Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken

This Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken has loads of flavor! It’s sweet and tangy with a hint of spice, and goes perfectly over rice!

A good, saucy chicken recipe is one of my favorite things in life.

But one that’s sweet and tangy with just a bit of spice?

My love language.

I will almost take a plate of this over cake. Almost.

This Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken is so easy, it’s become a staple here on busy nights! The chicken comes out so moist, and cooks so quickly (hands offf, too!), there’s pretty much no reason to make honey garlic chicken any other way.

How to make Honey Garlic Chicken in the Instant Pot:

I know that a lot of people will make Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and add the sauce at the same time as the chicken. I’m sure that works just fine!

I prefer to cook my chicken in some broth (broth or stock over water every time!), then drain and add my sauce after pressure cooking, and simply cook on saute for a few minutes to thicken before serving.

I’ve found this to be a more foolproof way to cook honey garlic chicken, as I don’t have to worry about my sauce being thin enough to build pressure, or being too thick or sugary and burning to the bottom.

It’s really no extra effort, and I know that my chicken and sauce are going to cook perfectly.

What’s the best chicken to use in this Instant Pot chicken recipe?

You can really use any type of chicken in this recipe, you will just have to vary the cook time according to whichever you choose.

I prefer boneless, skinless cuts of meat, and chicken thighs will always be more moist and juicy than chicken breasts.

If you choose to use bone-in, skin-on chicken, you’ll want to add a couple minutes to the cook time and you may want to broil them for a few minutes in the oven if you intend to eat the skin.

I don’t find that the skin is necessary to keep chicken moist in the Instant Pot, so I opt for boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts.

Variations on this Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken:

• This recipe is naturally dairy and gluten free, but be sure to check all of your labels before using. Be sure to look for gluten-free soy sauce in particular.
• Add in veggies! This is a great recipe to turn into a stir fry. Add broccoli, snap peas, mushrooms or carrot matchsticks (or all of the above) at the end when cooking your sauce, then add your chicken back in for a full meal deal.
• Obviously, you could use a store bought honey garlic sauce and pour it over after, but honestly? This sauce is so easy there’s no need!

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