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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken are sweet, savory, tender, and juicy chicken thighs prepared with the most amazing honey garlic sauce and cooked in an Instant Pot. Dinner, from start to finish, will be ready in 30 minutes!
If you love making Instant Pot chicken dishes, check out my Instant Pot Chicken Mole for a flavorful twist with a hint of chocolate and spices. Craving something comforting? This Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings recipe is perfect for a cozy dinner.
My #1 recipe for honey garlic chicken has been revisited and updated with a new twist because an Instant Pot is all the rage these days.
I know it’s so hard to choose between crock pot honey garlic chicken and instant pot honey garlic chicken. One takes hours to cook, and the other is ready in minutes. Honestly, though, the Instant Pot might be my new favorite way to cook. I do love my Crock Pot, but this pressure cooker thingamajig is a game-changer. Or maybe you’re more into good ol’ boneless skinless chicken thigh recipes on the stovetop? I love that, too.
Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
This easy recipe for honey garlic chicken thighs is packed with so much flavor and requires very little effort. With just a handful of ingredients, this dish continues to be one of my go-to’s because it’s low maintenance and it’s fall-off-the-bone amazing.
Clearly, I’m not talking about just any old chicken here. I’m referring to that special kind of garlic chicken that finds the perfect balance between sweet and savory, tender and juicy, similar to how the best bourbon chicken recipe masters that blend. Also, it can be made in about 20 minutes and that just makes my heart sing for joy! What’s more is that I always make extra so that I have at least some leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. Adding it over a green goddess salad is pure bliss!
Gosh… There is not one single thing I don’t love about this type of food. The flavors in this dish are so simple, yet when combined, they are SO GOOD and out-of-this-world fantastic. It’s one of those recipes that you make once, and then you make twice, and then suddenly you can’t wait to make it again.
Recipe Ingredients
No big deal – the following are just a handful of ingredients you probably have sitting around. But once you put them all together? GIRL! The magic happens. This blend of sweet, savory, and aromatic ingredients creates a sauce that will take your taste buds on a joyride. Trust me, there’s nah.thing better. Let’s dive into what you’ll need to make these honey garlic chicken thighs.
For the honey garlic sauce
- Honey – Adds sweetness and helps create a caramelized glaze. Maple syrup or agave nectar are good alternatives.
- Garlic—I love this sauce with tons of fresh garlic, but you can also use garlic powder. You’ll need about a teaspoon.
- Soy sauce – Contributes an umami flavor and balances the sweetness of the sauce. Tamari or coconut aminos will also work.
- Ketchup – Adds some tanginess and body to the sauce.
- Dried oregano – For a hint of herbal flavor. Italian seasoning or dried thyme are okay to use.
- Parsley – Fresh parsley provides freshness and a pop of color, but fresh cilantro or basil is a great substitute.
For the chicken
- Sesame seed oil – Adds a nutty flavor and aroma, perfect for sautéing. Olive oil or canola oil can also be used.
- Bone-in, skinless chicken thighs – Boneless chicken thighs or chicken breasts can be used, but you’ll have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Salt and black pepper – Basic seasonings to enhance overall flavor.
- Toasted sesame seeds – These add a bit of crunch and pretty visual appeal. I have also used chopped cashews and it was delicious.
- Sliced green onions – I use these for a garnish and to add a mild onion flavor and freshness. Chives are a good alternative.
How To Make Honey Garlic Chicken in the Instant Pot
Whether you want to make this in the crock pot, as we have done up until now, or in the Instant Pot, trust me when I say that no matter what route you take, in the end you’ll just be super glad that you made it. Once you’ve prepared the sauce, you can move on to browning the chicken thighs right inside your Instant Pot – one pot means one meal and fewer dishes to wash. I used bone-in chicken thighs and could fit only 4 at a time, but if you choose boneless thighs, you can fit 6 to 8 at once.
- Prepare the sauce: In a small mixing bowl, combine honey, minced garlic, soy sauce, ketchup, oregano, and parsley. Mix until well combined and set aside.
- Heat the Instant Pot: Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and add sesame oil to the pot.
- Brown the chicken: Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Arrange the seasoned chicken thighs in the Instant Pot and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Browning the chicken adds depth of flavor and helps to lock in juices.
- Add the sauce: Pour the prepared honey garlic sauce over the chicken thighs.
- Cook in poultry mode: Cover and lock the lid of the Instant Pot, then cook in poultry mode for 20 minutes.
- Release the pressure: Turn off the Instant Pot and allow it to release the pressure naturally for about 5 minutes. This step is important for safely opening the pot and ensuring the chicken remains tender.
- Serve and garnish: Transfer the cooked chicken to a serving plate and spoon the sauce over the top. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions and enjoy.
Recipe Tips
- Chicken options. If you only have chicken breasts, don’t worry! Just use the same method, but cook on the poultry setting for 10 minutes.
- Soy sauce substitute. If you are allergic to soy sauce or can’t have soy for other reasons, feel free to use coconut aminos which is soy-free, gluten-free, and vegan.
- Thicken it. Want a thicker sauce? After cooking, remove the chicken and set the Instant Pot to sauté mode. Simmer the sauce until it reduces to your desired consistency.
- Make it spicy. For an extra kick, add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the sauce.
- Make it with fish. I also have a seafood option with the same wonderful flavors Grab this recipe for honey garlic sauce salmon.
Serving Suggestions
To soak up all the delicious honey garlic sauce, I often serve honey garlic chicken over rice or with beef ramen (minus the beef). I like to add a side of my air fryer roasted broccoli and mashed potato pancakes for a complete meal. For dessert, a slice of German marble cake is the perfect finish!
Storing and Reheating
To store leftover chicken, let it cool completely before placing it in an airtight container. Keep it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. For longer storage, you can freeze the chicken for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
More Delicious Chicken Recipes
- Spicy Sweet Sticky Chicken Thighs
- Crock Pot Chicken Drumsticks
- Instant Pot Chicken Tinga
- Black Pepper Chicken
- Crock Pot Honey Lemon Chicken
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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup honey
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup ketchup, I use no-salt ketchup
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano, or any other dried herbs that you prefer
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil, vegetable oil or olive oil can be used
- 4 to 6 bone-in skinless chicken thighs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
- sliced green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the sauce. In a small mixing bowl combine honey, minced garlic, soy sauce, ketchup, oregano and parsley; mix until well combined and set aside.
- Prep and cook the chicken. Heat the Instant Pot in sauté mode. Add sesame oil to the pot to heat up. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and cook them for about 2 to 3 minutes per side or until browned.
- Add the sauce. Add the prepared honey garlic sauce to the pot; cover and lock the lid.
- Cook. Set the IP on poultry mode (or pressure cook mode) and cook the chicken for 20 minutes. Turn off the pot and allow it to release the pressure, about 5 minutes.
- Serve. Transfer the chicken to a serving plate and spoon the remaining sauce from the pot over the top. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions, then serve.
Video
Notes
- Soy sauce alternatives. If you are allergic to soy sauce or can’t have soy for other reasons, feel free to use coconut aminos, which is soy-free, gluten-free, and vegan.
- Chicken. You can make this with boneless chicken thighs or chicken breasts, but you will have to adjust the cooking time because boneless meat cooks faster than bone-in.
- Burn notice. If you get a “burn notice” on your Instant Pot, it usually means there’s not enough liquid in the pot or that something is stuck to the bottom. To avoid this, you can deglaze the pot after browning the chicken by adding a bit of broth or water and scraping up any browned bits before adding the honey garlic sauce.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
I’ve got this in my IP right now. Have 10 huge partially frozen thighs so I tripled sauce recipe and skipped the browning. I love honey-garlic anything so we can always use any extra sauce. Plan to add sesame oil to the sauce afterward when I thicken with slurry. Can’t wait! 😁
I just made this in my new Instant pot. I think I have the same one you show, the Duo plus 60 but I don’t have a “poultry” button. I used the pressure cooker button for 10 min because I had breasts not thighs. The sauce was really watery and the chicken a little over done. Overall flavor was great, but I’d love to know how to make this with a thicker sauce and the chicken moist.
I’ve made this recipe in the oven before, and I like to use my Dutch oven. This way, I can take the chicken out when it’s finished, then make a sauce/gravy from the Honey Garlic sauce. Just add a couple of tablespoons of flour or Wonder flour , whichever you have on hand, to about 2/3c of cool water and mix it to dissolve it. While doing that, bring your sauce to a boil. Add the cool mixture to the boiling sauce until it starts to thicken, and allow to simmer for a few minutes to let the flour cook off.
Hope that this helps!
Do I thaw the chicken before cooking it or can I cook it frozen?
Made this using 6 boneless chicken thighs.
My insta pot does not have a poultry setting, I used the meat setting and cooked for 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes. Everything else I followed to the letter.
At the end of cooking, the sauce is thin, I made a slurry with cornstarch and it thickened the sauce nicely.
This was a big hit with my hubby.
This recipe is a keeper!
I just tried this recipe and it is a keeper. I’ve been trying different things in my instant pot and this is easy and even my husband enjoyed it.
I will be trying the beef broccoli next and am looking forward to it. Thank you for taking the hard work out of cooking!
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Use thighs! They are so much better under pressure and come out moist every time!
Hey! I tried this tonight – my first Instapot recipe! I actually have the “QuickPot” which is basically the same thing. I had 8 BL/SL chicken thighs that I tried to sauté in oil (in the pot) and then put it on 20 minutes poultry mode. I opened the lid afterwards, and the chicken appears barely cooked and the sauce is thin and watery 😬! I’m sure I’ve done something wrong, being my first attempt, but I’m not sure what? I put it back on for another 10 mins now. Any tips are appreciated!!
Just made this as my first Instant Pot meal and it was quick, easy and super delicious! Will definitely make it often 😊
I know what you did bc I almost did it myself. After you sauté/brown the chicken on both sides, hit poultry and lock lid in. Make sure the pressure cooker steam is turned off before you cook. It will say heat for a while while it’s pressurizing. Don’t count that as your 20 mins. Let it keep cooking. You’ll see your instapot will start counting down from 15/20 mins and that’s when it’s cooking. While it says heat it is pressurizing but not cooking. So that time isn’t included in the 20.
Recipe was delicious-a little too sweet but still very good.
Did you thicken your sauce with cornstarch after the chicken was cooked. Sounds like you should have sautéed you chicken a little more
loved this recipe, super easy and delicious! I used a large pack of bones less, skinless chicken thighs, lightly browned them, poured in the sauce and cooked on high pressure for 20 mins, removed chicken and thickened the sauce on high sauté with some cornstarch. Will definitely make this again
Hi!
I used chicken breasts! Had two large ones I cut into 2 pieces each for a total of 4. I kept the 20 minute time and they turned out PERFECTLY! I substituted Worcestershire Sauce for Soy and Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle BBQ sauce for ketchup. OMG it was super yummy! First night I made it with sea salt crusted baked potatoes and then had it for lunch today with some Instant Pot brown rice. My fav with the rice! YUM YUM YUM!
Not sure about this recipe. I don’t have a poultry setting. However, while waiting for instant pot to come to pressure I keep getting a burn notice. Last time this happened I was told I did not have enough thin liquid at the bottom of the pot. I am guessing this is also the case.
I had the same experience. While it was heating up I got a “burn” alert. The manual said not enough liquid. When we opened it to check it was quite liquidy. We closed it and cooked it on high pressure for 15 minutes. It was my first time using an instant pot. The sauce tasted burned and was darker than I the photos here. We don’t have a poultry setting.
I’m meal prepping this and will freeze the chicken after browning it. How should I adjust the cooking time since I plan to cook it from a frozen state?
From my reading about frozen chicken, if it’s not frozen in a giant block, you don’t need to change the cooking time. The pot will just take longer to come to pressure. I wonder if it could be frozen more individually. Chicken in individual pieces and then the sauce in its own bag that you place in warm water to begin defrosting before cooking? Maybe that is helpful?
If you are meal prepping, try buying containers that fit in your instant pot, and then either freeze the food in those with lids, or put in freezer ziplock bag inside that container so they mold into the shape and fit into instant pot. Then when you are ready to cook, you just open the container and dump the frozen food into instant pot on SAUTE setting for about 5 minutes. This creates liquid for the cooking time, then you just cook according to recipe (Susanne is right, it will just take longer to pressurize if it is frozen).
When I start from frozen, I usually add 5 minutes to my cook time and everything turns out great. I start from frozen a good bit during the week.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Made this today and my boys loved it. I made a few changes:
– used 12 bone in, skin on thighs, and doubled the sauce.
– browned the skin side only with peanut oil in a cast iron pan to get a nice char, but I didn’t season it, because I used regular soy sauce and ketchup (instead of low-sodium) in the sauce.
– wasn’t sure what kind of parsley, but I used flat leaf parsley and only half the amt it called for.
– Used about 1/4 of the amt of oregano.
– Mixed the sesame oil into the sauce before cooking.
It came out beautiful. My husband also put it in a toasted baguette with cilantro and mayo (like a Vietnamese ban mi) and loved it. We will probably just omit the oregano and parsley next time.
So good! I added some fresh ginger and toasted sesame oil to the sauce. It was awesome! Used chicken breast and 10 mins was perfect. Served with basmati rice and sauteed garlic green beans. Will definitely be having this again.
I just made that for dinner and my family loved it ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍😍😍 my family meaning my husband and my two year old❤️😍
OMG! This looks mouthwatering! Grabbing all the ingredients right now!!