Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

All the flavor of the takeout classic, made quick and easy in the Instant Pot! Tender chunks of chicken tossed in a rich sauce, this honey garlic chicken has tons of flavor and is sure to be a family favorite. Serve over rice or cauliflower rice and poof, dinner is served!

🍯 What Makes This Recipe So Good

• There is so much flavor in this recipe – way beyond just honey and garlic. You’ll be super impressed by the depth and richness you get from just a handful of seriously basic ingredients.
• This honey garlic chicken is an Instant Pot recipe, so you know what that means! Minimal effort, quick cook time, and simple clean-up. If you don’t have a pressure cooker yet, consider this your sign to get one.
• The sauce becomes kind of sticky when it thickens, which means it’ll coat every piece of chicken SO well. THAT means there’s sauce in every single bite – no randomly bland or bare spots.

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👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

• You might be looking at the ingredients and thinking “ummmmm where’s all the liquid?”. Don’t panic! Sautéing the chicken pieces in oil brings out some of the natural juices from the meat, so you’ll have a little liquid right from the start. Between that and the ingredients in the honey garlic sauce, I’ve found that there’s enough here to prevent a burn notice on your pressure cooker.
• Along those lines, it’s imperative that you scrape up any bits of honey garlic chicken that may have stuck to the bottom of the Instant Pot when you add the sauce. If there’s any food stuck to the bottom of the pot, you will definitely get that burn warning.
• Between the salt on the chicken, the salt added to the honey garlic sauce, the salt in the soy sauce, and the salt in the ketchup… this could be a lot for anyone sensitive to salt or sodium. Don’t worry – you can adjust it! First, only salt the chicken “to taste”. If you’re not wild about salt, you don’t have to use a lot here. With the sauce, you can start out with just ¼ or even ⅛ teaspoon, rather than ½ teaspoon. Taste it right before serving and add a little more salt then if needed. Using low-sodium soy sauce and a reduced salt or no salt ketchup will help, too. For the record, I don’t find the dish too salty by any means, but everyone’s palates are different!

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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

Prep:15 minutes minutes

Cook:25 minutes minutes

Total:40 minutes minutes

The classic takeout dish you love, made quickly and easily in the Instant Pot. Serve over rice or cauliflower rice!

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6 servings

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• ▢ 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts approximately 4-8 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• ▢ salt to taste
• ▢ freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• ▢ 2 tablespoons avocado oil

For the Honey Garlic Sauce

• ▢ ⅓ cup honey
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
• ▢ ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 2 tablespoons ketchup store-bought or make your own
• ▢ ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes more or less to taste
• ▢ 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ▢ 2 tablespoons warm water

Serving Suggestions (All Optional)

• ▢ thinly sliced green onions
• ▢ white sesame seeds
• ▢ cooked white rice or cauliflower rice

Equipment

• Cutting board
• Medium mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Instant Pot or similar pressure cooker
• Large wooden spoon or silicone spatula
• Small mixing bowl
• small whisk
• Slotted spoon
• Large bowl

Instructions 

• Place 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes, on cutting board. Season cubes of chicken on all sides with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Set cutting board aside.
• Add ⅓ cup honey, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 tablespoons ketchup, and ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes to medium mixing bowl. Whisk ingredients together until fully incorporated, then set bowl aside.
• Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Add 2 tablespoons avocado oil and warm oil until hot and shimmering.
• When oil is ready, add seasoned chicken pieces. Sauté chicken 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken pieces are just seared.
• Pour honey garlic sauce into Instant Pot. Stir to incorporate chicken into sauce, scraping up any browned bits that may be stuck to bottom of pot.
• Secure lid on Instant Pot with vent in Sealing position. Set Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure for 2 minutes. Instant Pot will pressurize, then 2-minute cook time will begin.
• While Instant Pot cooks chicken, add 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons warm water to small mixing bowl. Whisk ingredients together vigorously until fully combined. Set bowl aside.
• When 2-minute cook time ends, carefully Quick Release pressure, then remove lid. Use caution as any escaping steam will be very hot.
• Use slotted spoon to transfer chicken from Instant Pot to large bowl, keeping as much sauce in Instant Pot as possible.
• Once all chicken has been removed, pour prepared cornstarch slurry into Instant Pot. Whisk vigorously until slurry is fully incorporated into honey garlic sauce.
• Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode and bring mixture to boil. Boil sauce mixture 30 to 60 seconds or until sauce has thickened, then turn off Instant Pot.
• Return cooked chicken to Instant Pot. Gently stir chicken into thickened sauce, making sure to coat chicken completely.
• Once chicken is fully coated in sauce, portion chicken into serving bowls with cooked white rice (or cauliflower rice). Garnish with thinly sliced green onions and white sesame seeds if desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

• Salt: I recommend low-sodium soy sauce and even reduced-salt ketchup if you’re sensitive to salt. If you’re afraid of making the dish too salty, start by using very little salt on the chicken and cut back how much you add to the honey garlic sauce. Taste the sauce before serving and add salt then if needed.
• Soy Sauce: You can substitute this with coconut aminos or lite tamari if needed.
• Mix-Ins: If you’d like to serve this with broccoli, carrots, or mixed vegetables, you can add them to the Instant Pot right after you add the slurry.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 295kcal, Protein: 33g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 97mg, Sodium: 819mg, Potassium: 599mg, Total Carbs: 21g, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 17g, Net Carbs: 21g, Vitamin A: 121IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 13mg, Iron: 1mg

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

 

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

 

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

© Author: Cheryl Malik