Instant Pot Sesame Chicken
Instant Pot sesame chicken is one of the most easiest Instant Pot chicken recipes available. It’s a quick and easy weeknight dinner. And, even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy this recipe.
You can use chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs to make Instant Pot sesame chicken. However, I prefer chicken thighs only because they retain so much moisture when you cook with them.
How to Make Instant Pot Sesame Chicken
To start off making Instant Pot sesame chicken, make sure you have trimmed any fat or skin off of your chicken breast or thighs first. Cut your chicken into chunks, as desired. A good pair of kitchen scissors make this an easy task.
You’re first going to sauté the chicken. So, set your Instant Pot or pressure cooker to sauté or browning.
You’re going to want medium heat and add in sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, brown the chicken in batches. Once brown, stop the sauté by hitting cancel or off. Then, return your chicken to the pot.
In a separate bowl, you’re going to combine honey, soy sauce, garlic, red pepper flakes, and water. Once mixed, whisk in your mixture into the inner pot of your pressure cooker.
Close the lid to your Instant Pot or pressure cooker, ensuring the pressure-release valve is set to sealing. Adjust the pressure to high for 4 minutes.
After the timer goes off, do a natural release of about 10-15 minutes. Open the lid and check your chicken.
Then, in a separate small bowl, mix your cornstarch and water slurry to be smooth. Set your pressure cooker back to sauté mode to low. Mix in the cornstarch, let simmer, and keep stirring occasionally or until thickened. This should only take a couple of minutes.
When everything is thickened, serve by topping with sesame seeds and green onions (optional). Serve with rice and enjoy!
How to Make Instant Pot Sesame Chicken and Rice
Instant Pot Rice
Instant pot rice is pretty simple to make. I like to make sure my rice is fully prepared before going in the Instant Pot pressure cooker by doing the following:
- You can use any type of rice you want: brown, white, long-grain, short-grain, jasmine rice, etc.
- In a strainer, pour the quantity of rice you want (I usually do about 1-2 cups) and rinse your rice until the water starts running clean. This will ensure the starches come off of your rice, so your end result is fluffier rice.
- Sauté your rice in about 2 tbsp of oil (I prefer canola or olive oil) and brown. Once toasted off you can add your water.
- I like to do a 1:1 rice to water ratio with my rice. So for 1 cup of rice, I’ll do a cup of water.
- Once covered with water, I hit the pressure cook button on high for about 5 minutes. Once the timer goes off I let it do a natural release of about 10-15 minutes before releasing the steam.
- After your rice is done cooking, undo the lid and fluff up the rice with a fork. Serve with your Instant Pot sesame chicken.
What If I Don’t Have an Instant Pot?
This Instant Pot chicken recipe is pretty easy to replicate on the stove, but I do recommend using an Instant Pot or another type of electric pressure cooker or multi-cooker.
I use my Instant Pot Duo, but I do have a list of recommended products for you to browse if you are looking for a pressure cooker. Check out my product reviews, guides, and more recipes. Happy cooking!
Instant Pot Sesame Chicken
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces and trimmed
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1/4 cup of soy sauce or gluten-free tamari soy sauce
- 1/4 cup of water
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- Cornstarch Slurry:
- 3 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons of cold water
- Toppings/Sides:
- 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
- Cooked rice
- Thinly sliced green onions, optional
Instructions
- Trim any fat or skin off chicken breast or thighs. Cut chicken into chunks, as desired. A good pair of kitchen scissors make this an easy task.
- Sauté the chicken. Set your Instant Pot or pressure cooker to sauté or browning.
- On medium heat and add in sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, brown the chicken in batches.
- Once brown, stop the sauté by hitting cancel or off. Then, return chicken to the pot.
- In a separate bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, garlic, red pepper flakes, and water. Once mixed, whisk in your mixture into the inner pot of the pressure cooker.
- Close the lid to your Instant Pot or pressure cooker, ensuring the pressure-release valve is set to sealing. Adjust the pressure to high for 4 minutes.
- After the timer goes off, do a natural release of 10-15 minutes. Open the lid and check your chicken.
- In a separate small bowl, mix your cornstarch and water slurry to be smooth.
- Set the pressure cooker back to sauté mode to low.
- Mix in the cornstarch, let simmer, and keep stirring occasionally or until thickened. This should only take a couple of minutes.
- When everything is thickened, serve by topping with sesame seeds and green onions (optional). Serve with rice and enjoy!
