Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken
One of the best Instant Pot recipes with chicken thighs in a sweet and savory honey sesame sauce. This juicy and moist chicken will be an instant hit!
Servings: 4 People
Calories: 392kcal
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless and skinless chicken thighs
- salt
- ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoon oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame
- 1 tablespoon chopped scallion
Honey Sesame Sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha or chili garlic sauce Rooster brand, or most to taste
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Instructions
- Wash and rinse the chicken thighs with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Set aside. Mix all the ingredients in the Sauce together, stir to mix well. Make sure the honey and corn starch are completely dissolved. Set aside.
- Turn on the Saute mode on your Instant Pot. As soon as the pot is fully heated (to make sure the chicken doesn’t stick to the pot), add the cooking oil. Pan sear the chicken thighs until they turn slightly brown (if they stick to the pot too much, you may use a non-stick skillet for pan-searing or skip this step.)
- Add the the garlic and saute a little bit. Pour in the sauce and top with the white sesame. Cover the pot and select Manual and set to High pressure for 8 minutes.
- When it beeps, turn to Quick Release. When the valve drops, remove the cover carefully, add the chopped scallion and serve immediately. Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode to reduce the sauce, for about 2 minutes or so, until the sauce slightly thickens.
- If the sauce is lighter in color compared to the pictures, you might add some dark soy sauce to make the sauce darker in color. Different soy sauce has different color, some lighter and some darker. If you use a lighter color soy sauce, the sauce will look lighter, but the taste should be about the same.
Video
Notes
I used a 6-quart Instant Pot.
Dark soy sauce makes the sauce darker. If you don't have dark soy sauce at home, your sauce will be light brown in color. The taste will be the same nonetheless.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can make this honey sesame chicken in a slow cooker, or on your stove top.
If you use a slow cooker, use high heat and cook for 3 hours. For stove top, just pan-fry the chicken and then add in the Sauce. Simmer on low heat and cook until the chicken meat is tender.
You can pan-fry the chicken on a non-stick skillet instead of using the Saute Mode. You can also skip the step.
If you use chicken breast, you can pressure cook for 10 minutes so the chicken is more tender.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 208mg | Sodium: 1096mg | Sugar: 11g