College Dorm Chicken–Instant Pot or Crockpot chicken with just 3 main ingredients! An easy recipe that is perfect for those who don’t want to take lots of time or effort to create dinner.
College Dorm Chicken
Today is my daughter’s 18th birthday 😭! She will be headed off to college in the fall and I’m starting to share with her how to use the Instant Pot. She will be living on campus in apartment-style housing and have access to a kitchen and a 3 quart Instant Pot*. I’ve taught her how to make easy items like rice, baked potatoes and hard boiled eggs. Now I’m onto showing her some super simple recipes. This recipe only has 3 main ingredients! It’s a dump and go recipe and can be perfect for meal prep. Just pair it with some steamed vegetables and brown rice and you have 4 lunches all week. She loved this chicken and was happy to learn how to make it.
You might also like Instant Pot Recipes For College Students
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs–or chicken tenderloins
- Low sodium soy sauce–or tamari
- Brown sugar
- Garlic powder–optional
- Cornstarch–optional
Steps
Add soy sauce and chicken into Instant Pot. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the chicken. If using garlic powder sprinkle it on top of chicken.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for thighs or 3 minutes for tenderloins. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting.
Stir the chicken into the sauce. Thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry by stirring together equal parts cornstarch with cold water. Then turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the slurry into the pot until the sauce thickens. Turn off the pot.
Serve chicken and sauce with rice and broccoli.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with rice and broccoli or another vegetable like green beans. For easy peasy vegetables use a package of frozen steamable vegetables and cook them in the microwave.
- This recipe can be gluten free if you use gluten free soy sauce. This recipe is dairy free.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- This makes a good prep ahead recipe. Use these containers to portion your lunches* for the next few days!
- Other recipes you can make with soy sauce are Fried Chicken Rice and Panda Express Chow Mein.
More Instant Pot College Recipes…
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
Make fluffy, moist baked potatoes in your Instant Pot without foil and in just a few minutes!
Instant Pot 2-Ingredient Balsamic Chicken
Tender, moist bites of shredded chicken flavored with balsamic dressing. With literally only 2 ingredients and the fact that it’s made in the Instant Pot, this recipe couldn’t be easier to make. This balsamic chicken tastes great on salads, over rice or with a baked potato.
Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Chicken and Gravy
An almost embarrassingly easy recipe for a good old fashioned dinner. Serve the chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, toast or biscuits.
Instant Pot Salsa Rice
With just 5 ingredients and a few minutes you can make a delicious dinner that your family will love. A saucy, cheesy rice with browned sausage.
Instant Pot Dump and Go Meatball Lasagna
A perfect dinner on those nights when you need dinner fast! This 8 ingredient pasta dish is faster than picking up pizza and it will be gobbled up in no time.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
College Dorm Chicken
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot or Crockpot chicken with just 3 main ingredients! An easy recipe that is perfect for those who don’t want to take lots of time or effort to create dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch (optional)
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add soy sauce and chicken into Instant Pot. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the chicken. If using garlic powder sprinkle it on top of chicken.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for thighs or 3 minutes for tenderloins. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting.
- Stir the chicken into the sauce. Thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry by stirring together equal parts cornstarch with cold water. Then turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the slurry into the pot until the sauce thickens. Turn off the pot.
- Serve chicken and sauce with rice and broccoli. Salt and pepper to taste.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Stir soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder and cornstarch together in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add in the chicken.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours for thighs or 2-3 hours for tenderloins.
- Serve chicken and sauce with rice and broccoli. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I halved recipe and had concerns there was not enough liquid (soy sauce) and it would burn. No problem. Once I opened pot, I was concerned it would be too salty. Another error on my part. Meat shredded perfectly. Served over rice. Excellent!
Glad it all worked out Donna!
I am on vacation without my instant pot! 🙁 Can I make this on the stove top ?
I imagine you could just bake it in the oven!
Hi, I was wondering if I can substitute breasts for thighs? How long should i cook them?
Recipe sounds delicious! 🙂
Yes you can. If they are frozen 12 minutes and if fresh then 10 minutes.
Hey, Karen! I truly sympathize with you on your severe case of “Empty Nest Syndrome” however, you knew years ago if you kept feeding that baby she would eventually grow up & fly away…haha, funny, not funny. I’m thinking back years ago when I headed off to college. Instant Pot? I don’t think so. All we had to cook in was an ancient popcorn popper & we weren’t supposed to even use that. My, how times have changed!
Will be back with stars on this recipe, looks so good. I swear, my husband eats so much chicken I’ll bet he’s got feathers growing on him somewhere.
I’m interested in this ancient popcorn popper!! Haha! That is hilarious.
It was sort of cone-shaped, small at bottom real wide at top. Made of I’m thinking a thick aluminum. Heating element in the bottom, plug out the back. Supposed to put oil & popcorn in the bottom, put the lid on & wait for it to pop. Was a great popcorn popper. Was an even better soup pot, pasta cooker, etc. We even made tuna casserole in it. We weren’t supposed to have those in the dorm, but hey, all of us had one. They were easy to hide. haha. P.S. my last year there they moved us into new dorms. Each room had this free-standing thingie that had a fridge on the bottom & a sink & 2 stove top burners on the top. We all thought we’d died and gone to heaven. Was so nice!! Ah, the good old days!!
the good old days indeed!
Thank you for another wonderful sounding recipe. You have saved me numerous times and I thank you for that! Is that enough liquid not to get the burn notice? Also could you use the pot in pot method and make the rice and or broccoli at the same time? If so could you please advise?
Chicken puts off liquid so it’s enough to bring the pot to pressure. And yes you can use the pot in pot method to cook the rice. I would place a tall trivet around the chicken and then place a pot in pot dish on top of the trivet with the rice and water inside. I am thinking you could put the broccoli on top of the rice but honestly I am wondering if it would get too mushy??
Thank you for adding the pot in pot instructions. Adding the rice completes the meal! I think I would add the broccoli at the end after the rice has finished cooking- just put it on top of rice, put the lid on and let the steam from the rice cook the broccoli for a few minutes. Great dinner idea!
love that idea Michelle!
The picture below the first step (Add soy sauce and chicken into Instant Pot. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the chicken. If using garlic powder sprinkle it on top of chicken) looks like the chicken is frozen. Is the timing the same for either frozen or thawed chicken?
Yep same time for either frozen or fresh in this case.
Thank you
Tenderloin chicken is superb delicious moist
A very delicious recipe thank you for sharing
Your recipes always easy delicious fast
In the instant pot thanks again
Five stars two thumbs up
Thanks so much Aeil!
Hi Karen. Could you use bone in chicken thighs? If so, how long would you need to cook them. Thank you!
yes you could! I would do 12 minutes for fresh or 15 minutes for frozen.