Creamy coconut milk, fresh cherry tomatoes, a bit of Sherry Cooking Wine create a decadent sauce for your chicken to braise in...all topped with the delicious fresh herbs summer brings, this dish was so good even my 1 year old had seconds, and thirds! I served it over my InstantPot coconut milk brown rice and it was literally devoured by everyone. Plus, it's perfect for a weeknight since it only takes 30ish minutes to come together, during which time your rice can cook. Next time I will definitely be doubling this recipe!
Is anyone else having a great year for fresh herbs? Last year we changed up how we grew our herbs, usually in our garden, but I found I didn't use them as much as I could because the hike to the garden is a little daunting with a stove running and three little ones. So I planted everything right off the deck and now I'm able to just go outside, snip what I need, and still make sure no one is getting into any mischief. Fortunately because our herb pot is so close to the back door, everything is being very adequately watered this year and I'm getting a ton of herbs this year! Much more than usual.
I wanted to use up some of them since they're so good I would hate to see them spoil, and due to limited fridge and freezer space due to our main fridge still broke (STILL...a month later, waiting for parts), I wanted to use some up. Chicken + Herbs + Coconut Milk and fresh cherry tomatoes? Perfect! The Sherry Cooking Wine sounds a bit out there but it really works with the burst cherry tomatoes and the richness of the coconut milk. It cuts through some of the sweet and richness with a bit of acidity which was necessary to compliment the herbs.
For a reel on how to make this dish, check out my Instagram @forcesandforks. You can get a pretty good idea of how quick this dish goes with just a few key ingredients!
So first things first, I assembled all of my ingredients in one spot so I could move quickly while browning the chicken and creating the sauce. Before I began that, I got to work on my InstantPot Coconut Milk Rice so that it could cook and begin to release pressure while I worked on my chicken. This way everything is done around the same time!
In my InstantPot, I spray the inside with a bit of coconut spray or olive oil so my brown rice didn't stick. You could easily do jasmine rice or white rice, but decrease the liquid ratio to 1:1. As in, 2 cups of rice = 2 cups of liquid. For brown rice, the rice takes more liquid to cook perfectly. For 2 cups of brown rice, I used 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Add in your rice, a bit of salt, and in this case, I added in 1 cup of full fat coconut milk and 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix well and set to high pressure for 24 minutes. I do a 10 minute quick release on the rice and it comes out perfect every time. Especially if you let some of that coconut cream from the top of the can be included in your liquid ratio, it tastes so buttery and rich and way more unhealthy than it is.
No InstantPot? Follow the directions on your bag of rice and ensure 1 cup of coconut milk is included in your liquid. It's truly the best.
Once my rice was cooking, I got to work on my chicken. This time around I used cutlets but you could easily halve chicken breasts to make this work or even tenderloins. Melting butter and olive oil into a large dutch oven, mine is linked below, add your seasoned chicken breasts to the oil to brown, about 4-5 minutes each side. A simple salt, pepper and basil seasoning was perfect for the chicken as the main star of the dish is really the sauce. Once my chicken was browned, I set aside.
Working quickly, next I added in my fresh, chopped garlic and rinsed cherry tomatoes. A quick stir later, I added in 1 tbsp of Sherry Cooking Wine. Scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and let it come to a boil, about 1 minute. Add in your coconut milk and lower the heat. Place your chicken back into the pan and cook another 5-7 minutes until the sauce has thickened up and the cherry tomatoes are beginning to burst. Sprinkle your fresh herbs on top and turn off the heat. This will allow the sauce to thicken up even more.
After this was done, I released the pressure on my InstantPot, fluffed my rice and served everything together with a bit more fresh herbs. It was SO good!
Saucy, sweet with a pop of acid and the fresh herbs made this dish filling, yet light and summery. I can't wait to make it again and this time I will definitely be making more so I have some leftovers for lunch the next day!
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