You’ll love this sweet and savory Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken recipe. It’s better than takeout and you’ll have it on your plate in an instant – well, less than 30 minutes.
An Easy Chicken Breast Dinner Idea
If quick and easy is your goal, then girl, get yourself an Instant Pot. The instant Pot is like a dream; quick and delicious meals with minimal clean up. If you’re a busy mom with kids and energy abounding in your house, the Instant Pot is perfect for you. Once you set it, you can walk away and handle all the other excitement going on. No need to stand over a pot and stir. You’ve got yourself some freedom!
One of my favorite meals to make in my Instant Pot is my Honey Garlic Chicken and Rice. The flavors work so well together, especially if you crave that sweet and savory combo. I love this flavor profile so much, I also make a similar dish with chicken thighs. Since this recipe uses chicken breasts, it cooks even quicker!
Recipe Ingredients:
This recipe makes it simple to have a just-as-good-as-takeout meal without having to hunt down exotic ingredients at a specialty market. Here’s what you’ll need:
- olive oil
- chicken breasts
- pepper
- honey
- chicken broth
- soy sauce
- ketchup
- garlic
- oregano
- parsley
- rice
- water
- cornstarch
- sesame seeds
How to Make Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Rice
- Start by setting your Instant Pot to “Sauté” mode. Add olive oil and heat it up.
- While the oil is heating, season your chicken with salt and pepper, then transfer it to the Instant Pot and cook for about 2 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl combine your honey, chicken broth, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, oregano, and parsley. Mix it all together until it is smooth. Slowly pour the honey mixture into the Instant Pot and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Return the chicken to the Instant Pot.
- Rinse your rice really well and then add it to an oven safe dish that will fit inside your Instant Pot on top of the trivet. I always use my pyrex glass mixing bowls.
- Add 2 1/4 cups water into the dish with the rice and cover the dish with foil. Place the dish on top of your trivet (the one that comes with the Instant Pot). Carefully place the trivet down into the pot on top of the chicken.
- Lock the lid of the Instant Pot and set valve to “sealing”. Press the manual button and set the timer for 15 minutes on High Pressure.
- When the timer beeps let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Once all the pressure is released, remove the lid and carefully remove the rice bowl using oven mitts or hot pads. Then remove the chicken and set it on a cutting board. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes.
- Return the Instant Pot to “Saute” mode.
- In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water until smooth. Stir this slurry mixture into the pot and let it cook for a couple minutes while you stir.
- In the meantime, shred the chicken.
- Turn your Instant Pot off and stir the shredded chicken back into the sauce.
I like to serve the chicken over rice and garnish it with toasted sesame seeds or green onions. Steam some broccoli to serve on the side and you’ve got a well balanced meal.
Can I Make this Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe If I Don’t Have an Instant Pot?
Yes, you can make Honey Garlic Chicken if you don’t have an Instant Pot, but it definitely won’t be nearly as quick or in one single pot. Before I had my Instant Pot, I often made various shredded chicken recipes in my slow cooker. But, this will take you a few hours and you’ll need to cook your rice separately on the stove top or in a rice cooker. You could also do the shredded chicken stove top in a dutch oven, but again – it won’t be nearly as quick.
How to Store Honey Garlic Chicken
Your leftover Honey Garlic Chicken can be stored in your fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days. You can also freeze it. Just, let it cool completely to avoid extra condensation and freeze it in a freezer bag. It will stay for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat Honey Garlic Chicken
Reheating shredded chicken is super easy. Simply bring it to room temperature on your counter, then heat on your stove top on low. It should only take about 10 minutes to heat through. Serve it with rice and veggies, or use the leftovers to make Honey Garlic Chicken tacos!
Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
- ⅔ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp ketchup, (I use no-salt ketchup)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley
- 1½ cups short grain white rice
- 2¼ cups water
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the Instant Pot on “Sauté” mode. Add olive oil to the instant pot and heat it up. Season chicken with salt and pepper; transfer to the instant pot and cook for about 2 minutes per side, or until just browned. Remove chicken and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl combine honey, chicken broth, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, oregano, and parsley; mix until incorporated.
- Slowly Pour the honey mixture into the Instant Pot and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add chicken back into the pot.
- Rinse the rice really well; add rinsed rice to an oven safe dish that will fit inside your Instant Pot on top of the trivet. I always use my Pyrex glass mixing bowls. Add 2 1/4 cups water into the dish with the rice and cover the dish with foil. Place the dish on top of your trivet (the one that comes with the Instant Pot). Carefully place the trivet down into the pot on top of the chicken. Lock the lid of the Instant Pot and set valve to “sealing”. Press the manual button and set the timer for 15 minutes on High Pressure.
- When the timer beeps let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Once all the pressure is released, remove the lid and carefully remove the rice bowl using oven mitts or hot pads. Then remove the chicken and set on a cutting board. Let rest 5 minutes.
- Turn the Instant Pot to “Saute”. In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water until smooth. Stir the slurry mixture into the pot; and let cook for couple minutes, stirring often. In the meantime, shred the chicken.
- Turn off the Instant Pot and stir shredded chicken back into the sauce. Serve chicken over rice and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
54 Comments
Ruth
Feb 5, 2020 at 8:38 pmLooking for quantity of chicken broth. . . did I miss it?
I don’t have an instant pot, but I definitely plan to make it in conventional cookware.
Katerina
Feb 5, 2020 at 10:33 pmNow it’s there! 😊 Thanks for catching that – I just fixed it. It’s 2/3 cup chicken broth and 1/3 cup honey.
I have a similar recipe on my other site for Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken, if you want to give that a try, instead. Here’s the link: https://diethood.com/crock-pot-honey-garlic-chicken/
Erin
Feb 6, 2020 at 10:16 pmSuch an easy recipe and tasted amazing! The family gobbled it up. Thanks!
Krissy Allori
Feb 6, 2020 at 10:46 pmI love finding new instant pot recipes. This is a good one. I’ll be making it again for sure.
Andie Thueson
Feb 6, 2020 at 11:11 pmMy question, what’s for dinner has now been answered – this looks amazing!
Amanda
Feb 6, 2020 at 11:47 pmSuch an amazing meal that everyone will love!
Dorothy Reinhold
Feb 7, 2020 at 1:21 amI haven’t be brave enough to try to cook two things at one time in my IP. You give such clear directions I am going for it tomorrow! The honey mixture for the chicken sounds amazing.
Katerina
Feb 7, 2020 at 12:48 pmI was afraid to cook rice + chicken in the IP for so long, but I’m glad I did! It’s, like, liberating. 😃
Annie
Dec 20, 2020 at 4:26 pmCan you sub long grain brown rice and get same results?
Melissa
Mar 9, 2021 at 1:33 pmI did. It was the only rice I had in the pantry. It worked perfectly.
Katerina Petrovska
Mar 9, 2021 at 3:47 pmThat’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Deseree
Feb 7, 2020 at 4:52 amI can’t wait to try this chicken and rice dinner in my instant pot! It looks and sounds fantastic!
Katerina
Feb 7, 2020 at 12:46 pmI consider it a win each and every time when I can make my main and side dish in the same pot, at the same time! 🙌
Dee Schaefer
Apr 21, 2023 at 10:02 pmThis was very good! I love being able to cook the rice at the same time and this method works! It was a tad salty for my taste – but I didn’t have all the low sodium ingredients and adjusted by throwing in a the juice from a can of mandarin oranges along with the cornstarch, then carefully stirred in the oranges to reheat. I’ think I will try to slow cooker method for a family potluck so I can triple the recipe. Thanks!
Katerina Petrovska
Apr 26, 2023 at 1:33 pmThat’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Jacque Hastert
Feb 7, 2020 at 5:02 amI can’t believe the flavor that comes from this chicken in less than 30 minutes. Locked and loaded with flavor.
Lora
Feb 7, 2020 at 11:44 amEveryone just loves this. Honey garlic is always a hit!!
Katerina
Feb 7, 2020 at 12:44 pmYes! I put that sauce on every.thing! 😀
Linda
May 11, 2020 at 1:52 amCame out perfectly and oh so good.
I used low salt soy sauce and didn’t have sesame seeds so I used green onions. I am brand new to my Instapot, this was so easy to follow. I will make this many more times.
Katerina Petrovska
May 12, 2020 at 6:11 pmI am very happy you enjoyed it!! Thank YOU! 🙂
Linda
May 14, 2020 at 3:32 amTonight I made it with skirt steak and added onion…..oh my! Love you recipe.
Katerina Petrovska
May 14, 2020 at 3:09 pmI am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank you! 🙂
Kristen
Sep 14, 2020 at 11:35 pmFirst time using my insta pot and was sort of a disaster for me! Maybe you can help. The c8 symbol came on during sautéing. Had to keep turning of pot and then turning it back on to finish. Then I wasn’t very clear on what setting to my my IP on when I put chicken back in so I used pressure cook and it burned the food before it even finished pre heating!
Katerina
Sep 15, 2020 at 1:03 pmHi!
So sorry this didn’t work out for you. I hope I can help, but I’m not sure what the “c8” symbol means. I googled it and it says that “c8” means you are using the wrong inner pot. My Instant Pot comes with just one inner pot so I don’t know how true their explanation is. 🤷♀️
The instructions on what setting to choose for pressure cooking are in the recipe card under step #11 and step #12. It says to, “Lock the lid of the Instant Pot and set valve to “sealing”.” Then, “Press the manual button and set the timer for 15 minutes on High Pressure.”
In as far as burnt food in the IP; always make sure to have enough liquid in the pot. I suggest using at least 1 cup of liquid for this recipe; the chicken broth and soy sauce combined are a little over 1 cup of liquid.
Kristy
Oct 29, 2020 at 8:58 pmWould I be able to do this with frozen chicken breast? If so,will the rice need to be cooked separately?
Molly
Dec 28, 2020 at 11:10 pmI used frozen chicken breasts & brown rice (similar cooking times for each other) and adjusted the cooking time to 31 minutes. Just skipped the sauté step. Awesome!
Aimee
Jan 16, 2021 at 2:13 amWe are still new to the Instant Pot. This recipe was easy to follow (I love the videos!) and incredibly delicious. This will be a new favorite in our family…even my 3 year old ate it and loved it! We did Jasmine rice and it turned out great.
Katerina Petrovska
Jan 16, 2021 at 4:37 pmThat’s great to hear! I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Sarah
Jun 30, 2023 at 3:52 pmDo you have to cook the rice at the same time?
I have a preferred way with my style of instant pot.
Katerina
Jul 1, 2023 at 6:51 amNo, you don’t have to. I cook them both simultaneously for this dish to make things more practical and quicker.
Cody
Jan 21, 2021 at 10:01 pmHi there, I’m making this for dinner tonight and was wondering if the cook time would change if I didn’t cook the rice in the ip? I don’t have a bowl to do it in. Thank you and I’m excited to try it!
Katerina
Jan 22, 2021 at 12:35 amHi!
Yep, cook time stays the same.
Krystal
Feb 12, 2021 at 12:08 amIs it possible to get the same results with frozen chicken?
Katerina
Feb 12, 2021 at 12:20 amYes, but cook them a bit longer, about 2 more minutes, I would say.
Kyleigh
Mar 6, 2021 at 6:35 pmCan you skip cooking the rice?
Katerina
Mar 6, 2021 at 7:56 pmHi!
Yes, you don’t have to use the rice.
Kyleigh
Mar 8, 2021 at 12:04 amThank you!
Ena
Mar 6, 2021 at 9:42 pmCan you leave out the ketchup? I’m allergic to tomatoe. Thanks!!
Katerina
Mar 6, 2021 at 10:54 pmYep, just leave it out.
Melissa
Mar 10, 2021 at 12:12 amWould it still work without cornstarch? 😭 I grabbed everything at the store to make this tonight and forgot the cornstarch!
Katerina
Mar 10, 2021 at 1:50 amHi!
Yep, it will be fine. The cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce before serving. But, you can also just use all-purpose flour instead of cornstarch.
Jen
Mar 29, 2021 at 1:12 pmWould the cooking time be adjusted for chicken thighs?
Katerina
Mar 30, 2021 at 2:50 pmAre they bone-in thighs? Yes, time will definitely need to be increased, but that may be too long for the rice if it’s bone-in thighs. Boneless thighs will only need to be increased by a minute or two.
Korie
May 4, 2021 at 2:19 pmEasy and melt in your mouth tender (I used boneless skinless thighs). The flavor was pulled pork meets delicious Asian dish. I only used an 1/8 cup of cornstarch w just enough water and used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. Enjoy. Thanks for a great recipe to add to my rotation.
Katerina Petrovska
May 4, 2021 at 2:26 pmI am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Lisa
Jul 11, 2021 at 7:26 pmAre you supposed to mince the garlic or put it in whole? After you remove the chicken, are you supposed to turn “saute” off before pouring in the bowl of ingredients? Sorry, I need things spelled out. Thanks!
Katerina
Jul 12, 2021 at 8:12 amHi!
No problem! 😊
You’ll want to mince the garlic or just chop it up as finely as you can.
I don’t advise to turn off the “Saute” because you want that sauce to heat up a bit. Also, “Saute” mode will automatically turn off when you press the manual button and set the timer for 15 minutes on High Pressure to finally cook the food… at least that’s how it works on mine 🤔 You can also just turn off the “Saute” mode right before sealing the cover on the Instant Pot. Does this help? I hope 🤞 😃
Katie
Sep 1, 2021 at 7:31 amHi – would I be able to substitute jasmine rice? It’s all I have on hand at the moment! Thank you.
Cat
Jan 24, 2022 at 9:23 pmThis was awesome! I loved that I was able to make the rice at the same time as the chicken in the same pot! Only thing I would change is not add the salt to season the chicken since the soy sauce is salty enough (even at low sodium). Other than that, this was a wonderful dinner
Nicole
Sep 7, 2022 at 5:09 pmHow would you adjust this to make it in the crock pot?
Katerina
Sep 8, 2022 at 6:48 amPut it all in the crock pot and cook for about 3 hours on LOW. I would brown the chicken on all sides before placing it in the crock pot.
Also, check the chicken’s internal temp – cooked chicken is done when internal temperature registers at 165˚F.
Melissa
Oct 18, 2022 at 8:31 pmI was out of soy sauce and substituted it for teriyaki sauce. Still yummy!!
Katerina Petrovska
Oct 19, 2022 at 12:47 pmI’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Sammie
Jul 31, 2023 at 6:35 pmThis was really good however, I think I would sauté onion with the chicken next time. Left the sesame seeds out due to an allergy. Served alongside steamed veggies and it’s a super easy dinner!