My two favorite things, together at last!
Anyone who reads this site regularly knows there are two things that I absolutely love. The first is my new Instant Pot. I’ve only had it about a year, but I’ve already used it to make shredded chicken, beef stew, steamed artichokes, and a bunch of pasta dishes – and the list just keeps growing.
The other thing I really love is honey garlic sauce. I use it for meatballs, cocktail weenies, shrimp lo mein…even carrots. No matter what you put it on, it’s delicious.
So it was only a matter of time before I decided to put these two wonderful things together. And sure enough, wonderful plus wonderful adds up to REALLY wonderful. This Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken is a Chinese-style dish bursting with honey-garlic flavor. And because you make it in the Instant Pot, it’s also really quick to make.
Step one, mix up the sauce, pour it over the meat, and cook for 20 minutes. Step two, take out the meat and thicken the sauce. And step three, cut up the meat and toss it with the sauce. Boom, done. Served over rice with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and green onions, it’s a super-flavorful Chinese meal that takes less time than ordering takeout.
Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
Sesame seeds & green onion for topping
Rice for serving
Directions:
1. Start by placing your chicken in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Season well with salt and pepper.
2. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour the mixture over chicken and put your Instant Pot Lid on and set to seal.
3. Cook on the Meat setting (or on HIGH pressure for non IP) for 15 minutes and then quick release once the 15 minutes is up. Remove chicken from pot, leave the sauce in the pot.
4. Dissolve 3 teaspoons of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl and pour into your Instant Pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Push the Saute button and cook sauce for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
5. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions, and serve over rice.
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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup onion, diced
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- Sesame seeds & green onion for topping
- Rice for serving
Instructions
- Start by placing your chicken in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Season well with salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour the mixture over chicken and put your Instant Pot Lid on and set to seal.
- Cook on the Meat setting (or on HIGH pressure for non IP) for 15 minutes and then quick release once the 15 minutes is up. Remove chicken from pot, leave the sauce in the pot.
- Dissolve 3 teaspoons of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl and pour into your Instant Pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Push the Saute button and cook sauce for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Cut the chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions, and serve over rice.
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Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Nicole Bowron says
Is this possible to do with frozen chicken? How would you adjust?
Kerri-Anne says
I just made it with frozen chicken and didn’t adjust the time, turned out great. The only problem I had was the valve wouldn’t rise so I added an extra 1/4 of water and it worked fine after that.
Dannette says
Just made this and it’s so good I hope there is some left by the time my husband gets home!
Lorayn says
Loved it!
Becky says
For frozen chicken, add 3 minutes to the cook time.
Dianne says
The sauce was delish but my 6 quart Instant Pot turned the chicken into dried out mess at twenty minutes with instant pressure release. I think the manual recommends 10 -12 minutes? Going to try again because the sauce is a winner!
Heather says
My go to (because quick releasing meat just dries it out!) is to cook less time and allow to natural release for 10-15 minutes. I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but when I do I will cook for 8-10 minutes and then let NR for minimum of 10 minutes.
Alison says
This was just OK. Definitely missing some flavor. Chicken was tender. Served with rice and roasted broccoli. Doubt I’d make it again.
Rich Hurley says
My family of 5 loved this recipe. It was a big hit with my 9 year old twins and my 11 y/o. Any suggestions for cooking time if I made it with boneless pork chops instead?
Corey says
I love the idea of trying this with pork chops! I haven’t tried this recipe with pork chops, so I can’t say for sure…. but if you give it a try, please come back and let us know 🙂
Haley says
Could I make this without an instat pot?
Becky says
I made it last night on the stove in a skillet, because I had diced chicken breasts, and it turned out great! After I cooked the chicken, I removed it from the skillet and then cooked the sauce in the same skillet. Once it was done, I added the chicken back to toss it in the sauce and warm back up.
karona84 says
This was a really good recipe. The family asked what smelled so good. My daughter asked me to add some broccoli in after I had finished cooking it so I started it back up for 2 minutes and it came out great! Served with rice.
Pegster says
This was incredible. Hubs said WOW when he took the first bite. I added a little more honey at the end because I wanted it sweeter. I also added about a half tsp of toasted sesame oil, but other than that, I stuck to the recipe. Next time I’ll add cashews or water chestnuts. Yum!
Rachel says
I baked in oven with veggies and it was awesome!
Pauline says
I did! Turned out great!
Amber says
How would this work if I cut up the chicken first?
Pegster says
I did, and frankly I think that’s the easier way to go. I thickened the sauce with the chicken still in ithe pot, too. Five stars!
Barb says
Does cutting it up change the cooking time?
Cat w says
Absolutely love this recipe but for some reason I can never get the sauce to thicken a little.
Anna Marie Toner says
Works well..
Annie H says
Best one I’ve tried yet! Used 3lbs of frozen chicken breast cut into roughly 1in cubes, quadrupled the sauce (extra honey) and threw in some hoisin sauce too. Next time will add fresh mushrooms and some broccoli.
Pauline says
I cut up the chicken the first time, The other time and cooked it whole. I prefer the chicken cooked whole. Its moister
Megan says
This was simple and delicious! Thank you! Will make again.
Marlaina says
My chicken came out really dry.
Angie says
I used natural release (always for meat) because quick release often makes meat dry or rubbery.
Jen W says
This is seriously the best! Used 1/2 tsp sesame oil to finish the sauce and paired with baked spiralized carrots instead of rice. My chicken was perfect … About 2# chicken breast.
Teal Nash says
Has anyone ever added rice to the instant pot with this recipe?? Would it work ? 🤔
Kari R says
I wanted to make rice with it too and found these stackable inserts for instant pot on amazon! I’m making rice separate tonight but ordering those bad boys for future use making this and rice at the same time.
Charissa says
I want to make this this week! My husband and I love Chinese food, and this seems similar. But I am a little confused by the instructions. It says cook on meat setting or high pressure for non Instant Pot. I thought high pressure WAS an Instant Pot thing. Is that not the instructions for the Instant Pot then? Would love to hear back from you! Thanks!
DNAdoc says
Thank you!!! Legit smelled like I entered a Chinese restaurant as we opened the valve! My husband loved comes food but a couple of us in the house have Celiac Disease so can’t have anything with gluten and thus Chinese take out (his favorite option) is something we can never do.
However this very easy recipe cooks itself in the instapot and can be made Gluten-free!!! Our entire family enjoyed this! Thank you!!!
The chicken I used was still partially frozen in the center so I googled how to adjust cook time (they suggested adding 4min to frozen but mine was Abbie half frozen so I added 2min extra for a total of 17 min cook time plus I did 10min natural release- it was overcooked so next time I’ll start with fresh or I’ll just do the NR and no extra time). While my choice to overcook it did make it chewy, it was such a good flavor that we all ate seconds!!!
I used a generous Amy if seasoning on the chicken then added the sauce and cooked. Love that you don’t have to do any prep work for this. Just add ingredients and start!!
I’d add some pineapple chunks next time for a fun seeet bonus and different texture. I like the suggestions of broccoli (I’ll consider) and cashews (definitely cashews and pineapple could be added together to this dish)!!!
We will make this again for sure!!!
KP says
That was meant for other brands of pressure cookers. For instance, I have a crockpot brand instant pot. They don’t always have the same setting buttons.
Sy says
If I wanted to double the recipe, do I need to add minutes? And how long?
Corey says
You might just need to add on a couple minutes, but no more than that.
Trisha says
Hi! When did you add the sesame oil?
Allison says
I just made this for the first time and all I can say is wow!! I followed the recipe exactly and it is delicious. Very simple to make but so flavorful! This will become a regular in our dinner rotation. Thank you!
Christie says
OMG! My family LOVED this dish. I added some water chestnuts and bean sprouts at the end during the “sauté” to thicken process. My son asked me if I could put it on next week’s dinner list! Thanks for the recipe!
Peter in New Zealand says
Sorry far to sweet for me.
Morgan says
I’m slightly confused do I use 1/4 c water to dissolve corn starch as the ingredients section says or 1/2 c water as it says in the directions section?
A2withKids says
Made it tonight. Used tenderloins, so I decreased cooking time on chicken. Also stirred in some steamed broccoli at the end. Our overall opinion was it was good, but needed something. My husband suggested mandarin oranges. My daughter said it was already sweet enough and suggested peppers (for a kick).
Jarrod says
I add red pepper flakes before cooking, or chili oil while thickening. It is definitely needed.
Michelle says
I’m also wondering if you use 1/4 or 1/2 cup of water to dissolve the cornstarch?
Carla says
1-4 cup to dissolve the cornstarch. If you don’t, your sauce will be clumpy.
Samantha says
We love this chicken dish we don’t thicken the sauce and we shredded the chicken in it has a great flavour!!!!
Stephanie Rodgers says
Did you shred chicken before cooking with the sauce or after everything was said and done?
Corey says
After the cooking is done.
Brittany says
Supppperrrrr good!!! I doubled the sauce aka added more honey and a little water. I seasoned chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Added broccoli, mushrooms and sliced carrots over rice! Next time I want to add lil corns and water chestnuts. The recipe is super versatile, I’ll definitely be making this over and over 😍
Corey says
Oh! I love the idea of adding in the veggies!
Kristina says
I’ve made this dish many times and LOVE it!! I have a question: my hubs and I just started Weight Watchers (this meal is 10 pts a serving, by the way!). Does the nutrition info include the rice?
Wanda says
This is the best recipe! The whole family loves it!!
I would love to be able to post my pic of the finished meal
Corey says
Go ahead and email it to me Wanda! corey@familyfreshmeals.com – I would love to see!
Alison Samikkannu says
I need to leave out ketchup. We can’t eat tomato at my house. Any suggestions?
Linda H says
Try an equal amount of soy sauce an hoisin. You might have to tweak it a bit
Diane Perez says
Do we combine the cornstarch with 1/4 c or 1/2 c??? Both are stated in
receipe.
Corey says
1/4 cup of water 🙂 You can add more if you think it needs a bit more.
Jennifer says
Major winner for our family! Thank you for the great recipes.
Corey says
So happy to hear that Jennifer!
Terry says
I made this tonight, the very first thing I cooked in my Instant Pot– and it was really good! I made double the sauce, since we always like lots of sauce in our Chinese food, and added 5 minutes to the cook time since the breasts I used were very large– 3 of them were 2+ lbs. Also added a pkg of steamed broccoli at the end when adding the chicken back to the thickened sauce, since we like a veg or two. Might add carrots as well next time– because there will be many next times!
Sarah Bissell says
7making this recipe as I write this and was wondering I have a meat button and a poultry button and wasn’t sure which to use as the meat button has stew also on it. so I used pressure cook on high for 15 will let y’all know how it turned out
Patty says
I have the same question. Both buttons on my instant pot. Which one should I use? I’m leaning toward poultry.
Marina says
I made this and added fresh cut broccoli right before I put the cut up chicken back in the instant pot and hit saute. It came out beautifully!
Jamie says
I followed this recipe exactly and it turned out great! Family loved it. It will be on the meal rotation from now on. Thanks for the great recipe.
Kathryn says
Made it for the first time tonight. I would have cut up the chicken before thickening the sauce as the breasts weren’t cooked through. But wonderful flavor and will make it again!
Thank you!
Michelle says
So delicious! This recipe is a keeper! Thanks!
Karidan says
Wondering if you think this can be done in the crock pot???
Linda says
Super delicious! We cooked some lo men noodles and tossed those in, with the fully prepared chicken & sauce, just before topping with toasted sesame seeds and the chopped spring onions & serving. Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s definitely a “keeper!”
Ron B. says
Made the dish last night for the first time according to the receipe. The chicken breasts were semi-frozen but came out fully cooked. I found it hard to cut into cubes because it kept shredding. I would probably try cutting before cooking next time. My only complaint was that the sauce came out on the thin side but I don’t know if that was because the meat wasn’t fully thawed. Will definately do again!!!
Sarah says
Planning on doubling the recipe as my kids really love this chicken. So would I cook it longer or would the time stay the same? If I do need to adjust time what would it be adjusted to?
Jennifer says
Cook time should stay the same, however, it may take longer to come to pressure.
Greg says
Made this as written and it turned out perfect, the whole family loved it. Both my kids loved it.
Corey says
So happy you loved it Greg!
Renee says
Do you use the meat or chicken button? Thank you.
Corey says
They both should be HIGH pressure, so with would work
Ellen says
I tried this recipe pretty much verbatim .. it was awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Ann E says
What you you using as a Serving? 1/2 Cup? 1 Cup?
Susie Woodard says
Super recipe super easy !
Heather says
This was too sweet for even my children. I will play with the recipe a bit to see if I can temper the sweetness.
Rosemary says
I just received my first instant pot it’s a mini 3 qt. size. What size have you used for this recipe? I’m looking for recipes I can use, so far your site looks awesome. Still learning.
Rosemary says
It would be helpful when you post recipes if you state what size instant pot you are using since their are so many different sizes now. I have a mini 3 qt. size that I’m sure I will have to adjust most of the fabulous recipes to. Thanks.
Corey says
This recipe is for a 6qt.
Christine says
How do you go about tripling this recipe? Do you triple the amount of liquids?
Sarah says
I’m tired of making the same rotation of boring dinners, but my kids (10 and 5) consistently turn up their noses at the promising new recipes I try. This one was a winner!! They both asked what smelled so good before it was even finished and the 10 yr old wanted more tastes as I was cutting up the chicken. She wanted it without all the sauce so I held some back When stirring it back in. She didn’t want sauce on her rice either, but before I finished dishing up my own plate she was asking for saucy chicken and sauce on her rice too. The 5 year old did the same thing. I served it with broccoli and my husband and I mixed that into ours. SOOOO GOOD! The chicken came out perfectly cooked. Wasn’t dry or rubbery (used quick release per recipe). There was more than enough sauce for the three large breasts I used. The chicken wanted to shred, but it cut okay with a sharp enough knife and tongs to hold it together. This was a huge hit!
CINDY B says
As someone who has experienced the dreaded burn notice, there doesn’t seem to be enough thin liquid. Any issues with that?
Karen says
I added a 1/4 cup of water when I got the burn notice and it didn’t happen again. I’d imagine mixing water or chicken brother with the sauce before adding it would help too!
Anna Marie says
Love this recipe… Also cut the chicken breast into pieces and put in pot… left them in there to thicken.. worked well… BUT.. why did sauce come out with the steam on quick release… It was a mess.. LOL…But my counter and cupboard and all surrounding area are now clean… . Will sure make this again… hope someone can answer my question…
Edie says
I made this recipe and it turned out very tasty. But I also had the problem of the sauce coming out when venting making quite a mess. But it did clean up easily.
Aimee says
I had the same issue too! Had to clean a wall, some utensils in a utensil jar, and the counter top. Lol. I will make sure I have something to use as a splatter guard next time.
Brittany says
This was sooooo good! Thank you!
Kristi says
This looks delicious and I’m wanting to make this tonight but there are only 2 of us and we are light eaters. Does anyone know if this can be halved? or how good it is after being frozen? Thank you.
Corey says
I have great had luck freezing the leftovers 🙂
Kristal says
Yes I only used two chicken breasts but same sauce amount
Becky says
This is my favorite chicken recipe! Simple and delicious. Add a side of steamed broccoli and dinner is done!
Sarah says
I made this exactly as written…very good. Will definitely make it again!
Jon says
I am no cook, but this recipe would be impossible for even me to screw-up. It turned out wonderful!!!
Judy Heintz says
I’m trying this recipe and I got the burn notice. I turned it off, released the pressure opend it up and stirred it. Started it back up & I got the Burn Notice a second time. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Denise says
Me too! I just got this instant pot yesterday and I scoured the user manual for the “burn” alert and there is nothing! I just left it. Haven’t opened the pot just yet. Hope it’s ok! If anyone knows what your supposed to do please share!
Terry S says
Add a quarter cup water to your sauce at the beginning – it will still thicken at the end.
Terry S says
Add a quarter cup water to your sauce at the beginning. Sauce will still thicken at the end.
Kristal says
I loved it. So easy and fast. I served over rice with broccoli and next time I will add some heat or jalapeño pieces or red pepper flakes.
Debbie says
Really Enjoyed this recipe, I ended up shredding the chicken breasts and that worked too! Thanks will make it again!
Romy Anthonijsz says
Yumm!
Delicious, my family loved it!
A few notes:
I cut up the chicken before putting it in a pan. I was a little bit frightened it would turn out dry but it didn’t at all, and cutting it beforehand was just easier for me.
Also, the sauce didn’t really thicken as much as I liked (I just used a normal pan on a stove), so I added about a teaspoon more of the cornstarch, using a sieve and quickly stirring it through the sauce. This really worked, but be careful because if you overdo it the sauce will turn out super thick.
But I loved the recipe, will definitely try this again!:D
Kudos!
Teresa says
Made the recipe tonight and followed it to a T. Was very good and the chicken was moist. I rated 4 stars because we all agreed it was missing something and next time i make it i think i will add ginger. I think what’s missing is a bite. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Jenipher Goder says
So easy and tasty!
Teresa says
Is there something we could substitute the ketchup for that would still give it great flavor??
Lisa Linden says
Did you try the recipe without ketchup or find a substitute? TIA!
Devin says
Super easy and yes it is really good! I added about 1c of matchstick carrots in when adding chicken back into the sauce.
Corey says
That sounds like a yummy addition!
Danielle Harris says
Can I use boneless skinless chicken thighs?
Noreen says
I used 6 chicken thighs and followed the rest of the recipe as written. It was delicious! Next time, I am going to double the recipe and add steamed broccoli at the end. Fingers crossed it works!
Karen says
Super easy and so delicious! Definitely making this again.
B.J. says
This was amazing. I added a lot of fresh ginger and put ginger in the rice. Loved it. 1 out 2 kids liked it but she’s like Mikey, she hates everything.