Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

Guys, here’s a really easy quick dinner idea. This better than takeout Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken is packed full of sweet and slightly savory honey and fragrant garlic flavors. It’s so easy to make, we’re talking dinner on the table in a half an hour kind of quick and easy. 

Suitable for Gluten Free diets.

My whole family really enjoys Chinese food and Chinese inspired dishes. This perfectly cooked Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken does not disappoint any of us every time I make it. I try to make some extra sauce and a few extra chicken thighs because they’re the perfect thing when meal prepping. 

This Honey Garlic Chicken Instant Pot recipe doesn’t require that much effort, just the work of the handy Instant Pot and a few pantry staple ingredients.

Better Than Take Out Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

You’ll have better than take-out dinner on the table in no time and know exactly what ingredients went into your dinner, making it an overall healthier dinner choice. Just like this Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl.

This delicious recipe has much yum….

Get ready to enjoy this fall-off-the-bone Honey Garlic Chicken Thigh recipe. It’s soooooo good and budget friendly. Pair it with some of your favorite vegetables and a serving of rice and you’ll have the perfect go-to dinner meal for the weekly meal plan menu. 

Want a slow cooker version, then this Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken is awesome. Or for another well loved iInstant Pot recipe try this Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan.

What Are Chicken Thighs?

Chicken thighs are dark meat that’s super tender from the upper portion of the chicken leg. Chicken thighs have a higher fat count than chicken breasts which helps give them more flavor.

Since they’re dark meat and have more fat, they stay juicier on the grill than chicken breasts do and they tend to hold their juices better in the Instant Pot too. And folks, they cook better on higher heat, so you can cook them faster than other pieces of chicken.

Why Make This Recipe

• Full of flavor
• Chinese inspired dish
• Doesn’t require much effort
• Relatively quick meal
• Great for meal prep
• Tasty and budget friendly

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken – This recipe calls for skin on bone chicken thighs.
• Olive oil – use any olive oil you already have.
• Soy sauce – this recipe calls for gluten free soy sauce but use regular soy sauce if not GF.
• Sweetener – use some runny honey or maple syrup.
• Flavorings –  this gets it flavor from a combination of minced garlic, fresh ginger grated, toasted sesame oil, lime juice and a little heat from red pepper flakes or sriracha sauce to taste.
• Corn starch  – helps thicken the sauce.
• Garnish – toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions and fresh parsley make a great optional garnish
• To serve – serve with some rice, cauliflower rice or rice noodles.

Soooo, let’s gather up these ingredients and I will show you how to make some delicious Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken….

How To Make Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

1. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. 
2. Select Saute setting on Instant Pot and add olive oil to the insert and let it heat up. 
3. Add bone in thighs to insert skin side down and brown for 3 mins per side. 
4. In a small bowl, combine water, gluten free soy sauce (or regular if not gluten free), honey, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, lime juice and red pepper flakes (or sriracha sauce). Pout this mixture over the chicken. 
5. Scrape underneath the chicken to deglaze the pot. 
6. Close the Instant Pot lid, turn the valve to sealing, and set to High Pressure Pressure cook/manual cook and pressure cook for 10 minutes. 
7. Once done, release pressure with quick pressure release (QPR). 
8. Remove cooked chicken thighs and reselect the Saute-Normal function. 
9. Take 2 teaspoons of liquid from the insert and mix with remaining corn starch in a small bowl to create a cornstarch slurry. 
10. Mix this cornstarch slurry into the liquid still in the Instant Pot making sure all the cornstarch dissolves. 
11. Cook this mixture for 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened into a glaze. 
12. Return the thighs back into the honey garlic sauce and mix carefully so they’re fully coated in the glaze. 
13. Serve and enjoy chicken thighs over rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions. 

Instant Pot Cooking Tip: The cooking time does not include the time that it takes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure and doesn’t account for the time required for a natural pressure release.  

Tips For Success

• If using boneless chicken, you can cut the chicken up before you toss it in the Instant Pot if you want. 
• When you’re browning your chicken, it should be easy to pull and flip to cook the other side, if it’s stuck or hard to flip, it’s not finished cooking on that side. 
• Be aware that the vent will steam and may splatter and can burn you easily. 
• If looking to reduce calories, remove the skin from the chicken once cooked. 
• To avoid a burn notice, make sure to deglaze the pot insert once you add the sauce and there’s enough liquid in there.
• If you prefer the “fall off the bone” kind of chicken thighs, cook for a few extra minutes to get your chicken to 180-190 degrees F / 82-88 degrees C internal temperature. 

Delicious Variations

There’s so many reasons to love this homemade Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and after you’ve tried it with this recipe, you can try some of these other variations:

• Change your oil: If you don’t have toasted sesame oil you can use regular olive oil, whatever you have on hand or omit it all together. 
• Trade out chicken: Feel free to use whatever kind of chicken you have on hand. If you have boneless skinless chicken thighs, frozen thighs, skinless chicken breasts, etc. give them a try. You may need to adjust the cook time. Guys, you could shred the chicken once cooked for another variation too. 
• Change up the heat: Try Sriracha sauce, hot sauce, extra red pepper flakes, etc. 
• Add in veggies: Try mushrooms, broccoli, bell pepper, onions, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, etc. Make sure to add them once the chicken has finished cooking, unless they can withstand being cooked in the Instant Pot.
• Serve with different sides: Serve with rice, quinoa, noodles, bean sprouts, shredded carrots, cauliflower rice, etc. 

Budget Tips

• Double or Triple the Recipe – as long as you don’t fill the Instant Pot above the fill line you can double or triple the recipe. Enjoy the leftovers as another meal or use the chicken in another recipe.
• Use Leftover Chicken – Shred the leftover chicken and use it in tacos, as a salad or pizza topping, or as a sandwich filling.
• Save the Bones – Toss the bones in an airtight bag in the freezer. When you have a bag full, toss them in a pot with water and some veggie scraps (leftover raw onion, carrots, or celery) and make a flavorful chicken broth to use in soup or other recipes. 
• Make extra honey garlic sauce and and serve leftover sauce with other starch and protein.

Prep Ahead And Store

• Prep Ahead – This recipe is so easy to make in your Instant Pot. You could make your sauce ahead of time and even marinate the chicken in a bit before cooking for more flavor. 
• Meal Prep – This is a great recipe for meal prep. Make an extra batch or two of the chicken thighs with or without the sauce that you can use with other meals throughout the week. Think on top of salads, on tacos, on a light lunch sandwich, etc. 
• Store – In an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Freeze – You can freeze your Garlic Honey Chicken after it’s cooked and cooled in the freezer. Let it cool down and transfer into Ziploc freezer bags. Squeeze out all the extra air and seal the bags. Label the bags and lay them flat in the freezer. Store in the freezer for 3 months.

Cooking Chicken Safely

It is important to make sure that chicken is always cooked completely. The most accurate way to check for doneness is to use a meat thermometer and insert it into the meatiest part of the chicken thigh to check the internal temperature.

Guidelines state that chicken is done and considered safe to eat once the internal temperature reaches at least 165F / 74C. If the meat has not reached the appropriate temperature, reset the lid and cook for 3-5 more minutes then check the temperature again. 

FAQs

More Recipes

• Instant Pot Chicken Thighs. So juicy and easy
• Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan. Better than take out
• Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)
• Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl. A guest favorite.
• Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice. A weeknight dinner favorite.
• Instant Pot Chicken Curry. So, so good.

Serving Suggestions

I love serving this with steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes like these Garlic Mashed Potatoes, long grain white rice or brown rice and more

Tools You Need

• Instant Pot.
• Mixing bowls.
• Handy measuring cups and spoons.
• A good spatula.
• Best sea salt flakes.

Get The Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs Recipe: