, and you can control the temperature easier.
Chicken
Bone-in skinless thighs are my preferred cut to use in this recipe, but you can use other cuts with the following cook times for tender chicken:
- Chicken thighs (boneless, whole) – pressure cook for 8 to 9 minutes
- Chicken thighs (boneless, cut into bite-size pieces) – pressure cook for 5 minutes
- Chicken breasts – pressure cook for 6 to 7 minutes (I prefer not to use white meat in the Instant Pot)
- Chicken legs – no change to pressure cook time
Pat the chicken dry before browning it.
Make it Healthy
There are a couple of things you can do to make the dish healthier: use corn starch to thicken the chicken stew instead of butter and flour, omit or reduce the quantity of bacon, or use olive oil or vegetable oil instead of bacon fat to fry the chicken and vegetables.
I do have to point out that you’ll give up some flavor if you choose any of these alternatives.
Sauteing
If you need to, you can adjust the heat level in Saute mode. Each Instant Pot has different instructions to adjust Saute mode. Refer to my Instant Pot tips and manuals to find the manual for your model.
If the inner pot gets too hot while cooking any of the ingredients, turn off the Instant Pot for a couple of minutes until cooled down.
Beurre Manie
The dish is finished off with a butter and flour mixture to thicken it. Beurre manie (pronounced burr-man-yay) means ‘kneaded butter’ and is a technique used to thicken soups and stews.
I mix together butter and flour and drop it into the gravy, a teaspoon at a time. The butter melts and the flour thickens the dish with no clumps.
Leeks
One more thing I need to mention: be sure to wash the leeks very well. Leeks tend to have a lot of dirt between the layers. I like to discard the tough darkest green part, cut the remainder into quarters lengthwise, and then into small pieces.
I then place them in a bowl of water and use my hands to get the grit off. Once that’s done, I drain them in a fine mesh sieve and run water through it.
How to serve
This easy coq au vin really tastes wonderful when served with Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips, egg noodles, or crusty bread.
FAQs
Double all ingredients but keep the cooking time.
Browning does take up some time but it’s worth the time because the brown bits allow a depth of flavor to be incorporated into the dish. You can brown the chicken in a skillet on the stovetop too.
You can cook the carrots separately and add them in after the chicken is cooked or you can quick release the pressure after 10 minutes, add the carrots and pressure cook for another 2 minutes.
You can substitute 3/4 tsp dried herbs for the fresh herbs.
Yes, you can substitute red wine for white wine. There will be a completely different flavor but red wine is used traditionally.
I recommend chicken thighs.
– Whole boneless chicken thighs: pressure cook for 9 minutes.
– Boneless chicken thighs cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces: pressure cook for 5 minutes.
Yes, this recipe can be made, as written, in the Ninja Foodi pressure cooker.
If your Instant Pot is prone to getting the burn message, add an extra 1/4 cup of broth before pressure cooking. Also, make sure to deglaze the Instant Pot so that no brown bits are stuck to the bottom of the pot before you pressure cook.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, you might find it helpful to first read one of the following guides and then come back here to learn how to make this recipe.
- Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO EVO PLUS Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO NOVA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO GOURMET Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
Instant Pot Coq au Vin – Ingredients List
- Bacon
- Pearl onions
- Garlic
- Chicken
- Tomato paste
- Leeks
- Mushrooms
- Brandy
- Butter
- Thyme
- Flour
- Salt
- Carrots
- Broth
- White wine (or red wine)
- Black pepper
More details in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post
How to Make Coq au Vin in the Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Saute bacon
- Saute chicken and mushrooms
- Add remaining ingredients
- Pressure cook
- Release pressure
- Add beurre manie
- Simmer to thicken
Saute bacon
- Select Saute and cook bacon until crisp.
- Press Cancel.
- Remove bacon and set aside.
- At any point in the cooking process, if the food browns too quickly or Instant Pot is getting too hot, press Cancel until the Instant Pot cools down a bit, and then press the Saute button again.
Saute chicken and mushrooms
- Pat chicken dry and rub with salt and pepper.
- Select the Saute setting and brown chicken in batches. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Saute mushrooms and set aside.
- Again, at any point in the cooking process, if the food browns too quickly or Instant Pot is getting too hot, press Cancel until the Instant Pot cools down a bit, and then press the Saute button again. Deglaze as needed by adding small amounts of chicken stock or broth to remove brown bits from the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Saute vegetables
- Cook leeks and carrots till leeks are soft, about a minute.
- Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook till tomato paste begins to change color and/or begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Deglaze as needed.
Add remaining ingredients
- Stir in chicken, wine, broth, pearl onions, and thyme.
- Close Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Duo Pressure Cook 12 minutes
- Close the lid and make sure the steam release handle is in the Sealing position.
- Press Manual (or Pressure Cook) and + or – until the display reads 12 (12 minutes).
Instant Pot Ultra Pressure Cook 12 minutes
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and adjust the time to 12 minutes (00:12).
- Press Start.
Pressure Cooking Process (Duo and Ultra)
- Instant Pot display will change to On.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down to 0; it will then switch to Keep Warm mode and display L0:00 or 00 00 and begin to count up the number of minutes since pressure cooking completed.
How to Quick Release Pressure (QR) on the DUO
- Move the steam release handle to Venting. Steam will come out of the steam release handle.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
How to Quick Release Pressure (QR) on the ULTRA
- Press down on the Steam Release Button until it locks into place, and steam begins to come out of the Steam Release Valve.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
[Find out more about the pressure release methods and how and when to use them. ]
Add beurre manie
- While the chicken is cooking, make the beurre manie by mixing together softened butter and flour. Set aside.
- Once pressure has been released, select Saute.
- Add in the reserved sauteed mushrooms.
- Drop the butter and flour mixture into the Instant Pot using a teaspoon.
Simmer to thicken
- Stir the chicken coq au vin and simmer until thickened.
- Press Cancel.
- Top each serving with bacon and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.
Hearty Instant Pot Coq au Vin
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs or drumsticks bone-in, skinless
- salt to taste
- black pepper powder to taste
- 4 bacon stripped – diced
- 2 cups leeks cleaned well and diced
- 1 1/2 cups baby carrots
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced or quartered
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp garlic minced
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1 cup dry white wine (or red wine)
- 1 cup chicken broth preferably homemade
- 1 cup frozen pearl onions
- 4 springs fresh thyme or 3/4 tsp dried thyme
- 2 Tbsp butter softened
- 1.5 Tbsp all purpose flour
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
- Select Saute and cook bacon until crisp. Press Cancel and remove bacon; set aside.
- Select Saute and brown the chicken in batches. Remove and set aside. (You can also brown the chicken in a skillet. This may allow you to do it in one batch since there's more room.)
- Saute mushrooms and set aside.
- Cook leeks and carrots till leeks are soft, about 1 minute.
- Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook till tomato paste begins to change color and/or begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Press Cancel and deglaze with brandy, until almost evaporated, stirring often.
- Stir in chicken, wine, broth, pearl onions and thyme and close the Instant Pot.
- Pressure cook on High Pressure for 12 minutes.
- While Chicken is cooking, mix together the softened butter and flour.
- Do a Quick Release of pressure and open the Instant Pot. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Stir in the sauteed mushrooms.
- Select Saute and drop the butter and flour mixture into the Instant Pot using a teaspoon. *
- Stir the coq au vin and simmer until thickened. Press Cancel.
- Top each serving with bacon.
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. minced garlic, cut vegetables, etc.
- * Use more or less beurre manie (butter and flour) depending on how thick you want the sauce to be.
- If the Instant Pot gets too hot while sauteing the first set of ingredients, turn it off to cool it down every so often.
- Feel free to saute the mushrooms with the other vegetables and let them cook with the chicken. I’ve done this, and the mushrooms were not overcooked.
- On the other hand, if you like the carrots to be tender-crisp, saute the carrots separately and add them to the chicken at the end.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips
Nutrition
Thank you for visiting Paint the Kitchen Red. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please don’t use any content without prior written permission. If you’ve made this recipe and would like to share it with your friends, please link back to this recipe. Thank you!
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
If you loved this recipe, please give it a five ⭐ rating in the comment section below and please share it on social media using the social media share buttons at the top and bottom of this post. Thank you so much!
Some Instant Pot Stew Recipes
Instant Pot Pork Soup with Hatch Chiles
Instant Pot African Peanut Stew
Stephanie
Can I make this a day ahead in my instapot and reheat the next day on the stove in a Dutch oven?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Stephanie, I haven’t done that before. I feel it would taste best on the day it’s cooked, but I don’t see why you can’t reheat and still have good flavor.
Elaine
This is definitely a keeper. So delicious.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Elaine! It’s one of my family’s favorite winter recipes! Recently I’ve served it over polenta!
NWSnowolf
I loved this! It came out perfectly done and the chicken was so tender it fell off the bone and the flavors melded perfectly. Definitely adding this to my go to recipes.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for the comment – I’m really happy to hear you liked the recipe!
Jan
I followed the recipe exactly. Although it tasted good, it was a big mushy mess – nothing like the picture. Glad I tried it for ourselves before serving it to guests. The chicken should have been cooked before the veggies were added.
I will not make this again. I guess some dishes should not be made in an IP.
Very disappointing.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Jan, I’m sorry the recipe didn’t meet your expectations. Sounds like your chicken overcooked but I’m not sure what happened because I and many readers make this recipe and it isn’t mushy. Maybe the model of Instant Pot or the cut of chicken, the size of chicken? The veggies can be cooked separately if you want them crisper.
Aldo
Terrific, delicious, definitely a keeper!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you, Aldo, for taking the time to comment. I’m excited that you liked the recipe!
Joey
We have made this recipe twice now, and it has been fantastic both times.
We skip the brandy and add a bit more flour but follow the rest of the instructions to a T and put it over a bed of mashed potatoes.
Thank you! this will be a monthly recipe for us moving forward.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Joey, thank you so much for sharing. I’m really glad to hear you like the recipe and it worked well for you 🙂
David
Great recipe! I had to improvise the seasoning since I thought I had thyme until I started cooking. I will definitely make this again, but I would reduce the amount of flour as it was a bit too thick for my taste. Thank you for posting.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi David, Thanks for your comment; glad you liked the recipe. You can also add a bit more liquid and make it less thick.
David
Great recipe! I had to adjust the seasonings since I thought I had thyme but I could not find it when I started cooking. I love the thickening tip, but I would reduce the amount of flour the next time I make it, as it was a bit too thick for my taste. I will definitely make it again. Thank you for posting!
Karen A
I read the instructions a few times, but I do not see when to add the leeks and carrots. Do you add with the wine and broth, or after with the mushrooms?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Karen, the leeks and carrots are added in step 5 of the recipe card. After the mushrooms.
Zach
A lot of effort for mediocre results. Way too watery and not very flavourful, even after adding more seasoning.
Paint the Kitchen Red
I’m sorry it didn’t meet your expectations, Zach. I think a few other readers have halved the quantity of liquid and been happy with it, in case you decide to try again.
Deb Correia
Made this last night. It’s definitely labor intensive, but so rich and yummy! I replaced the white wine with red, and I didn’t have brandy, so I used some balsamic vinegar. I followed the advice on a couple of the comments and reduced the liquid to 2 cups total (1 cup broth and 1 cup wine). After thickening (with cornstarch), it was still a stew, but I loved it! Delicious!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Deb, for me the most effort comes with the browning of the chicken pieces, in order to get a nice browning. I have it on my list to try this recipe out again with less liquid, and once I do I’ll possibly update the recipe to account for this. Thank you very much for your comment!
Carmela
I normally make this in a pan and its great. Tried it in the IP tonight….i am going to agree with the person below….i found it too much liquid…chicken came off bone so presentation was more stew like and mushy….great taste…
SKH338 says:
November 12, 2017 at 1:41 am
Very tasty. I had to make several adjustments, though. The most significant was cutting the broth and wine by half. 2 cups of each is too much liquid. With just 1 cup of each I got an appropriate amount of liquid to make gravy at the end. I couldn’t find fresh thyme today, so about a teaspoon of dried herbs de provence worked fine. I also added in the mushrooms with everything else rather than stirring them in at the end. That was fine, no loss in texture and the mushrooms add a lot of flavor.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Carmela, thanks for taking the time to comment. I think of coq au vin as being a stew, and I like to mop up the liquid with a hunk of French bread 🙂 I’ve not felt that it was TOO liquid-y especially after adding the beurre manie. That being said, I will make it again soon and make sure I didn’t make a typo! Glad you liked the flavor, though.
Ella
For a more traditional cow au Vin can I just put red wine instead of white?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Ella – I don’t see why not. I say go for it. I’d love it if you can report back with your experience.
Peter
Made this tonight and my wife gave it a thumbs up. that says a lot. Great recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Peter – I’m so glad she liked it. Thanks for commenting and letting me know!
Danielle
This sounds delicious! I do not have an instant pot (yet), but it seems I could just make this on the stove, or perhaps the slow cooker, as well. The flavors sound great!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks Danielle! Yes, you can make it on the stovetop. Never tried the slow cooker, but that should work too.
Lindsay Wilner
Thank you for the background notes on this iconic French dish. I admire how you weave this type of narrative into your directions and tips for the recipe. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! A must-try dish on a cold evening, at a candle lit table, surrounded by friends and family.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you Lindsay. It really is a wonderful dish and especially so on a cold evening!