Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breast
Our Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breast recipe is a fast and easy way to cook chicken breasts in a delicious honey garlic sauce. Use fresh or frozen chicken, serve with rice and veggies for a quick meal!
I love Instant Pot chicken recipes! Try my Instant Pot Chicken Thighs, Instant Pot Chicken and Rice or Instant Pot BBQ Chicken next.
Skip the Takeout and Make this Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breast
These Instant Pot chicken breasts are a meal I make often when I don’t feel like cooking and I’m tempted to order takeout. This recipe couldn’t be simpler – 5 ingredients, 10 minutes of active prep, and it’s ready to eat in 30 minutes! Plus there’s nothing better than that honey garlic sauce, drizzled over tender, juicy chicken breasts.
I usually cook a pot of brown rice and a vegetable side dish to serve with this Instant Pot chicken breast. The honey garlic sauce is so good spooned on top of the rice and veggies too! (Or, see my tips below for cooking veggies right in the sauce in the Instant Pot.)
My husband said this chicken is in the top 5 chicken dishes he’s ever eaten in his life. And we eat chicken a LOT. Very delicious. We will be making this again. Thanks for the recipe.
Joelle
Are you new to Instant Pot cooking? Read my How to Use an Instant Pot beginner’s guide to make it easy to get started.
What You’ll Need
Find the full recipe with ingredient amounts in the recipe card below.
How to Make Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breast
- Add ingredients to Instant Pot. Add the water or broth, soy sauce, honey, garlic and pepper. Whisk until well mixed. Then add the chicken breasts to the Instant Pot.
- Pressure cook. See below for cook times for various sizes of chicken breasts.
- Thicken sauce. Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate. Make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water. Press the sauté button 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 from the base to stop the cooking process.
How long to 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.
Use an instant read thermometer to check that the chicken is cooked to at least 165° F. If the chicken isn’t cooked through after pressure cooking, use the Instant Pot sauté function to finish cooking the chicken.
Recipe Variations
- Add frozen veggies: After stirring in the cornstarch slurry, add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables or frozen broccoli to the Instant Pot. The veggies will cook while the sauce thickens.
- Make it spicy: Add 1/8 teaspoon (or more to taste) red pepper flakes to the sauce for spice.
- Gluten-free: To make this recipe gluten-free, substitute gluten-free tamari, gluten-free coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce for the soy sauce.
- 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 in the recipe for frozen chicken.
How to Make with Frozen Chicken
- You can use frozen chicken breasts in this recipe. Add 3 extra minutes to the cook times listed above if your chicken breasts are frozen. Add on a 10 minute natural release once the cook time ends, instead of a quick release, for frozen chicken.
- Learn more about how to cook frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot.
- Tip: Make sure that your frozen chicken breasts are not all stuck together in one large mass, since this would 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.
Serving Ideas
We love this chicken served with rice or quinoa and roasted broccoli or steamed broccoli. It would also be delicious with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Ribs
- Instant Pot Pork Chops
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup water, or chicken broth
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine water or broth, soy sauce, honey, garlic and pepper in Instant Pot. Whisk until honey dissolves.
- Add the chicken breasts to the Instant Pot.
- Seal the lid and move 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 (not frozen) chicken: 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 the cook time ends, carefully quick release the pressure by using the handle of a long spoon to move 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 moving 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° F. If the temperature is lower, finish cooking the chicken using the Instant Pot's sauté function.
- 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 serve it with the honey garlic sauce, plus rice and vegetables, or as desired.
Notes
Recipe Variations
- Add frozen veggies: After stirring in the cornstarch slurry, add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables to the Instant Pot. They will cook while the sauce thickens.
- Make it spicy: Add 1/8 teaspoon (or more to taste) red pepper flakes to the sauce for spice.
- Gluten-free: To make this recipe gluten-free, substitute gluten-free tamari, gluten-free coconut aminos or gluten-free soy sauce for the soy sauce.
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.
Recipe first shared in 2018, updated Sept. 2024.
