Honey chicken made in the Instant Pot. Chunks of tender chicken cook in an easy homemade honey sesame sauce in the Instant Pot. Cooks for only 4 minutes! Serve over rice, and garnish with green onions for an easy and delicious dinner.
I’ve kind of had a thing for my Instant Pot lately. When I first got my Instant Pot I was not sure I liked it. So many recipes ended up with that error message; too much stuff inside it, too much liquid, not enough liquid, burned to the insert. But I think I am finally starting to get the hang of this thing.
I put this honey chicken into the Instant Pot while I was talking with my brother on the phone and by the time we were done, so was dinner 🙂 Literally, 5 minutes cook time. It’s crazy, right?!
This crispy honey chicken I posted on the blog a few years ago continues to still be one of the most popular recipes on my site. It’s crispy chunks of chicken that you fry on the stove top and then this homemade honey sauce gets poured over top of the crispy chicken pieces.
Serve it over rice and it’s so delicious. It’s very similar to todays recipe but requires a bit more time because you have to dredge the chicken and then fry it in batches. This Instant Pot version is much quicker and a little healthier than the crispy one.
How to make Honey Chicken in the Instant Pot
For this recipe you will need 4 chicken breasts, reduced-sodium soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and some cornstarch and water.
Mix up the simple honey sauce in a bowl or glass measuring cup. Stir with a fork and set aside.
Cut the chicken breasts into small, bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the chunks of chicken and then cook the chicken inside the insert of the Instant Pot (using the sauté function) in some olive oil.
Once the chicken is white on the outside turn off the sauté function, pour the honey sauce in with the chicken, place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the cook time to 4 minutes. The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through. Just white on the outside.
Tips for making Honey Chicken
Make sure the chicken chunks are not too big. The cook time is only 4 minutes so you want the chicken to be bite-sized pieces (about 1″) so they will cook in time. If the chunks of chicken are larger then you will need to increase the cook time by a few minutes.
Serve this honey chicken over your choice of rice. My family, mainly my kids, love white rice so I cook up some basmati rice in the rice cooker and it’s ready when the chicken is done. Rice cookers take longer so if you are using one, be sure you do the rice first before making the chicken.
The green onions add a delicious flavor to the chicken so sprinkle a few of those on the chicken when you serve it.
Once you have added the cornstarch + water to thicken the honey chicken after the cook time, and it’s still not as thick as you’d like, press the sauté button and let the honey chicken cook for just a few minutes to thicken the sauce up even more. Watch this carefully as it gets really hot and can easily turn the sauce into a goopy, thick mess if heated for too long (because of all the cornstarch).
Try these other honey dinner recipes
- Baked Honey Lime Chicken Taquitos
- Oven Baked Honey Lime Chicken Tacos
- Crispy Asian Honey Chicken
- Slow Cooker Honey Teriyaki Chicken
Honey chicken made in the Instant Pot. Chunks of tender chicken cook in an easy homemade honey sesame sauce in the Instant Pot. Cooks for only 4 minutes! Serve over rice, and garnish with green onions for an easy and delicious dinner.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs - 2 1/2 lbs)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (or 1 tablespoon garlic paste)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
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Cut chicken breats into small, bite-sized pieces. Aboout 1-inch chunks.
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Prepare the honey sauce by adding the soy sauce, honey, ketchup, garlic, water, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Stir with a fork until combined and set aside.
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Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil into the liner of the instant pot and push the sauté button. Add the chunks of chicken and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the chicken. Cook and stir the chicken until all the pieces are white on the outside. Chicken does not have to be cooked through. Turn off the sauté function.
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Pour the honey sauce into the Instant Pot. Cover with lid and put the valve in the 'sealed' position. Press the poultry button and change the cook time to 4 minutes, or push the manual button and put the cook time to 4 minutes.
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Do a quick release when the cook time is done. Mix together the cornstarch and water and add into the chicken mixture. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes for the sauce to thicken slightly. If you want the sauce thicker, turn the sauté function on and let cook for just a few minutes to thicken up.
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Serve over rice and garnish with green onion and/or sesame seeds.
Note that the Instant Pot will take about 5 minutes or so to come to pressure before cooking for the 4 minutes.
If you choose to use the sauté function to thicken sauce, be sure and watch it very carefully. It gets really hot and can easily turn into a goopy, thick mess. I just add the cornstarch + water into the chicken mixture and let it sit for a few minutes to thicken. We think this thickens it perfectly.
Calorie count is for one serving (about 1 cup of chicken + some sauce). Rice will be extra calories depending on what you use.
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