30-Minute Pressure Cooker Chicken With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo Recipe (2024)

Chicken Mains
Spanish
Gluten-free Mains
Pressure Cooked Chicken
Whole Chicken

Chorizo and paprika lend a smoky richness to this quick and hearty braise.

J. Kenji López-Alt

Culinary Consultant

Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.

Learn about Serious Eats'Editorial Process

Updated April 21, 2023

(10)

Why It Works

A pressure cooker intensifies the flavors of smoky chorizo, smoked paprika, roasted tomatoes, and chickpeas as the chicken cooks.
Minimal ingredients and only a few steps make for an easy, one-pot, ready-in-under-an-hour meal packed with flavor.

My wife has taught me many things, but few as mind-blowing and useful asthis five ingredient, one pot, 30-minutes Colombian chicken stew with potatoes and tomatoes. It works like this: Add chicken, potatoes, fresh tomatoes, sliced onion, and bay leaves to a pressure cooker. Seal the lid and heat it. As the tomatoes and chicken heat, they give off liquid which in turn cooks the potatoes while the onions add flavor to the whole thing. Because the high heat of a pressure cooker cooks so efficiently, you end up with spoon-tender chicken and potatoes in an intensely flavored broth all in 30 minutes or less. How do you like that!

The concept of using minimal, but carefully selected ingredients and relying on the pressure cooker to extract flavor while cooking them was an intriguing one, so I decided to try my hand at coming up with a few more one-pot meals in a similar style, this time using a combination of chicken and various legumes. I came up withthreefinalvariations. Each one of them providesdinner for four with inexpensive ingredients, a few minutes of actual labor, one pot on the stove, and all in between 30 to 45 minutes start to finish.

30-Minute Pressure Cooker Chicken With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo Recipe (3)

For this recipe, I tried using dried garbanzos, but they simply took too long to cook compared to the chicken—the chicken ended up drying out by the time the beans were soft. Instead, I opted for canned drained chickpeas. For flavor, I start with diced Spanish-style dry cured chorizo, adding some extra smoked paprika to bolster its spicy, smoky aroma. To that I add some onions sautéed in the rendered chorizo fat, along with a can of fire-roasted tomatoes. Typically, I'd recommend using whole peeled tomatoes and crushing them yourself by hand, but in a recipe that has so few ingredients and even fewer steps, the convenience of pre-diced tomatoes seemed to just make sense.

Parsley stems are the only other flavoring that go into the pot.

30-Minute Pressure Cooker Chicken With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo Recipe (4)

Because the chickpeas are already cooked, the dish really only needs to spend enough time under pressure to cook the chicken through. 15 minutes does the trick. Once the lid is cracked, you should find a thick, rich stew with tons of smoky flavor from the chorizo and paprika.

Seasoning with salt is important—food tastes flat without salt to make flavors pop—but balancing richness with acid is just as important for bright, fresh flavors. I use sherry vinegar here in staying with the Spanish theme of the flavors. Really good olive oil drizzled over the top is also a necessity.

January 2015

Recipe Details

30-Minute Pressure Cooker Chicken With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo Recipe

Cook30 mins

Active10 mins

Total30 mins

Serves4to 6 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
8 ounces Spanish-style chorizo, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon smoked Spanishpaprika
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted (such as Muir Glen)
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), cut into 8 serving pieces, or a mix of bone-in, skin-on breasts, drumsticks, and/or thighs
2 cupshomemadeor store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Directions

Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chorizo and cook, stirring, until just starting to crisp around the edges, about 2 minutes. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add paprika, chickpeas, tomatoes, chicken pieces, and stock. Season gently with salt and pepper.
Seal pressure cooker and bring to high pressure. Cook for 15 minutes. Cool pressure cooker under a cold running tap (if using an electric cooker, use the quick release valve), and open. Return to high heat and cook, stirring gently, until it achieves a thick, stew-like consistency, about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in parsley and serve, drizzling with more extra-virgin olive oil at the table.

Special Equipment

Electric or stovetop pressure cooker

Coconut- and Ají Amarillo–Braised Chicken
Crispy Braised Chicken Thighs With Cabbage and Bacon
Crispy Braised Chicken With White Beans and Chile Verde

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
811	Calories
49g	Fat
33g	Carbs
65g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4to 6
Amount per serving
Calories	811
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 49g	62%
Saturated Fat 14g	72%
Cholesterol 283mg	94%
Sodium 1922mg	84%
Total Carbohydrate 33g	12%
Dietary Fiber 10g	35%
Total Sugars 9g
Protein 65g
Vitamin C 20mg	102%
Calcium 126mg	10%
Iron 6mg	35%
Potassium 1290mg	27%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

30-Minute Pressure Cooker Chicken With Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Chorizo Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you overcook chicken in a pressure cooker? ›

Because chicken breast is so lean, just a couple of extra minutes of cook time turns them from juicy to overcooked and dry. Thighs, on the other hand, are a fattier cut, and not prone to dry out as quickly even after an extra minute or two of cooking.

Does chicken cook faster in pressure cooker? ›

Pressure cookers save you time by cooking foods TWO to TEN times faster than other cooking methods. They are the fastest way to cook delicious meals: beef roasts, chicken, rice, dry beans, you name it.

Can I use chicken broth instead of water in pressure cooker? ›

Chicken Broth: Instead of water, chicken broth boosts the flavor of chicken in the Instant Pot. I always use a cup of broth (especially since I cook 2-3 pounds per time). I use canned broth or bouillon added to water.

Read On ›

Does pressure cooking chicken longer make it more tender? ›

This dinner staple cooks up perfectly every time in the Instant Pot. You can aim for firm but juicy chicken for cubing, or let it cook a little bit longer for tender shredded chicken.

See Details ›

Can you cook too long in a pressure cooker? ›

Unfortunately, once you overcook a piece of meat in the pressure cooker, there's no going back. You'll be left with a pile of dry, crunchy, tasteless fibers and no amount of additional pressure cooking is going to put that moisture back into the meat. Earlier, I explained how ingredient size affects the cooking time.