Some nights I want soup, my kids want a bowl of rice with something on top, and I'm not making two dinners. This is the brothy Instant Pot Lemon Dijon Chicken recipe that works for both.
A pound of chicken thighs goes into the pressure cooker with Dijon, Italian seasoning, a squeezed lemon, and a cup of bone broth. Thirty minutes later the thighs are sitting in a broth that tastes like it took all afternoon, and it didn't. I shred them right there in the pot with the Masher, a few presses and under a minute, and I never need to pull the chicken out or dirty a cutting board. Frozen broccoli goes in straight from the bag, spinach wilts in at the end, and then you decide how to serve it. Over rice for the kids, in a bowl on its own for me. Parmesan on everything.
The whole thing is one pot, and I never turned on the stove.
Soup or Broth Bowl – Fab Four Either Way
Protein, fat, fiber, greens. Here's where each one comes from, whether you eat this as a soup or over rice.
- Protein: A full pound of chicken thighs, shredded into the broth so every spoonful has some. Thighs stay tender under pressure in a way breasts don't, and they hold up when you shred them instead of drying out or turning stringy.
- Fat: The thighs bring their own, the broth picks up more of it as it cooks, and the Parmesan on top adds even more. This is what makes a bowl of chicken and broccoli feel like dinner instead of a snack. A drizzle of olive oil at the table works too if you want a little extra.
- Fiber: Two full cups of broccoli, plus the rice if you're serving it that way. Fiber slows everything down so the meal actually holds you through the evening instead of wearing off by 8pm.
- Greens: Spinach wilted into the hot broth at the end, plus the broccoli, which counts double here. The spinach basically disappears into the bowl, which makes this one of the easier places to get real greens into a kid without a negotiation.
So if you serve it brothy over rice, it's a Fab Four bowl. Skip the rice and eat it as a soup, and it's a lower carb version of the same meal. Same pot, same work either way.
Where the Masher Comes In
This is part of my Masher, made in under a minute series, where the tool does one job on camera and that's the whole point. This episode, it shreds the chicken right in the pot.
Most people pull hot chicken out, wait for it to cool enough to touch, then shred it with two forks on a cutting board. That's ten extra minutes and two more things to wash. The Masher goes straight down into the pot while the chicken is still sitting in the broth, a few presses, and it's shredded. It's one solid piece of stainless steel, so there's nowhere for the chicken to hide inside a hollow handle, and it goes straight into the dishwasher after.
Two Dinners, One Pot
This is the part I actually love. The kids get theirs ladled over rice, and the broth soaks into it so nobody's pushing plain chicken around a plate. I eat mine as a soup with extra spinach and a lot of Parmesan. Nobody at the table realizes they're eating the same dinner two different ways, and I only wash one pot.
The Protein Math
These numbers are estimates based on USDA figures for boneless chicken thigh, and they'll shift a little depending on the exact cut you buy.
| Bowl | Protein, Approximate |
| 1/4 of the pot (adult serving) | 21 to 23 g |
| 1/3 of the pot (bigger adult serving) | 28 to 30 g |
| Small kid bowl over rice | 12 to 15 g |
| Parmesan on top, 2 tablespoons | adds about 3 g |
A pound of raw boneless chicken thigh runs roughly 85 to 90 grams of protein, so split four ways you're landing in the low 20s per bowl before the Parmesan, which is a solid dinner for a kid and a good base for an adult. Split three ways with a little extra cheese and you're close to 30.
Kelly's Tips and Swaps
- Chicken breasts work if that's what you have on hand, but drop the cook time to about 10 minutes at high pressure or they'll turn stringy once shredded.
- No frozen broccoli? Fresh florets need the same 3 to 5 minutes with the lid on, maybe a minute more.
- Cauliflower rice instead of rice keeps it low carb and still gives the kids something to ladle their bowl over.
- Double the chicken and the broth and you've got lunch for the week. The broth actually tastes better on day two.
- Any bone broth works here. I use FOND because the ingredient list is short and the flavor holds up.
