Instant Pot Sesame Chicken Recipe

This Instant Pot Sesame Chicken recipe is better than take-out with a sticky-sweet sauce and a little kick that envelopes tender pieces of chicken!

My husband grew up in the Bay Area.

He knows what good Asian food should taste like, so his standards are high.

I had resolved never to make Asian food because his criticism wasn’t worth it.

Then I had success with Instant Pot Pho, and he praised it, giving feedback to perfect it.

My confidence was high, so I made Instant Pot Pork Fried Rice (Today’s Best Recipe) with this Instant Pot Sesame Chicken one night.

I’m certain he said he loved me at least twice during the meal!

And not only did he love it, but the whole family enjoyed it.

You may also want to check out my Pinterest Instant Pot board for more great recipes like this pressure cooker honey Sesame Chicken recipe!

 

We love it served with freshly steamed rice or a side of broccoli, or even the broccoli mixed in. 

It’s a delicious meal you’ll want to add to your rotation as an easy weeknight meal.

If you don’t want the additional sodium, try using reduced-sodium soy sauce.

Traditionally Sesame Chicken is coated with a sauce that is mainly made with honey and soy sauce, so the finished dish is chicken that is subtly sweet and a little bit spicy.

The sauce is made thick where it glazes the chicken.

 

Serves 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Function and Time: Manual or Pressure Cook 3-minutes, saute 5-minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Release Method + Time: Quick Release

Total Time: 26 minutes

 

Instant Pot Sesame Seed Chicken Ingredients:

1 pound chicken tenders, or skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce, low-sodium

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup honey

2 Tablespoon water

2 Teaspoon sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

green onions, chopped, for garnish

How to Make Instant Pot Sesame Seed Chicken:

Prepare the Instant Pot.

Press the saute function and add the vegetable oil to the pressure cooker.

Prepare the chicken.

In a small bowl, add 1 Tablespoon of the cornstarch.

Toss chicken pieces into the cornstarch until chicken is coated evenly.

Press Saute mode.

Add chicken and the garlic to Instant Pot and allow to cook in the oil for 4 minutes, or until golden brown.

Note: You aren’t cooking the chicken all the way through; keep turning the pieces, so they brown evenly on all sides. This will give them a delicious flavor.

Prepare the Sesame Chicken sauce.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, ketchup, and red pepper flakes and stir until well combined.

Pour this sauce over the chicken in the Instant Pot.

Lock Lid and Set Time.

Lock the lid in place, turn the valve to the “sealing” position, and press Manual or Pressure Cook and High Pressure.

Set the timer for a 3-minute cook time.

Quick Release.

When the timer beeps, Quick Pressure Release.

Add Honey and Oil.

Open the lid once the pressure has been released and stir in the sesame oil and the cup of honey.

Stir quickly to combine and cover the chicken with the sticky sauce.

Thicken the Sauce.

Press Saute on the Instant Pot.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1 Tbsp Cornstarch into 3 Tablespoons of cold water until it is smooth.

Stir this cornstarch slurry into the chicken, constantly stirring for 2 minutes or until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.

Note: It’s important to bring the sauce back to a simmer after adding the slurry. These two minutes ensure that the cornstarch is incorporated and that thickening agents activate to make a nice sauce for your dish. 

Serve.

Remove chicken from Instant Pot and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Serve alone or over Jasmine rice, cauliflower rice, brown rice, or noodles; we recommend this pork fried rice from Today’s Best Recipe.

Garnish with green onions.

You can pair this with Today’s Best Recipe‘s pan fried dumplings recipe.

 

f you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can still partake. Try the Conventional method:

Mix up the sauce, cut up the chicken, and sear the chicken in a large pan quickly in the oil over medium heat.

Add the sauce mixture.

Bring to a boil.

Lower the heat to low and simmer, covered for 5 minutes.

Mix the water and cornstarch and add to the sauce, stirring until incorporated, and continue to simmer until thickened.

Serve over rice.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

Instant Pot Sesame Seed Chicken Tips:

This recipe moves quickly. 

Have everything prepped before starting the recipe.

The longer you cook the mixture at the end during the saute setting, the thicker the sauce. Do NOT leave the pot unattended.

Use your Instant pot or rice cooker to make a big batch of rice–such as Instant Pot White Rice, brown rice, basmati rice, or jasmine rice. Then freeze into smaller portions for easy use later.

And there you have it, the Chinese-American Classic dish, chicken in a savory sauce, made easy in the Instant Pot. It’s a favorite recipe for busy weeknights, and we think it’s better than take out!

We hope you enjoy this great recipe.

What’s on your menu for dinner tonight?