Instant Pot Sweet Sesame Chicken

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.

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

• 1.5 Pound Chicken Breast cut into bite size pieces
• 2 Tbsp Olive 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 Sesame Oil
• 2 Tbsp Cornstarch (cornstarch slurry)
• 2 Tbsp Water (cornstarch slurry)
• Sesame seeds

Instant Pot Sweet Sesame Chicken Instructions

1. Mix 2 Tbsp of cornstarch and 1/2 tsp salt in a cup and rub evenly over the chicken breasts
2. Press Sauté on the Instant Pot and when the pot is HOT, add 2 Tbsp olive oil
3. Use long tongs to place the chicken breasts into the Instant Pot and brown on sauté for 3 minutes
4. Use long tongs and a spatula to carefully flip the chicken breasts, brown for 2.5 minutes, and move browned chicken breasts to a plastic cutting board, Cancel Sauté
5. Use a sharp knife to cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces
6. Mix 1/4 cup soy sauce,1/4 cup ketchup, and optional 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes in a small bowl
7. Pour the above mix into the instant pot and use a flat wooden spatula to scrape the pot bottom clean
8. Add the chicken pieces to the Instant Pot, put the Instant Pot lid on, seal the pressure release valve, and set the pressure cook time to 6 minutes
9. The Instant Pot will take about 12 minutes to come to pressure
10. When the 6 minutes of pressure cooking is finished and the Instant Pot beeps, manually release the pressure
11. Make your cornstarch slurry by mixing 2 Tbsp of cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of water in a bowl
12. Remove the Instant Pot lid and add 1/4 cup honey and 1 Tbsp of sesame oil to the Instant Pot, mix well
13. Cancel pressure cook, press sauté on the Instant Pot, and when the sauce starts to simmer, stir in the cornstarch slurry
14. Stir often scraping the bottom clean as you stir for 3 or 4 minutes as the sauce thickens and cancel sauté
15. Spoon over rice or cauliflower and don’t forget to sprinkle with some sesame seeds

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. 😉