In recent years injectable hydrogels have gained enormous interest in the field of biomaterials as they can be administered through a minimally invasive surgery and can fill in defects of any size and shape. However, in vivo injectability through a 27-gauge needle and quick setting of the hydrogel at the injection site would require the hydrogel precursor solutions to have low enough viscosity to allow passing through the narrow needle smoothly and yet form a hydrogel almost immediately to prevent dissolution of the hydrogel and burst release of the encapsulated cells or drugs. Moreover, the injected hydrogel should be degradable in the host to avoid causing foreign body response which can lead to fibrosis. Additionally, if the injectable hydrogel is to be used for cell-delivery, the gelation should be slow enough to allow proper mixing and even distribution of cells within the matrix but fast enough to prevent agglomeration and sedimentation of the cells. Extensive efforts are thus often dedicated to fine-tuning the gelation time by varying the number of cross-linkable groups in the polymer chain, altering total polymer concentration in the hydrogel, varying catalyst concentration or by using external or in vivo stimuli. Moreover, it is desirable that the hydrogel is shear-thinning to protect the encapsulated cells from the shear-stress exerted upon during the injection and autonomously self-healing to restore the hydrogel mechanical properties resulting in a cohesive uniform hydrogel after injection. Encouraged by this idea, several shear-thinning and self-healing hydrogels were developed. Despite substantial developments to date, injectable hydrogels suffer from a major drawback; they swell and cannot hold their shape. Unwanted swelling exerts pressure on the surrounding tissues resulting in edema-like conditions. Moreover, in most cases the self-healing of the injected hydrogel requires an external trigger.