Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Rice
Feb 05, 2020, Updated May 04, 2021
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Sweet and savory honey garlic chicken is a quick and flavorful dinner that will make your entire family happy. And because we’re using an Instant Pot, it’s ready in just 30 minutes. This easy chicken recipe will become one of your favorite one-pot meals!
Jump To
- Why You’ll Love This Honey Garlic Chicken
- Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken
- How to Make Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
- Can I Make Instant Pot Chicken Without an Instant Pot?
- Recipe Tips
- What to Serve With Honey Garlic Chicken
- Storing Leftovers and Reheating
- Other Chicken Breast Recipes
- Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Rice Recipe
Honey garlic chicken and rice is one of my favorite meals to make in an Instant Pot. The flavors work so well together, especially if you love that sweet and savory combo. But what makes one-pot meals like this so great is the simplicity. Once you set everything up in the Instant Pot, you can do other things and cleanup is a breeze! This is some major dinner-time freedom.
Why You’ll Love This Honey Garlic Chicken
- Made in one pot. There’s nothing better than one-pot meals for easy cooking and simple cleanup. Everything goes in the Instant Pot and comes out ready to serve. So easy!
- Full of flavor. The honey garlic sauce is sweet, savory, and smells so good. It coats the chicken and rice perfectly and makes every bite delicious. You’ll love the balance of flavor!
- Versatile. This Instant Pot chicken recipe is really easy to adjust to suit your preferences. Feel free to use chicken thighs instead of breasts, brown instead of white rice, or add some veggies like broccoli or carrots. You can also make the sauce a little spicier by adding some red pepper flakes or sriracha.
- Great for leftovers. This recipe makes enough for 4 servings, so you can enjoy leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. It’s also really easy to double this recipe if you’d like a little more. Somehow, honey garlic chicken tastes even better the next day!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken
- For the chicken. Chicken breast, salt, and pepper.
- For the rice. White rice and water.
- For the sauce. Honey, chicken broth, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, oregano, parsley, cornstarch, and water.
How to Make Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
- Sear the chicken. Set your Instant Pot to ‘sauté’ mode and heat up a little olive oil. While the oil is heating, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Sear both sides of the chicken for 2 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and set it aside.
- Make the honey garlic sauce. Mix together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl or measuring cup until it comes together. Pour the sauce into the warmed Instant Pot and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken back in.
- Add the rice. Rinse your rice and add it to an oven safe dish that will fit inside your Instant Pot. Add water to the dish, cover it with foil, and place it on top of the trivet. Carefully position the trivet in the Instant Pot over top of the chicken.
- Cook. Seal the Instant Pot and cook the garlic honey chicken for 15 minutes on high pressure. When the timer beeps, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and carefully take out the bowl of rice and the chicken. Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes.
- Assemble. Using the sauté mode, add your cornstarch slurry mixture (cornstarch and water) to the sauce to thicken it up. While that cooks for a few minutes, shred your chicken and add it back into the sauce. Turn the Instant Pot off.
- Serve. Spoon honey garlic chicken over your cooked rice and enjoy!
Can I Make Instant Pot Chicken Without 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 be done in a 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. You could also do the shredded chicken in a dutch oven on the stove, but again, it won’t be nearly as quick.
Recipe Tips
- Garnishes. I really like to add toasted sesame seeds and a little fresh green onion to the top of garlic honey chicken. Toasting the sesame seeds will bring out their nutty flavor and add some crunch to your dish. You can toast them in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they are golden and fragrant. This will only take a few minutes, so watch them carefully and don’t let them burn.
- Thickening the sauce. While not completely necessary, I like using a slurry made of cornstarch and water to thicken up the honey garlic sauce. Without it, I think the sauce misses that thick, stickiness we all love.
- Natural pressure release. While it can be tempting to release all the pressure quickly, don’t. The chicken actually continues to cook as the pressure comes down naturally. So, if you rush the process, your chicken may not be completely cooked.
What to Serve With Honey Garlic Chicken
This dish doesn’t need a lot to go along with it. The rice, chicken, and delicious honey garlic sauce are rounded out nicely with a good veggie side. I usually choose something simple like a little steamed or roasted broccoli, but any vegetable will pair well. If you’re looking for something a little adventurous, try our romano beans in garlic butter sauce, roasted Brussels sprouts, or garlic butter roasted asparagus.
Storing Leftovers and Reheating
- To store. Leftovers from this easy chicken recipe 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 fresh for up to 3 months. Whether in the fridge or the freezer, keep the honey garlic chicken separate from any leftover rice.
- To reheat. Reheating honey garlic 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!
Other Chicken Breast Recipes
Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Rice
Sweet and savory honey garlic chicken is a quick and flavorful dinner that will make your entire family happy. And because we're using an Instant Pot, it's ready in just 30 minutes. This easy chicken recipe will become one of your favorite one-pot meals!
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.
Equipment
Nutrition
Calories: 599kcal | Carbohydrates: 92g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 1674mg | Potassium: 646mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 202IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Did you make a recipe? Leave a rating
Would it still work without cornstarch? 😭 I grabbed everything at the store to make this tonight and forgot the cornstarch!
Hi!
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.
Would the cooking time be adjusted for chicken thighs?
Are 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.
Easy 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.
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Are 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!
Hi!
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 🤞 😃
Hi – would I be able to substitute jasmine rice? It’s all I have on hand at the moment! Thank you.
This 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
How would you adjust this to make it in the crock pot?
Put 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.
I was out of soy sauce and substituted it for teriyaki sauce. Still yummy!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
This 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!
Hi! I can’t wait to try this! I was wondering if the nutrition info was for all of the rice and chicken or if it was for 1 serving. I’m assuming it’s for 1 serving. What size is a serving?