This Instant Pot orange chicken is bursting with bright citrus flavor! Fresh orange juice and savory soy sauce serve as the base for this better-than-takeout recipe. Simply throw everything in the Instant Pot, and 10 minutes later you’ll have a delicious meal the whole family will love!
What Makes This Instant Pot Orange Chicken Recipe So Good
- The Instant Pot as your only cooking tool means cleanup is a breeze! From start to finish, everything for this orange chicken cooks in the Instant Pot. This recipe really couldn’t get any easier.
- The combination of orange and lemon juice add a fresh citrus kick to this dish. This Instant Pot orange chicken is light and satisfying.
- Sweet and savory ingredients create an award-winning combo. Savory soy sauce is brilliantly balanced by a touch of brown sugar and orange juice.
Key Ingredients for Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Orange Juice – Take a nice, big juicy orange, slice it in half, then squeeze as much of the juice out as you can. Avoid using store-bought orange juice, it will taste too sweet and not at all fresh.
Orange Zest – Consider it your secret ingredient! Orange zest will truly take this dish up a notch. Simply take the orange you juiced, run it across a grater, and then measure out a tablespoon of fresh zest.
Ginger – Fresh ginger adds a nice spice to this dish, but it’s totally optional. If you don’t have ginger or can’t find any at the store, leave it out.
Cornstarch – Cornstarch is very important for thickening the orange chicken sauce. Fully dissolve the cornstarch in water before adding it to your sauce. If you’d like to make this recipe paleo, use arrowroot starch instead.
Chef’s Tips
- Don’t fully cook your chicken breast chunks in Step 1. Sauté in olive oil to lightly cook the outside edges, and then Step 2 will take care of the rest!
- Add in the cornstarch, and then wait for your sauce to thicken and immediately turn off the heat. Be careful not to overcook the sauce, otherwise it will be too thick.
- You can easily double this recipe if you’d like! I used a 6-quart Instant Pot, but some sizes of Instant Pot are large enough to hold up to three times the ingredients below. This recipe is perfect for company because the Instant Pot just makes it so easy!
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Shrimp
- Instant Pot Turkey Breast
- 20 Keto Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Dal
- Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
- 50 Low Carb Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Sushi Rice
- Instant Pot Eggs
Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup orange juice from one large orange
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup soy sauce see Notes
- ½ cup brown sugar see Notes
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger optional
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch see Notes
- 3 tablespoons water
- ¼ cup green onions sliced
- cooked white rice for serving, optional
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Turn Instant Pot onto sauté setting. When Instant Pot reads "HOT", add in olive oil, chicken, and salt. Cook for 2 minutes.
- In a bowl, mix together the orange juice, orange zest, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and ginger. Add to Instant Pot with chicken. Secure Instant Pot lid. Set to manual pressure cook for 5 minutes. Manually release steam before removing lid.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water until cornstarch has completely dissolved. Set Instant Pot back to sauté and add in the cornstarch slurry.
- Stir everything for a couple minutes until sauce has thickened. Turn off Instant Pot and garnish chicken with sliced green onions. Enjoy on its own or serve on a bed of rice.
Notes
- Make it Paleo: Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, and arrowroot starch instead of corn starch.
- Make it Refined-Sugar-Free: Use maple syrup or honey instead of brown sugar.
Nutrition
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Hi! I’m Sam, a travel, food and fitness enthusiast from the New York metro area. I love creating new and inventive recipes, and my favorite part is sharing them with others. My love of food goes all the way back to my early childhood, I grew up cooking alongside my mom and Nonna – the two best cooks I know! When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m either planning my next vacation, spending time outdoors (preferably on a beach), or bingeing Netflix’s latest docu-series. My passion for eating and living well led me to create the blog and Instagram account, Sam Does Her Best, where I health-ify my favorite comfort foods. I’m a big believer that good-for-you food can still be exploding with flavor and (most importantly) easy to make. I’m thrilled to be here at 40 Aprons doing what I do best – creating, photographing, and sharing delicious recipes with you all!
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Jeannie Loncar says
Served this dish last night. It was very good. Will make again. I did add green pepper and mandarin oranges for a e tra pop.
Kelly says
The brown sugar is missing from the instructions. Step 2??? Cant wait to try but not sure where sugar goes..
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
Sorry about that, the brown sugar is in step 2. We’ve updated the recipe to reflect the correct changes!