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.
This is a great recipe & have made it 3 or 4 times. I was the sauce over rice so just take the mest out and thicken it when done. Yummmm
That should say use the sauce……
Pretty good recipe. I found it a little too sweet, I wasn’t a huge fan of the oregano, and it tasted much more like a teriyaki sauce than a honey garlic which was somewhat disappointing. But it was my very first instant pot recipe and so I’d say it was a good start. I made jasmine rice in the instant pot too (separately) and it was a good combo.
This has been a weekly go to in my house. Everyone loves it, even the picky teenagers. I’ve even done this with pork chops and a roast that I shredded. We just can’t get enough of this sauce. Adding some cornstarch at the end on sauté mode is all that’s needed to thicken the sauce. Easy peasy. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I made this last night with 2kg chicken thigh. I doubled the sauce and took the chicken out at the end and reduced the sauce then added the chicken back in. So So So good. Note to self – buy low salt soy sauce.
I maces this tonight for dinner.
In Australia we don’t really have the Insta Pot. However I do have an electric pressure cooker by another brand.
I used 2kg of boneless chicken thighs
Didn’t have salt reduced soy sauce so just added 1 tbs of brown sugar
Browned chicken piled it all in the pot covered with the sauce.
Cooked for 17 minutes at high pressure setting then used quick release at the end
Tipped the sauce into a pan on the stove and reduced the sauce
Served with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli
It was a hit with husband, and 4 kids ranging from 22 to 2
Hi!
Thank you very much for chiming in and sharing your tips!!
AND I am so happy to hear that everyone enjoyed their dinner! 🙂
This is good and very simple. I followed direction precisely and used low salt soy, however I would cut it back to maybe a third of a cup and add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. I drained the juices and poured into a saucepan and boils down a bit to thicken. This is good over rice vermicelli noodles to give an Asian flair. You could add a few sprouts, cucumbers chopped, and maybe a little Asian lettuce.
This was so good! I replaced soy sauce with coconut aminos. The chicken has all been eaten and I cant get enough of the leftover sauce! Ive been putting it on everything!
Not sure if anyone else had this problem, but my chicken thighs turned into shredded chicken after cooking on the poultry setting and QR!
I tried this tonight, and didn’t have ketchup (I don’t use it so I don’t have it) and substituted tomato paste – it worked out great. I used 3 medium chicken breasts and cooked on high/manual for 11 minutes, and served with mashed potatoes. Also, thanks to those posting about the runny sauce, I preemptively did a tsp of cornstarch and whisked as soon as I removed the chicken and it was perfect. Thanks for the great recipe!
If I wanted to make this with say 8 to 10 thighs… Is it okay to have them piled on top of each other? I’m worried about them cooking between. Also for a recipe like this that I would like to add broccoli to, how do I add it? If I put it in with the raw chicken it’ll be mush till the meat is done. If I interrupt the cooking time to add it, then the meal takes 10 minutes longer to cook…
I use the steamer rack on top on top of the chicken. It comes out perfect.
I had 7 boneless thighs and just piled them up.