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.
Great recipe! I needed something relatively quick to prepare for my frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs (forgot to thaw night before) and this was perfect. I used Bragg’s liquid aminos which is quite salty so I know from past mistakes to reduce the amount, therefore I used 1/3 cup as my soy sauce replacement. I agree with some other reviewers that the sauce could use some dimension, so next time I’ll add a pinch of red pepper flakes as well as some ground ginger or fresh if I have it. I also added some cornstarch slurry at the end w/ saute setting on for 1.5 minutes to slightly thicken sauce. Thanks for the tasty, easy recipe!
More recent Instant Pots have discontinued the chicken setting. Please advise recommended temperature and time.
John1943, my Tayama brand pressure cooker is 140 degrees with low pressure for chicken setting.
John1943
Bone in thighs – 2 lbs (about 4) 12 minutes
If Frozen 20 minutes
5 minute natural release
I made this tonight and loved it. It will go in my regular rotation. I usually create my own recipes but decided to try your and am glad I did.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it, Susan! Thank YOU! 🙂
Thank you so much for this easy, delicious recipe. I was so stuck on what to cook and I really wanted to use my IP. So I searched for chicken thighs and IP and your recipe popped up. The only thing I didn’t have was sesame seed oil, so I substituted with canola oil. Also, I left out the sesame seeds because I didn’t have any. My children loved it too and they are so picky. I served this dish with white rice. I sent your recipe link to all my family and posted it on my FB page. Now I have a go to recipe when I don’t know what to cook. Awesome!!
Hi!
I am so happy you all loved it! Thank YOU! 😊
Wow — I am a 22 year old college student who has never posted a review before, but this was best thing I’ve cooked in my instant pot. Used bl / sl thighs for 20 minutes, and they were fall-apart tender. Thought it was restaurant quality. Could have used a slightly less salt, but then again was probably due to my soy sauce and ketchup. Great recipe, will definitely be revisiting the site
I am very happy you enjoyed this recipe!! THANK YOU! 🙂
I just got a pressure cooker yesterday, and this was the first recipe made in it. The whole family enjoyed it!
I am very happy you and your family enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Once i sauté can I remove to sauté more, we have a large family and add all back in layered with sauce to cook?
If I want to serve with rice, can I come then at the same time, in the same pot?
Hi,
I suggest following this recipe on my other site for Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken with Rice: https://easyweeknightrecipes.com/instant-pot-honey-garlic-chicken-and-rice/
Recipe states skinless chicken thighs, but the video shows skin- on chicken. When sautéing, my skinless chicken stuck to pan….even when using more oil than stated in recipe. My sauce came out reddish due to amount of ketchup, nothing like the deep brown in the photos. I reduced it with some cornstarch, but it doesn’t taste of honey or garlic. It is more like sweet ketchup. I would not remake or recommend.
Stephanie,
If the sauce came out “reddish” you just may have used too much ketchup in the mix?
Double check the ingredient amounts and I’m sure you will have better luck.
This recipe could not be any easier or simpler.
Mine came out perfectly. I served it with a caesar salad, long grain white rice and steamed asparagus tips.
Hope that helps,
Sherman
I had the exact same experience with skinless chicken… it stuck to the pan – but i will try this again with skin on chicken to try and achieve the brown caramelization. I added red pepper flakes and ginger and the sauce was good.
I had EXACTLY the same results as Stephanie (boneless thighs stuck, red sweet sauce that had no garlic or honey taste… nothing like the sticky dark black of the photos). This was a major disappointment :(. It was tasty enough, but nothing like what I was expecting based on the photos and the reviews.
I have made this twice now . This was very good I did also add a few dashes of hot sauce red pepper flakes and teriyaki sauce as others recommended. Thanks for a great recipe!
I am very happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thank YOU! 🙂
You know those reviews that change up the ingredients? I’m here to tell you I didn’t change a thing, and this recipe is phenomenal! Definitely a keeper. Thank you Katerina!!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it in the past and it was fabulous. But with meat selection limited right now, I only have chicken legs in the freezer. Will this work? And if so, do you have recommendations on the cook time?
This was delicious! Also did not have sesame oil so used olive oil but added a Tbsp of tahini to the sauce since I wanted that sesame taste. Per others suggestions, I halved the ketchup and added a tbsp of sriracha as well as tsp of thai chili paste for a little zing. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs so reduced the cooking on the poultry setting to 15 minutes. I also found I needed to saute the chicken about 5 min per side. The sauce was a bit thin so I added a tbsp of cornstarch and simmered it in the instant pot to reduce it after removing the chicken. Defintely will make this again
I am SO happy you enjoyed it!! Thank YOU!! 🙂
Hi, I made this last night and it was amazing.
Thank you SO much! I am very happy you enjoyed it! 🙂