Honey Sesame Instant Pot Chicken

ByBee Yinn Low

4.52 from 138 votes

Published Jun 05, 2019

Updated Aug 29, 2024

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One of the best Instant Pot recipes with chicken thighs in a sweet and savory honey sesame sauce. This juicy and moist chicken will be an instant hit!

Instant pot chicken with honey sesame sauce.

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Instant Pot Recipes With Chicken

Instant Pot is best for making chicken. The pressure cook time is usually very short, depending on the part of chicken used.

If you have a killer sauce recipe, dinner is guaranteed to be a success. Just like these tender, juicy, moist and soft Instant Pot chicken thighs swimming in the mouthwatering honey sesame sauce.

Want to try more Instant Pot recipes? Try my Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken recipe!

Honey Sesame Sauce

Instant pot chicken thighs in a sweet and savory honey sesame sauce.

One of my most popular Instant Pot recipes is Honey Garlic Chicken. This Honey Sesame Chicken recipe calls for similar and simple ingredients:

  • Honey
  • Toasted sesame oil
  • Soy sauce
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Chili garlic sauce
  • Chicken broth

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.

The flavor is savory, sweet, with a tint of tartness and heat. This Instant Pot chicken is now my #1 favorite dinner recipe.

Instant Pot Chicken Thighs

For the chicken, I used skinless and boneless chicken thighs and they are perfectly cooked in 8 minutes in the Instant Pot. You can also use bone-in chicken thighs.

Chicken thighs pressured cooked inside an Instant Pot with honey sesame sauce.

The active prep time is only 5 minutes, so dinner is ready for the entire family in practically less than 20 minutes!

Serve the chicken over steamed rice, just like the picture above and you have the most amazing Asian chicken dinner ever!

Instant Pot chicken with honey sesame sauce, on top of steamed rice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use chicken breasts for this recipe?

Yes, you sure can. Just pressure cook chicken breasts for 10 minutes. The instructions and methods are exactly the same. If you use frozen chicken breasts, please increase the pressure cooking time to 12 minutes.

How many calories per serving?

This Instant Pot chicken recipe is only 392 calories per serving.

Honey Sesame Chicken is one of the best Instant Pot chicken recipes.

What To Serve With Honey Sesame Chicken

This dish is best served with rice or simple pasta. For a healthy meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.

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Instant Pot chicken with honey garlic sauce.
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4.52 from 138 votes

Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

By: Bee Yinn Low
One of the best Instant Pot recipes with chicken thighs in a sweet and savory honey sesame sauce. This juicy and moist chicken will be an instant hit!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 13 minutes
Servings: 4 People
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Ingredients  

  • 1 1/2 lbs. boneless and skinless chicken thighs
  • salt
  • ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame
  • 1 tablespoon chopped scallion

Honey Sesame Sauce

  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Sriracha or chili garlic sauce, Rooster brand, or most to taste
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon corn starch

Instructions 

  • Wash and rinse the chicken thighs with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Set aside. Mix all the ingredients in the Sauce together, stir to mix well. Make sure the honey and corn starch are completely dissolved. Set aside.
  • Turn on the Saute mode on your Instant Pot. As soon as the pot is fully heated (to make sure the chicken doesn’t stick to the pot), add the cooking oil. Pan sear the chicken thighs until they turn slightly brown (if they stick to the pot too much, you may use a non-stick skillet for pan-searing or skip this step.)
  • Add the the garlic and saute a little bit. Pour in the sauce and top with the white sesame. Cover the pot and select Manual and set to High pressure for 8 minutes.
  • When it beeps, turn to Quick Release. When the valve drops, remove the cover carefully, add the chopped scallion and serve immediately. Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode to reduce the sauce, for about 2 minutes or so, until the sauce slightly thickens.
  • If the sauce is lighter in color compared to the pictures, you might add some dark soy sauce to make the sauce darker in color. Different soy sauce has different color, some lighter and some darker. If you use a lighter color soy sauce, the sauce will look lighter, but the taste should be about the same.

Video

Notes

I used a 6-quart Instant Pot.
Dark soy sauce makes the sauce darker. If you don’t have dark soy sauce at home, your sauce will be light brown in color.  The taste will be the same nonetheless.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can make this honey sesame chicken in a slow cooker, or on your stove top.
If you use a slow cooker, use high heat and cook for 3 hours. For stove top, just pan-fry the chicken and then add in the Sauce. Simmer on low heat and cook until the chicken meat is tender.
You can pan-fry the chicken on a non-stick skillet instead of using the Saute Mode. You can also skip the step.
If you use chicken breast, you can pressure cook for 10 minutes so the chicken is more tender.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 392kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 42g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 208mg, Sodium: 1096mg, Sugar: 11g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Bee Yinn Low

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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81 Comments

  1. Gpbudin says:

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious! I did need to cook the sauce 3 more intervals of two minutes each before the magic happened.

    Reply