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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 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
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.
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!
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
This Instant Pot chicken recipe is only 392 calories per serving.
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.
Other Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
- Ginger Soy Chicken (Instant Pot)
- Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
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 scallion, chopped
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 cornstarch
Instructions
- Wash and rinse the chicken thighs with cold water, then pat them dry with paper towels. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients for the Sauce together, stirring until well combined. Ensure that the honey and cornstarch are completely dissolved. Set aside.
- Turn on the Sauté mode on your Instant Pot. Once the pot is fully heated (to prevent the chicken from sticking), add the cooking oil. Pan-sear the chicken thighs until they turn slightly brown. If they stick too much, you can use a non-stick skillet for pan-searing or skip this step.
- Add the garlic and sauté for a minute. Pour in the sauce and top with white sesame seeds. Cover the pot, select Manual, and set it to High Pressure for 8 minutes.
- When it beeps, turn to Quick Release. Once the valve drops, carefully remove the cover, add the chopped scallions, and serve immediately. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode to reduce the sauce for about 2 minutes, or until it slightly thickens.
- If the sauce is lighter in color than shown in the pictures, you might consider adding some dark soy sauce to achieve a deeper color. Different soy sauces have varying colors; some are lighter, while others are darker. If you use a lighter soy sauce, the sauce will appear lighter, but the taste should remain about the same.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
yum, just made this tonight! I used hot sesame oil in addition to the chili garlic sauce, so it really had some heat, but not too much!
I too noticed that the sauce hadn’t thickened. I think that from sauteing the chicken in the instant pot, the juices of the chicken added to the liquid. But that sauteing at the end worked great.
I used chicken breasts instead of thighs, cut them horizontally so they wouldn’t be too thick, and then also cut them vertically in half or thirds to make the pieces more manageable, so maybe that contributed to the additional juice..
My sesame seeds didn’t stay on top of the chicken though. Maybe next time I’ll put more on before serving.
now … to go find Jyoti’s facebook IP group!
Hello,
I came across your site from an IP facebook group. I am liking your recipes and that you answer people’s questions without getting upset that same questions have been asked by most.
Mine is a tecnical question. What do I do when I like your recipe and want to save it so I can find it easily later. I have just bought an instant pot and want to collect IP recipes.
Thanks
Jyoti
Hi Jyoti, thanks so much for sweet comment. Do you have Pinterest? If so, you can pin my recipe photo and save it to your Pinterest so it will be a quick bookmark back to my site. :)
Let me know.
I just made this and followed your instructions exactly. Mine looks nothing like the picture either. Sauce is runny and not dark at all. Are u sure the cornstarch amout is enough?
Also in the first paragraph you mention a chili garlic sauce but it is not listed inthe ingredients.
Thanks
Hi Susan, did you saute the chicken after pressure cooking to reduce the sauce. As the sauce is reduced, it might turn darker. Another factor might be the soy sauce you used. Some soy sauce is darker and some soy sauce is lighter and more liquidy. My soy sauce is the darker version. I use Kikkoman naturally brewed soy sauce.
I had a similar experience as others above – my chicken was not brown (even though I sautéed it on high in my instant pot) and the sauce was very thin. I added extra corn starch after it was done, and sautéed it a little longer to thicken. But mine did not look anything like the picture either. I thought the flavor was good. I may try browning the chicken in a frying pan next time – maybe coat it with a little flour.
The advertising is really slowing down your nice site and making it kinda un-usable ?
Hi Robin, I am sorry to hear that. Where are you viewing it from? Everything is loading fast for me.
Just made this and the proportions of the sauce must be off. Mine came out in a huge pool of watery brown liquid. I added more cornstarch and put it on saute mode to reduce sauce like a previous reviewer. Taste is great, i’d add something spicy to give it a kick next time.
Mine looks nothing like the picture fyi. Food styling i say? :)
Huge pool of watery brown liquid? Hmmm, is your measurement off? The photos in the IP were exactly how they turned out, there was no food styling involved when I shot the pictures in the IP. There is basically 1/2 cup of chicken broth in the recipe, so it shouldn’t be a pool of liquid. In any case, yes saute mode is great to reduce liquid and it’s super fast. Adding spices sounds great, a few dashes of cayenne pepper or Sriracha will be great. :)
5seemed as if a lot of people on your reviews might be sing an 8at cooker ! That will cause these results and is a topic/issue that keeps getting over looked in your responses.
I just got n 8 at Crock pot brand multi cooker and look forward to making this recipe and many more from your site !
Thank you thank you thank you !
Vtkmac/Vtkmac@gmail.com
OK, just finished making this and it looks nothing like the picture, the sauce is thin and the chicken (I used breasts) is very pale. I’m attempting to improve it by reducing the sauce to thicken it and then put the chicken back in to coat, but am wondering how you got the color on it. I did indeed brown the chicken on both sides before cooking, got a nice enough tint to it. Hoping this turns out better when I thicken the sauce some.
Hi JS, my soy sauce is pretty dark in color. Some soy sauce is lighter and some are darker in color. If you want the coloring, you can add 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce but the taste would be the same!
Thanks, I have dark soy so will try that. I pulled the chicken, reduced the sauce in the pot on sauté, then sliced the chicken and returned it to the pot and stirred to coat. Absolutely delicious, served it over rice with a little Thai sweet hot sauce. I find that your site has a very high proportion of recipes that are keepers, so thanks!
Hi JS, thanks for your sweet comment. Yes, my recipes are all easy and delicious. :)
Hi Rasa,
Love your IP recipes especially the Honey Garlic Chicken! I am on the Keto diet and want to stay in ketosis. I want to make your Honey Sesame Chicken , do you know if all the ingredients are keto approved? If not, do you have any recipes similar recipes that are? Thanks!
Hi Karen, thanks for your comment, I am not familiar with Keto diet so I can’t say much about it. If you love my honey garlic chicken, this should be fine as it’s quite similar.
The recipe mentions to mix the honey and sugar well but I don’t see sugar in the list of ingredients. How much and what kind of sugar? Thanks!
Hi Paula, sorry, it was a typo, there is no sugar.
It was a typo, I meant corn starch. ;)
Thank you! Picking up ingredients to put this on next week’s meal plan. Looks & sounds delicious!
Looks delish! Your instructions mention to dissolve honey and sugar thoroughly, but sugar is not listed in ingredients….