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This Instant Pot Coq au Vin recipe concentrates flavors with less effort and time than the traditional method! You’ll love this take on the beloved chicken recipe.
You may also enjoy this Sunday Pot Roast or Crockpot Red Wine Braised Short Ribs.
Why you’ll love it
This Coq au Vin recipe, while staying fairly true to the classic, really benefits from being cooked in the Instant Pot. This electric pressure cooker Coq au Vin is fast enough to make on a weeknight, but it’s also great for company. The leftovers are fantastic, so it’s something that you can enjoy more than once! It also freezes well.
What is Coq au Vin?
- Coq au Vin (chicken in red wine) is a classic French dish of braised chicken that’s then stewed. It’s normally a labor of love, but the Instant Pot makes this process quicker. The flavors get really concentrated without having to stew it for hours. Traditionally, bone-in, skin-on chicken is used.
What you’ll need
- Bacon – I love making it with thick cut, but regular bacon is good too
- Chicken – boneless, skinless chicken thighs are the way to go for this one
- Garlic and pearl onions – our tasty aromatics. Pearl onions taste much sweeter and milder than other varieties.
- Carrots and mushrooms – classic veggie component of this stew
- Red wine and chicken broth – the base of the sauce. Cabernet sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Burgundy wines (e.g. Pinot Noir) work well in Coq au Vin.
- Tomato paste – it adds rich, savory tomato flavor
- Thyme – this fragrant, woodsy herb is amazing with poultry
- Cornstarch – to thicken the sauce
Important notes
- When I first tested this recipe, I did use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, and that’s fine, but I like it better with boneless, skinless thighs. Why? It’s less effort, the sauce is less fatty, and I find the skin isn’t exactly edible anyway after pressure cooking it. If you go that route, brown the chicken in the Instant Pot for 7-5 minutes with the skin-side down and then drain the fat.
- I do not recommend using chicken breasts in this recipe. They will end up a lot drier. Chicken thighs are more flavorful and more forgiving when it comes to recipes like this one.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I’ve got an older model, but you can pick up the newest Instant Pot if you don’t already own one.
- Mincing the garlic is a cinch with this garlic press.
- A pair of kitchen shears makes cutting up the bacon effortless.
- Save your leftover bacon grease in this bacon bin.
How to make Instant Pot Coq au Vin
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Prep the ingredients, and sauté the bacon in your Instant Pot until crispy. Discard most of the fat. Add in the garlic, red wine, chicken broth, and tomato paste. Stir, and scrape up the browned bits to avoid a burn warning.
Add in the chicken, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and thyme. Give it a stir, then pressure cook for 10 minutes. After the countdown and release, add in a cornstarch slurry to give the sauce more body. Season with salt & pepper.
What to serve with Coq au Vin
- It’s fabulous served over Mashed Potatoes or a Simple Baked Potato. Pasta (like egg noodles) or rice are also great starchy options to go with the sauce, or simply go with a slice of crusty bread.
- Steamed vegetables, Simple Sautéed Leeks, or learn How to Cook Asparagus for easy veggie side dish pairings.
- Craving a salad? Dress it up with my Creamy Balsamic Dressing (Easy, No Blender!).
Leftovers and storage
- Keep leftover Coq au Vin in the fridge in a covered container for 3-4 days.
- When reheating this dish, you may want to skim some of the fat off the top. That’s a totally normal thing to do! Warm it up over a low heat in a saucepan for best results.
- You can definitely freeze leftovers of this one.
If you made my Instant Pot Coq au Vin recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! Let me know if the post didn’t answer your questions. I’m also on Instagram.
Instant Pot Coq au Vin
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon chopped into small pieces
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 large carrots chopped
- 10 ounces pearl onions peeled
- 7 ounces button mushrooms (leave them whole)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups red wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 2 tablespoons cold water
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients. I use kitchen shears to make cutting up the bacon easier. You can always finish prepping the remaining ingredients while the bacon is cooking to save time.
- Add the bacon to your Instant Pot. Press the sauté button and fry the bacon until crispy (about 10-12 mins).
- Once the bacon is crispy, move the bacon to one side of the Instant Pot and scoop most of the grease out with a spoon. Discard the fat (or store it and save it for other recipes).
- Add the garlic, red wine, chicken broth, and tomato paste to the Instant Pot. Let it start to bubble, and scrape the browned bits off the bottom so you don't get a burn warning.
- Add the chicken, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and thyme to your Instant Pot. Stir it as best as you can. Close the lid and set the valve to "sealing". Set the timer to cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Once the countdown has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, and then do a quick release of the remaining pressure.
- Add the cornstarch slurry (mix the cornstarch and cold water together) to the Instant Pot. Press the sauté button and this will help the sauce sauce thicken a little bit (the sauce isn’t meant to be too thick) if you let it cook for a few more minutes. Season with salt & pepper if needed.
Notes
- I used about a pound of chicken thighs in this recipe. Anything around that mark (or even up to 1.5 lbs. or so) would work.
- Serves 4-6 depending on portion size.
- Inactive time = the time it takes your Instant Pot to get up to pressure.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on March 22, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
K. I just prepped and added everything. It was, first of all, easy to prep… but DO prep! It’s really helps. And the ‘prep’ , to me, is the fun, relaxing part of cooking. It’s in.. ‘bout 20 mins or so left. Oh, I will be right back! Gonna natural release . Film at eleven!! BRB !
Hope you enjoy it, Eric! 🙂 Agree with you on the prep – it can definitely be relaxing when you’re not in a rush.
Hi,
I really like the simplicity of this recipe and would like to try it. One question I had is that I saw most recipes include the use of cognac. Can I use that instead of chicken broth and if so how much?
Hello! So, with the Instant Pot you need a certain amount of liquid, so I am very hesitant to suggest a replacement without testing. You could probably add a few tablespoons to enhance the flavor, but I am also concerned for potential safety issues of putting alcohol of that concentration in the Instant Pot. I’ve seen other recipes use cognac in the IP, but I would definitely do a bit of research on its safety before attempting. At the very least, I would ensure that you cook off most of the alcohol (on the sauté setting) prior to sealing it up and doing the actual pressure cooking part.
I have made twice in the past two weeks–everyone in the family loves it.
Today, I added a splash of cognac after everything was finished cooking, including the cornstarch, and it was exquisite. It’s good either way but a little cognac takes it to the next level.
Love that idea!!
Rose did you add time when u increased the portion size and by how much?
I made this for my family. I have two picky eaters and they both went back for seconds! It was simple to prepare and made me look like a star. I increased my portion size to 8. This did increase the cooking time on the bacon but everything else was spot on. It was delicious.
That’s so great to hear!!! Appreciate your review, Kelly!
Great dish- Natasha! I did use 1/2 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1/2 Zinfandel but otherwise stayed true to the recipe. Does this dish freeze well to use as a quick meal in the future, please? Thanks for an awesome recipe!
You’re very welcome, Brian!! Yes, this one freezes well. 🙂
This is my go to fancy dinner to impress someone. “ oh man he can cook” nah I follow good directions!! Thanks!
Haha I love that!! Appreciate your review, Steven! 🙂
Excellent recipe. Delicious and very simple. I would not change a thing!
Thank you so much!
Loved this recipe!! Delicious!!!
Thank you!! 🙂
Really liked this recipe. I’ve made Coq au Vin several ways and I think the Pearl onions and bacon really drive this home (I’ve mostly used Pancetta since I can buy a package pre-chopped). I served over herb roasted potatoes and the rosemary I used with them were a nice accent.
Wonderful! I’m so pleased you enjoyed it, Jim! Thanks for your review. 🙂
This turned out so great! Made it last night, with a few modifications based on the ingredients I had on hand. I ended up using chicken breast instead of thigh, and I subbed the chicken broth for beef broth which I actually would do again as it made for a very rich flavor. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Excellent!! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Flavor was good but not so much that I would make this again. I had extra ingredients from making beef bourguignon earlier in the week to try this recipe, so I’m somewhat comparing the richness of flavor to that (unfair, I know! But in case you’re deciding between two French classics… we preferred the bourguignon x100). I used more carrots and a splash of white wine vinegar to brighten the dish up.
So you liked my recipe but only give it 2 stars because you’re comparing it to something completely different? Just so you’re aware, food blogs are small businesses, and bad ratings hurt us like they would a restaurant.