Instant Pot General Tso Chicken
This Instant Pot General Tso Chicken is packed with rich flavors from dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey and hoisin sauce.
Note: Made in a 6-qt Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds (680 g) boneless skinless chicken thighs diced
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon (14 g) ginger grated
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) water
- 1 cup (185 g) rice
- 1 cup (237 ml) water
For the sauce:
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) warm water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 ml) rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) red pepper flakes
For garnish
- Green onions chopped
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Turn on saute mode on the Instant Pot. Add in the oil. When hot, add the chicken and saute for 2-3 minutes. You’re not trying to fully cook the chicken. Turn off saute mode.
- Add the garlic and ginger and let sit for 30 seconds to become aromatic. Pour in the chicken stock and deglaze the pot to remove any browned bits.
- In a bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients. Pour it into the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid and set the valve to sealing. Press the pressure cook or manual button and set the cook time to 4 minutes. It will take about 5 minutes to pressurize. After the cook time is up, do a quick pressure release and remove the lid.
- Cook the rice either on the stove top or in the Instant Pot with the chicken. If cooking in the Instant Pot, place a bowl with the rice and water on the trivet above the chicken mixture. Cook for 4 minutes and allow an 8 minute natural release of pressure.
- Turn back on saute mode.
- Mix the remaining cornstarch with cold water and pour it into the pot. Let it boil for 3 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. You can add more cornstarch for a thicker sauce, if you want. Cancel saute mode.
- Serve the chicken and sauce over rice, garnished with sesame seeds and chopped green onion.
Notes
- You can skip the initial cooking of the chicken, it just builds more flavor.
- If you use frozen chicken for this recipe, you’ll need to cook it longer, for 10 minutes instead of 4.
- Use chicken breast or chicken thighs for this recipe, but chicken thighs have better texture and are more moist.
- Make the dish more spicy by adding red pepper flakes or sriracha sauce.
- If you like a lot of sauce, double the sauce recipe and cook normally. The sauce is really tasty, so you might want to do that. I like to reserve the extra sauce to toss chicken wings in for another meal.
Nutrition
Calories: 486kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 46gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 216mgSodium: 1140mgPotassium: 677mgFiber: 1gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 352IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 3mg
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