Ready for the most delicious Instant Pot Chicken Thighs recipe on the internet? Say hello to these sticky, sweet Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs.
First, sear the chicken thighs in the Instant Pot. Then, slather them with honey garlic sauce, and pressure-cook them for just 5-7 minutes!
This is one of our most popular Instant Pot Chicken Thigh recipes! So many of you have made these Instant Pot chicken thighs and rated it 5 stars and rightfully so. The honey garlic sauce is incredibly flavorful and easy to make and your chicken comes out perfect every time.
Whenever I’m in need of a quick weeknight dinner, I make these thighs and serve them next to white rice and steamed broccoli. All you have to do is sear your chicken thighs in the Instant Pot for 2-3 minutes and then add the honey garlic sauce. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes with a quick release.
PS: check out our Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken for a similar recipe made in the Crockpot!
What kind of chicken thighs should I use for Instant Pot chicken thighs?
The good news for you is that we tested this recipe many times with all different kinds of chicken thighs. Love skin-on chicken thighs? Or boneless chicken thighs? Both work! So feel free to use around 2 lbs. of the following:
- Bone-In
- Boneless
- Skin-On
- Skinless
If you’re wondering what kind of thighs we prefer, it’s hands-down bone-in with the skin on. However, boneless skinless chicken thighs are also pretty dang delish.
#1 Tip for Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
Our #1 tip for perfect IP Chicken Thighs is to sear BEFORE you pressure cook! This will give your chicken thighs gorgeous color and the texture of seared chicken thighs without having to use your stovetop.
Plus, it will actually help preheat your Instant Pot, cutting the pressurizing time almost in half. Whatever you do, do not skip this step.
How long to cook chicken thighs in Instant Pot
- From frozen: cook frozen chicken thighs and sauce (or water) for 15 minutes on high pressure with a quick release.
- From thawed: sear chicken thighs for 2-3 minutes on both sides. Then, cook chicken thighs with sauce in your pressure cooker on high for 5-7 minutes.
here’s a tip
Chicken thighs can vary greatly in size and thickness. The goal is to get the internal temperature of the chicken to be 165ºF. So, if you have larger thighs, you may need to cook a bit longer to reach a safe temperature.
Best Honey Garlic Sauce
If you’ve ever had our Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken, you know how delicious our honey garlic sauce is. This is a slightly modified version of that sauce, but equally as delicious.
Here’s what you need: honey, minced garlic, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and cornstarch.
do I have to use cornstarch?
The sauce is then thickened with a little bit of cornstarch, but you always have the option to skip that step. If you don’t have cornstarch, feel free to use tapioca starch instead.
Chicken Thighs Instant Pot Q&A
Can you stack chicken thighs in an Instant Pot?
You can absolutely stack chicken thighs in your Instant Pot, however, we only recommend doing this if you plan to shred the chicken.
Stacking your thighs is going to reduce the crunchiness of the skin, which makes it perfect for shredding. However, if you want each thigh to have an amazing texture, make sure you do NOT stack them.
What setting do you cook chicken on in an Instant Pot?
To get the most perfect chicken thigh Instant Pot recipe with sauce, first, saute your thighs in olive oil on both sides for about 2-3 minutes. Then, add your sauce and close the Instant Pot. Turn the valve to seal and cook on high for 5 minutes. Once the timer goes off, do a quick release.
How do you cook frozen chicken thighs Instant Pot?
Cooking frozen thighs in the Instant Pot is rather easy. Add frozen thighs to the Instant Pot and then add in your sauce (or you can sub with water). Then, cook on high for around 15 minutes.
Do you have to use a trivet in Instant Pot?
Technically, you do not HAVE to use the trivet when cooking chicken thighs in the Instant Pot. However, it is helpful for preventing the burn notice from appearing.
All Instant Pot’s are different. Our older Instant Pot is much less finicky when it comes to trivets and we usually don’t use one when making Instant Pot Chicken Thighs. However, our new one almost always gets the burn notice, so a trivet is a must!
Storage
Let chicken thighs cool completely. Then, store IP chicken thighs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
Freezer Instructions
After Cooked: Let Instant Pot Chicken Thighs cool completely. Then, transfer them to a freezer-safe gallon-size bag and remove as much air as possible. Seal and freeze for up to 3 months.
Before Cooked: Place all raw ingredients (minus the cornstarch and sesame seeds) into a freezer-safe gallon-size bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When you are ready for cooking, transfer the frozen contents of the bag directly into your Instant Pot. Then, seal Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes with a quick release. Thicken sauce as directed in recipe card.
Serving Suggestions
Make your honey garlic chicken Instant Pot recipe a complete meal by serving it with a grain and your favorite veggie. Here are some ideas: shrimp fried rice, coconut rice, quinoa, roasted broccoli, or sauteed green beans.
Best Instant Pot Chicken Thighs with Honey Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. chicken thighs skin-on*
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- optional: cornstarch slurry 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon warm water
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- First, use a few pieces of paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible from your chicken thighs.
- Next, turn on the Instant Pot's sauté feature. Add olive oil and then sear both sides of each chicken thigh for 2-3 minutes to give them a nice brown.
- While the chicken thighs are sauteing, prepare the honey garlic sauce. Mix together minced garlic, honey, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce.
- Once the chicken thighs are done browning, turn off the sauté function and then pour on the honey garlic sauce. If your Instant Pot easily gets the burn notice often, feel free to use your trivet for your chicken. We have never gotten the burn notice when making this recipe, but feel free to use the trivet just in case.
- Close your Instant Pot and turn the valve to seal. Turn your Instant Pot to manual > high pressure > and set the timer for 5 minutes. It will take around 10 minutes for the pressure to build before it starts counting down from 5 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, quick release your Instant Pot by opening the valve.
- Remove the lid and then check the internal temperature of the chicken. If they are at least 160ºF – 165ºF, then they are done and you can remove them. If they aren't done, put the lid back on and cook for 1-3 more minutes.
- Option to serve immediately and pour the sauce over the chicken thighs. Or, you have the option to thicken your sauce with a cornstarch slurry. To thicken, turn on the Instant Pot's saute feature (you need the heat to ignite the thickening agent). Then, whisk together cornstarch and water until the cornstarch dissolves to create a cornstarch slurry. Pour the slurry into the sauce and whisk until the sauce thickens.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with sesame seeds and your favorite grain and veggies.
Tips & Notes
- Type of chicken thighs: We tested bone-in with skin AND boneless, skinless and they both work!
- From Frozen Directions: Place frozen chicken thighs and the rest of the sauce ingredients minus the cornstarch and sesame seeds into your Instant Pot. Seal and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes with a quick release. If you plan to use this method, we recommend boneless, skinless thighs and shredding your chicken at the end. Follow directions to thicken the sauce above.
- Nutrition was calculated using boneless chicken thighs and includes only the chicken.
I like this one since it is exactly like the Amy Jacky one, down to the wording! Nice to copy and paste here for us.
This was just the BEST recipe…and so easy, too! This sauce will work really well as the sauce for General Tso’s chicken, so I’ll try that next time with boneless chunks of chicken. This is definitely a keeper recipe.
This chicken thighs dish is looking so delicious with this yummy honey garlic sauce. Now I am feeling hungry. A must try recipe for our family. Best food for today’s menu.
Love love love this! Made it exactly as the recipe is written with frozen thighs! Will put in rotation!
wow nice!
I didn’t get a photo before we devoured it but it was wonderful!!! I loved how fast it was ready. I missed the step to dry the thighs before browning so after 5 minutes or so on each side I sprinkled a little paprika on there for color and they looked beautiful. Poured in the sauce and cooked for a little longer since I had big thighs. Used slurry to make that wonderful sauce stick and even picky husband liked it. I’ll try more of your recipes
I made the sauce using Mike’s hot honey … YUMMMMM
Very simple recipe to follow. We only had boneless skinless frozen thighs on hand, but still turned out great. High pressure cook, drain, saute with no sauce, saute with sauce, remove chicken, add the slurry to thicken the sauce and Voila!
Yum!
My question is I do not have a instant pot I just use my oven or top of stove
What can I do to make this delicious recipe
Thank You
If you want to make these in the oven, I’d recommend following our oven baked chicken thighs recipe 🙂 https://fitfoodiefinds.com/best-crispy-chicken-thighs/
Very good!!! Will definitely make this again!
Mouth-watering recipes that are easy to follow and guaranteed to impress!
Excellent
This turned out really good! I made a large batch of chicken thighs and had lots of honey to use so I tripled the sauce recipe! I did add some extras into sauce since I didn’t have chili garlic. I used chili powder and ground dried ginger and red pepper flakes and black pepper. I used teryaki sauce instead of regular soy. Served with rice and veggie. All of us enjoyed it minus my picky one! Due to time I didn’t thicken sauce but it would’ve kept the chicken coated better if I did. We just poured extra on our plate even if it was runny since it was good with the rice too. I prepared the thawed thighs like suggested trimming excess skin/fat off. But I also salt and peppered the thighs since it wasn’t in recipe. I gave 4 stars since it took a lot longer than expected… either my instapot doesn’t get hot enough searing, it took 15 mins to brown the top of thighs and it still was only a light brown (and remember i had double chicken) so I ended up using cast iron for that after wasting all that time. Then I put 5 thighs in instapot topped with sauce, sealed lid and manual cooked for 22 mins since they were big thighs. Turned out fully cooked and tender but not overcooked and shredded mush! First batch I quick released due to time again, second batch i natural released. Overall will make again since husband complimented 3 times lol but won’t measure ingredients since it’s foolproof ingredients. But next time will sear in the cast iron!
finally I found the website I was looking for, you have provided very useful information for me, thank you
This recipe was amaaaaazing. Sooo fast, so easy, so good! I can’t get over how it’s just 3 ingredients, but so much flavor. I did add the cornstarch slurry, and that made the sauce perfectly thick to coat the chicken. My 2 year old son who has entered the “picky eater stage”, loved it, cleaned his plate, and even ate seconds. This recipe went right into my recipe binder! Thank you for sharing with us.
Hooray for picky eater approval! We love to hear that 😀
These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs are tender and juicy because they are first seared, then coated in honey garlic sauce, and last cooked under pressure in the Instant Pot.
Super yummy! Tastes even better on the second day. I just used regular minced garlic and chilli powder though. Tasted great with brown rice and sweet potato the next day. Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Florence!
Hugh hit with the family. Cut the amount of soy sauce and added teriyaki into the mix. Also added in peppers, onions and mushrooms towards the end. Side of rice and this was a complete meal .
These Instant Pot Chicken Thighs are tender and juicy because they are first seared, then coated in honey garlic sauce, and last cooked under pressure in the Instant Pot.
Sounds amazing, thanks for sharing:)
I followed exact directs. Used frozen, boneless, skinless chicken thighs. After the 15 min & quick release, the chicken was still very raw. I finished cooked it in the oven. The sauce was tasty. I served it over coconut rice made also in the instant pot.
I usually cook chicken for 8 min, (10-12 if frozen), so I was reluctant to only cook for 5 and mine too didn’t fully cook. Flavor wise good recipe.
Very easy to make and Delicious. Will definitely make again 😊
Yum!