Mom’s Chicken is an easy 5-ingredient chicken recipe with a slightly sweet and savory sauce. You can make this recipe in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot.
Mom’s Chicken
This recipe is super tasty and it only has 5 main ingredients making it very quick to put on the table. It sort of reminds me of what I used to order at the restaurant Teriyaki Stix (do those still exist?). It was like a teriyaki chicken bowl, especially as I served the chicken and sauce on top of brown rice with a side of vegetables. Next time I will double the recipe so that I could have leftovers the next day!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs–I suggest making this recipe with boneless chicken thighs since they stay nice and tender. You can also use chicken tenderloins (3 minute pressure cook time). Chicken breasts will also work although they won’t be as tender (2 minute pressure cook time for 1 inch cubes).
- Low sodium soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Garlic cloves
- Cornstarch
Steps
Trim excess fat off of the chicken thighs. Cut the thighs into 1 inch cubes. Add them into the Instant Pot.
Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic. Pour in the water.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
In a small bowl stir together cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the slurry into the pot until sauce has thickened. Turn off Instant Pot.
Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked rice.
Notes/Tips
- This chicken and sauce tastes great served over rice and with a side of vegetables. I like the frozen vegetables with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and steam them in the microwave.
- 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 recipe can be gluten-free if you use gluten-free soy sauce.
- I like use fresh garlic cloves and mince them with a garlic press*.
- Other recipes you can make with soy sauce are Instant Pot Egg Roll Bowls and Instant Pot Fried Chicken Rice.
- Recipe adapted from Mom’s Chicken on Funky Asian Kitchen
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Mongolian Chicken
This easy Instant Pot Mongolian chicken recipe is ready in just 30 minutes from start to finish and is packed with tender chunks of chicken, zucchini and garlic-ginger flavors.
Instant Pot Hibachi Chicken
A savory sauce with chicken chunks, mushrooms, bell pepper and zucchini. Serve it over rice and drizzle with homemade yum yum sauce for an awesome dinner.
Instant Pot Asian Garlic Noodles
Chicken, garlic, mushrooms, spaghetti noodles and cabbage in a savory sauce. An easy way to have restaurant quality Asian noodles at home!
Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
This easy chicken teriyaki recipe uses a homemade sauce made with pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. It has the perfect balance of sweet and savory. You can even use frozen chicken!
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.
Mom’s Chicken (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Mom’s Chicken is an easy 5-ingredient chicken recipe with a slightly sweet and savory sauce. You can make this recipe in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- Hot cooked rice, for serving
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Trim excess fat off of the chicken thighs. Cut the thighs into 1 inch cubes. Add them into the Instant Pot.
- Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic. Pour in the water.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- In a small bowl stir together cornstarch with 3 Tbsp of water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the slurry into the pot until sauce has thickened. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked rice.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Trim excess fat off of the chicken thighs. Cut the thighs into 1 inch cubes. Add them into the slow cooker.
- Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic.
- Stir water together with the cornstarch until smooth. Stir the mixture into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours.
- Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked rice.
- 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.
Could I add chopped onion and bell peppers in the crockpot?
yes that would be just fine 🙂
No. you’re not doing anything different from the recipe. calls for you to cut them into 1in cubes.
If I wanted to use boneless/skinless breasts instead of thighs, would I need to adjust the cook time at all?
Cut them into cubes and use a 2 minute pressure cook time
Can I use chicken breasts and made in my crock pot, or will the chicken be tuff tasting
Thank you
You can do that. I would only slow cook for 1-2 hours on low.
**I hope you meant to say 1-2 MINUTES, not hours. 😉
lol I corrected it