This Instant Pot Orange Chicken is sweet, tangy, and easy to make. This is a dinner that satisfies even picky eaters!
I love Instant Pot recipes because they make dinner time less stressful. Unlike a slow cooker, I don’t have to be thinking about dinner before breakfast. And unlike a stovetop meal, I don’t have to babysit the dish as it’s cooking.
This Instant Pot Orange Chicken is a favorite in my house because of its deliciously sweet, tangy flavor. Served with Instant Pot White Rice with some mixed vegetables, it’s a quick and easy weeknight meal, just like my Instant Pot Butter Chicken.
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How to Make Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Ready to get started? Here’s what you need to do.
Ingredients to Make Instant Pot Orange Chicken
To make this dish using your Instant Pot you only need a few basic ingredients:
- 1 cup of Orange Juice
- ¼ cup of Soy Sauce (want more make it a ½ cup)
- 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons of Sugar
- 1 teaspoon of Ginger
- 1 ½ tablespoon of Sesame Oil
- 2 lbs. of skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon of water
Instructions for Making Instant Pot Orange Chicken
To start, we need to make the sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and ginger.
I know it sounds like a strange combination, but trust me, they work beautifully together! Mix the sauce ingredients together well, then set the bowl aside.
Next, we need to brown the chicken. Press Sauté on your Instant Pot and wait for the display to read “Hot.”
When the pot is hot, add the sesame oil and chicken.
Cook, stirring frequently to cook all sides and prevent the chicken from sticking to the bottom of the pot, for about five minutes. The chicken should look like this:
Now it’s time to add the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir to coat. Cancel Sauté mode.
Secure the lid of your Instant Pot and turn the valve to “Sealing.” Press “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” (depending on your model) and set the time for 4 minutes. The chicken is already mostly cooked so it doesn’t need long to finish.
When the timer beeps at the end of the cook time, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. While the pressure is releasing, mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl.
After 10 minutes, move the valve to “Venting” to release the remaining pressure. Remove the lid, press “Cancel” and then press “Saute.”
Add the cornstarch slurry to the pot and cook, stirring often, until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. Your Instant Pot Orange Chicken is ready to serve!
More Instant Pot Recipes
If you like Instant Pot recipes, give these recipes a try:
Instant Pot Orange Chicken Recipe
Prefer to print out the recipe? Here’s the recipe card with exact measurements and step-by-step instructions.
📋 Recipe
Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup orange juice
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 lbs. skinless boneless chicken breast cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and ginger and mix well. Set the bowl aside.
- Press Sauté on your Instant Pot. Wait for display to read “Hot”.
- Add sesame oil and chicken to the pot. Brown chicken for about 5 minutes.
- Add the liquid mixture to the Instant Pot and stir to coat chicken.
- Turn Sauté off and secure the Instant Pot lid.
- Turn the valve to “sealing” and press manual or Pressure Cook, select high pressure and set time for 4 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot is done let it Natural Release the pressure for 10 minutes before moving the valve to “venting” for a quick release.
- While pressure is releasing, mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl.
- When pressure has fully released from the Instant Pot, remove the lid and press Sauté.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the Instant Pot and stir for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens to your preference.
- Serve over white rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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So refreshing and good taste! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor. Thanks for commenting.
I made this it’s so easy and so good
Orange chicken is one of my favorite to order in famous restaurant…you made the dish look so simple…with instant pot, I’m sure it is a keeper
Who needs take out when I can make this delicious dinner!
The ingredients are stocked at my house, so this is super simple to put together. I served it with broccoli and not a bite was left!
This is such an easy recipe! It’s a keeper for sure!
Woah! My family loves orange chicken but I hadn’t thought of making it in the Instant Pot. It was delicious and super easy!
Sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party – enjoy the rest of your week!
I have a question re: a stew recipe.
The recipes call for potatoes and carrots to be cooked along with the beef. I find the length of time to cook the beef is too long for the vegetables as they become too soft. Would it work to cook the beef, for let’s say 20 min, quick release, add the veg., reset for an additional 5 ? minutes. Couldn’t you do this for any vegetable?