How to make Orange Chicken in Instant Pot? Recipe, Best Ingredients

This orange chicken in the Instant Pot is brimming with vivid citrus flavor! This better-than-takeout meal starts with fresh orange juice and flavorful soy sauce.

Simply toss everything into the Instant Pot, and in 10 minutes, you’ll have a great lunch that the entire family will enjoy!

Why Is This Recipe So Delicious?

• Cleaning up is a breeze when you use the Instant Pot as your single cooking gear. Everything for this orange chicken cooks in the Instant Pot from start to finish. This recipe could not be any simpler.
• This recipe gets a citrus kick from the blend of orange and lemon juice. This orange chicken from the Instant Pot is light and flavorful.
• A great combination of sweet and savory ingredients. A bit of brown sugar and orange juice perfectly offset the savory soy sauce.

Important Ingredients

Citrus Juice – Take a large, juicy orange, cut it in half, and squeeze out as much juice as you can. Store-bought orange juice is overly sweet and not at all fresh, so avoid it.

Consider orange zest to be your secret ingredient! This dish will be elevated by the addition of orange zest. Simply grate an orange that you’ve already juiced and measure out a tablespoon of fresh zest.

Fresh ginger gives this dish a wonderful kick, but it’s completely optional. Leave out the ginger if you don’t have any or can’t find any at the store.

Cornstarch – For thickening the orange chicken sauce, cornstarch is essential. Before adding the cornstarch to your sauce, fully dissolve it in water. Use arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch to make this dish paleo.

Chef’s Advice

• In Step 1, don’t fully cook the chicken breast portions. Step 2 will take care of the rest after a quick sauté in olive oil to lightly sear the exterior edges.
• Wait for the sauce to thicken before adding the cornstarch and turning off the heat. Avoid overcooking the sauce; otherwise, it will become excessively thick.
• If you want, you can easily quadruple this recipe! I used a 6-quart Instant Pot, but other models can contain up to three times the amount of ingredients listed below. This dish is great for entertaining because the Instant Pot makes everything so simple!

Orange Chicken

This orange chicken in the Instant Pot is brimming with vivid citrus flavor! This better-than-takeout meal starts with fresh orange juice and flavorful soy sauce.

Simply toss everything into the Instant Pot and wait 10 minutes for a fantastic meal that the whole family will enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup orange juice from one large orange
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• ¼ cup soy sauce see Notes
• ½ cup brown sugar see Notes
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger optional
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch see Notes
• 3 tablespoons water
• ¼ cup green onions sliced
• cooked white rice for serving, optional

Equipment

• Instant Pot

Instructions For Orange Chicken

1. Chicken breasts should be cut into bite-size pieces. Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode. Add the olive oil, chicken, and salt when the Instant Pot says “HOT.” 2 minutes after cooking
2. Combine the orange juice, orange zest, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and ginger in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken to the Instant Pot. Cover the Instant Pot. Cook for 5 minutes on manual pressure. Before lifting the lid, manually release the steam.
3. Whisk together cornstarch and water in a small bowl until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Return the Instant Pot to sauté mode and stir in the cornstarch slurry.
4. Stir for a few minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and top with sliced green onions. Serve on a bed of rice or on its own.

Notes

• Make it Paleo-friendly by substituting coconut aminos for soy sauce, coconut sugar for brown sugar, and arrowroot starch for corn starch.
• Remove the refined sugar: Instead of brown sugar, use maple syrup or honey.

This recipe serves around 4 people. The nutritional values displayed are for one serving. Rice is not included in the nutritional facts. The macros may differ slightly based on the ingredient brands utilized.

Prepare the recipe as directed, then weigh the completed product to calculate the size of one serving.

4 times the total weight (not including the bowl, pot, or plate in which the food is served). The weight of one serving will be the result.

In a 6-quart Instant Pot, the recipe was created.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 452kcal, Carbohydrates: 40g, Protein: 50g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 145mg, Sodium: 1229mg, Potassium: 1022mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 30g, Vitamin A: 200IU, Vitamin C: 29mg, Calcium: 56mg, Iron: 2mg, Net Carbs: 39g