Instant Pot Chicken Corn Chowder with Bacon

I am going to be honest here - I have had an Instant Pot for two years now, and it still freaks me out.  I have given up trying to sort out exactly why.

To be sure, I find the instructions incomprehensible (although easy once I manage to figure out what I'm being told to do) and the inability to know exactly how long something is going to take really messes with my decades of practice at timing multiple elements of meal. 

There is also a little bit of really lingering ancient fear that came from my mother's hushed assurances that using a pressure cooker would BLOW UP THE HOUSE! (she never crossed paths with an Instant Pot - but her voice still lives in my head.)

My daughter and son in law are geniuses with the thing - so when they were visiting with us, I used the opportunity to make something in it so that if it went tragically wrong, I could blame them get their help fixing it.

I'd had my eye on this recipe for Instant Pot Bacon, Corn, & Potato Chowder from FoodFunFamily for awhile and decided to add some cooked shredded chicken I had on hand, and modified it a bit to our taste.

The result was delicious, filling, and as easy as could be!

I can't say I've defeated my fear of the Instant Pot - but I certainly have found at least one thing I know will come out just right.

I used bacon reserved from breakfast - but you can certainly cook it up in the Instant Pot as your first step, using the saute feature.

Instant Pot Chicken Corn Chowder with Bacon

Serves 4-6

1 lb cooked, shredded chicken

2 Tblsp. bacon grease or 1 Tblsp. coconut oil + 1 Tblsp. butter

1 onion, minced

2 celery stalks, thin sliced

4-5 Yukon Gold Potatoes, diced (peeling optional)

2 bay leaves

16 oz frozen corn kernels

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. Cholula or Tapatio hot sauce

1/2 pack bacon, cooked crisp and diced

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar (optional)

Melt bacon fat or coconut oil in the Instant Pot on Saute.  Cook the onion and celery, stirring occasionally, until soft; about 5 minutes.  

Turn off the Saute feature, add potatoes and bay leaves and let rest a couple of minutes. (This allows a bit of cooling so you don't create a lot of steam when you add the broth.

Add the broth.  Close and lock the lid and seal the valve.  Press MANUAL and and cook 1 minute on HIGH.

Release valve pressure and remove lid once the steam stops.

Discard bay leaves and add chicken, corn, seasonings, milk and cream, and hot sauce.  Press CANCEL, then SAUTE and cook, stirring frequently, until hot - about 5-10 minutes.  Stir in half the diced bacon.

To serve, top with diced bacon and, if desired, shredded sharp cheddar.

This is excellent with biscuits or crusty rolls, but just fine on its own!