You know those foods cooked by your Grandmother that the smell alone brings you back to your childhood? This Instant Pot Greek Chicken and Artichokes with Egg-Lemon Sauce is a spin-off of one of my favorite recipes from my Yia Yia (Grandmother in Greek).
Growing up Greek-American you can’t go over to your Grandparents house without eating something. My Yia Yia would make this recipe with chunks of tender pork swimming in the egg-lemon sauce with fresh dill. This is a recipe that she learned growing up in a small mountain village in Crete.
All of these ingredients would be available fresh to her in the village; eggs from local chickens, lemons from the trees, wildly grown and garden variety artichokes, dill from an herb garden, extra virgin olive oil from the local olive trees, and pork from a local pig.
Egg-lemon sauce or “avgolemono” is used in a wide array of Greek chicken dishes. There is a simple process of getting the egg-lemon sauce correct which I’ll explain.
I changed this Greek chicken recipe up a little bit for 2 reasons. First, I wanted to use the Instant Pot to reduce the cooking time. I’m also kind of obsessed with experimenting with the Instant Pot in the winter months.
Second, I’m using chicken breast instead of pork to make it a little healthier. I’m still including plenty of healthy fat though with 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, so there’s still plenty of flavor.
In order to get the egg-lemon sauce correct, you’ll need to bring up the temperature of the eggs to the same temperature as the broth. If you don’t whisk fast enough, or pour too fast, you can curdle the sauce and it will be lumpy. In order to prevent this, you take a ladleful of broth and very slowly pour it into the eggs while whisking vigorously.
Another mistake is not adding enough broth so that the sauce doesn’t come up to the correct temperature. Two large ladlefuls of broth should be perfect. The sauce should have a little foam on top.
The last step to ensuring a perfect egg-lemon sauce is pouring it back into the rest of the food. As soon as you pour it into the food, you need to stir it immediately so it doesn’t curdle. At this point, you can keep the heat on low to keep it warm but you don’t want to cook it anymore, the eggs will curdle.
I hope with these tips will help you create the perfect egg-lemon sauce . When you taste this recipe you’ll know why it’s worth the extra effort to get the sauce right. Enjoy!
Looking for more Mediterranean Instant Pot recipes? Check these out!
7 Mediterranean Instant Pot Recipes
Purchasing an Instant Pot
The Instant Pot we use is the 6 quart version. It is just right for recipes that serve 4 all the way up to 8 servings. For us, it seems to be the perfect size. Below is the one we purchased from Amazon. I highly recommend it!
Instant Pot Greek Chicken and Artichokes with Egg-Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 bunch green onions, washed and chopped
- 2 carrots, washed and diced
- 2-14 ounces cans artichoke hearts, drained and left whole
- 1 bunch dill, washed and chopped
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 lemon juice
- 2 eggs
- Lemon slices for garnish
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to saute and add the olive oil. Wait one minute for the oil to heat up and then add the chicken, green onion, and carrot.
- Saute for 1 minute, stirring often.
- Add the artichokes, dill, water, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
- Put the top on the Instant Pot and lock it. Set the vent to "sealing" to lock in the pressure.
- Set the manual time to 7 minutes. Walk away and let the Instant Pot work its magic.
- Once the timer reaches 0, wearing an oven mitt, carefully set the vent to "venting" which will release the pressure.
- Whisk together the lemon juice and eggs in a bowl. Take a ladle of the hot broth from the Instant Pot and slowly ladle it into the eggs and lemon while continuously whisking. You need to bring up the temperature of the eggs before adding it back to the pot.
- Slowly pour a second ladle of hot broth into the eggs while continuously whisking.
- Pour this mixture into the chicken and artichokes and immediately stir well. Now the egg-lemon sauce has been incorporated into the chicken and artichokes and you're ready to eat. Serve with black pepper and extra lemon slices to garnish.
Nutrition
About the Author: George Zikos
YUM. I left my chicken breasts whole and shredded them at the end because I’m always looking for ways to not handle chicken. That changed my time to 17min high altitude (15 at 3000 feet). Another keeper!
I followed the recipe almost exactly. I only omitted the carrots and added garlic. The flavor is great. Warm and satisfying. Another winner!
How would I cook this in a regular crockpot/slow cooker? I do not own an Instant Pot.
You can cook everything in the slow cooker just like the Instant Pot and do the Egg Lemon sauce after it’s done cooking. 6 hours on high should do the trick!