Lemonade Chicken–with a secret ingredient that your family won’t be able to guess and only a handful of total ingredients this sweet and sour chicken is delicious to eat, easy to make and quick to clean up after dinner is done. A perfect weeknight recipe! Can be made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Lemonade Chicken
You may be thinking “lemonade chicken…that sounds weird!” I was in the same boat as you until I tried it! I thought it would be sugary sweet and taste strange. However, I am happy to report that I was very wrong! This easy dump and go recipe (can be made in Instant Pot or Crockpot) was quickly consumed by myself and Skyler and Terry (Sky’s friend that we love to have around to help us eat all the food I make). Sorry to Greg who didn’t get even a bite because it was all gone by the time he arrived home from work. It reminds me a bit of a sweet and sour chicken. You can’t even taste that there is frozen lemonade concentrate as the main ingredient. I didn’t tell the boys about it until after they ate it and they were shocked when I told them that there was lemonade in it. Try out this chicken soon…I think you’ll really love it.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts–I used a combination of both. I personally think this is the way to go…lots of flavor from the dark meat but not too heavy with the addition of the white meat. I did use frozen thighs and breasts (about a pound of each) but you can use fresh if you’d like.
- Frozen lemonade concentrate–do not dilute
- Ketchup–I always buy Heinz
- Seasoned rice wine vinegar
- White pepper–or black pepper
- Cornstarch–optional, but nice if you want to thicken up the sauce
- Kosher salt and pepper–to taste
Steps
Pour water into bottom of Instant Pot. Add in the chicken.
In a bowl stir together the lemonade concentrate, ketchup, vinegar and white pepper. Pour the mixture over the chicken.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes then move valve to venting and remove the lid.
Use tongs to move chicken to a cutting board and shred.
Discard all but 1 cup of the liquid in the Instant Pot. In a small bowl stir together 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of cold water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot. Let the sauce thicken and then turn off the Instant Pot.
Stir the chicken into the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste (I added in a big pinch of kosher salt and coarse black pepper).
Serve and enjoy. Top with slices of lemon, if desired.
Notes/Tips
- Try serving this chicken over rice. My son and his friend ate it ALL before I could make rice. A nice side of roasted broccoli would be nice with it too.
- 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.
- Other recipes you can make with seasoned rice wine vinegar are Instant Pot Bulgogi and Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken.
- Try making some brown rice in a separate Instant Pot to serve with this chicken.
Can I Make The Rice At The Same Time?
Pot-in-pot rice is a method of cooking rice in a separate container placed inside the Instant Pot. This method allows you to cook rice and the chicken at the same time. Here’s how you can cook rice at the same time as the chicken.
Ingredients:
- 2 cup of white rice
- 3 cups of water
Instructions:
- Add the rice to a heatproof container that fits inside the Instant Pot (I often use this stainless steel pan*). Add in the rice and water.
- Add the chicken ingredients into the Instant Pot.
- Place the heatproof container with the rice on top of the chicken, using a tall trivet* to keep it elevated.
- Close the Instant Pot lid and set the valve to sealing. Cook as stated in the recipe card.
- Carefully remove the heatproof container with the rice from the Instant Pot. It will be perfectly cooked!
Note: You can use long grain white rice, converted rice, basmati rice, jasmine rice. Brown rice uses a longer cooking time (22 minutes) and won’t work for (pot-in-pot) this particular recipe.
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.
Lemonade Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
With a secret ingredient that your family won’t be able to guess and only a handful of total ingredients this sweet and sour chicken is delicious to eat, easy to make and quick to clean up after dinner is done. A perfect weeknight recipe! Can be made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts (frozen or fresh)
- 3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
- 2 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
- Pinch of white pepper
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Pour water into bottom of Instant Pot. Add in the chicken.
- In a bowl stir together the lemonade concentrate, ketchup, vinegar and white pepper.
- Pour the mixture over the chicken.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes then move valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Use tongs to move chicken to a cutting board and shred.
- Discard all but 1 cup of the liquid in the Instant Pot. In a small bowl stir together 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of cold water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot. Let the sauce thicken and then turn off the Instant Pot.
- Stir the chicken into the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste (I added in a big pinch of kosher salt and coarse black pepper).
- Serve and enjoy. Top with slices of lemon, if desired.
Slow Cooker Instructions: (no water or cornstarch needed)
- Add chicken into slow cooker.
- In a bowl stir together the lemonade concentrate, ketchup, vinegar and white pepper.
- Pour the mixture over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Use tongs to move chicken to a cutting board and shred.
- Stir the chicken into the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste (I added in a big pinch of kosher salt and coarse black pepper).
- Serve and enjoy. Top with slices of lemon, if desired.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes…
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Tender and moist chicken with Carolina barbecue sauce made fast in your Instant Pot or slow and low in your Crockpot.
Hangry Boy Chicken
Ultra flavorful and creamy chicken that’s healthy, low in calories and high in protein. Make it in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Adirondack Chicken
Easy homemade barbecue style chicken with onions and apples made in your Instant Pot or Crockpot.
Don’t Kiss Me Chicken
Don’t Kiss Me Chicken—chicken quarters with 40 cloves of garlic and a savory sauce. A classic french recipe that has been made faster with your Instant Pot. Pin this recipe for later! Don’t Kiss Me Chicken This famous chicken recipe has 40 cloves of garlic included! So you might be thinking “no kissing after I
*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.
Valerie Biber says
We absolutely loved this. I plan on making it again with a bit more lemon juice. Thank you for all your recipes.
Karen says
Thanks Valerie!
Donna Huhn says
I made using frozen chicken breasts which was very helpful to get dinner in table. Recipe was good; I just didn’t taste lemon flavor. Served over arugula and noodles. Is a keeper for a quick meal if you only have frozen chicken.
Phil says
You. ever feel liike you’re getting trolled… and falling for it? Yeah, that was this recipe. Sounded intriguing, and I bought the hype hook, line and sinker. But after making it, there’s absolutely nothing inspiring about it.
To be fair, I did learn that the Instant Pot makes tender shredded chicken. (First time for that) But the flavor was completely off. Flat. Awkward combination. Like you accidentally spilled some lemonade over bland, boiled chicken on your plate and then mashed it up with a little ketchup.
Harsh? Maybe. But I followed the recipe to a t (even half thighs, half breast) and fail to understand the hype. Family agrees, I had to bribe my kids with dessert for them to eat any if it.
if you do decide to make this, for the love of God, please add some salt *before* cooking. But I’m honestly not sure, what, if anything would salvage the dish.
Valerie Biber says
This was absolutely delicious. What fun to cook straight from the freezer for a tasty chicken. Thank you for this one.
Karen says
Glad you liked it Valerie!
Karen says
This sounds tasty, but I have a question about the rice pot in pot . All of my jasmine rice recipes used a 1:1 ratio for rice to water, but you are saying 2 cups rice to 3 cups water- why would it be different for this pot-in-pot version? Thanks in advance!
Karen says
It really is just a personal preference. You can definitely go 1 to 1 if you’d like!