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5 Secrets to 20 Minute Dinners!
Tips, tricks, and recipes for dinner in a hurry!
Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
I love chicken and all kinds of chicken recipes.
Chicken thigh is my favorite part of chicken; it has tender and juicy meat, with some fat and the perfect texture for cooking in an Instant Pot.
I made the chicken thighs with Honey Garlic Sauce as Honey Garlic Chicken is an easy and delicious recipe.
The combination of honey, garlic and soy sauce always guarantees mouthwatering results, especially with chicken.
Instant Pot is an amazing kitchen appliance as it pressure cooks the chicken to tender, juicy, moist perfection, and the meat just fall off the bones. Watch the video here and learn how to make this recipe.
Other instant Pot Recipes You Might Like
- Ginger Soy Chicken
- Honey Sesame Chicken
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken
- Creamy Garlic Mushroom Chicken
Can You Brown Chicken in Instant Pot?
Yes, Instant Pot is perfect for browning meat such as chicken. To pan-fry and brown chicken meat, turn on the Saute mode.
You can brown the chicken thigh until the skin turns brown on both sides.
Instant Pot Chicken Recipes – How to Cook Chicken in Instant Pot?
How to cook Instant pot chicken using an Instant Pot.
- To brown chicken or meat in an Instant Pot, make sure the pot is nicely greased. Add at least 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and make sure that it coats the entire surface of the pot.
- Turn on the Saute mode and heat up the pot. Make sure it’s fully heated and the cooking oil becomes more liquidy before adding the chicken.
- If you have skin-on chicken, for example: chicken thighs or chicken breasts, always brown and cook the chicken with the skin side down first. This will prevent the chicken from sticking to the pot.
- Brown, pan-fry and saute the chicken uninterrupted, for about 3 minutes on each side before flipping over. This will avoid the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Can You Cook Frozen Chicken in an Instant Pot?
Yes, you can cook frozen chicken right out of freezer in an Instant Pot. Just pressure cook for an extra 5-10 minutes.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
This meal is best served with rice or pasta. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 388 calories per serving.
Instant Pot Chicken Recipes - Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. (750g) chicken thighs (4 chicken thighs)
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Honey Garlic Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon sugar or brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons water or chicken broth (preferred)
- 3 dashes cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Mix all the ingredients in the Honey Garlic Sauce together, stir to mix well. Make sure the honey and sugar are completely dissolved. Set aside.
- Turn on the Saute mode on your Instant Pot. As soon as the pot is heated, add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil. Pan sear the chicken thighs (skin side down first) until both sides turn nicely brown.
- Leave the chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil and add the garlic. Saute the garlic a little bit. Pour in the sauce and cover the lid. Select Manual and set to High pressure for 10 minutes.
- When it beeps, turn to Quick Release. When the valve drops, remove the lid carefully, add the chopped parsley and serve the Instant Pot chicken with honey garlic sauce immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
I’m new to Instant Pot cooking and am looking forward to making this recipe. I would like to add broccoli to the dish; when would be the best time to do this?
I would add Broccoli after pressure cooking, using Saute mode or they would be too mushy.
If I use a mixture of chicken thights and legs and use more like 10 pieces total, how long do I need to cook in the instant pot for?
Maybe 12 minutes?
Can I adapt this to chicken legs ?
Yes you can and just cook for 8 minutes.
Do you think this would work with party wings? I don’t have thighs
Yes it would but you probably want to cook for maybe 8 minutes.
What would I do if I wanted to just use frozen chicken breasts? (thin cut)
Just increase the cook time by 50%.
I made this tonight and the flavor was amazing! My only issue, and it always seems to happen with all my instant pot meals, is that my sauce didn’t really thicken? How do I get it thicker?
After the chicken is cooked remove it from the IP, then turn the IP on to the saute setting and let the sauce simmer/boil for a few minutes. Much of the liquid will evaporate and you’ll be left with a delicious, more concentrated sauce or glaze.
Hi Adrienne, correct. Saute mode is awesome to thicken up the sauce!
This was my first IP meal and it was delicious. Even my 9 year old said it was AH-MAZING. High compliments indeed! I added some cornstarch at the end to thicken the sauce and served with mashed potatoes. So good!
Hi Ashley, I am so happy you liked this Honey Garlic Chicken recipe.
The sauce was awesome, it was my first instant pot meal and I made the carrots recommended from Kalyn’s website. Next time I won’t bother with chicken with bone and skin, just use skinless, the skin was a little rubbery. Awesome flavor! Will make it again.
Hi Erika, awesome, thanks for trying this Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken.
These look delicious but my picky eater won’t eat thighs. Ho long would the cook time be with boneless chicken breasts?
Maybe 8 minutes?
I made this in my Instant Pot and the sauce is very good. However, I used skinless thighs and did add oil to the pot to saute. They stuck like crazy even when I left them for a bit before turning. Once it cooked, it came loose and was good. but didn’t look like your pics!
Hi Jennifer, I am sorry to hear that. I think your pot wasn’t hot enough when you pan-fry and yes the skinless tend to stick a little bit. I had the skin chicken thighs and the fat from the skin helped so it didn’t stick. In the future, if you want, you can pan-fry your chicken on a skillet first (stove top) and transfer over. But anyway, as long as it tastes good, your food doesn’t have to look like my pictures! :)