Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs Recipe
Jan 15, 2018, Updated May 01, 2021
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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs 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!
My #1 recipe for Honey Garlic Chicken 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; crock pot honey garlic chicken or instant pot honey garlic chicken. I mean, one takes hours of cooking, and the other makes it all in minutes. But the instant pot is possibly my new favorite way to cook. I do really love my crock pot, but this pressure cooker/instant pot thingamajig is a game-changer. Or are you more into boneless skinless chicken thigh recipes?
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.
Gosh… There is not one single thing I don’t love about this type of food.
HOW TO MAKE HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN IN THE INSTANT POT
Prepare the sauce – it will have you licking your fingers clean.
Honey Garlic Sauce
- honey
- garlic
- ketchup
- soy sauce
- oregano
- and parsley
No big deal – just a few ingredients you probably have sitting around. But once you put them all together? GIRRRL!! You’ll see. There’s nah.thing better.
Once you’ve prepared the sauce, you can move onto browning the chicken thighs right inside your instant pot. One pot = one meal, and less dishes to wash.
I chose to use bone-in chicken thighs thus could only fit 4 at a time inside my instant pot, but if you go with boneless thighs, you can definitely get 6 to 8 thighs in there at once.
And once them thighs are done browning-up, an introduction to their cooking liquid will follow:
If chicken breasts are all you’ve got, not to worry! Just use the same method, but cook on poultry setting for 10 minutes.
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 prepared it.
I also have a seafood option with the same wonderful flavors – Honey Garlic Sauce Salmon.
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.
WANT MORE DELICIOUS CHICKEN RECIPES?
- Spicy, Sweet and Sticky Chicken Thighs
- Crock Pot Citrus Soy Chicken Drumsticks
- Crock Pot Honey Lemon Chicken
ENJOY!
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WATCH HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN
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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup honey
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce, (see notes for alternatives)
- 1/2 cup no salt ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
- 4 to 6 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
- sliced green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- 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 in sauté mode. Add sesame oil to the pot.Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper; arrange in the instant pot and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Add the prepared honey garlic sauce to the pot; cover and lock the lid.
- Cook in poultry mode for 20 minutes.Turn off the pot and allow it to release the pressure, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer chicken to a serving plate and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and green onions. Serve.
Video
Notes
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 did, and frankly I think that’s the easier way to go. I thickened the sauce with the chicken still in ithe pot, too. Five stars!
Thank YOU, Erika!! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe! My family has a few Celiac bellies, and I subbed in Bragg’s Amino Acids for the soy sauce. It went over as a huge success!
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank you SO much, Dana! 🙂
Plentttty of liquid to make this in an insantpot, do not worry. When heated, this is more than enough liquid to come to pressure (I have an 8 qt instant tot, for reference). Clear the pan after browning if youre worried about a burn notice – I used a rubber spatula lightly and had no issue.
I made this recipe with 6 small boneless, skinless thighs. I ran out of soy sauce so substituted a combo of teriyaki sauce & worsterchire to make up for the remainder. I also used about a 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and about 5-6 dashes of Tabasco because I enjoy a little spice wit sweet. Thighs turned out perfectly tender and sauce was amazing – if a little thin. Next time I will do as others have done and remove the chicken and add a little cornstarch to thicken sauce at the end. Also replacing a little ketchup with sriracha sounds like a great hack too. As noted, this was “restaurant quality” and I enjoyed it immensely. Will make again & again; thank you for posting and sharing it.
Thank you for your kind words! I am very happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Tried this tonight, followed recipe , used bones skin on thighs, came out perfect!! Cooked it for 20 min., as other recipes I have followed ( and believe in InstaPot instructions), always mentioned if using less meat, you still cook for same amount of time. Sauted thighs skin side down first for 3-4 minutes then turned when they easily were able to turn & weren’t sticking to pot, Cooked another 3-4 minute on saute, then added the sauce. Came out perfectly browned, from the sauting and the sauce, and tender as well. Served over noodles, next time will serve w/ fried rice as a side.
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Very nice chicken recipe, thanks
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
This was delicious.Made it with frozen bone-in thighs and put it up to 25 minutes. I also added a pot of rice on the top. I admit I did not 100% measure everything and it still was delicious. Everyone in my family eat it with no complaint. I will make this again. Only change is to add a thickener add the end to make it more like sauce.
First things first – very tasty . A bit on the salty side, but almost restaurant quality. I will definitively make it again.
But….. Please correct the prep time and total time. There’s no way you can finish cooking this dish in 25 minutes. I cook for my family every day and it took at least 45 minutes to prep the sauce, preheat, sauté the chicken, pressurize, cook, release the pressure and thicken the sauce. If you would use all pre-cut ingredients and skip the sauté (which I might do next time and instead crisp the chicken under the broiler after cooking) you might shave off 5 minutes.
A lovely meal with basmati rice, steamed broccoli and bok choi.
This is a GREAT recipe! Very flavorful and super easy. This was the first dish I cooked with my Instantpot. Definitely going to make this again.
My Husband LOVED this!! He is Mexican and says it tastes like mole!!!