Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken is one of our easy pressure cooker chicken recipes. Tender bite-size chunks of chicken coated in a sweet, sticky sauce. Make this Asian carry-out favorite a quick, easy-to-make meal that the whole family will love.
Scott from Houston emailed me asking for help converting one of his family’s favorite slow cooker recipe to a pressure cooker recipe.
The chicken recipe looked like one my family and my readers would like, so I decided to share it here as well.
Update: Since I first posted this recipe, it’s become one of the most popular recipes on Pressure Cooking Today. I’ve updated the post with new photos, pot-in-pot directions, and a few tips from commenters.
The designer who worked on my Instant Pot cookbook loved this meal so much it became our cookbook cover!
New here? See why my cookbook has over SIX HUNDRED ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews.
How to Make Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
This Honey Sesame Chicken recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
This is a nice straightforward pressure cooker recipe. All you need to do is sauté your vegetables (onion and garlic), brown the chicken, and dump in your sauce ingredients.
The Honey Sesame sauce is made with pantry staples that you probably already have at home: ketchup, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and a simple slurry of cornstarch and water added at the end to thicken.
Set the cook time for just 3 minutes at High Pressure. After a quick pressure release, stir in your finishing ingredients and slurry and there you have it: perfectly moist chicken coated in sticky honey-sesame sauce.
⏲️ Note: It’s important to bring the sauce back to a simmer after adding the slurry. That extra minute or two ensures that the cornstarch is fully cooked and that thickening agents activate to make a nice sauce for your dish.
How to Cook Rice and Honey Sesame Chicken at the Same Time in the Instant Pot
The magic of an Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker is that you can cook fluffy white rice at the same time as Honey Sesame Chicken—no stovetop required!
To cook rice in the Instant Pot while you make the chicken, use the white rice recipe at the bottom of our pot-in-pot post for your ingredient ratios. Add the rice and water to a 7×3-inch round cake pan or similar dish.
Skip sautéeing the chicken in the first step of the chicken recipe. Instead, just sauté onion and garlic. Then add the raw diced chicken with the sauce ingredients in step 2.
Place a tall rack on top of the chicken and sauteed onion and garlic in the pressure cooking pot, and use a sling to carefully place the pan holding the rice on top of the rack.
When the cook time ends, use a 10-minute natural pressure release rather than a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid, then remove the cake pan from the pressure cooking pot.
Finish the Honey Sesame Chicken as described in steps 3 and 4.
More Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken Recipes to Try
If you love replacing Chinese take-out with healthier homemade recipes, I bet you’ll also devour these other quick and easy Instant Pot dishes:
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli is another one of my most popular recipes that is better tasting than take-out.
- Instant Pot Chinese Lemon Chicken features a light, slightly sweet lemon sauce with a hint of ginger, garlic, and red pepper for spice.
- Pressure Cooker Orange Chicken replaces the heavy, deep-fried dish with a lightened up at-home version that packs just as much zesty orange flavor.
- Instant Pot Low-Carb Chicken Vindaloo from Two Sleevers is an easier Pressure Cooker adaptation of the delicious Indian chicken dish.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
Leave us a review below to tell us why!
Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
Make this quick, easy to make Instant Pot dinner that tastes like one of your family's favorite Asian carry-out meals! This Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken features tender, bite-size chunks of chicken in a sweet, sticky sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced (about 2 lbs.)
- Freshly ground pepper and salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/2 cup honey*
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 green onions, chopped
- Cooked rice, for serving
- Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Seasons chicken with freshly ground pepper. Preheat pressure cooking pot using the saute setting. Add oil, onion, garlic, and chicken to the pot and saute stirring occasionally until onion is softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add soy sauce, ketchup, and red pepper flakes to the pressure cooking pot and stir to combine. Pressure cook on high for 3 minutes. When timer beeps, turn pressure cooker off and do a quick pressure release.
- Add sesame oil and honey to the pot and stir to combine. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water and add to the pot. Select Saute and simmer until sauce thickens. Stir in green onions. Add salt to taste.
- Serve over rice sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Notes
** The original slow cooker recipe calls for 1 cup of honey. However, I've reduced it to 1/2 cup based on feedback, but feel free to adjust the sweetness level to your family's taste.
To cook rice pot-in-pot while you make the chicken, Add the rice and water to a 7×3-inch round cake pan. Skip sautéeing the chicken and just sauté the onion and garlic. Add the raw diced chicken with the sauce ingredients to the pressure cooking pot. Place a tall rack on top of the chicken and vegetables in the pressure cooking pot, and use a sling to carefully place the pan holding the rice on top of the rack. When the cook time ends, use a 10-minute natural pressure release rather than a quick pressure release. Continue with the recipe as written
Recipe adapted from this Honey Sesame Chicken slow cooker recipe.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 323Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 839mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 26gProtein: 28g
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.
FOR MORE FROM PRESSURE COOKING TODAY
🥘 Browse our collection of the best pressure cooker / Instant Pot recipes.
💬 Follow Pressure Cooking Today on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.
👥 Join our Electric Pressure Cooker Facebook Group. Our positive community of pressure cooking fans use all brands of electric pressure cookers, so it’s a great resource if you have questions about your particular brand.
🥧 If you’re interested in more than just Instant Pot recipes, follow us at Barbara Bakes. There we post amazing breakfasts, breads, and the best dessert recipes!
Thank you very much for sharing such a delightful recipe! For anyone who asked for Instant Pot accessories, check out this Amazon store https://www.amazon.com/shop/pressurecookingtoday
Made this tonight…followed the recipe exactly. It was wonderful. The whole family loved it. I gave a sampling to the neighbors who stopped by before dinner, they asked for the recipe. Definitely a regular rotation…and easy!
This was a very solid recipe. I tripled it and divided into two pots to feed a crowd of 18. We had about 3 servings leftover. I would cut the sauce next time… maybe by about 1/4-1/3. The chicken was very tender. I brined it first (using 40 aprons quick chicken brine). I should have cut the soy sauce as the brining made it turn out on the salty side. We served it with broccoli and fruit salad. I didn’t have green onions, which would have been pretty and added a good flavor.
Thank you!
Thanks Tanya – glad it was a hit with your crowd. That sounds like a great way to serve it. I don’t recommend reducing the sauce in this recipe because you need the liquid for the pressure cooker to come to pressure. You can use a little more cornstarch slurry to thicken it a little more.
Would the cooking time of 3 minutes still be the same if i used whole boneless skinless chicken breasts to cook (not diced) and then shred it after.
Hi Barb – no, if you use whole boneless skinless chicken breast your cook time would be 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Followed recipe as written (except for adding a cup of frozen stirfry vegtables ) perfect tasty and delicious will definitely cook again !
Adding stir fry veggies is a great idea Thanks!
Can I cook it straight from the freezer? What would be the pressure cook time?
If you have frozen diced chicken that’s frozen in flat and not in a clump, you can cook it from frozen with no changes. If you are starting with frozen chicken breasts, I often use the technique in this post https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-pressure-cook-frozen-chicken-breasts/ to thaw it quickly and dice it and proceed with the recipe.
Can you use chicken wings for this recipe?
Hi Lori – I haven’t tried it with wings, but I assume you could combine this recipe with this wing recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/teriyaki-chicken-wings/ and it would work well.
Is this freezeable at all? Thanks!
Hi Fallon – yes, I often freeze it. It freezes and reheats well. I like to thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and reheat it in a 7×3 inch cake pan in the pressure cooker.
Please explain your sodium content. I am very aware of sodium in meals. What you have posted is not possible, it’s far too much.
I do love this recipe, but please look at what you are posting for the sodium. It will scare people off.
Glad to hear you love the recipe! Thanks for the heads up Kathy – a program calculates the nutritional value automatically. I’ll use a different source to calculate the sodium and update it.
Flavor was good, but texture of chicken was rubbery; is this due to the nature of pressure cooking?
Hi Mike – glad you enjoyed the flavor. If the chicken was rubbery, it was overcooked. Next time cut your chicken into bigger pieces or reduce the cook time slightly. Also, be sure to use a quick pressure release.
Has anyone tried using beef instead of chicken and if so, what cut would you recommend and cook time?
My wife does not like chicken, so….
Thank you-
I haven’t tried it, but I would make it similar to the beef and broccoli recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/ Let me know if you give it a try.
That one sounds good too but-
I had to run to the store and buy the ingredients for this recipe and didn’t see your reply in time. I bought some inside skirt steak and will follow this recipe but probably double the sauce because the package of skirt steak is over the protein (chicken) weight on this recipe. I’ll double the sauce but likely cut the honey back from what would be 2 cups to 1.5 to 1.75 because I don’t want to it to be sickeningly sweet. I’m guessing I’ll add about one minute cook time to the protein cook because of the cut of beef but skirt steak is great for the grill and a high fast sear cook and isn’t a tough cut to me at all so hopefully it’ll go well. Everything is so expensive now. Don’t want to waste out ingredients because that’s just tossing money out the window.
I will post my review and suggestions from this recipe using skirt steak (beef) in hopes it may help someone out there who might want to try it with beef.
Going for it here in a few hours. Wish me luck. Haha.
-Thanks
Replying to myself I guess.
Followed the recipe exactly but used beef.
Inside skirt.
Flavor of the sauce was great but I’d recommend just sticking with chicken on this one.
It was pretty good though.
Thanks for the update. Did you use the longer cook time from the beef and broccoli recipe?
This dish was delicious! I’m relatively new to instant pot cooking and was a little deceived by the cook time. That 3 minutes is for the pressure cooking only, and does not include the initial sautéing.
Glad it was a hit – thanks Shari! Yes, in order to avoid confusion, only the pressure cooking time is included, not the time it takes to saute nor come to pressure.
We discovered this recipe several years ago. We’ve modified it a bit. First change was to substitute Korean Gochujang for the ketchup, which makes it a bit spicier and adds flavor. Our second change was to add a 16 oz bag of carrot chips. We increase the soy sauce, Gochujang, and honey to make more sauce for the carrots. It’s a real hit at our house.
Sounds like delicious changes – thanks for sharing Garrick!
How many servings is this? Can I double it?
Hi Angela – it makes 6 servings and is easily doubled in an 8 quart. I would reduce the cook time to 2 minutes when doubling.
What is the water to rice ratio in the pot?
Hi Karen – it’s 1 cup rice to 1 1/4 rice. 1 to 1.25 Enjoy! https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/
Everytime I do bite sized chicken in Instant pot, the pieces are flavourless rocks. The curry is good but chicken is bland. What should i change?
Hi Ekta – sounds like your chicken is overcooked. You need to either cut your chicken into larger pieces or reduce the cook time.
is the 1/2 cup soy sauce the only liquid that goes in the liner pot while pressure cooking the 3 min when doing the pot in pot? want to try this tonight so I wanted to make sure
Hi Scott – yes, the chicken will release a lot of liquid as it cooks, so the 1/2 cup of soy sauce is all you need for a 6 or 3 quart pressure cooker. If you’re cooking it in an 8 quart pressure cooker, I would double the sauce ingredients. Enjoy!
What should I change to use chicken thighs?
Hi Diane – if you used diced chicken thighs, the cook time will be the same. If you use whole boneless, skinless chicken thighs, I’d use a 9 minute cook time. Enjoy!
Thanks!
Tasty but chicken was overcooked. Will pressure cook for 2 min only next time.
Thanks Erin – glad you enjoyed the recipe. You can also try cutting the chicken into larger pieces as well.
With all the issues we have this day and age we spend a fair amount home trying to make all happy with a meal. We went to the airfryer and then the pressure/slow cooker. We have always had the slow cooker never the pressure cooker. Amazing cooked lamb lollipops (10 min. cook time) Saturday and the above chix reciepe…just finished the chix leftovers and making it again tonight…new cook in town love it!
Made this tonight for the first time. Followed the directions. Hubby says its a keeper. It was simple to make and tastes delicious.
That’s great – thanks Linda!
I’m in awe how easy and manageable this meal is to make! Tonight was my 2nd time recreating this dish bc the whole family scarfed it down. My first attempt I subbed Worcestershire for Soy sauce and there’s not a distinct difference so either way works in my opinion.
Thanks! Glad it was a big hit with you and the family. I had thought to try Worcestershire – thanks for sharing!
We really enjoyed this & it was the first time I’ve ever made it. The only negative thing I would say is that the soy sauce left an after taste that wasn’t nice. Yes it was light salt reduced. I think I’d try half next time and make up the other 1/4 cup with stock.
I have never used a pressure cooker before. This recipe which i have made tonight was a HIT!! My boyfriend and my extremely picky two year old loved it!
Thank you!!
Sounds like you’re off to a great start – thanks Natalie!
I made this tonight, I followed all the directions (except chilli 🌶 flakes)… It was a hit with me hubby and the big kid (my little kids are super fussy 😩🤦🏻♀️) the only thing was my chicken was dry 🤷🏻♀️ Might try it with thigh fillets next time
Hi Joy – glad it was a hit. Boneless skinless chicken thighs are great in the pressure cooker. You can also just cut your chicken into larger bite-size pieces for more tender chicken.
Hi!
Just tried this recipe tonight!
I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients so I substituted a lot! (Scary)
I substituted sesame oil for extra virgin olive oil, 2 T corn starch for 1T flaxseed mixed with 4T water (internet… I dunno), minced garlic for garlic powder,
And I’m wondering how long it normally takes for the sauce to thicken?
Hi Meg – it should thicken with 4 or 5 minutes.
I really like this. It’s the first time that I cooked 2 items together, also. The rice came out perfect. I will make this again and again. It was great not having to do the 2 recipes separately. One pot!
That’s great Kathy! So nice to hear it was perfect. Thanks!
Would we cover the pan with the rice or leave it open prior to PC?
Leave it uncovered.
Is it possible to half the recipe? If so other than balding the ingredients what else would change?
Hi Kat – you can use half the chicken, but make the same amount of sauce because you need enough liquid to come to pressure. Enjoy!
We always like to have leftovers for our family of 4. This will be our first adventure with the instapot. If we double the recipe, what changes in the instructions are needed?
Hi Nancy – a delicious choice for a first recipe. When you double it, the pressure cooker will take a little longer to come to pressure, so you may want to cut your chicken in a little bit bigger pieces, or reduce the cook time 1 minute. Enjoy!
Yummy! And it couldn’t be any easier.
I actually had 1+ lbs of chicken breast strips that I cut into chunks, even easier. I’m always missing an ingredient or two…I didn’t have any pepper flakes so I added Siracha, which gave it some nice heat (depending on how much you use). Great recipe!
Sounds like a delicious change. Thanks!
I’ve been making this for a while and I have made some substitutions. In the past i’ve used boneless skinless chicken thighs.. the dark meat really helps it not dry out too much. Tonight I tried making it with turkey and it turned out just as good!
Thanks Kelly – nice to hear it works well with turkey too.
Ok, don’t laugh (you can laugh) but here is the story after all my questions. I am not a great cook and am getting used to the pressure cooker. I did everything right EXCEPT the pressure cooker part. I set it but the timer wasn’t going down very quick so I looking at causes in the manual and kept checking the seal and I realized I had it set for 3 hrs and not 3 min so it prob pressure cooked like 6-8 min before I figured it out but it still came out great. Love it.
Some times trial by error is the best teacher. Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad you love the recipe. Have fun!
Ok one more question, should we probably limit the sautéing of the chicken and onion to 3 min regardless if the onion is soft by then in order to prevent overcooking the chicken before we pressure cook for 3 additional minutes?
Yes, just be sure and wait until your pc is hot before adding the ingredients and three minutes should be plenty,
I saw a interesting approach on another recipe for honey chicken. It had basically the same ingredients but with just a little less cornstarch. Anyway they pressure cooked the breasts whole with the sauce and removed the chicken and then cut it into pieces. In the meantime, they added the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and sautéed it for about 5 minutes and then added the cut up chicken back into the pot and tossed. It seems like there is a worry about the chicken getting tough, so I wondered how this might work? Or is that really an issue? Your opinion on doing it that way?
Hi Pam – you can cook the chicken breasts whole but the chicken is tender when you cook it for only 3 minutes and use large bite size pieces and it’s ready faster. But there’s not really one right way to cook things, everyone does what works best for them.
Ok thanks. I think I will cut up then
It’s so much easier to cut up the chicken before it’s cooked & too hot to handle. Chicken stays tender.
If I use a Zavor Lux LCD electric pressure cooker, do you think after sautéing,it probably takes 3 mins in it also?
Yes, the time should be the same in the Zavor. Enjoy!
I usually don’t comment on recipes but my family loved this! Instead of ketchup, I used Srirachi which gave it a nice kick! This is a keeper! Thanks!
Thanks – my husband would especially like that substitute.
I was so excited to try this recipe after seeing all the good reviews! But I feel really disappointed. I followed the recipe exactly, the only thing I did differently was sauté the onion, garlic and chicken in a pan on the hob for 3 mins rather than in the instant pot. My son ate it but said it was “strong”. My husband ate a few mouthfuls and said he will “eat it later” polite way of saying he doesn’t like it.
The flavour is overpowering and salty. I don’t know where I went wrong? I used dark soy sauce. Should I have used the light one?
Hi Siobhan – yes, the recipe uses a light soy sauce. Here’s a good guide to using soy sauces https://www.recipetineats.com/soy-sauce/ Sorry it wasn’t a hit with the dark soy sauce.
I made this last night to rave reviews. I would just say when thickening sauce, be careful not to overcook chicken. It is easy to do.
Thanks Annee – nice to hear it was a hit. You can also cut the chicken in large pieces to avoid overcooking.
Great recipe….just tried it and got excellent result. I love chilli chicken and I’m thinking of adding some siracha sauce to this recipe to get a chilli chicken dish.
Thanks Tony – sounds like a delicious way to change it up.
Made this tonight – oh so easy & delicious! Definitely a keeper. I did sub cilantro for the scallions because I didn’t feel like going to the store. lol. Made the jasmine rice (pot-in-pot) as you suggested and added broccoli to the chicken at the end to make a complete meal. The toasted sesame seeds were such a fun touch. Perfect.
That’s awesome – thanks for sharing Annie!
I do not own a InstaPot. I have a regular top of the stove Pressure cooker. Will that work for your recipes?
Thank you!
Hi Jackie – yes, you can make most recipes without any changes. Since a stovetop pressure cooker cooks at a higher psi, for long cooking items you may want to reduce the cook time slightly. For short cooking items like this honey sesame chicken, the longer time it takes an electric pressure cooker to come to pressure is offset by the higher psi on the stovetop pressure cooker, so no need to adjust the cook time. Additionally, you may need to add more liquid with recipes like this one that don’t have a lot of liquid – it just depends on how good you are at regulating pressure on your stovetop pressure cooker and how much evaporation you experience. The electric pressure cookers don’t start counting down the time until they’ve reached pressure, so start a timer when your stovetop pressure cooker has reached pressure.
Made this last night & it was amazing!!!!
Added extra extra red pepper flakes for a little more spice.. highly recommend doing if you like a little kick!
Thanks Mariah! My husband likes a little more kick too.
If I’m only make half the chicken can I half the entire recipe? Or will there not be enough liquit to bring the pot up to pressure?
There won’t be enough liquid if you half the sauce unless you cook it pot in pot https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-pot-in-pot-method-in-your-pressure-cooker-instant-pot/ after sauteing the onion and chicken.
Did it by the book and ivy entire family thought it sicked
Hi Ray – sorry you didn’t care for the recipe. It gets lots of rave reviews. Do you think your chicken was overcooked? Maybe you needed to saute it for a shorter time or cut your chicken into larger pieces.
Hi Ray. Maybe before you insult something someone worked hard to develop, you should learn how to spell, or at least proofread your mean, unnecessary reply.
Followed recipe first time with Insta pot,..
sauce never thickened. Any recommendations?
You’ll want to make additional cornstarch slurry and use the saute function to thicken it.
Made your Honey Sesame Chicken with Rice tons got and it was Absolutely Delicious! Made 4 adult servings and everyone raved how tasty it was. Made Sticky rice inside the pot using a 7”x3” cake pan set on a rack above the Chicken cubes which I cut somewhat larger than 1” cubes, to assure they would not overcook during the 10 minute NPR required for the rice.
I used 3/4 cup of Dark Raw Honey, 1/2 cup Kikomans Soy, and Heinz Natural which is made with cane sugar, not High Fructose Corn Syrup. The only change I made was adding 1 Tablespoon Ginger paste, a bit more minced garlic for flavor, and 1:1 ration for cornstarch Slurry for thickening. It appeared not to thicken too well at first, but once the dish cooled enough to serve, the sauce had a great consistency!
Thank you for this delicious recipe, it’s going to be a regular at our table!
The chicken was firm looking but very moist!
Thanks for sharing your changes Judy. I’m so glad you loved it!
This is a fantastic recipe, Thanks for posting 🙂
I’m with you on the honey, I definitely put more in!
I also split the resulting meal in half (to freeze for another night) and into one, I mixed 1-2Tb spoons of peanut butter and some crushed peanuts for a satay-style spin. Pretty happy to get multiple meals out of one pressure cooker session!
Thanks Sheena – glad you loved the recipe. It sounds like a great way to change it up for another day.
If you Want to make it any healthier or you can use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. It is a soy sauce substitute that is 75% less sodium.
Tried it. Lovely. My man approves 🙂 i did add chinese seasoning that contained ginger spice and it added a nice kick to it 🙂
Thanks Maki – glad it was a hit. Sounds like a delicious addition.
Typically, I would pass on recipes that call for shortcuts like ketchup because I prefer scratch made meals. But I took a chance with my new instant pot and made this recipe last night. It was such a hit that the man even said it was one of his top 5 favorite meals!
I like to make a recipe the first time according to the directions, but I know we prefer more sauce so I cut back to 2 chicken breasts which effectively doubled the sauce portion (I do this to a lot of recipes because we like more sauce). I also added sriracha at the end because we like a little kick but the recipe is fine as written unless of course you are sauce freaks like us. This recipe will stay in our dinner rotation and I am looking forward to trying your Mongolian Beef recipe next. Thank you!
Thanks Patty – I’m glad it was a big hit! It sounds like a delicious way to change it up. Enjoy the Mongolian Beef.
2 questions about PIP cooking. I have a springform pan for my mini. Is that what I would use? Also how can you do quinoa like this instead of rice?
Hi Darlene – I have a great post about pot in pot cooking https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-pot-in-pot-method-in-your-pressure-cooker-instant-pot/ You can use your springform pan if the ingredients are thicker like cheesecake batter, but for making rice the water would probably leak out. You could make quinoa instead of rice, but use a 1:2 ratio and cover the pan with foil to slow down the cooking. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-breakfast-quinoa/
Tonight’s Supper and a Real Keeper.
Brown Rice cooked in IP.
The Vegetables steamed in IP.
HONEY SESAME CHICKEN cooked in IP.
Each was cooked at different times.
I transferred the Honey Sesame Chicken to a pot on the stove to thicken the liquid and the Vegetables were steamed just before serving for tonight’s supper.
Sounds like a great meal Brian – thanks for sharing!
I followed the recipe to a T and doubled the rice too. NOT ENOUGH FOOD FOR 6! We had to ration. I’ve never ever ran out of food. I guess never say never right?
Sounds like everyone enjoyed the meal so make a note that you’ll want to double the recipe next time. Everyone’s serving size is different, I can only go by what I consider a serving, and generally, 1/2 cup cooked rice is considered a serving.
You lost me at ketchup.
Hi Anthony – it’s just a shortcut ingredient, you could definitely add similar ingredients if you prefer. Here’s a good homemade ketchup that shows what ingredients you could add instead https://boulderlocavore.com/the-best-homemade-ketchup/
I got an Instant Pot as part of the Black Friday sale. So I was a little unsure and nervous about using a pressure cooker. I followed this recipe to the tee and was amazed at how well it turned out. OMG the flavour and texture was outrageous! Thank you thank you!!
Thanks Debbie! Great pick for a first recipe. Have fun.
Hi, I made this tonight and I just have one question. After the saute of onions and chicken, i added the soy etc, then put on pressure. but it says on pressure for 3 mins… my cooker takes at least 5 mins to get to pressure, should i be doing it longer or is the 3 mins on pressure how i should do it. Tonight I cooked under pressure setting for ten mins, (to take into consideration of getting to pressure) and think it might have been two much, chicken was ok but not as succulent as i would have liked. Overall the recipe was a hit, I just want to get it right 🙂
Hi Emma – glad the recipe was a hit. Don’t add additional time because your pressure cooker takes time to come to pressure. All pressure cookers take time to come to pressure before the cook time starts. Think of it like bringing a pot of water to a boil before you add the pasta – the cook time on the box of pasta doesn’t include the time it takes for the water to come to a boil. A big pot of soup could take 20 minutes to come to pressure, but you’ll still just use the cook time in the recipe even though your overall cook time will be longer.
I’m in the midst of thawing chicken thighs, so may I use them? And being new to IP, wondered if I can hurry up the defrost of the thighs in the IP without cooking them, so I can then cut the pieces for the recipe. Each individual thigh is wrapped in aluminum foil (which I never do!), and I can’t yet get the foil off. I wondered about putting the thighs on a trivet with a cup of water in the IP and pressure cooking for 1 minute?
Also, if I want to add some veggies – frozen or fresh – would I just finish cooking the chicken, vent and then stir them in on Keep Warm? Or perhaps on Sauté? Thank you so much – I have your cookbook and will be making a bunch of the recipes.
Hi Beth – yes, chicken thighs should work well in this recipe without any changes. Yes, I think pressure cooking the thighs on a trivet with a cup of water would be a good way to thaw them and get the foil off. Using the saute function to cook your quick cooking veggies would be your best choice.
Hi! This looks amazing and I want to make it tonight. I saw a comment referencing a video tutorial on making this dish but I cannot find it on the page – can you post that please? Thank you!
Hi Kelsi – it depends on what device you are viewing my site on where in the post the video will show up. Sometimes you just have to be patient and wait for it to load. But the video is also available on Facebook. Enjoy!
Can you add broccoli and pepper to this recipe in the insta pot? And if so, how much could you add to keep the sauce still tasty
You can add broccoli and peppers to the finished dish; however, when you make broccoli in the pressure cooker, it generally goes in a steamer basket with a 0 minute cook time and a quick pressure release. (So as soon as the pot reaches pressure, it switches to the keep warm setting and you release the pressure.) So I wouldn’t cook the broccoli and peppers at the same time as the chicken. However, if you wanted to, after you pressure cook the chicken, you could remove just the chicken from the liquid in the pot, put a steamer basket in the bottom of the pot with the broccoli and thinly sliced peppers on top and put the lid back in place and set a 0 minute cook time. The pot will come to pressure quickly to cook your veggies. Then release the pressure, remove the veggies and steamer basket, and proceed with the recipe as directed.
Let us know how it turns out!
I would like to try this recipe this week, but my experience with not letting meats NPR (even for a few minutes) results in tough and chewy meat….. I’m wondering what makes this recipe with the chicken different?
Hi Lori – if your meat is in a sauce and you use a short cook time, you can use a quick release without having tough chewy meat. Just don’t cut your chicken into too small of pieces. Enjoy!
Perfect every time! I have been making this for some time. It is simple, fast, and a crowd pleaser no matter who we have over!
Thanks Kelly!!
I made this tonight for dinner with some rice and broccoli. IT WAS AMAZING!! Totally going into the dinner rotation. The kids even loved it. The flavor was perfect and it was so quick and easy too!! Thanks for this great recipe 🙂
Thanks Mandi for letting me know how much you enjoyed the recipe! It’s on the menu again at my house tonight.
I made this recipe in my Instant Pot tonight and it was terrible.
Very disappointed to put the cost and effort into a dish that was nothing but chicken and sauce. 🤷🏼♀️
Sorry you didn’t like the dish. It gets great reviews, but everyone’s tastes and expectations are different.
Perhaps you made it wrong, or more likely it’s simply not to your taste, but that does not make it “terrible” as if that’s a fact. Many people enjoy it. The ingredients list clearly shows this is chicken in a sauce so that’s no surprise. I may only try one out of ten recipes on many sites after carefully reading them, but am so grateful to get such an abundance of free information and recipes.
The fact that you did a video to summarize and show the steps and process was AWESOME! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THAT! I cannot tell you just how beneficial that was. I needed an easy recipe for dinner. And some blogs that claim a meal is easy when it’s not and actually involves an array of like steps that contradict the title of a recipe being ‘EASY!’ And that always drives me crazy! So THANK YOU I appreciate you providing a visualization, I will definitely be coming back to this site for dinner ideas. YOU’RE AWESOME! 👏🏼😃🥳
So glad the video was helpful! I’m a visual person too! ❤️
SO I’m a pretty good chef on my own, but got an instant pot for Christmas as a white elephant gift. This is a recipe that I love because you can add veggies to it too! I used broccoli and Green Pepper and it comes out FANTASTIC.
Hi James – what a great white elephant gift! So nice to hear you love this recipe. I like to bulk it up with veggies too. Thanks!
This is a fantastic recipe! It was so tasty! I added a bit of fresh ginger in place of the red pepper flakes for my *selective daughter.
Thanks for a quick and delicious dinner
Thanks so much Marilyn! Fresh ginger sounds like a delicious substitution.
Pingback: Quick and Easy Chicken Piccata | Barbara Bakes
Pingback: Flavorful Instant Pot Dinners and Sides | CrystalandComp.com
This was only the 2nd recipe I made in my Instant pot. It was GREAT! Even my son who’s a picky eater and said he didn’t have high hopes for it (lol, got to love teenagers) loved it!
Thanks Dawn! This recipe is definitely picky eater approved 🙂
Really good! I used about 2.5 lbs of fresh bs chicken and added some microwaved frozen brocolli at the end. Then served it over frozen steamable riced califlower. Yum!
Sounds like a great way to serve it. Glad it was a hit – thanks!
Found this looking for chicken recipes! It was a hit! Husband loved it & I added siracha sauce at the end for extra spice! Definitely recommend!
That’s great – thanks Daisy!
I’m new to pressure cooking and picked up your book after rave reviews on Amazon.. I made the old fashioned pot roast twice- huge hit!! Tonight we decided to make the sesame chicken and I had a lot of problem with this recipe… 🙁 I think I MUST have done something wrong! Maybe you can help. My husband has a theory and I’ll insert that as we come across that step.
I followed the recipe minus the onions and garlic (substituted garlic powder on the chicken) and scallions. However I used double the meat and doubled the sauce to compensate for the doubled chicken. Everything went great until the end. I added the honey and sesame oil, gave it a good stir and then added the slurry. After i gave it another good stir I added slightly undercooked broccoli so that it could finish cooking in the sauce and have the nice flavor and sauce coating (this is where my husband thinks I made the mistake). Well fast forward 5 minutes or so and my sauce hasn’t thickened even a little.. So i added a little more slurry.. Still nothing. After another 5 mins I gave up and told him dinner was served. I felt defeated. I also added a bit more honey after the first 5 minutes because after tasting the sauce there was no real honey flavor just tasted like a slightly spicy Asian sauce. I dont know what I did! Was it the broccoli or the doubling of the recipe? Because everything else was followed exactly! 🙁 hope you can help
Hi Samantha – so nice to hear you’re enjoying my cookbook and loved the pot roast recipe. Sorry, you had trouble with the Honey Sesame Chicken. Was the sauce boiling, or did the sauce never come to a boil? Did you have the saute setting on low? If you doubled the cornstarch slurry and then added more slurry, it should have thickened within the initial five minutes. I don’t think adding the broccoli or doubling it would cause the sauce not to thicken.
Can i double the recipe?
Hi Erin – yes, you can double this recipe without changing the cook time. Maybe use a little bit larger pieces of chicken because it will take longer to come to pressure. Enjoy!
Can I use frozen chicken? if so would the cook time
be the same?
Hi Marcela! Since it calls for diced chicken, if you dice the chicken before cooking and freeze it flat (for example, in a gallon-size ziplock), then you can use it in this recipe with no change to the cook time. Since the cook time depends on the thickness of the meat, if it gets frozen in a thick ball, the chicken on the inside of the ball won’t be cooked through. Skip browning the chicken and just add it after you’ve sauteed the onion and garlic.
If you have frozen whole breasts, increase the cook time to 5 minutes, remove the chicken and dice it, and then add it back in after you’ve thickened the sauce and simmer it a bit if necessary to finish cooking the chicken.
Could this recipe be made without honey? I really don’t like the flavor of honey and I made this and that was all I could taste (I used the suggested reduction of 1/2 cup) and was wondering if this would still work without honey entirely? Thanks!
Hi Annie – of course, substituting white or brown sugar should work well. You can just stir it in a little at a time to taste.
why would you make honey chicken if you don’t like honey?
I’m nervous with this recipe because everything I’ve read says to us a cup of thin liquid so it creates steam and comes to pressure. This doesn’t seem like enough liquid and lots of sugar. What is preventing the dreaded BURN notice? I haven’t had one yet and would like to avoid it. This looks delicious. I love sesame chicken.
Hi Julie – chicken releases a lot of liquid as it cooks, so you can get away with using less liquid to begin with as long as you have a 6 quart pressure cooker. If you have an 8 quart pressure cooker, then you’ll want to double the recipe or at least the sauce. Enjoy!
I have an 8 qt so do I just double the soy sauce?
Hi Lacey – no, you want to double all the sauce ingredients (ingredients in step 2) or the flavor wouldn’t be right.
Can you make an hour ahead and leave on warm?
Hi Yvonne – yes, I would probably reduce the cook time a minute or two because it will continue to cook on Keep Warm.
Delicious recipe! One question- after the chicken has cooked and pressure released, could you put brocoli on top and repressurize for 2 min to cook the vegetables? Would you not recommend because that would overcook the chicken?
Thanks!
Hi Vickie – broccoli is easy to overcook in the pressure cooker, so what I would recommend is cooking the broccoli first before cooking the chicken. Cook the broccoli for zero minutes with a quick pressure release. Then discard the water you used to steam/pressure cook the broccoli and then cook the chicken and stir in the broccoli after you’ve thickened the sauce. Enjoy!
If I double the amount of chicken, how long would I cook it for?
Hi Sandra – your cook time will be the same if you double the chicken.
This was the first recipe I made with my new Instant Pot. Delicious and simple. Thanks for the video too!
Great pick for a first recipe. Thanks Maddi – have fun!
Exellent recipe. Thank god i read the sugestion for half a cup of honey instead of a cup because it would have been too sweet. My family loved it.
Thanks Mike – glad it was a hit!
Hi, from the U.K. made this for supper this evening, it turned out really well. My partner described it as “amazing”. Will definitely make it again.
That’s awesome – thanks for sharing Jenny!
Yikes, I forgot to ask my other question.
If I double the recipe, can I sauté all the pieces at one time?
I imagine the chicken pieces would be stacked on top of each other…
Do I just stir them and not worry about them getting brown
or evenly sautéed? Thanks!
When we double the recipe, I usually do it in batches, but if I’m in a hurry I’ll do it together and only brown one side. The individual pieces don’t have to be cooked through, just enough browning to stick to the pot and flavor the sauce. Let us know how it goes!
Can’t wait to try this recipe!
How big should the chicken pieces be?
I’m having the butcher cut the boneless breaths up for me and I
need to be specific with the size of the pieces.. Thanks so much!
We generally cut them around 1-inch cubes, though a little smaller or a little bigger won’t make a difference. I love having the butcher take care of the slicing and dicing for me!
Hello! How long would you cook boneless skinless chicken thighs?
Hi Sunny – if they’re diced, you can cook them the same time. If they’re whole, I would cook them 9 minutes.
How long would you cook if the chicken is frozen
Hi Kelsey – if it’s frozen diced chicken not in a block, the cook time will be the same. (It will take longer to come to pressure.) If you want to use frozen whole breasts then do the quick defrost in this post https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-pressure-cook-frozen-chicken-breasts/
what do you mean by pressure cooking on high for 3 mins? do you change the setting to meat/stew and change to high, or leave it on saute, put it on high and wait for 3 mins
Hi Ramil – yes, you would have to change to a pressure cooking setting, meat/stew would work if you don’t have a pressure cook/manual button. After sauteing you’ll press cancel and then press the pressure cook button of your choice and adjust the time to 3 minutes.
Call me old fashioned, I have a cooktop pressure cooker. I’m not that old, but I have been using it since my late 20s. Before the electric cookers came out. I love it and it makes quick soups on busy days for my boys and I. I am looking for new meals. Will my cook times be different? I am not sure how the electric cookers work.
Hi Nancy – yes, you can use electric pressure cooker recipes in your old fashioned stovetop pressure cooker. The electric pressure cooker doesn’t start counting down the time until they’ve reached pressure. So bring your pressure cooker to pressure the way you normally would and when it reaches pressure start your timer when you reduce the heat on your stove. A stovetop pressure cooker cooks at a higher psi but typically a stovetop pressure cooker comes to pressure faster, so those two factors offset each other on slowly cooking items. On longer cooking items, roasts, etc., you’ll want to reduce your cook time by about 15%. You may need to add more liquid when you using a stovetop pressure cooker depending on how good you are at regulating the pressure and how much well your pressure cooker seals. Enjoy!
I also use a stovetop pressure cooker. How would this recipe work without scortching the pan? I’m used to adding water or chicken broth to cooking (about one cup). How could I do this with my stovetop cooker? TIA.
Where would you add veggies? Like red and green peppers, onions, etc.
Peppers and onions you could saute with the chicken and cook for the 3 minutes. Quicker cooking vegetables like broccoli you can either steam for zero minutes before cooking the chicken or microwave them and stir them into the sauce, or even stir them into the sauce and let the heat from the sauce cook them.
Wonderful recipe, will definitely make this again and again! I used a full cup of honey, I didn’t think it was too much. I actually made a mistake and added the honey and sesame oil with all the other ingredients in step 2, but it still turned out great!
That’s great – thanks for sharing Valerie!
Is the sesame oil essential or is there anything I could use to substitute? Thanks xx
Hi Jessica – not essential, just omit if you don’t have it.
Delicious chicken. I’m new to this and didn’t understand your instructions on how to cook the rice at the same time. So I just cooked the rice stovetop. Could you explain it in more detail or direct me to an earlier post? Thanks!
Hi Ann – glad you enjoyed the recipe. Here’s my post on pot in pot cooking that will help explain cooking the rice at the same time. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-pot-in-pot-method-in-your-pressure-cooker-instant-pot/
How long for chicken pieces thighs drumsticks legs with bones?
Hi Leora – I would try a 9-minute cook time for bone-in chicken in this recipe.
Ohh, help. Mine came out way too runny.I tried letting it cook longer on saute to try and thicken it up, did not work.
Hi Kelly – you can always add additional corn starch slurry to thicken it up as much as you’d like.
Thank you for this! First IP recipe (other than white rice) I have made and it was a hit!
Great choice for a first recipe. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Ira!
I made this today, but I added chx stock because I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough liquid for my 8 at due (Only my third time using it). Does the recipe have enough liquid as it stands to not get a “burn” notice? The stock took away some of the flavor…
Hi Kathy – you do need more liquid for an 8 quart. I would double the sauce recipe.
Ohh, help. Mine came out way too runny.I tried letting it cook longer on saute to try and thicken it up, did not work.
I just tried this recipe. As it was in its final simmer I tasted it and it was beyond salty. I used regular soy sauce as this recipe didn’t call for low sodium. I added more honey until it masked the salt and it tastes a lot better now. I think it turned out well. I made this recipe into a 10 split meal prep for my lunches with rice. I omitted green onions because I didn’t have any. I used toasted sesame seeds instead of roasted because I couldn’t find any at my grocery store. Definitely has a prominent toasted taste but not too bad. I will use this recipe again but with half the amount of soy sauce and a bit more honey as I like it sweet. All in all its an easy recipe. Thank you!
Hi Morgan – glad you enjoyed the recipe! Was it perhaps the last of the soy sauce in the bottle? If it isn’t shaken, the bottom bit can be extra salty. However, everyone’s salt level is different, so definitely reduce it to suit your tastes.
If you take out any of the soy sauce you will need to replace it with some type of liquid as it will not come to pressure if you do not have enough liquid in pot. The original recipe called for one full cup of honey (it was in her notes) doing the full cup of honey definitely removed a salty taste. Just my experience. Good luck
Great points Beth! You would need to use at least 1/2 cup of liquid for it to come to pressure. You do need a balance of sweet and salty.
I’m wondering what setting you use for saute? Less, normal or more?
Hi Morgan – I use normal for sauteing, more for browning and less for simmering.
What is the nutritional information based on? Serving with or without rice? For modified honey?
Appreciate it!
Hi Susanne – just the ingredients in the ingredient list – no rice.
Thanks for never mentioning to prepare rice at any point in the recipe. Was awesome getting the chicken cooked and then waiting another 35 minutes for rice, while the chicken got cold.
Awesome.
Hi Anthony – sounds like you’re not a very experienced cook. The first thing you need to do when you start a recipe is read it from beginning to end. If you would have read the entire recipe, you would have seen that rice is not mentioned in the ingredients list. However, if you read the note at the bottom, I do give instructions on how to cook rice at the same time as the chicken. The more you cook, the more you learn how to time everything so the meal is ready to eat at the same time. If I only have one pressure cooker, then I make the rice first and put it in a bowl covered and it stays warm until the rice is ready. Here’s the rice recipe I use – the cook time is only 3 minutes, so even if you decide to cook the rice second, your chicken will be plenty warm https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/
Anthony- I feel bad for you. Not only are you a poor cook, but clearly illiterate as well. As she stated, the rice was mentioned in the recipe at the botttom. Not that it even needed to be. Rice is the most basic food to cook and there’s not a person in this world (besides you. Again…I feel for you) that doesn’t know how long it takes to prepare. Good luck in life.
I use a stovetop stainless pressure cooker. I can follow the same instructions for prep and sauté easily. How long do i cook once it comes to pressure? TIA.
Hi Patricia – yes, it will work in your stove top pressure cooker. Your cook time will be the same – the electric pressure cookers do not start counting down the time until they’ve reached pressure. So just start a timer when your stovetop pressure cooker reaches pressure.
First time ising pressure cooker- I don’t have summer function on mine; is “slow cook” button the equivalent? (I have an Instant Pot)
Hi Jenny – on the Instant Pot your simmer function is Saute adjusted to Less. Enjoy!
Is there anything I can use in place of the seseme oil?
Hi Ari – not really. Just omit it if you don’t have it.
So many things I’ve read say to never QR meat because it causes them to be dry. This recipe is QR. I want to make but i’m scared my chicken will turn out dry. Any advice?
Hi Jae – if your meat is covered in sauce, I find it’s not necessary to natural release. However if you wanted to natural release it, just reduce your cook time.
Wonderful recipe. Thank you so much for this! What would be the time in pressure to double the recipe? Thanks.
Hi Kathy – so glad you enjoyed the recipe. No need to increase the cook time when doubling this recipe.
Do you cover the rice or leave it open (when cooking with the chicken)
Hi Mimi – no leave the rice uncovered. Covering it slows down the cooking. Enjoy!
Thanks so much. Also, I’ve never done PIP before. Is it ok if the pot with rice is above the 2/3 marking in the pot?
Yes, as long at the pot doesn’t interfere with the lid closing or block steam from rising.
How long do you cook for if cooking with rice at the same time?
Hi Linda – the cook time is the same – 3 minutes, but you add a 10 minute natural release when you’re also cooking white rice. Enjoy!
I made this last night and it was SO GOOD. I made some adjustments to fit our diet better:
– olive oil instead of veg oil. (still used sesame oil too though!)
– coconut aminos instead of soy sauce (I sub this all the time – can’t tell the difference!)
– 2 T. of honey instead of 1/2 c. (it was plenty sweet!)
– I used GF flour instead of cornstarch (worked great)
I paired it with roasted broccoli + carrots & brown rice. Will definitely be making again!
Great! Thanks for sharing your tips Paige.
Did you still use ketchup?
THANK YOU! I was skimming through the comments hoping to find this very information!
Sorry, my mistake. The recipe does specify what pressure level to use.
No problem – hope you enjoy it!
New to pressure cooking here. The recipe doesn’t say what level to use the pressure cooker at, normal? High? Just not sure. Thank you!
This tastes even better than takeout, and it’s so easy to make. Fabulous!
Thanks so much Joanne!
This was the perfect amount of heat balanced with just the right sweetness. Great recipe.
Thanks Kristen! So nice to hear you loved it.
So delicious and easy to make!
Sesame chicken is one of my faves!
Looks awesome and expressive. Thanks for sharing
I tried the pot-in-pot method for the rice. Didn’t work (not the first time). But the chicken was amazing!
Thanks Elizabeth – glad the chicken was a big hit. What pot did you use for the rice?
Just made this tonight and it was delicious! Thank you for the recipe😊
Great – thanks Ginnie!
I received a new multi-cooker for my birthday and this was the very first meal I chose to cook… I chose well! Absolutely delicious. My 18month old demolished a huge serving, and hubby and I both had seconds. Next time I’m going to add cashews during the thickening stage. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks Ange – I love the idea of adding cashews. Have fun with your new multi-cooker!
Made this tonight as my first pressure cooker recipe and everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing your recipes, I look forward to making many more now that I have discovered pressure cooking!
Thanks Heather! Glad it was a hit. Have fun!
Ohmygoodness Divine!
Outstanding and will definitely be made again 🙂
I didn’t realise i was out of plain soy sauce so actually had to combine, dark soy, lite soy and sweet soy to make up to half a cup. Other than that i stuck to the ingredients with 1/2 cup of honey.
Thank you!
Thanks Wendy – glad you were able to make it work with what you had on hand.
How do you get a bit of sauce so the rice isn’t dry but the chicken has a nice glaze still? My family don’t like dry rice meals.
Thanks
Hi Jaime – you could easily double the sauce ingredients if you’d like more sauce for your rice.
This recipe is great. If I double it, how much extra cooking time is needed?
Thanks Cari! No need to increase the cooking time when doubling this recipe. In fact, since it will take longer to come to pressure, you could reduce the cook time a minute.
I have the3 QT Instant Pot Lux mini. Should I adjust the recipe for size?
Hi Lillian – this recipe will work in the Mini without any changes. Enjoy!
Can this be done with frozen chicken?
Hi Drew – yes, if you’ve diced the chicken before hand you can skip sautéing the chicken and add it frozen. If you have frozen whole breasts, increase the time to 5 minutes, remove the chicken and dice it, and then add it back in after you’ve thickened the sauce and simmer it a bit if necessary to finish cooking the chicken.
There’s a difference between a pressure cooker & an instant pot. Pressure cooker works on a gas top. N there are no settings. This recipe cannot be termed as a pressure cooker recipe. It’s misleading.
Sorry Renata – I couldn’t disagree with you more. An Instant Pot is a pressure cooker. Pressure cooking is its main function. You can pressure cook on a stove or you can pressure cook in an Instant Pot – an electric pressure cooker. If you want to cook this recipe in a stove top pressure cooker, simply bring it to pressure the way you normal would and start your timer when the pressure cooker reaches pressure and your reduce your stove top temperature to maintain pressure. Electric pressure cookers don’t start counting down the time until they reach pressure. The beauty of the electric pressure cookers it that they regulate the pressure and you don’t have to do it manually.
I made this recipe twice, and I had the same issue both times: the sauce was very watery after the quick release, so it took a long saute time to adequately thicken it. By the time that was done, the chicken was tough, and there was some burnt sauce at the bottom of the pressure cooker. Any tips on what I can do differently next time?
Hi Dana – are you thickening the sauce with the cornstarch slurry? It should thicken within a minute or two of it coming to a boil. Often mine thickens before it comes to a boil. You could double the amount of cornstarch and water if your chicken is releasing lots of liquid. If you use frozen breasts injection with water before freezing, the chicken will release more liquid.
This is delicious. Great flavor but I don’t think it had enough sauce. I added 1 lb of cooked mushrooms I also added broccoli for a side. I will use this receipt again. Loved it
This was amazing!!!! I threw in some Serranos because I like my food to be more spicy and it was amazing! 5 stars++++
Thanks Natalie!
Would the chicken be more tender if i let it naturally release Instead of quick release? The flavor was delicious, but I felt like the chicken was a little too dry.
Hi Dawn – if you do a natural release, you would want to decrease the cook time even further because the chicken continues to cook during a natural release. Instead, I would recommend cutting your chicken into larger pieces, or reducing the cook time 1 minute. Glad you enjoyed it.
I tried this recipe and my sauce came out very watery. Not sticky or sweet like I wanted. Not sure what I did wrong, honestly, I followed the directions exactly.
Hi Rebecca – different pieces of chicken have different water content, so if a sauce is too watery it is easy to fix. Just add additional cornstarch slurry and simmer it until it’s thick and sticky. If it’s not sweet enough for your tastes, add additional honey.
This is ridiculous good! I used thigh meat and served with sautéed cabbage. Was yummy. Thanks so much.
Sounds like a great way to serve it. I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks!
OMG Barbara, this was amazing. DH can’t stop talking about it. I didn’t cook the rice with it, but I followed your instructions as if I did with the 3 mins cook time and the natural pressure release. I find that the NPR with meat always seems to keep the meat from seizing up and it’s so much juicier. Next time I will double the recipe since there are almost no leftovers. I served this with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. BTW I own your beautiful book and can’t wait to try more of your wonderful recipes. A heartfelt thanks from a devoted fan.
Such an awesome comment! Thanks so much Karen 🙂
I struggled with the instructions. The 20 minutes prep/cook time is misleading. Maybe if you have great knife skills you can cut up 2lbs of chicken faster than I can. And how do you sauté that much chicken in the instant pot without doing it in batches? I had to stir it constantly and after 5-6 minutes I finally dumped everything into my large frying pan. The end results were good. No complaints from the family. I’ll have to make adjustments to the recipe so it works for me. Maybe I can do a half batch in 20 minutes.
Hi Chris – Glad your family enjoyed the recipe. The 20 minute total time does not include the time it takes to prepare the ingredients – everyone’s skill level is different. However, cutting four chicken breasts into bite size pieces shouldn’t take more than 4 minutes if you have a good sharp knife. If you struggle with cutting onions, frozen diced onion is a good option.
You don’t need to saute the onion and chicken longer than 3 minutes. You don’t need to chicken to be browned, you just want the onion softened and the chicken to release some of its juices so that you get a nicer sauce.
Chicken wasnt done after 3 minutes. I didnt think it would be but I followed recipe. Darn!
Hi Cara – sorry you had trouble with the recipe. If your chicken was diced into bite size pieces, 3 minutes is plenty of time at high pressure – unless your pressure cooker didn’t come to pressure properly. Hopefully you just simmered the chicken in the sauce for a minute or two until it was cooked through.
Would sautéing this too long make it extra salty? I didn’t have reduced sodium soy sauce so I used the regular soy sauce, but it was inedible. Is there a way to fix it after the fact or just try it differently next time?
Hi Megan – here’s some tips https://www.rachaelray.com/2010/01/25/too-much-salt-tips-on-saving-an-oversalted-dish/. Next time you could use half as much soy sauce and substitute half chicken broth instead. Sauteing it too long wouldn’t make it salty. Perhaps you over salted the chicken? I’ve changed the directions to add salt to taste at the end.
Would I cook this the same in a Stove Top PC.
Hi Lisa – you may need to add additional liquid (chicken broth) to cook it in the stove top pressure cooker. Depending on how much liquid your pressure cooker loses as it cooks. You might want to reduce the cook time 1 minute.
Yummy!!!! So much better than a Chinese restaurant. My hubby is a picky eater. And he said yummm. Thank you
Great! Thanks Alison 🙂
I like the taste that honey adds to savory dishes. I tried the recipe but I used vegetable oil instead of sesame oil because I didn’t have it available. I was afraid it would destroy the taste but gladly, the dish turned out amazing! Next time I make this chicken, I’ll be sure to get sesame oil first so that I can get the real authentic taste of the dish.
Thanks Marie – glad the recipe was a hit!
Just want to say, we tried this recipe tonight and thought it was amazing! And it couldn’t have been any easier to make! Your instructions were spot on, great job!!!
Will definitely be making this one again
I would like to do a test run on this chicken to see if my husband would like it. If I only use 1 # of chicken breasts, how long do I cook it?
Hi Rochelle – if you use 1 lb. of chicken breasts, you’ll want to use the same amount of sauce (you need the liquid to come to pressure) and you’ll use the same cook time.
I’m confused (but I’m new at this, too). If you don’t cook the rice with the chicken , you only PC for 3 min. and a quick release.
IF you cook the rice, too, you cook 10″ with a natural release.
Is this right? Probably longer for rice to cook but is chicken then overly done?
Please clarify as I am anxious to try it!
Hi Barb – if you cook it with the rice, you still use a 3 minute cook time, but you use a 10 minute natural pressure release instead of a quick release. The rice needs to steam after pressure cooking. Enjoy!
I’ve just purchased an instan pot so I’m a novice to say the least. I chose to initiate it with this recipe. However, where you said pressure cook it for about 3 minutes, my pot says about 30 min. on the display panel. I haven’t opened it yet, but I expect it to be way overdone when it lets me. Are you suppose to set a certain amount of time? The manuals that came with it weren’t any help.
Thanks.
Hi Terri – yes, you need to use the “-” button to reduce the cook time to the time in the recipe – 3 minutes. Here’s more information that will help you get started https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/getting-started-with-your-new-electric-pressure-cooker-or-instant-pot/ and https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/ You’ll get the hang of it in no time I’m sure.
Made this tonight except doubled the sauce ingredients and cooked the rice like I always do, on the stove while the rest was cooking. It’s a keeper! I have a “power cooker”, not the instant pot, that I just recently got and I love it more every meal!
That’s great – thanks Amy!
The instructions for my pressure cooker say to always use at least two cups of liquid. Why don’t you need this much in the cooker you have used?
Hi Kaye – which pressure cooker are you using? When you’re cooking items like chicken that release liquid as it cooks, you can use less liquid. However, if you find you are losing a lot of liquid as you cook, you can add additional liquid. Many manufacturers are overly cautious when it comes to recommended minimums.
I think the lack of liquid was an issue for me. My IP never came to pressure and then I heard a beep and the word “burn” was displayed. I opened it up and the chicken was salvageable. I will find out later if the pot is.
Sorry you had trouble with the recipe. You can definitely add more liquid next time if necessary. The pot is easy to clean. Just put a couple cups of water in the pot and pressure cook it for 5 minutes. Should come clean easily.
I received my IP just after Christmas. I’m a new mom, at the time my son is only a month old. As I loved cooking also I love to spend more time with my baby. Most of the time I got frustrated if I can’t finish preparing the food before my husband arrive. But thanks to the IP, no more frustration I can set the timer in my IP and it will do the job for me while I can spend more time with my baby and serve delicious meal. With the IP is like I hired a helper and the good part is I don’t have to pay. So excited to explore more on IP.
Hi, I have a 14 oz package of chicken tenders. would the cooking time change? Thanks!
Hi Bobbie – I would use the same cooking time for tenders.
Was awesome! I used reduced sodium soy sauce, extra chicken 1/2 cup honey and extra ketsup and soy sauce to compensate.
Question- what are calories and other nutritional info
in this I am on weight watchers. Thanks!!!
Glad you loved it. Here’s a site you can use to figure nutritional information https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Thank you! It really was so good I actually think i will make this for my fathers memorial service next weekend. Any suggestions for making a larger batch? Can I make ahead and freeze? If so should i use boneless thighs instead to retain moisture? Approx 30 + people coming. Trying to make as much in advance as possible. If you think it’s better to not freeze I can make a couple batches the day or 2 before and make other things in advance.
Thank you so much!
I like the idea of using chicken thighs instead. Chicken thighs will definitely reheat /retain moisture better. You can freeze and reheat this, but it would probably be better to make it a day or two before. You can make a double batch with chicken thighs without changing the cook time. I’m sorry for your loss.
This was disappointing, so salty. I would suggest halving the soy sauce and adding more ketchup.
Help! I feel like I followed directions perfectly but mine had a very runny sauce-even after sauteing for a very long time.
Hi Heather – just make more cornstarch and water slurry and add it to the sauce to thicken it up. Some pieces of chicken release more liquid than others.
This was SO good! My fiancé and I loved it. Making it again soon.
I cooked brown Minute Rice on the stove and steamed some veggies in the microwave to go with it. Do you think I would be able to steam the veggies in the IP in a steamer basket above the chicken? I’m still learning!
Yes do the veggies on the white tray on top of your chicken
Amazing!! Thanks for the recipe!!
I was excited to try this recipe, but it was so disappointing. I tried to cook the rice in a bowl with it and it didn’t get done, but my chicken was overdone. It was all very salty too.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy it. If your chicken was overdone, it was probably cut too small or sauted too long. Often the bowl you cook in can slow down the cook time. You can cut the sodium by using reduced sodium soy and not salting your chicken.
Can you do this with frozen chicken? If so, how long would you change recipe for? I guess you won’t be able to sauté.
This was very good and extremely fast and easy to make! Thank you for sharing!
I quite liked it and my almost-two-year-old said it was “nummy.” Other commenters note that it lacked something. That was my initial thought but then I added a tablespoon-ish of vinegar. It was perfect. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for sharing that tip Tera!
Delish! My favorite instant pot recipe yet. I cut the ketchup and honey in half to lower the amount of sugar in the recipe.
I’m sorry Beth that was really one of the worst things I have ever made
Hi Gayle – who’s Beth and your comment isn’t helpful unless you give some details.
I don’t have an Instapot yet. Would you share the slow cooker recipe please? Thanks!
Hi Hillary – here’s the link to the slow cooker recipe https://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/04/crock-pot-honey-sesame-chicken/
Madde this tonight , a little bland, it’s missing something.
Doesn’t really taste like sesame chicken
If I use chicken thighs instead of breasts do I need to adjust the cook time?
Hi Julie – if you cut them up into bite size pieces, you can use the same time. If you use whole boneless skinless thighs, you’ll want to increase the time to about 6 minutes.
I made the dish including the rice in the IP at the same time. My family really enjoyed the recipe but we love rice and ran way short for the amount of chicken the recipe makes. If I make a cup and a half or 2 cups of rice using the cake pan method will I have a disaster on my hands?
Hi Joanne – glad you enjoyed it. I think a cup and a half would work, but I’m not as sure about 2 cups.
Have you ever tried cooking brown rice at the same time? What would you suggest the pressure times and the release times be? I understand that brown rice needs a lot longer to cook then white rice.
In with the chicken thighs, sauté a bit. Tossed in a few baby carrots and fresh green beans. Oh mama. Yassssss.
Made this and my husband and I really liked it. Thank you for sharing.
What is high equivalent to in normal pressure cookers?
Hi Diana – Hip Pressure Cooking has some good charts with stove top cooking charts https://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/
Very yummy! We will make it again. Thanks!
Great! Thanks Jeanna 🙂
I tried this recipe and I will definitely be making it again nice and easy but tasty served it with Jasmine rice gorgeous
I have the mini instant pot. Can I use this recipe as is?
Hi Paz – yes, others have made this in the Mini without any changes.
So good! Made it for dinner tonight. Served it with whole grain basmati rice and steamed broccoli. Quick and easy!
I had really high hopes for this so I’m a little extra disappointed. I will say, my kids liked it, but my husband and I weren’t crazy about it. It’s a little too sweet and salty, it’s needs more spice, and the chicken was overcooked. If I ever try again I would use low sodium soy sauce only and cut back on the amount of it. I would also cut the chicken into larger pieces and brown in batches! That part is important because I like a good brown! It adds flavor too. I’d also add some more spice by way of ginger, def more garlic, and extra red pepper flakes. I think with some tweaking it has the potential to be a good dish! Also, if you like “sticky” rice, like you normally get with Asian food, don’t make the rice in the IP! It comes out kind of hard like wild rice, with no stickiness.
Hi Jessica – definitely change things up to suit your tastes. If you want to saute the chicken longer, then you’ll need to reduce the pressure cooking time, or even saute the breasts whole and then dice it. You can get great white rice in the pressure cooker. Sounds like you need to either add more water, or a longer cook time – it should not come out kind of hard like wild rice. Are you using a natural release at the end of the cooking time to let it steam?
I just used shrimp. Really good.
Is there enough liquid in this recipe to use the pressure setting? I have an 8 quart IP and was told never to use less than 1 1/2 c liquid.
Hi Laure – I haven’t tried it in an 8 quart. If you are concerned, I would double the sauce, or double the recipe and freeze some for later. Enjoy!
Mine is a 8 quart and I just doubled the sauce! Didn’t have any problems.
I have an 8 qt. IP. Just got it. This is the first recipe I made in it. Followed the directions to a tee. Came out great, really delicious!
Great! Thanks so much Kristy 🙂
Could I use chicken thighs?
Hi Kara – yes you can use chicken thighs.
This was a delicious recipe and very easy to follow!! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Ashley!
When making the rice all at the same time what do you use as a rack? I feel if i use the trivet i will be smashing down all the chicken and ingredients and then putting more weight when i put the bowl with rice and will squish it even more!!
Hi Melissa – I have a rack with longer legs that I use https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B4E8PG6/_encoding=UTF8?ref=exp_inf_pl_pressurecookingtoday
I made this last night, it was DELICIOUS! The only change was the addition of 1/2 cup chicken broth. After the quick release, the sauce thickened up nicely after adding the cornstarch slurry. It just took a few minutes. We will definitely be having this again! Thank you for the recipe.
When you make the rice at the same time, do you still add 1 1/4 cup of water to the pan that the rice is in?
Hi Dave – yes, you add 1 1/4 cup water to the pan the rice is in.
Hi, thanks so much for the recipe. I cook only for 2, so I’m thinking to halve the recipe and cook it in a 3 qt stove top pressure cooker. Considering that my pressure cooker requires a minimum of 1 cup of liquid, should I add water to the recipe? Thank you!
Hi Leonora – I would add some chicken broth to the recipe instead of water so you don’t water down the flavor too much. Chicken does release a lot of liquid as it cooks, so you may be able to get away with using less than 1 cup of liquid, but you know your pressure cooker. If it loses a lot of liquid as it cooks, then trust your judgment.
Tried this tonight as my first ever meal in my instant pot. Absolutely delicious! And so quick and easy to do…will definitely be making it again and adding in some veggies. Question though… if I doubled the chicks amount to 4-5 2lbs would i need to add more liquid and double the cooking time of leave everything the same??
Thanks Jaimie – glad your first meal was a hit! You can double all the ingredient and leave the cook time the same.
Thank you! I made it tonight and it was so yummy! I didn’t have sesame oil or green onions and I subbed Braggs Aminos for soy sauce. Success!!
Thanks Paula!
I’m new to using my Instant Pot. What type of pans can you use inside them? Like when you say you can cook the rice at the same time and you use a pan inside the pot? Does it have to be a certain type to withstand the pressure?
Hi Melissa – if it’s oven safe, its safe to use in the pressure cooker. I like the Fat Daddio’s Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pan for cooking rice above the chicken in this recipe. https://www.amazon.com/shop/pressurecookingtoday
Thank you for the link! I made the rice separately this time around. The chicken turned out great! Someone else asked about an 8QT and the amount of liquid. I followed your directions with my 8QT and it was fine!
Great! Thanks so much for the follow up!
This was amazing! My family loved it! Followed exactly ( including only 1/2 cup of honey) but cooked for 4 minutes instead of 3…. I’m somewhat new and 3 didn’t seem long enough for chicken! It was perfect!( sure 3 mins would be fine!))
I also added some steamed broccoli and shelled edame! Just perfect! Thank you!!
This was delicious!!! I used 3 large chicken breasts (they were humongous), Lite Soy Sauce by Kikkoman and 1/2 cup of clover honey. Came out perfectly and my girls, who are quite picky eaters, devoured second helpings. We do have some leftovers which I will gladly have for lunch tomorrow!!! Excellent recipe!
Am I supposed to sauté chicken until it is done?
No – just briefly until the onion is tender.
We don’t eat ketchup in my house. Is there a substitute?
Hi Deanna – You could use a little tomato paste and some vinegar instead of the ketchup. Enjoy!
My family loved this recipe. Thank you
Great! Thanks Kelly 🙂
Hi,
I followed this recipe using the 1/2 honey, and found that I had a ton of sauce. It almost looks like the chicken is in soup. Is this normal? Or do you have any any recommendations on how to fix this?
Thanks,
Andrea
Hi Andrea – a lot will depend on how much liquid the chicken releases as it cooks. If it was frozen chicken it’s often injected with liquid. You can thicken the sauce with additional cornstarch slurry or simmer the sauce until it reduces and is as thick as you’d like.
I’m glad others have found success with this recipe, but my husband, toddler and I didn’t like it at all. I second the comment of too much soy sauce, and given that Kikkoman and Heinz ketchup are the most common brands for those ingredients I’d hesitate to simply suggest we try a different brand. I ended up using a full cup of expensive honey to try to balance the saltiness, and even after that it tasted far too much like ketchup. We ended up tossing almost the entire thing. I googled “honey sesame chicken” and all the recipes I found have essentially the same ingredient list and quantities, so unless we find a great substitute to Heinz ketchup that might change the game we will not be making this again.
Thanks for the feedback Julia – everyone has different tastes.
There are always options as substitutions. I use Braggs Aminos Liquid in place of soy sauce as it’s gluten free. I make my own sugar free ketchup, it’s quite simple and there are plenty of options that are sugar and fructose free.
Heinz clone:
6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup light corn syrup, not high fructose – LIGHT (I don’t use this and replace with 1 cup of light corn syrup with 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water or other liquid used in the recipe.)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup good water
1 teaspoon salt – I use Morton’s kosher
1/4 teaspoon granulated onion powder
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan whisk smooth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 25 minutes (cooking it gets rid of the raw tomato flavor as ingredients mingle together). Remove from heat and cover until cool. Refrigerate and enjoy. I put it in a squirt bottle for easy application to favorite foods. Makes about 12oz.
I find instead of criticizing a recipe that many enjoy; it’s far better to come up with solutions.
I’m going to try this recipe tonight! Can you tell me if it freezes well? Any tips in that regard? Thanks!
Hi Keri – I haven’t tried freezing this one, but I assume it will freeze just fine. Let me know if you try it.
I have a stove top pressure cooker. How would I go about making this “the old fashioned way”? I am new to using it. Brand new pan but had it kicking around for 8 plus years.
Hi Leslie – you’ll want to get started with a water test to make sure your gasket is still subtle and working properly https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/getting-started-with-your-new-electric-pressure-cooker-or-instant-pot/ Then I’d recommend practicing bringing your pressure cooker to pressure with just water. Use the instructions that came with your pressure cooker, but typically you’ll bring the pot to pressure over a medium-high heat. Then you’ll reduce the temperature to the lowest temperature required to maintain high pressure. When you turn off the stove, the pressure will release naturally, or check the manual to see how you quick release the pressure on your stove top pressure cooker. Then after you’ve mastered maintaining pressure, use the same procedure to make any of the recipes on my site. Have fun!
Hi! Could this recipe be doubled? Would it change Cook times at all?
Hi Holly – yes, you can double this recipe without changing the cook time.
When making with rice, would the HP x 10min and NPR x 10min be too much for the chicken? Dry it out?
Yes – the chicken would be overcooked. Rice only needs the 3 minutes plus the 10 minute natural release. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/
I would like this to be my first recipe that I try in my Instant Pot. Can I push the Poultry button and make sure it cooks for 3 minutes? Thanks in advance! Sharon
Hi Sharon – this is a great pick for a first recipe. Yes, you can push the poultry button and adjust the cook time to 3 minutes (or cancel the cycle after 3 minutes if your poultry button doesn’t adjust to 3 minutes.) Enjoy!
DO NOT USE ANY SALT, and reduce the soy sauce by half. I followed the recipe exactly, but it was so salty, it was almost inedible. I made brown rice in a separate pot which rescued the meal. I only salted the chicken lightly along with pepper prior to cooking, per the directions, which still made it too salty. There is no reason to add salt at any point since there is so much soy sauce, which is salty to begin with. I shook the bottle of Kikkoman’s first, so that wasn’t the problem. It should have been a red flag that none of my asian recipes ever used this much soy sauce. I would make this again, just dialing the saltiness way down.
Thanks for the feedback Wisteria – everyone’s salt preference is different. However, this is one of my most popular recipes and most people love it as written.
Kikkomans is the saltiest soy sauce I’ve ever tried. Try using a different brand next time?
Agree I’m going to looks for a different brand soy sauce. It is very salty, but the kids love it! It’s my first try in my instant pot
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but I always use low-sodium soy sauce for everything. Perhaps give that a shot?
Made this last night and it was amazing! My first dish in my IP (aside from mashed potatoes). Will definitely be a staple in our house.
Thanks Bonnie! So fun that it was your first meal and you loved it 🙂
I can’t have the soy sauce. Do you think the recipe would be ok without it? New to IP and loving it and trying new recipes
Many substitute Tamari sauce for soy or coconut aminos.
Can you use frozen chicken breasts? How long would I cook it for?
Hi Terry – I like to pressure cooker frozen chicken breasts on a rack for 1 minute with 1 cup of water and then it’s easy to dice and use in the recipe as directed.
I enjoy spaghetti, chili, soups, but allergic to tomato-what can I substitute for tomato.? Looking for delicious gravies please help!
Hi Darna – I found this article that suggests red pepper puree https://delishably.com/misc/Great-Tomato-Substitutes-for-Everyday-Cooking
Hi, I was wanting to try this recipe with my new instant pot. I have an 8 quart and many recipes use the 6 quart. Is that the case with this recipe? If so, can you give me any tips for using the 8 quart for it? Thank you
Hi Amy – yes, all of my recipes are created using a 6 quart recipe. For most recipes, you should not have to make any changes when making the recipe in the 8 quart pressure cooker, as long as you have enough liquid to come to pressure, you’ll be fine. You’ll typically want to use 1 cup liquid. In this recipe chicken releases a lot of liquid as it cooks, so you should be just fine. Enjoy!
Made this today, served it with steamed broccoli and rice. The sauce was heavenly! This will definitely be in regular rotation!
First real meal I made in my crock pot pressure cooker. Double the recipe and my times were different but so good. Will be in my monthly dinner rotation. Thanks, Merry Christmas.
Great – thanks Carolyn!
Ohhh i have a crock pot express too — can you tell me the times. settings you used?
Even with 1/2 the honey we all found it still too sweet. I will decrease it even more next time. The flavour was great though! I served it with some crispy ginger/garlic wonton strips on top as well for some crunchy texture.
Sounds like a great way to serve it. Thanks for sharing Esther!
Made this tonight; cut in half for our 3 Quart Instant Pot, then cut soy sauce in half again…can I just say perfect!!! This was so good…and don’t worry if you’re a newbie and didn’t seal your pot right and it took about 20 minutes before you realized that. One you properly seal the pot it will cook super fast and your family will love it ?
Cindy, thank you so much for sharing your results. I have both the 6 and 3 qt. Instant Pots and am finding I use the 3 quart model more often for our 2-person household. I used your suggestions to cook it in the 3 qt. and it turned out beautiful! I served it over Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Rice with steamed broccoli on the side and it was the perfect meal for 2 people with no leftovers. My husband loved it – good thing because he bought me the cookbook 🙂 Thanks again to Barbara for the great recipe and Cindy for her great tips!
Hi! Made this for my husband tonight. The sauce was perfect yet the chicken was so dry. Any suggestions? I am thinking of not placing it inside until ready to pressure cook?
Thanks Veronica – glad you enjoyed it. You can diced your chicken in larger pieces, reduce the cook time to 2 minutes, or use chicken thighs instead of breasts.
I’m a newbie. Made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks Zvia! Have fun with your new pressure cooker 🙂
Hi I’d like to make this tonight, if you were to add broccoli and carrots to the recipe, would you recommend doing it before the pressure cook or steaming them and adding at the end?
I prefer steaming them and adding them at the end.
This is what I did and it turned out great! I omitted half of the chicken and replaced with steamed veggies. It was lovely!
Can I use garlic powder or dried minced garlic in place of garlic cloves? If so, how do I adjust the recipe?
Hi Eileen – you could use 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder for 2 cloves garlic.
Thank you
I made it tonight and it came out perfect. Thank you for the recipe.
Great! Thanks 🙂
How essential is the sesame oil? It’s the only ingredient I don’t have on hand. Trying to avoid a trip to the store!
Thanks!
Hi Molly – it’s not essential. Enjoy!
Way too salty, almost inedible. Cut the soya sauce in half and keep the cup of honey
Sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe Dave. Sometimes the bottom of the bottle of Soy sauce will be extra salty if it hasn’t been shaken before using. Or, perhaps you would prefer to use low sodium soy sauce.
Hi, I am allergic to tomatos and Connor use ketchup. Will it drastically alter the recipe if I leave it out? Thank you!
Hi AJ – you can omit the ketchup, but I would add a tablespoon or two of vinegar and adjust the sweetness to taste.
I never know if an asian recipe is calling for toasted sesame oil, the dark more intensely flavored stuff, or the regular light colored sesame oil. Which one was used in this recipe? Thanks for your help!!
Hi Dacia – I always use the regular sesame oil in my recipes.
Hi- what type of cake pan do you use for the rice? Metal or glass? And do I put the pan on top of my steaming rack? Thanks!
Hi Cathy – there’s a link to the cake pan and rack on Amazon in my gift guide https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/electric-pressure-cooker-gift-giving-guide/ under Specialty Items. Yes, the pan goes on top of the steaming rack. I plan to do a Facebook live showing this technique soon. Enjoy!
Great Recipe! Don’t worry, if you accidentally add the sesame oil at the last second at the beginning, and the honey before you pressure cook, it’s still delicious!
Thanks for sharing that tip Richard!
This was great, thank you! I work in a fire house and have to cook for 12 hungry adults at a time. Can I take this recipe and times all the portions by four? If so, do I multiply the cooking time by 4 also (so 12 minutes on the high pressure cook at the end?). Thank you!
Hi JD – the cook time in a pressure cooker recipe is based more on the thickness / size of the meat than on the volume of the meat. However, if you have a lot of liquid / volume in the pressure cooking pot it will take longer to come to pressure. So when you double, triple or quadruple a recipe you may need to decrease the cook time because the food is cooking as the pot is coming to pressure.
However, you can’t fill your pressure cooking pot more than 2/3 full, so whether you can quadruple the recipe really depends on what size pressure cooker you have.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I made it! For just the two of us, I used 2 chicken breasts and doubled the sauce. OMG it’s good!
Great! Thanks Judy 🙂
Would this recipe work in the Power Pressure Cooker XL?
Hi Tasha – yes, all my recipes will work in any brand of pressure cooker. Here’s more info on using your XL that will help https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-power-pressure-cooker-xl/ Enjoy!
OMG!!! I just made this Honey Sesame Chicken. It was so easy , fasr and delicious!! Thank you so much! It will definitely be a favorite at my house from now on!
I finally got to make this recipe tonight, and it is perfect as written. Another winner, it’s going into our rotation. DIL Stacey called it one of the best chicken stir fry recipes ever. I have to agree, it has a lot more flavor than chicken made with all-purpose stir fry sauce.
So nice to hear – thanks!
Finally a recipe which is not too sweet and not too spicy that everyone in my family (including my 6 and 8 year old daughters) LOVES! Made this hoping there would be leftovers for lunch the next day but nope…it was so delicious all of it was eaten! Only thing that I changed is that I didn’t add vegetable oil…no need just cooking spray.
So glad it was a big hit! Thanks Lauren.
Love this recipe! Is there a reason you wait to put the honey in?
Thanks Julia – I decided to add it after because there’s no reason to pressure cook the honey, but you certain could if you’d rather.
Super! Love this Recipe. I also Share it and pin it. Also, the Video is so helpful. I can Understand Easily How I made this Recipe. Thank you, Barbara!!
We just had this last night! It is a family favorite. Every one of your recipes I’ve tried so far is a winner!
That’s great! Thanks so much Verna 🙂
My family enjoyed this receipe and would make again I just received my Instant Pot and enjoy making different receipes Today I am making corned beef
Your cookbook arrived on Friday – I had bought it as a gift for my boss. I carefully read each recipe, and made the French Dip sandwiches and the Chicken Wild Rice soup this weekend, trying not to get the book dirty… something tells me I might have to buy another copy.
My husband, who is a chef, pronounced the french dip the best french dip he’s ever had! So tender and flavorful! He’s a big fan of the lamb curry recipe, we’re the ones that made it with goat a couple weeks ago.
Thanks for all you do!
Such a nice compliment – thank you! Sounds like you do need to buy another copy 🙂
Hi Barbara,
I had preordered your cookbook so I got it on release day. I was down with a cold, but I enjoyed perusing it on my sofa while snuggled under a blanket and seeing all the new possibilities! It’s a beautiful book and I know I’ll use and enjoy it. Thank you!
Hi Chris – thanks so much! Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well. Hope you’re feeling better soon. Have fun with the new recipes!
Have you thought about posting a shopping list for the recipes, I know a lot of people will have some items already on hand , but sometimes I need some help tracking everything. Thanks
Hi Dale – it’s a great idea, just not something I have time to add right now. Enjoy!
I only had 1/4th cup of soy sauce, so I topped it off with honey teriyaki marinade. FABULOUS!! even without the sesame seeds, it was proclaimed better than our favorite local place. CAN’T WAIT FOR YOUR COOKBOOK! Congratulations!!
Thanks so much Denise! I love that you just improvised and used what you had on hand.
Cannot wait to try this, I am always looking for more meals for the family. My instant Pot gets a workout weekly, trying to convince my friends to use one but they are scared its going to blow up or something. I will be referring them to your website. Great post, I will keep you up to-date how the meal goes. Many thanks Shelly
Can you start this recipe & use frozen chicken in the pot?
Hi Alicia – if your chicken is already diced and frozen then you can use it in this recipe. If you have boneless skinless chicken breasts, I would pressure cooked the frozen chicken breasts 1 minute on a rack with 1 cup water underneath . Then quick release the chicken and diced it, and continued with the recipe as written. Enjoy!
Is there a reason mine turned out red instead of brown? Or is it supposed to be that way? Also do i sautée before I add ingredients or add them while it is preheating? Thanks!
Hi Mason – perhaps your soy wasn’t as dark or your ketchup was more red? Preheat the pot and then add the ingredients when it is hot.
This tasted great but was very labor intensive. It would have been easier to saute in a pan on the stove and would have taken same amount of time or less. I did not enjoy having to take the lid off during cooking and worrying about the steam. I will have to try something I can just throw in the pot and shut the lid and cook til done.
Hi Susan – I’m surprised you found it labor intensive, but everyone is different. After a few times using a quick release, you won’t be intimidated by the steam. Definitely try recipes with a natural pressure release until you get comfortable with your pressure cooker.
Susan,
I wonder if your issue comes from some confusion. Did you put the lid on when sautéeing? If so then that might be where you were having problems with the steam. You don’t need to put the lid on until you go to actually do the pressure cooking part.
I’ve been wanting a pressure cooker for several months now, My wife’s friend bought one and instantly got scared of it gave it to us, and this was my first recipe ever OH MY LORD – Me, my wife, our Daughter including 6 and 7 year old Granddaughters LOVED THIS and asked me to make it again!
Home. Run.
Thank you – I see a lot of recipes and experiments through out the fall in winter months!
H.R.
Idaho
So happy that your first recipe was a home run! Have fun 🙂
I only have a pressure cooker not an instant pot. I do not think I can saute anything before putting the lid on. If I can, please explain how I can saute before putting the lid on.
Hi Denise – if you don’t have a saute button, then you’ll just use one of the pressure cooking settings with the lid off. The Power Pressure Cooker XL recommends the chicken button for example.
I made this again and made the chicken pieces more “tender size” and reduced the cooking time to 2 minutes. It worked just as well as the chicken was cooked and to us seemed more moist. This is for sure part of my pressure cooker go to recipes! I look forward to trying the recent beef recipe sent out!
Great – thanks for sharing Barb!
I made this dish in May of this year and had leftovers. Tonight I cooked my rice and reheated the chicken and sauce. It was delish! My personal preference would be less soy sauce next time to decrease the salty taste – my taste buds like rather bland foods, so the salt is noticeable to me.
Do you remove the chicken before adding the sesame oil and honey (the last step) to make sauce?
Hi Dana – no, just push the chicken to one side and add the oil and honey.
We made this last night and I just had it for lunch today – I do agree that it tasted even better today than when I tasted it last night! I is really tasty and so quick! It look longer to prep the chicken than it took to cook! We put it over dried ramen to take to work for lunch – added a bit of water and microwaved for just under 2 minutes – the sauce thinned out and softened the ramen and it was really good! I am so glad to have found this site – we have a PPCXL and really like it. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thanks Barb! So glad you found my site too. Sounds like a great way to serve it. 🙂
I wonder how I’d make this a honey lemon chicken?
Hi Christy – you could use my lemon chicken recipe and substitute honey for the brown sugar https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-chinese-lemon-chicken/ Enjoy!
I made this for my husband and I, we both loved it! I’d like to make for kids too, but I’d have triple recipe. I have 5 kids, 4 are teenagers. How would I alter cooking to make sure cooked through? Thanks
Caitlin
Hi Caitlin – I think you could triple this recipe without any changes. In fact, it will take longer to come to pressure so you could even reduce the cook time a minute. Just don’t fill the pot more than 2/3’s full. Let me know how it goes.
Does it matter what size instant pot one has for this recipe? I have 6qt.
It should work in any of the Instant Pots, but I created it using the 6 quart. Enjoy!
OMG!!! THANK YOU sooo much for sharing this quick & easy recipe!! Im not a cooker (as a matter of fact, i hate it) but eating out every day get very expensive for a family of 4. I decided to buy a pressure cooker to make it easier & decided to google easy pressure cooker recipes. This recipe was the first thing that caught my attention & decided to give it a try. I “just” made this & my family ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU!! And THANK YOU for making me PROUD of myself!! After all, cooking is not that bad. ???
Thanks Jessica! So glad I could give you the confidence to try. Sounds like you did a great job and that it’ll be the first of many great meals. Have fun!
I made this recipe and it was quite good. However, here is a twist, I replace the chicken with tempeh since I wanted to make it vegetarian. Worked great and tasted delicious.
Thanks for sharing August! Good to know tempeh makes a great substitute.
Can I use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe? If so, would the time be the same? Thank you!
Hi Tracy – yes, you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe. If you cut them into bite size pieces, the cook time would be the same.
My chicken was a little dry. I cut it up into about 1 1/2 inch chunks. Next time I will use thighs. Sauce was good.
It was delicous but my chicken was really dry (which surprised me given the short Pressure time.) Any suggestions?
Thanks Calli – glad you enjoyed it. Cut your chicken in to larger pieces next time and that should solve the problem.
When cooking meat, general rule of thumb is to natural pressure release. I decreased the cooking time to 2 minutes and let the pressure naturally released, which took maybe 3 minutes.
Hi Jessica – definitely do what works best for you. However, I haven’t found quick releasing small cuts of meat in sauces to need a natural pressure release.
I don’t have ketchup… is ok just to leave it out?
Hi Shelley – here’s a link to substitute you could use instead of ketchup. I wouldn’t just leave it out http://www.eatbydate.com/substitutions/condiment-substitutes/
How long does this take to make? I am trying to plan for tonight.
Thank you tons
Hi Skye – this recipe is ready in about 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Any special recipes for steamed rice??
Coconut rice would be really nice with this recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/quick-coconut-rice/ or https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/
I don’t have a sautee option… is this a basic. Ok time? Or brown? I have a Power Cooker… making it now!
Hi Erika – if you don’t have the saute button just saute using the chicken button with the lid off.
Hi there, I have a pressure king pro, do you know if the same method can apply for that? Also I’d like to do whole chicken breast from frozen too. Thanks
Hi Lisa – I’m not familiar with the Pressure King Pro, but it should work just the same. If you want to pressure cook the frozen breasts whole then diced them, I’d pressure cook them for 8 minutes if they’re the large Costco size breasts.
How long should I increase time for frozen chicken breast?
Hi Michelle – if the breast is diced and frozen then you don’t need to increase the cook time. If you want to pressure cook the frozen breasts whole then diced them, I’d pressure cook them for 8 minutes if they’re the large Costco size breasts.
This dish turned out amazing! And it is so easy to make even if you don’t feel like fiddling with the pressure cooker. I cooked the chicken along with the garlic and onion on the stove then added the rest of the ingredients according to the recipe. I did increase the honey because I like it sweeter. With a side of broccoli, this dish looked picture perfect and tasted out-of-this-world!
Thanks so much for sharing Rhonda!
When doubling this recipe do I need to adjust the cooking time right? (I have an 8 at IP)
Hi Krissy – you could reduce the cook time to 2 minutes since it will take longer to come to pressure. Enjoy!
This recipe turned out fantastic. The Only thing I did a wee bit differently was put a whole teaspoon of red chilli flakes & it had a very nice bite. Thank you for sharing the recipe. It was a BIG hit!
Thanks Lisa – glad you loved it. I think my husband would like a whole teaspoon of red pepper flakes too!
This came out super salty for me. We couldn’t eat it.
Hi Nancy – sorry you thought it was too salty. You can use reduce sodium soy sauce, or use half soy and half water or reduce sodium chicken broth to cut the saltiness. Sometimes if you’re using the last of the soy sauce in a bottle, that can be extra salty too.
Just had this for dinner. Clean plates all round. Will make this again for sure. Thank you for sharing 🙂
I am thinking about making this to serve 12. Would I need to triple all the ingredients and would it affect the cooking time? I am fairly new at this so a still in the experimental stage.
Hi Judy – it will take longer to come to pressure if you triple the ingredients, so you may want to reduce the cook time to 2 minutes. Although I’d say it makes 6 servings, so you may just want to double it, especially if you’re serving other items with it.
Thank you for the much needed advice. I have been having a lot of fun with your cheesecake recipes. I have made several and they have all been delicious. Thanks for a great site
Thanks- so nice to hear!
It was delicious but really salty wonder why. I’m thinking of reducing soy sauce next time or find low sodium soy sauce what do you think? No one else is complaining that it was salty. What did I do wrong?
Hi Randa – everyone has different levels of saltiness they prefer. Using reduce sodium soy sauce is a good idea. I find the bottom of the bottle can be more salty too.
I have yet to make this recipe and plan on giving it a try tonight. I’m new to pressure cooking and would like to only cook two chicken breasts. Should I follow the recipe as is using just the two breasts or adjust it somehow? Any advice? Thank you!
Hi Courtney – yes, just follow the recipe and only use two breasts. No other adjustments are necessary.
This recipe is fantastic! It is requested weekly in our house and the little ones love it!!!
Thanks Kim – that’s so nice to hear 🙂
Could you coat the chicken chunks in cornstarch before sautéing to make them a little crispier?
Hi Colleen – if you lightly coat it, you may be able too. But it’s best not to because people have had problems with the liquid thickening and preventing the pressure cooker from coming to pressure.
Gahhh, my dinner burnt. I’m not sure what I did wrong since I followed your directions exactly. Now it’s more like blackened chicken :o( .. Now the only thing I can see that may have happened was that I only used 2 chicken breasts and not 4. Could that of been the reason and I should of reduced my time to 2 min instead? My husband did taste it and said the flavor was good minus the burnt taste. Ughh..
I do plan to try it again though.. :o)
I tried a similar recipe and mine burnt too. Very apprehensive to try this. I was thinking that the sauce is to thick to create steam and just burnt instead? Plus I have the old fashion pressure cooker for the stove top.
Hi Leslie – if you’ve had problems in the past, you probably do need to increase the amount of liquid in the recipe for your stove top pressure cooker. I would just add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and then use more thickener at the end. Enjoy!
Hi Sheila – sorry you had trouble with the recipe. Did you also reduce the sauce? This recipe doesn’t have a lot of liquid so you can’t reduce the sauce. Or do you think you didn’t have a good seal on the lid and your pressure cooker lost too much steam? What type of pressure cooker are you using?
Hi there,
Nope I kept the sauce the same as your recipe. I have a Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker. It seemed like it had a good seal and steam. I’ll be on a mission to try this again. Lol.
Well – I’m at a loss to say what went wrong. But definitely try it again. It’s a very popular recipe. Thanks for the update!
Would frozen chicken work ok? How long would you do it if frozen?
Hi Megan – if you have frozen diced chicken, you won’t need to make any changes. If you have whole breasts, I would pressure cook them 1 minute and then dice them and proceed with the recipe. Enjoy!
Good meal. A cup of honey sure would have been too much.
Thanks Cathy – glad you enjoyed it!
My Mom made this tonight and it is now one of my fav. meals!!!!! Thanks for the recipe!! (I’m 11)
Just made this last night, after the saute and mixing right before HP I put broccoli in a steamer basket on top, did the same 3 minute HP with QR and everything was perfect, removed broccoli and made the sauce, yum!!
Great – thanks for sharing Rachel!
Hello Barbara! I’ve used this recipe with organic chicken thighs (with bones). During preparation I omitted ketchup and sesame oil because I didn’t have them in my pantry. The result was equally amazing, thank you very much! 🙂
Great! Thanks for sharing Anna 🙂
We really enjoyed this recipe. Ate every bit including the leftovers. I halved the honey because I’m not big on anything too sweet – it still turned out great. Thanks for another great PC recipe.
Thanks Michelle!
How long would you cook this recipe if you do the rice along with the chicken? You mentioned further down here that it could be done but you didn’t talk about timing. Would it be 6 minutes total since you skipped the 3 minutes of sauteing the chicken? Thanks!
Hi Gyl – I would skip sauteing the chicken, keep the 3 minute cook time, and add a 10 minute natural release at the end.
The flavor is fantastic and I added a chopped green pepper which added to the awesomeness. However, I feel like the chicken is tough and the chunks are a bit hard. What did I do wrong. 3 mins HP. Does the QR make the chicken tough? I also will cut down while salting my chicken. And maybe throw some cashews in.
Thanks Loie – glad you enjoyed it. Perhaps your chicken pieces were cut larger or smaller, or your sauted your chicken a little longer. I don’t find a quick release when meat is in a sauce makes it tough. You can’t go wrong with adding cashews 🙂
Would cooking time be the same if I half the recipe…only cooking for two now.
Hi, how long would I cook this for if I am using chicken on the bones (red meat)?
Thanks!
Hi Elana – I cook my Thai Chicken Thighs for 9 minutes https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-thai-chicken-thighs/
Just purchased an Instant Pot, and this was the very first recipe that I have tried. It was excellent. I would like to make it again, but I would like to add chunks of onion and green pepper. I suspect that doing so at the point the chicken is added will result in overcooked green pepper. When (or how) can I add vegetables to this recipe?
Thanks Cheryl – great pick for a first recipe. Glad you enjoyed it. Chunks of onion and green pepper should hold up with just a 3 minute cook time.
Made this for the first time yesterday and it was soooo good. Hubby gave it two thumbs up and said restaurant quality. I did cut the honey back by half the amount and followed you tips on doing the rice along with it PIP. Thank you for another fabulous recipe !
Just got my Instant Pot a week ago, and this was the third recipe I made. It was awesome! Just enough sweet and spice. I realized that I didn’t have an onion, so I re-hydrated some dried onion and it worked just fine. We’ll definitely be making it again!
Thanks Beth! Glad you loved it. Have fun with your new Instant Pot.
Just received my IP 8 qrt. today from Amazon. I did the water test and watched a couple of videos and now I am ready to make your recipe for dinner! I am so excited!!
Great! Sounds like you’re well prepared. Enjoy!
Thanks for this delicious recipe! Turns out I didn’t have honey but I substituted maple syrup (1/2 cup), and although it no doubt modified the overall flavour of the recipe, it was very tasty! I might use a little less next time, but it certainly didn’t stop us from gobbling it up, served over brown rice! This is only the third dish I’ve prepared with the Instant Pot, and I’m so pleased with how it’s going so far.
Just wanted to say thank you! I have a new Cuisinart 1200 6qt cooker and this is the first recipe I tried. My family loved the Pressure Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe. It was fast and delicious. Can’t want to try more of your recipes, thank you for making them available.
This was so good! I chopped up my mostly frozen chicken and added another 5 minutes to the pressure cook. It came out perfect!
This was absolutely amazing. I just got my pressure cooker and have been excited to try out recipes and this was such a hit in my house. I’m making it again a week later because of the demands from my husband and kids. Trying the Chicken Tikka Masala too and super excited.
Thank you for your fun and easy recipes, excited to start combing through your page to try new stuff.
Hi, this recipe will be my first experience with my pressure cooker. I just read the user manuel, and i don’t understand when you say “When timer beeps, turn pressure cooker off and do a quick pressure release.” Since the Saute mode, the lid should be open right ? So how do i release the pressure ? Thank you for your answer.
Hi Sandra – exciting! Which pressure cooker do you have? Yes, you saute with the lid off. Here’s a post all about releasing the pressure https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/quick-pressure-release-or-natural-pressure-release/ Enjoy!
I have an instant pot. Thanks for your answer !
Received a Pressure Cooker for Christmas and this was the first recipe to try. OMGosh – amazing. Can’t wait to try more recipes!
Thanks Rebecca! Have fun with your new pressure cooker 🙂
Hi! I’m new to pressure cooking, do I have to change the cooking time if I only have 1 lbs of chicken? This looks so good! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Camille! No, you generally don’t need to change the cook time when increasing or decreasing the volume of a recipe in the pressure cooker unless the thickness of the meat is bigger or smaller. In this recipe, you’ll use bite size pieces of chicken, so they’res no need to change the cook time if you’re only using l lb. of chicken. Enjoy!
This was fantastic!! I halved the honey and amped up the red pepper flakes. Nice sweet but spicy meal! Thank you for posting this! This is my first recipe from your site. Can’t wait to try more!
Cheers,
Kim
Edmonton, Alberta – ??
Thanks Kim! A great pick for a first recipe. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Have fun!
The 1 cup of honey was on the sweet side. I am going to try your suggestion next time.
Does the chicken have to be thawed?
Not if it’s already diced and frozen.
I don’t have sesame oil on hand, and live in a remote community with little selection in that department.. I’m sure the sesame oil is what provides much of the taste, but do you think coconut oil (or another oil) could work? Excited to try this meal, looks great!
Hi Alie – I think coconut oil would be a nice substitute in this recipe. Enjoy!
Why not just get a jar of Dark, or toasting sesame oil on Amazon. Three bucks!
Hi there! I have a Farberware pressure cooker and I was wondering how could I still use this recipe if the chicken is frozen. Will I have to defrost it first or is there a way to alter the recipe to allow it to cook frozen chicken?
Thanks in advance!
Sorry I see that I didn’t have the only question as I just needed to read through the comments. Thank you for this recipe! I’m excited to try it and I’m about to look through the other recipes. I barely have time to breathe nowadays so I need as many quick recipes as I can gather 🙂
Great! Enjoy 🙂
Any way to make the rice with the chicken?
Hi Paul – you can 🙂 Here’s how I would do it. Use a 7×3 inch round cake pan or similar dish, and add rice ingredients – stir to combine. Place a rack on top of the chicken in the pressure cooking pot, and place the cake pan on top of the rack. Use this rice recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/ and be sure and do 10 minute natural release. I would also skip sauteing the chicken in the first step and just saute the onion and garlic then add the raw diced chicken with the ingredients in step two. Let me know if you try it.
I did the pot in pot for the rice (doubled the rice recipe) and it turned out perfectly!!! Thanks!
Great! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My pressure cooker doesn’t have a sauté setting either. It’s the Tupperware setting. Can this receipe be prepared in the microwave?
Hi Kristin – I’m sorry, I don’t have any experience using the Tupperware microwave pressure cooker.
I don’t have a saute setting on my pressure cooker…??
Hi Kim – if you don’t have a saute setting then you just select a pressure cooking setting and saute with the lid off. Which pressure cooker do you have?
I have a faberware pressure cooker. How would I sauté the chicken?
Hi Javaris – you use one of the pressure cooker buttons (meat or something similar) to heat up the pressure cooker and saute with the lid off. Have fun!
For the Farberware pot, use the sear button, then push stop when done searing, then use the chicken button.
Thanks for sharing!
Very good, however, I do agree with the other reviewer that it is too much honey. Used 1/2 cup and found that to be enough. Next time, out of personal preference, I think I will add some extra red pepper flakes and maybe some cilantro as suggested by reviews. Thank you for the recipe. It was good, simple, and quick!
I think some of the portions are off. Way too much honey (1 cup, really?) and I cut back on what it said. It overpowered all other flavors. Other than that it was a nice recipe. I lightly steamed some broccoli in the microwave and added that in too to make it a one dish “Chinese”-like meal.
Did you add the Broccoli in before pressure cooking or after with the simmering step? Or just before serving?
Hi Gaelynn – no, you don’t want to add the broccoli before pressure cooking, or it will be overcooked. Adding it during the simmering step works well.
I made this tonight, and the kids loved it! I added a teaspoon of ginger powder, and added cilantro with the green onion prior to serving. It was so fast, simple, and delicious. I will definitely make this again!
Sorry if this was asked already, but would this recipe work with a stop to pressure cooker? Would I need to change any part of the recipe?
Hi Kim – you shouldn’t need to make any changes when making this recipe in the stove top pressure cooker unless you know your stove top pressure cooker requires more liquid. Enjoy!
Is the chicken supposed to be precooked? Or really only cooks 3 minutes? New at this!!
Hi Leanne – yes, it’s uncooked chicken and diced chicken really does cook in 3 minutes plus the time it takes to come to pressure. Isn’t it great 🙂 Enjoy!
If I halve this, are the cooking times the same?
Hi Tami – the cooking time will be the same, but there’s not much liquid in this recipe and I don’t recommend halving the sauce. Enjoy!
Do you have any electric pressure cooker recipes for just 2 people please?
Thank you
Ruth S.
Hi Ruth – I don’t currently have any recipes for just 2 people. I have thought about doing pressure cooking for 2 recipes since my husband and I are soon to be empty nesters. However, many recipes freeze very well. I like to freeze meals like this one in individual portion sizes and have leftovers for lunch.
This is probably the fourth recipe I’ve tried from your blog and just like the others, it’s easy and delicious! Along with the IP, you have made dinner a happier, more scrumptious time!
Such a sweet comment – thanks Caitlin!
Hi! I don’t have a sauté setting on my pressure pro so how would I go about doing this?
Hi Kryssi – you’ll just use one of the pressure cooking settings without the lid similarly to the Power Pressure XL. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-use-the-power-pressure-cooker-xl/
I tried this for my family! This was so delicious! Everybody enjoyed it! The flavors came together really well! Thanks!
Thanks! So glad it was a hit 🙂
Great flavor!! Still new to IP. Served with cauliflower rice and sautéed cabbage Witt apple cider vinegar and honey.
Thought the chicken was a little over done. Is there a way I can adjust so the chicken isn’t so chewy?
Hi Alisha – glad you enjoyed it. Yes, you can cut the chicken in bigger pieces, skip the saute, or reduce the cook time a minute or two. Whatever seems easiest to you.
Excellent.
Thanks Sue!
Hi! I am new to using a pressure cooker and I don’t have different settings. You can only select warm ( which means the pressure cooker is heating) and choose to cook with the lid on or off. In order to sauté, would I just cook while my machine is heating and with the lid off? Thank you! I am looking forward to trying this recipe!!
Hi Chantal – yes, just cook while the machine is heating with the lid off to saute if your pressure cooker doesn’t have a saute function. Have fun!
My husband and I made this for dinner tonight, and it was excellent! For the most part, we followed the recipe, except we didn’t salt the chicken beforehand. With recipes that use a lot of soy sauce, I wait til the end and add salt only if needed. There was a lot of sauce at the end, so we added a pound of steamed broccoli and half a pound of steamed carrots. We also added a handful of cashews for some crunch. We’ll definitely add this to our saved recipes!
I tried this tonight…very plain. I would add some veggies like peppers and more onion.
Definitely change it up to suit your tastes 🙂
When would you add veggies so that they aren’t overcooked? I was thinking bell peppers, green beans, carrots, broccoli, etc.
Hi Yuki – Bell peppers and thick green beans and even carrots if you like them on the softer side would probably hold up to the 3 minute cook time, but broccoli would be mushy.
When do you recommend adding broccoli, or should I steam the broccoli separately so it doesn’t get mushy? I’m new in the kitchen!
Hi Jennifer – I give several options for cooking the broccoli on this post https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/
I made this for a quick late lunch today. It was delicious! I didn’t make any changes to the recipe except used one chicken breast and added red bell pepper and snow peas. As I was measuring the honey I wondered if it was too much. It is sweet but it is nicely balanced by the soy and red pepper flakes. This is definitely a keeper! I’ll bet it would be yummy with shrimp. Thanks Barbara!
Thanks Denise! Sounds like delicious additions. Let me know if you try it with shrimp.
HI! I can’t wait to try this! It looks delicious! I was wondering if you think I could reduce the honey and add a sugar substitute (powder form)? Thanks!
Hi Kara – I think you’d be fine to reduce the honey, and then if you want it sweeter, use a sugar substitute to taste.
I used half the honey and still found it to be a little too sweet for my tastes. Maybe down to 1/4 cup next time, but it was easy and tasty!
i dont see the step where you add the chicken?
Hi Jennifer- you saute it in step one with the onion and garlic. Enjoy!
This recipe is awesome! It has become a favorite of my kids! It is so easy and fast to make. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Sarah! Gotta love easy, fast and a hit with the kids 🙂
Hi Barbara,
Silly question… I have never done a meal in the instant pot that I didn’t have to add water or a cup of liquid? S I want to be sure I am not skipping something obvious. Like is this supposed to be a PIP (pot in pot recipe? I wasn’t sure how this would go directly in the pot. Or is the soy going to be enough to get me to pressure?
Thanks in advance… Still learning….
Hi Carrie – chicken releases a lot of liquid as it cooks, so the soy is enough liquid to come to pressure – no need to cook it PIP. Enjoy!
You ROCK! Thanks so much for the quick reply! AND FOR THE AMAZING RECIPES!!! 🙂
Thanks for putting a smile on my face 🙂
Dinner on the table in under 30 minutes-and delicious!! SO good! I didn’t measure ingredients, but tried to stay true to recipe. Will definitely be making again and again!
tried … ate it… loved it… added to my list of favorites…
Thanks Ray … so nice to hear 🙂
I read somewhere that garlic goes bitter when cooked in a pressure cooker. Have you found this to be a fact, I noticed that this recipe contains garlic and I would always use garlic in this type of dish. Thanks for the great recipes.
Thanks Lee – I use garlic in the pressure cooker all the time and haven’t found it makes it bitter. Perhaps they weren’t sautéing it before pressure cooking?
Modifications if using a whole chicken?
Hi Rachel – this recipe isn’t easily adapted for a whole chicken. You’ll have so much juice from the whole chicken, it would water out the sauce.
Do you think I Can I use bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe instead – and then just cut up the chicken after its cooked?
Hi Shannon – yes, I think that would work fine. I’d increase the cook time to about 12 – 15 minutes so hopefully it’s just fall of the bone tender for you.
One of the few pressure cooker recipes that has had good flavor! My family started calling the pressure “the flavor killer”. This one was great though! Thanks. 🙂
Thanks Kristen – glad you enjoyed it. I hope you’ll try more of my recipes they’re nice and flavorful.
I can’t believe that this recipe calls for an entire cup of honey. Ketchup is already sweet- you might as well eat cake! I reduced the honey to 1/4 cup honey and it is PLENTY sweet. Might reduce it even more…
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. I definitely recommend changing recipes so it suits your tastes.
Do you cook the chicken before then put it in the pressure cooker
Hi Bianca – no need to cook the chicken before putting it in the pressure cooker. The time coming to pressure and the time cooking at pressure is plenty of time to cook the bite size chicken.
I tried this yesterday and it was fabulous. My whole family loved it. Thank you for the recipe! This was the first recipe that I tried from your sites as I just discovered your site a few days ago. I will be back often!
I followed the recipe exactly. Next time I will use a bit less honey, and 3 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 Tbsp water, and I believe it will be absolutely perfect for my family’s taste. Thank you!!
So glad you found me and loved the recipe! It will be nice to have you stopping by often 🙂
We really enjoyed this dish! do you have the nutritional breakdown on this?
Thanks Karrie – glad you enjoyed it! Here’s a site I occasionally use for nutritional info https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Hi Barbara,
Quick question on the honey sesame chicken, do I leave the chicken in the pot all the way through step 3? Thank you, it looks really good and I look forward to more great recipes and input from you!
Richard
Thanks Richard! Yes, just leave the chicken in the pot until you’re ready to serve. Enjoy!
Can i use frozen chicken? How many more minutes should i add to cooking time when using with frozen meat? Thank you 🙂 i just found your website and can’t wait to try your recipes!
Welcome Patty – so glad you found me. Rather than change the recipe to accommodate whole frozen chicken breasts, I like to cook the frozen chicken breasts on a rack for 1 minute over 1 cup of water. Then remove the chicken and dice it and proceed with the recipe as written.
Thanks for your response! I’ll try that! 🙂
Looks yummy! Is there a way to cook both the chicken and the rice in the Instant Pot at the same time?
Hi Colleen – I haven’t tried it, but you could try the technique they use in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_c-cGHyTLI& http://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/one-pot-portuguese-chicken-and-rice/
Thank you! It looks simple enough. I’ll just have to buy a smaller pot to go inside for the rice. I’ll comment again if I try it!
This dish was delish!!! I followed the recipe instructions and it came out perfect. My sauce thickened up right away. As with many posters, I used only 1/2 cup of honey and we didn’t miss the other half at all. Adding broccoli would make the dish even better but no one else would eat it.
One note about the extra water in the chicken. I never realized before reading the comments below that the extra water in chicken would add to the liquid in the dish but that makes total sense. A couple of years ago I switched to organic chicken and it doesn’t get injected with the extra liquid. It really does taste better and it stays nice and tender, even when overcooked.
Thanks Marian – glad you enjoyed the dish. Thanks for sharing your tip on using organic chicken.
This looks so good! I can’t wait to try it! Just a quick question which may seem a bit silly ( so I apologize in advance) if I only use half the chicken, say 1lb instead of 2lb, would you recommend halving all the other ingredients as well? Or just keep them all the same and having the same amount of sauce but with less chicken..
Thanks Rebecca! There’s not much liquid in this recipe, so I wouldn’t recommend reducing the sauce ingredients. Enjoy!
I just received my Insta pot. Today will be my first adventure. I’d like to make the Honey Sesame Chicken. I’d also like to print the recipe. Got any suggestions as to how to print just the recipe and not all the ads and commotion that is also on the screen when you view the recipe?
Hi Terry – in the recipe section, underneath the little picture is a print button. Click on the print button to just print the recipe. Have fun with your new Instant Pot. Hope you enjoy the recipe. 🙂
Two questions (I haven’t tried cooking it yet), is cornstarch the same as corn flour (which is what we seem to have in Australia). Also I’m fairly new to pressure cooking, I have a stove top one, I know they are quick but is three minutes right for the at pressure time or is it a typo, seems extremely quick compared to the recipes I have gotten from a site based on the cooker I have.
Hi Lorraine – yes, corn flour is the same as cornstarch. The three minute cook time starts when high pressure is reached, so your chicken will be cooking while it’s reaching pressure, and for that reason, 3 minutes is plenty of time when the chicken is cut into bite size pieces.
I just made this the other night in my Instant Pot. Thanks for the recipe. It was good but I had one issue. I could not get the sauce to thicken like I think it should have at the end. I put the chicken over rice and just soaked up the sauce with the rice but it was very very liquidy. Any thoughts? I’m new to Instant Pot so I’m still learning. Thanks.
Hi Brenda – after you added the cornstarch slurry, did you let it come to a boil? You can reduce sauces by just letting them simmer using the saute function until the sauce is the consistency you want, or you can mix up another cornstarch slurry and add it to the sauce if you don’t want to wait for the sauce to reduce. Some chicken is injected with water, so you’ll get more liquid for some than others, which could be why you need more thickener. Glad you enjoyed it!
What do you mean by do a quick pressure release? This is my first time using an instant pot.
I wrote a post that will explain it https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/quick-pressure-release-or-natural-pressure-release/ Have fun with your new IP!
Can I do this with frozen chicken? I just bought an instapot and don’t know what I’m doing 🙂
Hi Dara – you could use frozen bite size chicken pieces or even frozen chicken tenders. However, if you want to use frozen chicken breast, I would pressure cook it for 1 minute, dice it and then proceed with the recipe. Enjoy!
I stumbled across your site through pinterest and can I just say, THANK YOU for always taking the time to comment–you’re an amazing blogger to take the time to respond to readers! I’ll be following you for sure!
What a nice comment. Thank you! I really appreciate all the feedback, suggestions and comments I get from my terrific reader. I learn so much from you all too.
Wow this is great! I used this recipe to pop my pressure cooker recipe and it was delicious! For people who are having problems with watery sauce, try adding 2 tbsp of water, and 3 tbsp of cornstarch in a separate bowl and mix together. After adding that, to the pot the sauce should come out nice and thick!
Thanks for the simple and easy recipe!
It was a tad bit dry my first time because I sauteed for too long trying to make the sauce thicker, but if you follow my tips above adding water and corn starch it should come out perfectly tender
Would the cooking time change if I use only 1 pound of chicken?
Hi Nicole – no, it’s the size of the meat that determines the cook time, usually not the volume, in the pressure cooker. Enjoy!
Thank you so much! I’m excited to try this.:)
So much liquid. I added the cornstarch and water but still very loose. The jury is out.
Hi Janet – some chicken will release much more liquid than others. It’s easy to reduce the excess just by simmering it longer or adding more cornstarch slurry. Hope you enjoy it.
I need help. I cooked it for 3 min as per recipe
Chicken is kinda dry like.
Other recipe say cook 8 min.
Is mine done already or not done enough?
I’m new at this . don’t want to run out if I cook it more
Hi Janet – a good rule to follow with meat is if it’s dry it’s overcooked but if it’s tough it’s probably undercooked. Next time, try cutting the chicken in to larger pieces, or not browning the chicken before pressure cooking and see if it’s more to your liking. Good luck! You’ll get the hang of it before you know it.
Thanks for helping. Flavor of sauce was great and I only used about 1/2 cup off honey.
I think you are right to not stir fry it in the beginning.
I think breasts are quick to cook, and was probably done just by bringing it to pressure.
Thanks again for answering. I will follow you so you can be my teacher,?
I have a question…do I start the 3 min after i sauté the meat, when the pressure builds up or as soon as I put the lid on?
After the pressure cooker reaches high pressure you start the timing. Enjoy!
Oh my goodness, I just tried this recipe and it is sooooo delicious!! Thank you so much!!
Thanks Karen! Glad you loved it.
Barbara,
Thank for the recipe. I followed the recipe and directions thoroughly, except I misread and added the honey In step 2. After step 2 I noticed a lot of liquid. After adding the Sesame Oil and Cornstarch, the amount of liquid did not dissipate (I really didn’t expect it to). Other than adding the honey before pressure cooking, any ideas what went wrong? I seriously doubt the honey caused the contents to be so watery. The final product tasted fine, but looked nothing like the picture, or what I expected. I’ll try again adding the honey at the right time.
Hi John – glad you enjoyed it. Chicken pieces vary a lot in how much water they contain. If your dish is too watery, you can just add more cornstarch slurry or continue to simmer the sauce until it reaches your desired consistency.
Hi Barbara. Thanks for your great recipes. Just got a pressure cooker and looking forward to trying some of them out
Welcome Kathleen – have fun with your new pressure cooker!
Hi Barbara, I’m going to try this recipe, thank you.
I recently bought a Philips All in one Cooker, which has settings for pressure cooking and slow cooking. I wanted the pressure cooking part for quick meals. However, I haven’t used a Pressure Cooker before and my results at own recipe was a disaster! I put in 1.5 kg chicken breasts cut in big chunky cubes, added 2 cups water, herbs, legs, tin tomatoes, P&S, guessed 50 mins cook time, set on chicken setting, pressure cook. Result was awful, over cooked, horrid texture chicken, just horrid!
Next, I followed manufacturer recipe book for dairy free yogurt, used coconut yogurt from health shop for starter and also a teaspoon of powdered culture starter (dairy free, gluten free), set for 10hrs, but result was like water, so I added another tsp culture powder, reset for 8 hrs, result a thicker top layer about 1cm depth, then watery underneath. Tasted okay, bottled the thick stuff, discarded the watery stuff. Got really, really sick next morning, don’t know if related to this, so not game to try again.
What am I doing wrong, everywhere? Do you have any helpful advice for me, please.
Hi Jacquelyn – sorry you’re having trouble. The size of the chicken makes a big difference in the cook time. Cubes of chicken will cook very quickly, so your cook time was way too long. Non dairy yogurt can be tricky to get right. I recommend starting with some easy recipes until you get the hang of pressure cooking. Here’s some from my site https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/easy-recipes-for-the-pressure-cooker/
I do not like handling raw chicken. I discovered directions to cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot. Might you have some suggestions on how I can use this cooking technique for recipies such as the sesame chicken?
Hi Bev – I haven’t tried this recipe with larger pieces of chicken, especially frozen chicken. Can you have the butcher dice your chicken so you don’t have to handle it?
our “butcher” ends up being Costco. I think I am going to try cooking chicken first then chop up and return to the pot. Better yet, I need to go to the farmers market and see if the have any organic free range chicken. I am so afraid of salmonella. This is a case where I know too much. Thank you for your reply. Will post haw it turns out.
Buy a new board (one with a channel around the edges to catch any juices) and knife and keep them only for raw chicken. Use disposable food-grade gloves if you don’t want to touch it. Have your sink clear of dishes before you start so you can wash the board with soap and boiling water straight away. You’re more likely to get salmonella from undercooked/improperly stored cooked chicken that raw if you follow the steps above.
I am also going to try this with frozen chicken as my electric power pressure cooker says those chicken recipes (not cut up in chunks) take 25 mins. once the pressure is built.
Hi Suzanne – 25 minutes seems a long time to cook chicken unless it’s a whole chicken?
If I double the recipe, do I still cook it for just 3 minutes on high?
Hi Amy – your cook time will still be the same if you double this recipe. Enjoy!
Hi. I made this tonight and it’s very watery. I followed the recipe exactly. Any idea what went wrong?
Hi Amy – a lot depends on the chicken you use. Some are injected with lots of salty water. All you need to do to thicken up the sauce is saute it a little longer, or add more cornstarch slurry.
How do you set to pressure cook for 3 minutes?
Hi Sandy – if your pressure cooker doesn’t have a timer, just bring it to high pressure and start a timer for 3 minutes when it has reached pressure. Enjoy!
Do I need to add any water? First time using pressurecooker!!
Hi Leslie – no, the soy sauce is enough liquid for the pressure cooker to come to pressure in this quick cooking recipe. Have fun with your new pressure cooker!
Pressure cook for 3 minutes? Is that right?
Hi Molly – yes, that’s correct. Bite size chicken will cook quickly and it will start cooking as the pressure cooker is coming to pressure.
I have a question can you stuff a chicken with homemade filling and put in it a pressure cooker
Hi Susie, I have seen chicken rolls done in a pressure cooker, but not a whole stuffed chicken. Although I guess a whole chicken could be done, I think it would be tricky to get the timing just right.
Thanks so much for answering my question
I made this tonight and OMG so amazing!!! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Could I add vegetables (like broccoli) to this? If so, how would the timing work? Thank you!
Hi Sally – you sure can. I share three ways to cook the broccoli in this recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-beef-and-broccoli/
I love this recipe and use it or a variation of it for all my chicken drumsticks. Using different types of vinegar, replacing the water with pineapple or apple juice (and reducing the sugar,) adding chopped ginger, cilantro, or sesame seeds has yielded delicious results. I always chop all sauce components and reduce the sauce down so I can use every drop of it with the chicken or to top accompanying rice, noodles, or vegetables.
Thanks Tom! Sounds like fun ways to change it up. What cook time do you use?
I’d like to double this. Do you see any issues in doing that? I will adjust ingredients, etc. Hoping to make for dinner tonight. Look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Robin – this recipe will double without any changes. Enjoy!
This is really good! I used boneless thighs, as I find white meat ends up pretty dry in the pressure cooker. I used about 1/2 of the honey called for and mixed in some steamed broccoli (cooked on the stovetop). I am also thinking that it will taste even better the next day after the flavors have a chance to meld. This one is a keeper
Thanks Lisa! I agree, even better the next day.
Thanks Lisa – I love using chicken thighs in the pressure cooker too.
You don’t have to add water when you pressure cook it?
Hi Jeanne – no water, the soy sauce is enough liquid to pressure cooker the chicken for this quick recipe.
Am I going to ruin this if I accidentally poor the honey in with it before cooking because I forgot to read the directions??? I’m about to test the theory ?
Nope you should be just fine. May need to thicken it a bit more or simmer it a bit more to get it as thick as you’d like. Enjoy!
Another great recipe! My girls and I loved it! I did use a little less honey (3/4 cup) and added a little more hot pepper… We are it with a side of broccoli… I think that the broccoli could even be cooked with it (at the end). Yum. Thanks! (My other FAVE is the pumpkin chicken corn chowder!!)
Hi Melissa – so nice to hear you and your girls loved it. I think you’re right about being able to cook the broccoli in it at the end. The pumpkin corn is great – so easy too. Thanks!
Hi. I’m fairly new to pressure cooking and really appreciate your site. This is my 3rd recipe of yours that I have tried. I followed it exactly and was amazed that only 3 mintues of pressure, cooked it. Although I loved the other 2 recipes of yours I have tried, I’m sorry to report that this was too sweet for me and also seemed to be missing something…but I don’t know what. But thank you anyways…I really do appreciate your site so much!
Hi Vicki – so glad you’re enjoying my site. Sorry this one wasn’t your cup of tea 🙂 Which other two did you enjoy?
I haven’t tried this but will soon. But, I thought you need at least 1 cup of liquid in Pressure cookers to bring it to pressure. So, il Leary of making this. Should I do it as is or add water or broth.
Hi Suzanne – what type of pressure cooker do you have? The chicken will release some liquid, so 1/2 cup is plenty. But if you feel like adding additional liquid, you certainly can – you’ll just need to thicken it more at the end. Most electric pressure cookers don’t have much evaporation with such a short cook time.
The amount of liquid ended up being fine! I think it turns out to be 3/4 cup…. Mine worked just fine!
Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Never used a pressure cooker….this recipe might make me step out of my comfort zone. Looks great!
Hi Kitty – it’s so quick and easy. Definitely buy that pressure cooker 🙂
I just made this for dinner tonight. Very yummy! I reduced the honey amount to 1/2 cup and thought that was just right!
Thanks Shane! Definitely adjust it to how you like it.
I have sugar snap peas coming out of the garden and would add those to this. Barbara, would you add them before or after bringing up to pressure. Mmmm….
Hi LIsa – How fun to have peas from your garden. I’d add them after pressure cooking the chicken and then cook 1 minute more on low pressure – based on the cook time in this recipe http://www.sausagetarian.com/journal/2016/1/28/pressure-cookers-are-for-lovers-vegan-under-pressure by Jill Nussinow.
I prepared my 4 chicken breasts halves(boneless, skinless) in the crock pot with the glaze and then poured it off into a small pot and simmered on the stove until it thickened. While the glaze was thickening, I “shredded” the chicken in large pieces.
My wife is a 35 year recovered alcoholic, and I am a PreMed major from Idaho State University, and am shocked at the proliferation of the use of Wine and Hard Liquors in cooking! I am glad you have a one in a row no alcohol recipe with chicken!
You would sell a Million books if you called it the TEA-TOTALERS Cookbook, a non Alcoholic way to cooking healthy foods. And besides Recovered Alcoholics, there are over 10,000,000 Mormons out here in the world of Alcohol and drug Corruption, that would purchase your book as well. I remember my mother back in the 50’s to the 70’s cooking without alcohol, stews and other delicacies, that tasted just fine and without the Alcoholics need for the taste of it in their meals!
I just looked at a 250 recipe cookbook that had at least one or more alcohol based ingredients in 95% of her recipes! Your assistance in making a no alcohol cookbook in this regard would benefit millions trying to kick the habit or stay loyal to their religious beliefs!
3 minutes of pressure cooking? Is that enough for chicken? I’m new to Instant Pot.
Hi Mic – yes, it will start to cook as it comes to pressure. So 3 minutes for diced chicken is plenty of time. Enjoy!
I’m not sure where the difference lies on this receipe…I followed it exactly but my chicken was white with a Very light brown sauce, so I took it out of the cooker and tried frying it some but all that did was make the sauce way thicker. Should the chicken be fried first? I browned it in the cooker but of course that really doesn’t make it look fried. So can you tell me how yours is such a dark brown, and if there was some step I missed… I’ve only had my cooker for a month and I’m still learning it.
Hi Cheril – the soy sauce and the ketchup will give the sauce a brown color, but it’s the sauce that is darker and not the chicken. You don’t really need to worry about the chicken being dark. It won’t have a fried appearance. Have fun!
This was delicious. I did make a few modifications: we halved the honey and at the end stirred in th zest of one orange and one tablespoon of white miso paste. Thanks for posting!
Thanks Lisa! Sounds like delicious additions.
Hi! I’m thinking about making this tonight. I have a stove-top pressure cooker and not an electric one. In your recipe it says “Pressure cook on high for 3 minutes,” then turn off/quick release. Since I have a stovetop version, I assume that means to bring to pressure in the 10-15 minutes it takes, then cook at high pressure for three minutes? I don’t imagine that chicken could could cook in three minutes if I just put the lid on. I am familiar with the electric kind and maybe it actually accounts for the time to build up pressure. Thanks for your help!
Hi Corey – you’re correct. Electric pressure cookers don’t start counting down the time until it has reached high pressure.
Does the chicken need to be cooked before adding it to the rest of the recipe?
Hi Nathaniel – no the chicken cooks very quickly when it’s cut in to small pieces.
In the first step, how do you preheat the pot? I’m totally new to a pressure cooker.
Hi Laura – If your pressure cooker has a saute button, just select that and let the pot warm up. If you have the Instant Pot, it say hot when the pot is ready to use. The Fagor beeps when it’s ready. If yours doesn’t have a saute setting, you could saute on one of the pressure cooking settings with the lid off.
Hi. Could this be used with frozen chicken?
Hi Carrie – if your frozen chicken is cut in to bite size pieces and not frozen as a solid block, then you could use frozen chicken. Or you could steam the frozen chicken for a few minutes to thaw it and then proceed with the recipe. I usually just put frozen chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag in cool water in the sink and let it thaw for about 20 minutes then dice it.
Thanks for getting back to me!
Loved this recipe although my husband (who is diabetic and doesn’t eat much sugar) thought it was too sweet so next time I will use less honey. Looking for my next one to try 🙂
Hi
UK here I was wondering if the ketchup in your recipe is tomato or anything else. I know some USA recipes differ a little from us.
Hi Marion – you could substitute tomato sauce and a tablespoon of vinegar. Ketchup usually also has some onion and garlic but they’re already in the recipe. Enjoy!
This was absolutely delicious! My husband and I enjoyed it for 3 meals. We will enjoy it again..I will stick it in the rotation of favorites.
I have made this and the Beef & Broccoli. love them both and i will make them often. on this one i only used about a 1/4C of honey and it was fine. I thought 1C was too much. I am trying to avoid added sugar. But a big thumbs up from the whole family.
Thanks! Glad your family enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing your change.
Hi!
Made this tonight and we loved it! The instructions couldn’t be easier. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for taking the time to let me know how much you enjoyed it!
This was a hit in my house! Thank you for this recipe! I only used half of the honey and it was still very sweet..
Thanks Erika – glad you enjoyed it.
Trying to figure out how much to thicken. Just started the saute process and seems really liquidy.
It should thicken up more the longer it simmers. If after a few minutes it isn’t thicken enough do another corn starch slurry, but give it some time first.
This looks so easy to make, and so good! Oh, definitely, I’ll want this one very soon. Thanks again, Barbara, for another great recipe.
Thanks Debby!
I made this last night and it was fantastic! Even the picky eaters at my house loved it–thanks so much!
Wondering if I could do this with frozen chicken tenders somehow? or do I need to defrost and cut into chunks?
Hi Melissa – that should work, I wouldn’t bother browning the chicken, and would increase the cook time a minute or two.
can this be doubled or would it be necessary to make two batches?
Hi Melissa – yes, you could easily double this recipe. You would not need to increase the cooking time.
Wonderful dish. I added steamed Asian vegtables prior to serving. Better than our nearby chinese restaurant. So glad I found your recipes. I’m new to pressure cooking. I’ve made 4 of your recipes and all have been outstanding.
Hello- would like to try this recipe but we don’t use ketchup. Is it possible to use tomato sauce instead?
Hi Kat – definitely, you might want to a tablespoon of vinegar as well.
Wow! I’m so excited to have found your site! Santa came to my house a little early with a Instant Pot 7 in 1 and I’m smitten with my shiny new appliance. I have been using it constantly once I overcame my initial fear of it. I’m 56 and remember horror stories about them exploding and sending the pot through the roof and the stove through the floor. And I tend to be easily distracted so I thought me plus pressure cooker equaled one really bad idea. But my IP seems pretty idiot proof!
Anyway, I was trying to find a recipe for apple sauce and one for rice pudding…..and I stumbled across your site! I have been to other sites and while they have some great recipes, I was looking for familiar recipes that had been tweaked for pressure cooking. Bingo! You have so many! I have played around with some recipes on my own but I am not familiar enough with pressure cooking to be real comfortable with it. Finding familiar recipes that have already been altered will give me a better feel for how to do it myself with our family’s favorites.
I, very much, look forward to getting your newsletters and now I’m off to look at more of your previous posts. You’re a goldmine!
Welcome Kim – your sweet comment certainly brightened my night. I’m so glad you’re enjoying my site. Have fun with your new Instant Pot!
What size chunks did you do for the chicken? This looks yummy and I can’t wait to try it.
Thanks Ann – they’re about 1-inch, bite-size chunks. Enjoy!
OK, I made it in my Instant Pot, and it came out fantastic! I followed the recipe to the letter. My wife went crazy over it. Now I think some pineapple chunks would send it over the top! What do you think?
Thanks Darnell – so glad you both loved it. I’ve a huge lover of fresh pineapple, so I’d probably just serve fresh pineapple on the side. But you could try stirring in some well drained chunks after pressure cooking.
Wow! I made this tonight for dinner and it was a huge hit with the family. My son even thought I bought it from a restaurant. The recipe is not stingy on the nicely sweet and slightly thickened sauce. There was only a tiny bit of this dish left over for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to testing how well it reheats tomorrow. Thanks again Barbara for yet another awesome, easy-to-follow recipe.
Ha! You’ve changed the recipe since I posted my question!
When are you adding the sesame oil? It’s in the ingredient list the with second step, but it’s not specifically mentioned, so maybe you’re adding it along with the vegetable oil in the first step? Thanks for clarifying.
Looks wonderful, Barbara. Love the chili flakes!
Can I sub the sesame oil or cornstarch with anything else?
You can omit the sesame oil and use arrowroot powder for the cornstarch.
I can’t wait to try this! It looks wonderful. The ketchup is a surprise ingredient, but I am game to try it. I think the tomato and the sugar would add to an already sweet/savory dish. This is definitely on my “to make” list. Thanks Barbara
How many times do I defrost chicken thinking it’s a great idea only to wonder what to make with it for dinner? What a perfect meal for one of those nights this recipe will be……plus it uses ingredients I always have on hand….perfect!
Thank you Barbara and Scott!
When do you add the sesame oil?
Hi Patti – you stir it in with the honey. I’ve updated the recipe. Thanks!
Hi Barb!
This looks similar to the Honey Garlic chicken, minus the sesame seed. Nonetheless, it still looks to be a delicious recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I have a electric pressure would the steps be the same?
Hi Connie – all my recipes are written for the electric pressure cooker.
Thanks, going to try this recipe.
Hi Terry – now that you mention it, it is very similar expect with chicken breasts instead of thighs and a shorter cook time.
I am going to be doing this tonight. I have breasts in the fridge I was going to freeze but opted for this instead (and freezing the salmon sitting in there).
Subbing out the cornstarch for arrowroot and the soy for coconut aminos. I don’t have a good paleo ketchup so … there’s that.
Barbara … ALL of the recipes I have done from your website have been amazing. Thank you for putting in the time.
Thanks Karen! I found this substitute for ketchup http://allrecipes.com/recipe/145549/in-a-pinch-ketchup/
My pressure cooker doesn’t have a saute setting, will this work if I transfer everything to a sauce pot for the sauteeing part?
Hi Diana – you can saute using one of the pressure cooking settings. The XL recommends using the chicken setting, with the lid off.
Also, Tessemae makes a good, clean ketchup