Instant Pot Fesenjan Recipe

Fesenjan (affectionately called fesenjoon) is a Persian stew made with walnuts & pomegranate molasses. Yum! Another delicious dish made easy with Instant Pot!

When it's pomegranate season, grab all the ingredients to make this delicious fall/winter dish!

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Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 20

Instant Pot Pressure Release Time: 10

Total Time: 1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Persian

Servings:

Calories: 548kcal

Author: Shaunda Necole • The Soul Food Pot®

Equipment

Instant Pot electric pressure cooker
Instant Pot Ace Blender Plus

Ingredients

Protein

5 pound chicken whole chicken butterflied or cut into pieces

Ingredients for the fesenjan sauce/stew

⅔ cup walnuts
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup pomegranate molasses found on Amazon or at Whole Foods
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup white onion chopped
2 scallions chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1 red apple large apple, chopped
½ pomegranate arils and ¼ cup to garnish at the end
1 teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon saffron
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ tablespoon salt
2 bay leaves
¼ cup cilantro fresh & finely chopped to garnish
1 cup chicken broth or chicken stock

Instructions

Cook the whole chicken or chicken thighs in the Instant Pot.
When the cooking time is finished, allow a natural pressure release for at least 15 minutes.
To open the Instant Pot lid, move the valve to ‘venting’ and manually release any remaining pressure, if applicable.
Turn off the Instant Pot and leave the chicken in the pot to add more ingredients later. (Don’t worry about the chicken cooling – it will cook more in the pot later.)
Blend the walnuts to crumb-size and set them aside.
Replace the walnuts in the blender with the chopped onion, scallions, carrots, celery, and apple.
Blend the onion/apple mix to a purée.
Pour the chicken broth into the Instant Pot inner pot with the chicken.
Add the blended onion mixture onto the chicken using a small rubber spatula to coat it.
Sprinkle the walnuts on top of the onion/apple purée.
Mix the salt, pepper, turmeric, saffron, and brown sugar in a small bowl, and sprinkle the mixture over the chicken.
Place the tablespoon pat of butter into the pot.
Pour in the pomegranate molasses.
Top with the bay leaves and fresh pomegranate seeds.
Close the Instant Pot lid (make sure the valve is up – in the position for sealing) and pressure cook on high for 20 minutes.
When the cooking time is finished, allow a natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes.
To open the Instant Pot lid, move the valve to ‘venting’ and manually release any remaining pressure, if applicable.
Gently stir to mix the stew and baste the chicken by using a large spoon to scoop the sauce from the inner pot over the top of the chicken.
Taste test to check the seasoning of your stew. Add more pomegranate molasses if you like your sauce a bit tart, or add more brown sugar if you prefer it sweeter like I do.
Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and the remaining pomegranate arils.
Serve this beloved fesenjoon stew warm over rice!

Video

Notes

When making this Persian stew, the meat should not be so tender that it falls apart. You want it to still have some bite, so it doesn’t dissolve in the sauce.
Where can you buy pomegranate molasses?

Pomegranate molasses is not the same as pomegranate juice.

Instead, it’s a particular syrupy concentrate with pomegranate flavoring.

It can be found easily on Amazon or maybe in your local grocery’s international foods section. Or at Whole Foods (where I purchased it) with the syrups on the baking aisle.

Easy Instant Pot Fesenjan Chicken Recipe

Nutrition

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