Name: Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil; 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts, see note); ¼ tsp salt; ¼ tsp pepper; ¼ cup orange juice; Zest from one large orange; ¼ cup lemon juice; 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce; 1 tsp minced ginger; 1 tsp minced garlic; 2 Tbsp diced green onions; 1 tsp sriracha; 1 cup brown sugar (see note); 3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp cold water

Description

Tender bites of chicken in a flavorful orange sauce. And it’s made fast and easy in your Instant Pot.

Ingredients

Scale

1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts, see note)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup orange juice
Zest from one large orange
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp diced green onions
1 tsp sriracha
1 cup brown sugar (see note)
3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp cold water

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Instructions

Prepare your chicken. Blot it dry with a paper towel. Then trim off excess fat. I like to use kitchen shears. Then cut the chicken into bite size chunks.
Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the chicken, salt and pepper and saute for 2 minutes. Then turn off the Instant Pot.
In a bowl stir together the orange juice, zest, lemon juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, onions and sriracha. Pour the mixture into the Instant Pot.
Cover and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Turn the Instant Pot to the saute setting. Stir in the brown sugar. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the Instant Pot and let the sauce thicken for a couple minutes. Turn off the pot.
Serve the orange chicken with extra green onions and sesame seeds, if desired. Serve the chicken over rice, if desired.

Notes

If you use chicken breasts use a 3 minute pressure cooking time instead of 4 minutes.

There is lots of sauce for this chicken. You can increase the amount of chicken by 1 pound and not increase the amount of sauce.

Brown sugar: I use 1 cup of brown sugar in this recipe. Many people have made it with half that much or even less.

For the 3 quart pot: Keep the recipe the same, no changes. For the 8 quart pot: Increase the sauce 1 1/2 times so that the pot can come to pressure. Alternately you can make it pot in pot and keep the same ratios as above.

Category: Chicken
Method: Instant Pot
Cuisine: Asian