Category: Food

Instant Pot Hawaiian Kalua Chicken

The Wild Waynes

I love recipes with 10 ingredients or less! Even better when I only have to dirty 1-2 dishes. I am a firm believer in “less work, more eat”.

A quick note on this recipe – it was originally designed for pork. That didn’t stop me from replacing pork with chicken. If you are inclined to use pork, do so, just make sure to check out Instant Pot cook times online for pork. They are longer than chicken, and I’d hate for you to get an undercooked dinner.

PS – I’m sure it will be equally good. I just haven’t tried it yet.

Instant Pot Hawaiian Kalua Chicken
Pin now, enjoy later! ❤

Instant Pot Hawaiian Kalua Chicken Ingredients

  • 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp oil (we used Avocado Oil)
  • 2 lbs Chicken
  • 1/2 Cup water
  • 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tbsp Liquid Smoke (Hickory)
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar

Instant Pot Hawaiian Kalua Chicken Instructions

  1. Salt chicken on both sides.
  2. Set Instant Pot to sauté & add oil.
  3. When hot, add chicken and cook until brown on both sides.
  4. Turn off the Instant Pot, remove the chicken and set aside.
  5. Add water, soy sauce, Liquid Smoke, and brown sugar & mix together (scrape any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan).
  6. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set to High Pressure for 10 minutes.
  7. When finished cooking, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 10 minutes.
  8. After the 10 minutes, quick release the remaining pressure.
  9. Shred chicken and enjoy with your sides of choice!
    (we had with rice and broccoli)

I sure hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! If you’ve made it or adapted it, let me know in the comments below. I love to hear how these recipes evolve.

Child Enjoying Instant Pot Hawaiian Kalua Chicken

Instant Pot Sweet Sesame Chicken

The Wild Waynes

I love have a large arsenal of Asian Instant Pot recipes at my disposal. Many of the recipes use the same ingredients (or most of the same ingredients) which allows me to save time and money!

Some really nice things about this recipe are: 1. kids love it 2. it’s easy 3. you can double up the recipe if needed for leftovers (or bigger families!) 4.pretty much anything can be added as a side.

Instant Pot Sweet Sesame Chicken
MOAR CHICKEN!

See, I told you it was kid approved – haha.

The only downside to this recipe is it does call for several of the ingredients to be mixed in different bowls prior to being added to the Instant Pot. So be prepared for a few more dishes than normal. I mean, it’s 1 or 2, but I’m all about less chores, so I figured I should give you a heads up.

Instant Pot Sweet Sesame Chicken Ingredients

  • 1 Pound Chicken (cut into bite size pieces)
  • 2 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 Cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 Cup ketchup
  • 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (Optional – we like some heat!)
  • 1/4 Cup honey
  • 2 Tbsp. water
  • Sesame seeds (Also Optional, but it kinda makes the dish, haha)

Instant Pot Sweet Sesame Chicken Instructions

  1. Add 1 Tbsn of cornstarch and salt to a medium bowl
  2. Add chicken and coat evenly on all pieces (feel free to add a little more cornstarch and salt here if needed!)
  3. Set Instant Pot to sauté & add 1 Tbsp of oil.
  4. When ready, add chicken. Cook until chicken is golden brown. Roughly 3-4 minutes.
  5. While the chicken is cooking, mix the soy sauce, ketchup, and (optional) red pepper flakes in a small bowl.
  6. Pour the above mix into the instant pot once the chicken is browned. Mix to cover all pieces of chicken evenly.
  7. Turn off sauté, add lid, and set instant pot to pressure cook for 3 minutes (make sure to move the valve to “sealing”).
  8. Mix 1 Tbsp of cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of water in a bowl
  9. When the Instant Pot beeps that it is done, manually release the pressure.
  10. Remove the lid and add the honey and 1 Tbsp of sesame oil. Mix throughly.
  11. Press sauté on the Instant Pot and when the sauce starts to bubble add the cornstarch and water.
  12. Let sauce thicken to your preferred consistency.
  13. After serving, don’t forget to sprinkle with sesame seeds (add to you liking!)
  14. Enjoy! ❤

As you can see from our picture, we made a fried rice to go along with our chicken, but the possibilities are endless. I mean, if you are my kids, you’ll just eat the chicken and leave no leftovers. 😉

Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup

The Wild Waynes

Confession. I love soup. Even when it’s 90 degrees outside.

The Instant Pot is the PERFFFFECT way to cook a hot meal without heating up the entire house. It’s been super hot this week so I couldn’t resist pulling out Instant Pot to cook up dinner.

A few notes: don’t be afraid to use regular sausage if you are not a fan of spicy soups. It’s just as good. Also, a little more or a little less pasta will not “make or break” this recipe, add pasta to YOUR preference. Lastly, add more veggies if you want! I’ve done this recipe with celery and peppers – it was delicious.

Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
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Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup Ingredients

  • 1 TBS Olive Oil
  • 1 lb hot Italian sausage
  • 3 Carrots (chopped)
  • 1 Onion (chopped)
  • 2 Cups of Spinach (chopped)
  • 40 oz of Chicken Broth
  • 1.5 Cups of Ditalini Pasta
    (Acini di Pepe is classic for this soup, but it tends to be more expensive so I don’t ever use it)
  • Dried Basil (optional / use to taste. I tend to use about 1/2 – 1 tsp)

Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup Instructions

  1. Set Instant Pot to saute & add oil.
  2. Once hot, add Italian sausage and cook until brown & drain.
  3. Add carrots, onion, pasta, and chicken broth & stir until mixed.
  4. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set to high pressure for 4 minutes.
  5. Once done, hit the quick release.
  6. When the release is finished, open the lid and stir in the spinach and (optional) dried basil.
  7. Set the Instant Pot back to saute and allow the soup to start to boil.
  8. Turn off the Instant Pot and serve!
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
Kid Approved! 🙂
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup

Instant Pot Asian Chicken Soup (“Ramen”)

The Wild Waynes

This soup is pretty close to Ramen. Buuuuut I hesitate to post it online as Ramen because I didn’t use ramen noodles, and I’ve never made actual ramen (or anything resembling ramen outside of this recipe).

I always get a craving for this soup, and totally fail to have any sort of noodles on hand and I’m not paying $8.00 for ramen noodles at our local store… so rice noodles it is. Forever and ever on repeat. So, please do hesitate to use Ramen noodles! I’m sure it’d be just as delicious.

Just a quick note here, you can use ANY chicken you have, it doesn’t have to be chicken thighs. I do tend to find thighs on sale but I know that might not be the case for everyone. Dave also prefers this recipe with dark meat, so it is a win-win for everyone.

Instant Pot Asian Chicken Soup Ramen
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Instant Pot Asian Chicken Soup

  • 1 Onion (sliced or diced)
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 TBSP grated ginger root, grated
  • 1 LB boneless/skinless chicken thighs
    (our preference for taste, but any chicken will work!)
  • 4 cups chicken broth (low sodium is our preference)
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce (low sodium is our preference)
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 2 TBSP oyster sauce
  • 1 TBSP fish sauce
  • 1 TBSP sesame oil
  • 1 TBSP chili garlic sauce
  • 1 LB chopped baby bok choy
    (we have used regular bok choy and it was just as good!)
  • 1-2 packages rice noodles

Instructions

  1. Add off of the ingredients EXCEPT for the bok choy and noodles into your instant pot & close the lid.
  2. Cook at high pressure for 8 minutes.
  3. When done cooking, manually release the pressure.
  4. As the Instant Pot is releasing, start a pot of water to boil and cook noodles. (Note: this can be done while doing the steps below as well, or you can always make this the last step if thats easier to keep everything streamlined)
  5. When the instant pot is fully depressurized, open the lid and add remove the chicken.
  6. Add the book choy into the pot & stir it in fully (allowing it to cook)
  7. Chop or shred the chicken and add it back into the pot (give everything a good stir)
  8. When the noodles are done cooking, put a nice heaping pile of them in a bowl and pour soup over them.
  9. Enjoy 🙂

Don’t be afraid to add MORE or LESS noodles, and don’t be afraid to squeeze in some Sriracha – I love my soup HOT!

I added a hard boiled some as eggs as well, but this is a personal choice and up to you if you want to add another step of having to hard boil eggs on top of everything else.

Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo

The Wild Waynes

It is summer time, and the temperature outside is proving that. I love saving money, so the least amount of time that the Air Conditioning needs to be on the better in my opinion.

So, when the summer temperatures hit, the trusty Instant Pot is my “go to” for all dinnertime cooking. Also, the best part about using the Instant Pot to cook is you only have one pan to clean. The Instant Pot. 😉

Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo

Not the healthiest recipe, but it sure is good! It’s also a favorite of Harrison’s. Well, as long as he didn’t ask for (and get) 400 peanut butter sandwiches while I was trying to make this.

Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Recipe
Don’t forget to pin! ❤

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 TBSP Olive Oil
  • 1 Onion (chopped)
  • 4 Cloves Garlic Diced (or Minced)
  • 1/2 tsp Granulated Garlic
  • 1 1/2 lb Chicken Breast (Salt and Peppered on both sides)
  • 4-6 Strips of Bacon (cut into bite sized pieces)
  • 16oz Penne Pasta
  • 4 Cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 1/2 Cups Whole Milk
    Note: (for a creamier sauce use 1 cup heavy cream & 1/2 Cup Whole Milk)
  • 1/2 tbs Salt
  • 1/2 tbs Pepper
  • 5oz Parmesan Cheese (shredded)

INSTRUCTIONS

Total Time: 30-40 mins | Serves: 4 | Kid Friendly

  1. Turn the Instant Pot to sauté.
  2. Brown bacon until desired crispiness; remove from Instant Pot and set aside.
  3. Drain bacon grease.
  4. Keeping Instant Pot on sauté, add salt & peppered chicken and cook for 3 minutes on each side.
  5. Remove Chicken and set aside.
  6. Add onions and cook for about 2 minutes stirring frequently (they should be soft).
  7. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, still stirring frequently to prevent burning.
  8. Add chicken broth and granulated garlic.
  9. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any bits of bacon remaining.
  10. Add pasta while continuing to stir.
  11. Add chicken breasts on top of pasta.
  12. Put on the Instant Pot lid & lock.
  13. Move to pressure setting and set for 3 minutes.
  14. When complete, allow to naturally release for 5 minutes then finish with a quick release.
  15. One depressurized, remove chicken and set aside.
  16. Move Instant Pot back to sauté and add bacon, milk (or milk/cream mix), salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese.
  17. Allow the mixture to sauté on low while chopping the chicken into bite sized chunks.
  18. Add the chicken back into the Instant Pot and stir.
  19. Serve and Enjoy! 🙂
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Cook Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Bacon and Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Cook Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Cut Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo