Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
These Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts are always moist, tender and flavorful! These pressure cooker chicken breasts cook perfectly in minutes from fresh or frozen. Serve your honey garlic instant pot chicken breast with rice or quinoa and veggies for a complete, quick dinner!
The Instant Pot is a dream come true for getting quick, healthy dinners on your table. Once you set your Instant Pot to pressure cook, you can focus on preparing other parts of your meal – or taking care of your kids.
You can saute ingredients and thicken sauces, all right in the Instant Pot. You can even safely cook chicken from frozen.
Are you new to Instant Pot cooking? Read my How to Use an Instant Pot beginner’s guide to get started today!
Instant Pot chicken breasts cook up perfectly and hold their shape for slicing and serving. This honey garlic instant pot chicken breast is great for quick dinners or for meal prep lunches.
Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
- are made completely in the Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker), even thickening the sauce!
- can be cooked from fresh or frozen! Freezer meal instructions included in the recipe card below.
- are perfectly juicy and tender, never dry!
How to Cook Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breast
You will need only 5 ingredients and 30 minutes to have this delicious Instant Pot chicken on your table. Combine the sauce ingredients in your Instant Pot, add the chicken and pressure cook. The last step is to thicken the sauce. It’s so quick and easy!
Ingredients for Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
- water or broth
- honey
- soy sauce
- garlic
- pepper
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- cornstarch
How long do you cook chicken breast in the Instant Pot?
How long to cook chicken in the Instant Pot depends on the size of your chicken breasts.
For fresh, boneless skinless chicken breasts:
- Cook small (7-8 ounces per breast) chicken breasts for 8 minutes.
- Cook medium (10 ounces per breast) chicken breasts for 10 minutes.
- Cook large (12 ounces per breast) chicken breasts for 11 minutes.
How long do you cook frozen chicken breast in the Instant Pot?
Add between 2-4 minutes to the cook times listed above if your chicken breasts are frozen. I find that adding 3 extra minutes is usually perfect for frozen chicken breasts. You will also want to do a 10 minute natural release instead of a quick release for frozen chicken.
Learn more about how to cook frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot.
Make sure that your frozen chicken breasts are not all stuck together in one mass, as this will increase the cook time needed. I recommend freezing chicken breasts in a flat layer so that they are easy to separate when adding to your Instant Pot.
You can prep the ingredients for this honey garlic chicken, freeze and then transfer to your Instant Pot frozen. I recommend thawing just slightly in cool water so that you can easily pour the sauce from the freezer bag. You will need the sauce to be liquid for Instant Pot pressure cooking.
This photo shows how I prep this as a chicken freezer meal, using one of these freezer bag holders to easily add ingredients to the freezer bag.
How to Thicken the Sauce in the Instant Pot
Instant Pot saute mode is one of my favorite features of this electric pressure cooker. After the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and turn your Instant Pot to saute mode. Make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together a mixture of cornstarch and water. Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens. This will take about 2 to 3 minutes.
It will take a few minutes for the heating element to cool down, so I recommend removing the inner pot from the Instant Pot base once the sauce is thickened. You can slice the chicken and stir it into the sauce, or drizzle the sauce on top for serving.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Chicken Breast
We love this chicken served with rice and roasted broccoli. It would also be delicious with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Best Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Easy Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
- Easy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Tips for making Instant Pot Chicken Breast
- Use an instant read thermometer to check that your chicken is cooked to at least 165 degrees F.
- If your chicken isn’t cooked through after the pressure cook time finishes, turn your Instant Pot to saute mode to finish cooking the chicken.
- After stirring in the cornstarch mixture, you can add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables to the Instant Pot. They will cook while the sauce thickens.
- To make this recipe gluten-free, substitute coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari for the soy sauce.
If you make this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment below and tag a photo on Instagram @kristines_kitchen. I love to see what you are cooking!
Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup water or vegetable broth or chicken broth
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine water or broth, soy sauce, honey, garlic and pepper in Instant Pot. Stir.
- Add the chicken breasts to the Instant Pot.
- Seal the lid and turn the steam valve to the sealing position.
- Set Instant Pot to pressure cook/manual, high pressure. Set the cook time according to the size of your chicken breasts. For fresh: 8 minutes for small (7-8 ounce) chicken breasts, 10 minutes for medium (10 ounce) chicken breasts, or 11 minutes for large (12 ounce) chicken breasts.
- For frozen chicken breasts, add 3 minutes to the cooking times listed in step 4, and pressure cook (manual) at high pressure. Be sure that your chicken breasts are not stuck together as that will increase the pressure cook time.
- The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and then will start counting down the cook time. When it beeps to let you know the cook time has finished, carefully quick release the pressure by using the handle of a long spoon to turn the steam valve to venting. (If your chicken breasts were frozen, do a 10 minute natural release instead of a quick release. Just leave the Instant Pot alone for 10 minutes before turning the steam valve to the venting position.)
- Wait for the steam to escape and the pin to drop down. Then, carefully remove the lid.
- Use an instant read thermometer to test the internal temperature of the chicken. It should be at least 165 degrees F. If the temperature is lower, finish cooking the chicken using the Instant Pot's saute mode.
- Remove chicken to a clean plate or cutting board.
- In a small bowl, stir together the 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Turn the Instant Pot on saute mode and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring, until the liquid has thickened, 2-3 minutes. Turn off Instant Pot and remove the inner pot to stop the cooking process.
- Slice the chicken and stir it back into the sauce in the pot. Serve with rice and vegetables, or as desired.
Notes
To Cook in a Slow Cooker:
- Stir together water or broth, soy sauce, honey, garlic and pepper in slow cooker insert. Add the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 2 hours, until chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F.
- Remove chicken to a clean plate or cutting board. Turn slow cooker to high setting.
- In a small bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Stir this into the liquid in the slow cooker and cook on high until thickened, about 20 minutes.
- Slice or shred the chicken and stir it into the sauce in the slow cooker. Serve with rice and vegetables, or as desired.
To Make as a Freezer Meal:
- Add water or broth, soy sauce, honey, garlic, pepper and chicken to a heavy duty zip top freezer bag.
- Freeze flat for up to 3 months.
- When ready to cook, thaw in cool water just until sauce is thawed. Transfer to Instant Pot and cook as directed above.
Nutrition
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Hi
Your chicken looks amazing.
I see you have many instant pot recipes.
I would like to purchase one, however there unavailable in Melbourne Australia . Any suggestions of alternative ways of cooking this ausome recipe and many others. And/or how i can get one. There are other brands available any suggestions. I like that the insta pot has a stainless steel inner pot,
would like a large one to cater. Thanks in advance
Ane.
Thank you! There are other brands of electric pressure cookers. I haven’t tried them so I can’t recommend one but perhaps there are reviews online? This recipe can also be made in a slow cooker, but the instant pot is best for chicken breasts that are moist and hold their shape. I hope you are able to find a pressure cooker that will work for you.
I have a charles jacob and bertelin electric pressure cookers both are good
I bought mine from Amazon Australia who have insta pot. I bought a 3 litre small one as I love pressure cooking and am only one person, I bought my daughter the 6 litre one for the family.
Oh gosh, that sauce looks AMAZING, Kristine! I’m such a fan of honey garlic anything. 🙂 Definitely adding this winner to the dinner menu!
Thank you, Sarah! Honey garlic is always a great combo!
Made this tonight and it was yummy! I did the chicken from frozen so it didn’t absorb the seasoning as much as I’d like, but the sauce was great and I added stir fry frozen veggies so all together it worked really well.
Thanks for the recipe! Will make again!
I’m glad you enjoyed this! It sounds perfect with the stir fry frozen veggies!
Hi there
When exactly do u add the frozen veges?
If you want to add frozen veggies, you can add them after you stir in the cornstarch mixture. The veggies will cook as the sauce thickens.
Quick easy and delicious 😋
I don’t know what exactly happened, but this was the first recipe I tried to make in my IP…and it burned. I used medium frozen chicken breasts so I set the cook time on manual to 13 min. It seemed to vent steam from the very beginning, it never started the countdown timer, and after 20 minutes I got the dreaded “burn” message. Most of the food was inedible; I ate one very dry chicken breast that didn’t have too much burnt sauce on it. Help?
Hi Eva, I’m sorry this didn’t turn out for you. Did you add all of the liquids/ingredients listed in the recipe? Was your steam valve set to the “sealing” position? It sounds like either your steam valve wasn’t closed or you may have a defective Instant Pot. I had one Instant Pot that wouldn’t reach pressure and had to exchange it.
I almost burned something too till someone told me that you need to make sure the ring on the lid is in the proper place before setting it to sealing.
Yes, thank you for mentioning that! It’s really important that the silicone sealing ring is fitted in place properly.
Hi, if I were to substitute jarred honey garlic sauce, would I still add broth?
You need about 1 cup of liquid total to allow the Instant Pot come to pressure. I would recommend adding some broth, as thick sauces may not be enough to pressurize the pot on their own.
Hi! I’m dumb! My valve was on “vent” the whole time!
Tried it again tonight and it turned out AMAZING! Rest of dinner isn’t ready yet but I’ll sure post a pic when it is! I cut up all the chicken and put it in the thickened sauce too. Nom!
That explains it! It can happen to all of us. 😉 I’m happy you figured out what the problem was! And glad that you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for commenting again to let me know what happened.
I made this as our first meal in our Instant Pot and it was a hit! It’s hard to find a meal that my toddler and teenagers both love and everyone cleaned their plates for this chicken. Next time I will definitely make a double batch and freeze one.
It makes me so happy to hear that, Laura! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
For the ingredients what are the amounts?
I could find it
Hi Margaret, The ingredients and amounts are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
I received an Instant Pot for Christmas and this was my second attempt. It was a total success! Thank you so much for this crowd-pleasing recipe with perfect directions! My only regret is that there isn’t any left for lunch tomorrow! Thanks again!
I’m so happy to hear that! The more you use your Instant Pot, the more you are going to love it! 🙂
I just got my Instant pot for Christmas and tried this recipe…didnt have enough soy sauce so made up the difference with half water and maple syrup..it came out wonderful
I’m glad you enjoyed this!
Does the chicke. Sit right in the liquid to cook or does it need to go on a steamer tray?
In this recipe the chicken sits in the liquid, no steamer tray is needed.
Not much honey taste to it. Maybe because I used raw honey? Similar recipes call for 1/2 cup of honey. I will try that next time. This is an easy recipe.
I used less honey because I try to minimize the amount of sugar in my recipes. You can add more to taste. 🙂
I made this tonight and could not get my sauce to thicken up. This is the second dish I have made in the IP now that I couldn’t get the sauce to thicken. What am I doing wrong? I made the cornstarch slurry as suggested and mixed in on saute setting for three minutes. Do I need to be changing something on the saute setting itself?
Hmmm, I’ve never had that problem. You may need to wait a few minutes for the pot to heat up on the saute setting. You might need to cook it on saute for a few more minutes. There is also a “more,” “normal” and “less” setting for the saute mode so you might check which yours is set to. The sauce should be simmering during the thickening step.
Melissa:
I had the same problem as well. I couldn’t get the sauce to thicken at all. I have made over a dozen IP recipes now that call for a slurry to “thicken the sauce” and all 6 times I have failed. It’s the most perplexing thing ever and incredibly frustrating. My sauces are always as liquid as water – no matter how much slurry I add to it!! I’m about ready to get rid of the IP:(
Travis
That’s strange, as I’ve had success thickening Instant Pot sauces many times. For this recipe, you might try increasing the cornstarch to 1 tablespoon, mixed with 1 tablespoon water.
I was looking for something easy for my second attempt at cooking in my new instant pot. This was easy and delicious! My hubby ate 2 servings. I used frozen breasts from Sam’s Club and cooked for 13 minutes. I did not have any frozen vegetables to add, but plan on buying a frozen stir fry mix to add next time because I think it will make it even better. Thanks for a keeper Kristine!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! I need to add the veggies next time, too.
Thank you for sharing this honey garlic instant pot recipe! It was easy to follow and with few ingredients. A huge hit with the family. Thanks again!
You’re welcome, Jenny! I am so happy to hear that your family enjoyed it!
This was my first meal cooked in the IP. It was a tremendous hit from my toddler grandbaby on up to my husband. We had it with chicken rice, green beans, cauliflower and cheese. It was so juicy and yummy. We will be having this again.
If I have 2.5 lbs of chicken instead of 1.5 lbs, I just double the recipe right?
Yes, just double the recipe. The cook time is based on the size of the individual chicken breasts, not the total amount of chicken.
I have a Power Pressure Cooker XL Pro. I made this recipe as you gave it, It is delicious. I had to make only one adjustment. The saute of the sauce, following the cooking, took less time than the 20 minutes. Other than that, it worked very well.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Brenda. It should only take 2 to 3 minutes to saute the sauce (as noted in the recipe). Thank you for your feedback.
Delicious, definitely will make this again! While the sauce simmered on sauté, I added some chopped asparagus and red pepper to sauté as well. Great weeknight meal!
I’m happy you enjoyed this! The asparagus and red pepper sound like delicious additions!
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.
That is a huge compliment! Thank you! I’m happy to hear you’ve found a new favorite. 🙂
Made this recipe tonight. The flavor is perfect except my thin cut chicken breasts were dry 🙁
Hi Samantha, The cooking time for meat in the Instant Pot depends on the size/thickness of the meat, so you would need to reduce the cooking time for thin cut chicken breasts. I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor of this dish.
I am the worst at making chicken breasts… This recipe was amazing! I put the sauce over quinoa and it was delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love that you served it with quinoa.
Hi Kristine.
Just made you’re honey garlic chicken breasts. They were amazing. Cooked perfectly. You’re step by step instructions were easy to follow. The caramelized sauce was soooooo good. We are new to the instant pot cooking, but will definitely add this recipe to our dinners.
Thank you
Joan
Hi Joan, I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the honey garlic chicken! The more you use your Instant Pot, the more you are going to love it!
Wow thank you! My teen son is SO PICKY but he pretty well inhaled his dinner tonight. I did 2 medium breasts with chicken broth and for 10 minutes and it was PERFECT! I usually find I have to play with an InstantPot recipe to make it work for us, but this was perfect first time. Now I have to make larger portions for next time. That would mean more sauce. Any hints on how much liquid to add to make enough sauce for more breasts? I found this sauce did nicely for the 2 breasts without leftover sauce.
Thank you so much for the very delicious and easy recipe!
Donna from London, ON
Hi Donna, That is wonderful that you son enjoyed this recipe! I would increase the sauce ingredients in the same proportion as you are increasing the amount of chicken. Thank you for sharing how this recipe worked for you!
I’d like to cook the rice right in the pot also. Possible?
I haven’t tried this with this particular recipe, but it might be possible to use the pot in pot method. Here’s what I would try: You would put the rice and water in an oven safe bowl or pan and set it on top of a 2.5-inch metal trivet. (I use an egg steamer rack that I purchased for my Instant Pot.) The chicken and sauce would be on the bottom of the Instant Pot underneath. White rice cooks in 3-5 minutes in the Instant Pot plus a 10 minute natural release, so you would need your chicken to be small – I would guess that 6-8 ounce breasts would cook in 5 minutes high pressure + 10 minute natural release. You could always cook the chicken a bit more on saute if it wasn’t done. If you try it let me know how it turns out.
Just made this as meal prep for lunches in the office this week, it’s so good. Serving it with a brown rice and quinoa mix on the side.
That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Just tried this today….. It was awesome! So fast, so simple…. and hardly any clean up. PERFECT!
The quick clean up is one of my favorite things about Instant Pot cooking!
Hi the nutritional information listed is it fit the chicken and rice. Or just chicken?.the carbs seem high off just using cornstarch.
It’s for the chicken and sauce. 1 tablespoon of honey has 17 grams of carbs so that’s where most of the carbs come from.
My husband loves it!! We doubled the recipe. This is a keeper. We’re thinking about using molasses next time, instead of honey, just to see what it tastes like!
Thank you for this recipe!!
I’m happy to hear that!
Delicious. Made it twice and both times it was a hit. Served with quinoa and broccoli and everyone had seconds.
I’m so glad!
Shouldn’t we saute the chicken a little bit before, or does it go straight and end up being “boiled” ?
The chicken is pressure cooked, not boiled. If you want to saute it some before pressure cooking you can, but I don’t think that will improve the finished dish. If you do saute it some, you’ll need to reduce the pressure cooking time a bit since the chicken will have partially cooked already. I hope you enjoy this if you try it!
I made this last night, my first time using The Pot, and it was a hit, even with my picky autistic son. Thank you very much! I went a little mad trying to get the temperature correct; my thermometer kept reading 140, but eventually the chicken was actually falling apart and my wife declared it done. I guess I need a better thermometer.
That is amazing! I’m so glad! You can get a good inexpensive instant read thermometer on Amazon. I’d recommend something like this thermometer.
Can you tell me how to adjust if using either frozen or thawed boneless skinless chicken thighs?
I would cook thawed boneless skinless chicken thighs on high pressure for 11 minutes, plus a quick release. If they are frozen, I would add 3 minutes to the cook time. Always check that the chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F using an instant read thermometer. Enjoy!
Could I use liquid aminos instead of low sodium soy sauce? Would it still turn out the same? I’m super excited to try this recipe!!
I haven’t tested that, but my understanding is that liquid aminos substitute well for soy sauce so I think so.
Very good! Having leftovers on my salad for lunch tomorrow!
That’s a great way to use the leftovers!
How would I adjust time if I’m using Chicken Tenderloins?
I haven’t tested this recipe with chicken tenders but I would try 3 minutes on high pressure plus 7 minutes natural pressure release, then quick release any remaining pressure. If you try it, let me know how they turn out. 🙂
I used frozen thighs and cooked for 16 minutes. Came out perfectly! My husband absolutely loved it. Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks for sharing! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I made this tonight and it was so simple and absolutely delicious! My family devoured it. I served it over rice noodles (I added the rice noodles to the rest of the meal). This meal will become a staple in our house because it is easy, healthy, and tasty!
That’s awesome! The rice noodles are a great idea!
I stumbled on this recipe by doing a quick google search because I forgot an ingredient for a different recipe and I needed to use my chicken ASAP. No time for a trip to the store. So I looked for something that was easy and which I already had the ingredients for. I was VERY happy with the results of your Honey Garlic Chicken and I will make this recipe again. It’s a keeper! I had 1.5 pounds of chicken breast so I kind of took a wild guess at the time and ended up doing 16 minutes – the meat turned out a bit dry (over-cooked) but next time if I buy that much chicken I’ll do 13 minutes instead and it will be perfection. Thank you for this recipe — I will look over your site for more IP recipes. I’m ALWAYS needing recipes that don’t have a lot of expensive or overly exotic ingredients.
Hi Katie, I’m so glad you found my website and this recipe! I really try to keep my recipes as simple as possible, both with the methods and ingredients. 🙂 The cook time for Instant Pot chicken breasts depends on the size of the individual breasts, and the total amount of chicken doesn’t make much difference. So whether you have 4 chicken breasts that are 10 ounces each or 2 chicken breasts that are 10 ounces each, you will still cook for about 10 minutes in the Instant Pot. I hope that makes sense!
Great recipe and amazingly easy, even for a relative instant pot novice like me. From my limited instant pot experience, doubling recipes only means that it will take longer for the instant pot to reach pressure, but the actual pressure cooking time remains the same. That means the cook need change nothing about the cooking time, another great instant pot feature. Our frozen chicken breasts seemed to be a little over cooked, although still very moist – next time I’ll try to set the cooking time to one minute less.
Instead of thickening with the corn starch I just added 2 cups of instant rice (I did double the recipe) and let the rice cook in the sauce. My husband loved it. This will be in my IP rotation! Thanks so much!
That sounds delicious! I’m glad you enjoyed this!
Do you use the trivet to put the chicken on?
For this recipe, I do not use the trivet. The chicken cooks in the sauce right on the bottom of the pot.
Second recipe of yours today and it was another success! So delicious!
I did use liquid aminos instead of soy sauce, and it took about 10 minutes to thicken instead of 2-3.
Woohoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed this!
I didn’t have chicken stock so I used white wine. It turned out wonderful! Will use this recipe again/
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad this recipe worked for you.
So good. My picky eaters even loved it. Followed the instant pot recipe. Doubled it. I had to add another tsp of cornstarch. It wasn’t thickening. The sauce is like a rice bowl and can be added to leftover rice for the next day. Thanks so much. I’ll bookmark this
I’m happy to hear that your whole family enjoyed this!
Made this last nice in the IP with slightly frozen chicken breasts (pressure cooked for 14 minutes and NR for 10) and it came out great. The children loved it, which is such a bonus (6 and 3 years old). Served with farro and roasted asparagus. Delicious and will certainly make again. thank you for the recipe!
It is the best when the whole family, kids included, love a recipe! Hearing that makes my day! 🙂
THIS RECIPE IS PHENOMENAL
I’m so glad you think so!
Quick and easy to make, and my family loved it! I served it just as pictured with rice and broccoli. Mmm!!! 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was only my third time on my new instant pot. But now I see THIS is why everyone loves it! I did the frozen chicken version and everything was perfect and delicious! Thank you for posting this!
Yay! Isn’t it so convenient when your chicken is frozen? I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this!
Absoluteltly delicious, hubby complimenting me… i mean you😊 i added sweet potatoes and carrots, served with Peas and corn. Will definitely make again. thank you
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that! All of those veggies sound so delicious. 🙂
Family loved it! Thanks!
I’m so glad! 🙂
Am I insane? The measurements are gone. I made this many times but today I go to make it and the measurements for the sauce are gone!
I just checked and the measurements are still there, in the box with the recipe ingredients and instructions.
Absolutely delicious! Only change was I sauted chicken first. Everything else was your way. Served with rice and steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.
Just made this a couple hours before I go to work, it will be dinner at work for me and my son, and I will probably let my coworkers have a taste. It is delicious, and can’t wait to have dinner break! Thank you my fellow named Kristine, with a K!!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy the flavors in this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. 🙂
Hey Kristine, just had to let you know that I made this recipe tonight and it was excellent! Sorry I don’t have a picture of it to show you. I didn’t have chicken breasts so I utilized what I had which was bone-in thighs, and after one commenter said she thought it needed more honey, I increased that, but that’s the only changes I made to it. The thighs (3) were fairly big and already thawed so I set them for 10 minutes on manual since I don’t have a poultry setting on my cooker. I don’t have an Instant Pot brand but a 4 quart Cook’s Essential’s brand and was surprised to find that I could have easily doubled the recipe. My husband really liked it and he can be somewhat picky, so that’s really saying something. I don’t usually comment on the recipes I find on Pinterest but this was so easy and tasty I just had to. Next I plan to try the mashed potatoes, they look SO good and I can’t wait to see how they turn out.
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Your are going to LOVE the mashed potatoes! Pressure cooking them is my absolute favorite way to make mashed potatoes. 🙂
I’m cooking for one so it’s a challenge to find recipes that fit in my 2 qt pressure cooker. This worked GREAT! I used 2 semi thawed skinless breasts, followed all the other directions, set for 11 minutes. Meanwhile, put frozen peas to microwave for 6 minutes then rice for 90 seconds. All in all my meal took maybe 15 minutes! Can’t beat it!! THANKS 😊
That is wonderful! I’m so glad that this made a quick, easy meal for you. 🙂
I’ve made this and it’s delicious. I’m going to try it tomorrow with a small pork roast, have you tried that? I think I’ll just have to add a bit more water and go longer on the pressure time, does that sound about right? I’d love some feedback!
Hi Jane, I haven’t tried this recipe with a pork roast, but I do have this Instant Pot pork tenderloin recipe which is similar. I wouldn’t add too much more water, and the cook time will be dependent on the size of your roast. I would err on the side of cooking it for less time and then you can always cook longer if need be. 🙂
Quick, easy & delicious ! I’ve made this recipe twice & both time my family loved it. I’m new using an instant pot and this recipe is easy to follow.
I am so happy to hear that! 🙂
I just started weight watchers and was looking for a healthy chicken recipe. This was sooo good. I will be making more often. Thank you.
I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed this!
Wow. Baking chicken breasts has always been my go-to method because I’ve always been scared of overcooking when sauteing, but pressure cooked chicken is probably going to become my favorite now! More quick and simple than using the oven. Chicken came out tender and didn’t dry out.
I’m happy to hear that this turned out so well for you!
I made this today looking for a really easy meal and it was! It is also very tasty. I actually didn’t read the directions closely and mixed the cornstarch in with everything in the original cook – and it worked fine. After the chicken was done I threw in broccoli, turned the chicken, and cooked for 0 minutes. Sauce was thick, chicken browned on both sides, but a little over cooked. Next time I am going to experiment with undercooking the chicken in the first cook so that I can do the veggies in the sauce too. Thanks for a great and really easy basic recipe.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
These look absolutely delicious! You have amazing food photography too :] As much as I know my girl’s will love these, I know I will too!
Thank you!
I just made this today – oh my goodness – it is absolutely wonderful! I did not change a thing – just followed the recipe – it’s a keeper!
I’m so glad! Thank you for taking the time to let me know!
This chicken was excellent! Thanks for saving dinner for me tonight because I really want to cook and I already have all these ingredients. Did it with frozen 2 chicken breast and 2 legs and it came out so yummy. My kids ate it up. I will be adding this to our rotation.
How long do you recommend cooking 1.5 lbs of chicken cutlets? Thank you!!
They will cook very quickly, since they are so thin. I would try 3 minutes of pressure cooking time. If they aren’t cooked through after that time, you can finish cooking them using saute mode.
I’d like
to try this recipe tonight, but I am confused on the amount of ingredients to be used.
0.17 broth or water
0.13 soy sauce
0.13 honey0.73#chicken breasts
Hi Jeanne, It looks like you’ve adjusted the amount of servings in the recipe, so it’s recalculated the amounts. Use the arrows to change the number of servings back to 4 and it should make more sense.
This is a very, very good recipe. I sauté the chicken in the ip before starting the recipe. Then, after the chicken is adequately seared add some the liquid to the bottom and scrape the bottom to deglaze for an additional robust chicken flavor. This will also add a nice crust to the honey garlic chicken when the the dish is completed.
OH MY! Just made this in my instapot as described. Unfrozen chicken and it was DELICIOUS! We scarfed it down so fast we barely tasted it! So easy to make. Will become a GO TO meal!!! Thank you!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Be sure to also try my Honey Garlic Instant Pot Pork Chops. I think you’ll love those, too!
I made tonight and had to use teriyaki instead of soya sauce. I cooked boneless thighs from frozen for about 13 minutes. It was delicious and easy! Will definitely make again!
I’m glad you enjoyed this!
I am new to the Instant Pot world. I have an 8 qt. pot and am realizing that most recipes are for the 6 qt pot. Should I change any ingredients amounts or cooking times? Thanks!
You can follow the same instructions and amounts that you see in 6 quart recipes when cooking in an 8 quart pot. 🙂
You have to add more liquid with 8qts or you get the burn notice. The rule is 1.5-2 cups of liquid. Unfortunately this means you need to add more broth which means the sauce is even more liquidy when everything is done.🤷🏻♀️
Depending on what you are cooking, 1 to 1.5 cups of liquid is usually enough in an 8 quart. You can get away with less liquid if the food you are cooking will release some liquid during the cooking process. You could double this sauce recipe, if using an 8 quart pot.
I was scared I would get the burn error using so little liquid in my 8qt pot, but it came out perfect =)
I’m glad this recipe worked well for you!
This was SO GOOD and so easy!!! Only regret is that I didn’t make rice with it. I will next time!! That sauce would have been amazing on some steamed rice. Thanks for the great recipe!
I was a little iffy on how it would taste and OMG amazing!!!! So easy to make and delicious! This is going in my rotation.
I doubled the sauce and have some left over. Can I freeze it? (Even though it has the corn starch in it)
Thank you so much for sharing
I haven’t tried freezing the sauce. If you try it, let me know how it works.
This turned out great! I used chicken breast tenderloins as that it what I had on hand and fresh green beans and squash alongside the rice. It was amazing – I highly recommend this recipe for the chicken and experiment with the vegetable sides!
Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing what you served with it – the green beans, squash and rice sound like perfect sides.
Does the size of the instant pot cooker make a difference in cooking time or amount of ingredients for this recipe?
No, you’ll follow the recipe regardless of your instant pot size. This is true for most instant pot recipes. The exception would be if you have the 3 quart instant pot mini, you might have to scale some recipes down to fit.
I can’t find my honey so I’m using honey French dressing! So far it smells delicious. Lol
WORRY WART here – still a novice so carefully following instructions – My 6qt Duo says I MUST have 8 ounces of fluid – Am I missing something? THANKS for your patiences.
Can’t Wait to try this – it looks am amazing!
Hi Lia, 1 cup of liquid equals 8 fluid ounces. The liquid ingredients in this recipe add up to almost that much, and the chicken will release some juices. It will be fine, I promise! I’ve tested this recipe many times, as have many others. 😉
A quick question. I just received an Instant Pot as a gift. It is an 8-quart model. I have been enjoying reading your info for beginners and could relate to your fears of using the cooker when getting started. This recipe looks like a great one to try; however, are the recipe quantities used the same regardless of the size of the Instant Pot?
Yes, the quantities will be the same regardless of the Instant Pot size. If you haven’t already ready it, you might also find my Instant Pot beginner’s guide helpful.
Hi Kristine,
I just want to compliment you on a fabulous dish! Thank you! This will become a regular at our house now. Served it over cauliflower rice and it was just perfect. Juicy, tender, and flavorful. Thanks again!
I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed it! The cauliflower rice sounds like the perfect side dish.
so delicious!!!
Have you tried doing a pot-in-pot on a trivet and cooking rice above the chicken? I was wondering if that would work and if the cook time would change?
Good question! I haven’t tried that with this recipe, but I do that with my orange chicken recipe. To make this honey garlic chicken with pot-in-pot rice, I would cut each chicken breast into 3 pieces because you’ll need the chicken to cook faster. Using long grain white rice, such as jasmine or basmati, reduce the pressure cook time to 4 minutes. (Cooking brown rice in the instant pot takes too long to work with this recipe.)
Hello, I am wondering if I could make this recipe with bone in skinless chicken breasts? Thank you in advance for any suggestions you might have! Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Julie, Yes, you can, but you’ll have to increase the cook time by a few minutes. I would cook 12-ounce bone-in chicken breasts for 10 minutes plus a 5 minute natural release.
I’ve had my pressure cooker for quite some time. I’ve been afraid to use it because nearly all of the so called simple recipes weren’t so simple. And I’m no stranger to the kitchen! Most instructions were NOT easy to follow, especially since they go off the Instant Pot model they have. I LOVE how you explained what the buttons mean on a couple different models! God send. The recipe was delicious!! I have been in a dinner rut and wanted to switch things up. Glad I did. All through the meal my husband couldn’t stop praising me and how good the meal was. SO Happy I found your website. SO happy I decided on this recipe! I can’t wait to try others.
This makes me so happy! I’m glad that you found this recipe easy to follow and that you enjoyed the result! I hope you find many more Instant Pot meals to love. 🙂
Hi, im new to instat pot recipes and i wanted to try your delicious looking dish first, but upon reading ii noticed my instant pot duo nova dosent have a manual button, so my question is would it be pressure cook button or poultry button??
Depending on which instant pot you have, it will be labeled pressure cook or manual. So you would use your pressure cook button.
I chopped the raw chicken breasts into 2 inch pieces BEFORE putting them in the pot. How long should I cook them for?
They will cook really quickly – I would try 3 minutes plus 5-10 minutes natural pressure release.
Love this recipe…served with sides of steamed broccoli and rice it’s officially made it into the “rotation” of dinner meals. Just one question…my partner wants more sauce to pour over the rice. Would it work ok to just double all of the liquid amounts or would that throw off the cooking time or cause some other problem I’m not aware of?
You can double the sauce without changing anything else. You could use less than double the amount of water/broth since you’ll have more liquid with a double recipe.
Well I have a double batch cooking as I type.. smells so good.. I’m serving over quinoa but the steamed vegies is a great idea.. next time..
Thank you for such a delicious easy instant pot recipe.. love it and thank you to all the reviewers that wrote how good it was. I love that..peg
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS RECIPE. MY NEW FAVORITE!!! My husband and i love it!! I have a brother in college and he doesn’t have an instant pot…could this recipe be made in the crock pot?
I’m happy to hear that! Yes, see the notes section under the recipe for slow cooker instructions.
We love this recipe!! We altered it a bit and made it into shredded chicken sliders. We took the chicken breasts out, shredded the chicken while the sauce thickened then added the shredded chicken back in, stirring well into the thickened sauce. Then spooned onto small slider buns. They were AMAZING. My boys were licking their fingers clean, their plates clean, and if I let them the InstantPot Clean!
Fairly new to the instant pot world. Your step by step directions were great! I made this last night and it was fantastic! Served over organic brown rice (to help soak up that amazing sauce) and a salad! Thanks for sharing this great recipe…I’ll be making it a part of the regular rotation!
Forgot to leave 5 STARS!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and rating. 🙂
My kids and husband loved this! My daughter had seconds, and she never even eats all of her chicken! We will definitely make this more often. Thanks for sharing!
Made it tonight. I didn’t have low salt soy sauce so I used less of it and added more water. I doubled the recipe and added ginger greens as well for a bit of a zip. The sauce thickened and I have about a quart left of it. Delicious.
Hi. Can you add fresh veggies to the raw chicken?
Thank you
I haven’t tried that, but it should work. I would try firmer vegetables, such as carrots. Softer veggies, such as zucchini or broccoli, would turn mushy during the cook time needed to cook the chicken. Adding frozen veggies after pressure cooking and cooking for a few minutes using saute mode is a good option.
Delicious recipe! My chicken breasts were a bit larger, so I doubled the sauce (and added a shake of hot sauce) to insure moist chicken, and it was. I cut with a slight shred back into the sauce. Served with Chow Mien Store-Fry Noodles (tossed with tiny bit of sesame oil)
Sounds delicious!
Disappointed in this – it looked so good. It didn’t have a lot of taste and it really made a mess in my instant pot – it totally filled the little steam overflow and made a mess of the lid. Although I have the 3 qt. instant pot, there was only a small amount of liquid and it shouldn’t have been too much for the pot.
I’m sorry that this recipe didn’t work out for you. I don’t have a 3 quart Instant Pot, but I do know that it may cook differently due to its smaller size.
Made this tonight in an 8 qt instant pot. It took longer to cook, but was amazing! I also mixed broccoli into the sauce and it was a big hit with my kids 3-15! Will definitely be making it again! Thank you!!
Just made this and it is amazing!! Couldn’t be any easier and so tasty. I doubled the sauce as my family likes a little extra with rice. Mine thickened up perfect and in less time than stated. A definite keeper!
This is a very delicious recipe, and so easy to make!
Thank you so much my family loved it!
Delicious and quick to prepare! Thank you!
This was the first time making and it was delicious! I could have cooked it a little less, but it was still moist.
The sauce was perfectly sweetened as written recipe. We tweaked it a bit with a tiny mix of chili oil & red pepper flakes. It was just enough to give it a little heat with the sweet. Next time we will add some veggies. Thank you!
I definitely did not nail this dish. My chicken is so dry! I used the 8mins on Manual. When I took them out of the pot they were moist, you could feel it. But while I was trying to thicken the sauce, which took a long time the chicken was totally dry. Also my sauce is nothing like the pictures. Once I added the soy sauce it got so dark! And not enough honey to taste it, just an unknown sweet factor.
I’m sorry this recipe wasn’t your favorite. I know it’s disappointing when you make a recipe and it doesn’t turn out how you hoped. I’m surprised that the chicken was dry after 8 minutes. Sometimes I get a bad batch of chicken breasts where the texture is off – it’s called woody breast – and I’m wondering if that’s what happened. You might prefer this honey garlic sauce instead. 🙂
The recipe states in two spots the Calories…285kcal. I take that as 285,000 Calories. I feel like something is not correct here… What would the actual calorie count be? Because that does not sound healthy to me.
What are commonly referred to as “calories” are actually kcals. So 285 calories is the same as 285kcal.
After re-reading and not trusting a recipe by someone else and looking for a new chicken breast recipe, I stumbled on this one – delicious! I also made your roasted carrots, which were great. My sauce barely thickened, and looking back at other recipes I’d made using a cornstarch slurry, the ratio was always 1:1 water to cornstarch, for example, 2 Tbsp of each. Maybe that small difference was the difference? Next time – and there will be a bunch of next times – I’ll try it. Thank you!
I made this last night and served it with brown rice and broccoli. It was tasty. However, in the future, I will saute the chicken breasts first. I substituted agave syrup for honey as it has a lower glycemic index. In the future, I will cut the the agave syrup to 1/8 cup and increase the chicken broth by 1/8th cup. 18 grams of sugar per serving is way too high.
Agave syrup doesn’t work for me (makes me feel a bit ill) and 18 grams for a main meal is fine for many people. 25 grams a day is something to shoot for unless diabetic or there is another reason to keep sugar low. One size does not fit all, right? : )
I added some grated ginger and sambal to spice it up just a bit. We tend to like things on the spicy side. They were mad that I did not make a double batch. Served over jasmine rice for a little twist and it was fantastic!
My first meal in our new instant pot! Sooo easy and sooo yummy. Thanks for sharing!
I did have to add another tablespoon of cornstarch to get the sauce to desired thickness.
This was the first time I cooked chicken in my instant pot and OMG delicious!! This sauce is seriously amazing and thickened up beautifully in saute mode. I did add lot more garlic because I looove garlic, lol. One question though – when I did a quick release, the sauce sputtered out of the valve and made a mess. Is this expected or avoidable? I did use a 3qt size instead of 6 qt, if that makes a difference…
Hi Liz,
I am glad you enjoyed it! Regarding the release valve sputtering, that just happens with the Instant Pot sometimes. What you can do is (using a long-handled utensil for safety) open the release valve just a little bit to start to minimize sputtering. Then open the valve the rest of the way after a little pressure has been released.
I made this as my first ever attempt at this device. My friend said take my small instant pot and try it out. Full disclosure, I have a pressure cooker, FYI. I looked for a recipe with items in stock and bam your recipe came up. Rice, chicken, and broccoli was perfect. My husband loved it too. Better than take out. Had to add a second slurry to thicken sauce but then it was instant thickening. Best first try of appliance ever! Win win! Mama gotta shop for her own now lol!
A great meal! My family and even my picky 4 year old loved it!!! Thank you for this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this!
Thanks for this!y family loved it. That includes the picky seven year old that typically won’t even eat meat, especially if there is any kind of sauce involved. Delicious!
I am so glad that you have a frozen chicken recipe that turns out great and my family loved it! I made a few adjustments by adding 1/3 of a cup of soy sauce and honey, and I added some extra garlic. I did this to compensate for the extra water from the frozen chicken. It was perfect!
I’ve never made my own honey garlic sauce… Mostly because I’m not a big fan of honey. BUT I loved it. It was the perfect amount of sweet and salty and consistency…yum yum yum. I think I could have gone with a minute less of pressure cook time but my chicken was still half frozen and I didn’t want to risk it. All in all, loved it as did hubby. It will be going in our meal rotation! So simple!!!
Amazing recipe, so much nicer than I expected and so simple to make, the sauce was nice to have with just plain veges. I did make it with normal soy sauce, I didn’t have the low salt option and only after I shoveled it down I realized it was very salty.!
I have made this recipe twice now. The first time I added the frozen veggies in while the sauce thickened like you suggested and served it with rice. The second time I forgot about mixing the veggies in but I also shredded the chicken before mixing it in the sauce for something a little different. I served it with mixed veggies and sweet potatoes the second time. Both times were delicious! I used the leftover shredded chicken to put on homemade pizzas and it was amazing! I love this recipe because it is SO simple yet delicious! I do not like trying to find a bunch of ingredients or complicated recipes. This was so great because I already had everything I would need! Thank you SO much!!
Hi Kristine. Why can’t one cook the rice and the chicken together in the broth mix? We’re brand new to instant-potting and have made one rice and chicken breast meal, combining both together without a pot in a pot, and it came out fine. But is there something with these ingredients that would screw that up?
It might be possible, but I can’t suggest an exact method or ingredient amounts without testing it myself. You would have to add some chicken broth or water for the rice to absorb as it cooks. You would also have to adjust the cooking time because white rice takes about 4 minutes in the Instant Pot, so you would need to cut up the chicken into smaller pieces so that the chicken would cook through in the same amount of time. It’s possible and you might be able to find a recipe for honey garlic chicken that’s designed for cooking rice as well, but I can’t make a recommendation for cooking rice in this recipe because I haven’t tested it that way. Here is my Instant Pot Chicken and Rice recipe, if you are interested, no pot in pot required. 🙂
I no longer eat meat but these days, store runs are few & far between. I had chicken breasts in my freezer so I thought why not…..OMG! This recipe could seriously get me to eat meat again. FANTASTIC!!!
The only thing I did differently is I have the “at least 1 cup water in the pot” rule stuck in my head so I added extra broth to = a cup. As a result, I had to double up the thickening process that took almost 5 minutes but SO SO GOOD. Thank You
This was very good, and I appreciate your comments/cooking guides for how long to cook the different sizes of chicken breast. That was very helpful. Unfortunately, I did not have any low sodium soy sauce, so I did swap out about 1/4 of it with white wine vinegar. I would have used rice wine vinegar, but I didn’t have that either! It turned out perfect, not too salty at all. We served with mashed potatoes and veggies. My husband and 7 children all enjoyed it, and that is a rare thing to find a recipe that EVERYONE likes. Thank you so much!
This was so easy an fun tasty. I doubled the recipe and switched the soy sauce for coconut aminos, and the cornstarch for tapioca starch to make it paleo.
If you use 1/3 of a cup of water and a 1/4 cup of soy sauce what makes up the rest of the liquid For it to be 1 cup of liquid?
This recipe has less than 1 cup of liquid but still works.
Question! The posted cook times for fresh chicken – are the ounces collective or are the ounces per chicken breast chicken breast? My two chicken breasts weighed 16 ounces total. So about 8 ounces each breast. I cooked them for 12 minutes and they were a really tough texture.
It is the ounces per chicken breast, not total.
Is it ok to make the freezer meal with frozen chicken breasts since I do not have an thawed?
Yes, that will work fine!
Used frozen bone-in and skin on chicken thighs., since that’s all I had. When I took the chicken out I fried the skin side down for a bit while I thickened the sauce, then returned the chicken bake to pot. So delicious and fast!
YUMMY YUMMY!!! TURNED OUT GREAT!!! BOSSMAN LOVED IT, WILL MAKE IT AGAIN!! THANK U KRISTINE
I just made this tonight for dinner. It was spectacular. Thank you very much for the recipe. I look forward to making this again sometime soon.
I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS RECIPE BUT AM WONDERING IF IT MAKES A LOT OF SAUCE AND WHETHER I CAN DOUBLE THE LIQUID USED AND DO I ALSO DOUBLE THE SPICES USED.
THANK YOU
If you want more sauce I recommend doubling all of the sauce ingredients (including the cornstarch thickener).