This Instant Pot Orange Chicken is saucy, flavorful, and so easy to make! All you need is your Instant Pot and the ingredients and you will have delicious take-out-tasting orange chicken in less than 30 minutes!
Need some meal prepping ideas? There’s also nothing better than prepping a big batch of shredded chicken in the Instant Pot for the week!
30 Minute Meal Madness
An Instant Pot is the key to quick and delicious week night meals! Most of our Instant Pot chicken recipes are made in under 30 minutes and are some of our most popular recipes! Why?
- They are approachable meals that the whole family loves.
- You can meal prep them for lunch or dinner throughout the week.
- You get protein-packed meals ready in minutes.
- They are just freaking delicious!
How to Make Orange Chicken
Orange chicken is a widely known and loved take-out meal for many! There is nothing quite like a tangy and refreshing bite of your favorite orange chicken recipe.
We wanted to create a quick and easy orange chicken recipe using the Instant Pot for those of you who are looking for ways to use your Instant Pot or for those of you who are craving orange chicken!
Most of the orange chicken flavor comes from the sauce! Here is what you need for the orange chicken sauce.
- Orange juice
- Soy sauce (or tamari)
- Honey
- Sriracha
- Cornstarch (you add this at the end)
Once you mix all the sauce ingredients together, you’ve got all the flavor and deliciousness you’ll need to make the best orange chicken ever!
Next up is browning the orange chicken in the Instant Pot before adding the sauce. Some people like to bread their orange chicken in an egg wash and then coat it with flour (we do that in this stove top orange chicken recipe).
However, we do not suggest that you bread the orange chicken in this particular recipe.
Why? Because the whole point of breading orange chicken is to create a crunchy crust and because IP orange chicken is pressure cooked the breading tends to just fall off and get soggy.
Browning the chicken in the bottom of the Instant Pot is all you have to do to get a delicious crispy skin on the chicken. After all chicken has browned add the sauce to the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes!
No Mushy Vegetables Allowed
We love serving orange chicken with a crisp and light vegetable! Greens beans were an obvious choice to accompany this orange chicken.
The key to cooking the green beans in the Instant Pot is to make sure you don’t cook them too long! After you have cooked the chicken and the sauce, you release pressure from the Instant Pot and place the green beans on top of the chicken!
DO NOT mix the green beans with the sauce and chicken. You are going to steam the green beans. When you cover the Instant Pot you simply set the cook time to 0!
I know I know, it’s kind of strange to set the timer to 0. The pressure build up in the Instant Pot is just enough to steam the green beans rather than cooking them to a mushy consistency! Trust us!
Thicken that Sauce
Finally, the last step to creating orange chicken heaven is to thicken the sauce after cooking the chicken and green beans.
To do this you must first remove the chicken and beans from the Instant Pot. Then, sprinkle a little bit of corn starch in the Instant Pot at a time while consistently whisking so you don’t end up with chunks.
Substitution Idea–> We use corn starch, but feel free to use tapioca flour or arrowroot powder.
Orange Chicken 101
Can I use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts?
Yes, you can use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts in this recipe. If you use bone in chicken thighs, just be sure to remove the bones. After that, just cut the chicken thighs into chunks just like you would with chicken breasts.
What should I serve with orange chicken?
We like to serve our orange chicken with a crunchy green vegetable and white rice! Feel free to serve it with brown rice, quinoa, or even cauliflower rice.
What vegetables could I substitute in this recipe?
You can really serve any vegetable with this orange chicken! Use your favorite veggie or any of the vegetable options below.
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Halved brussel sprouts
- Bell Peppers
How long does orange chicken last in the fridge?
Orange chicken will last between 5-7 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Can I freeze orange chicken?
Yes, you can freeze orange chicken! Simply let the orange chicken cool completely and then place it in an airtight container (stasher bag or meal prep container) and place it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Orange Chicken
This Instant Pot Orange Chicken is saucy, flavorful, and so easy to make! All you need is your Instant Pot and the ingredients and you will have delicious take-out-tasting orange chicken in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients
Orange Chicken Sauce
- 2/3 cup 100% orange juice
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari)
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Chicken
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil (or more, if needed)
- 12 oz. green beans, trimmed
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
- First, prepare orange chicken sauce by mixing together orange juice, soy sauce, honey, and sriracha. Set aside.
- Next, prepare chicken by thinly slicing into bite-sized pieces.
- Turn on your Instant Pot’s saute feature and add 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.
- When the coconut oil is fragrant, add chicken breast and saute for 1.5 minutes on each side to lightly brown.
- Then, turn off the saute feature and pour in sauce to deglaze your pot. Use a wooden spoon to scrape all of the little bits off of the bottom of the pot and to toss the chicken in the sauce.
- Cover your Instant Pot, turn the valve to seal. Set your Instant Pot to manual > high > and set the timer to 4 minutes. It will take 10-15 minutes to build pressure before your Instant Pot starts counting down from 4 minutes.
- While your Instant Pot is heating up, prepare the green beans. Trim the ends off of your green beans and set aside.
- Once the timer goes off, quick release your Instant Pot. Open the lid and then immediately add the green beans on top of the chicken. DO NOT MIX WITH LIQUID. Lightly season green beans with salt and pepper.
- Put the lid back on and turn the valve to seal. Set your Instant Pot to manual > high > and set the timer to ‘0 minutes.’ Again it will take some time for the pressure to build.
- Once the timer goes off, remove the lid and then remove everything from the Instant Pot, but the sauce. Place about 1/4 cup of the sauce into a small bowl and whisk in 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to create a slurry.
- Turn on the Instant Pot’s saute feature and then whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Cook for around 3 minutes or until the sauce bubbles and thickens.
- Finally, add the chicken back into the Instant Pot and toss to coat.
- Serve orange chicken next to the green beans with fresh orange zest and your favorite grain.
Delicious and easy! One comment – I didn’t find the chicken to taste super “orangey”, so next time I will add some zest as well and see if that helps. Also, I added some minced garlic to the sauce (prior to cooking) and would agree with what one other reviewer said, which is that you might want to add a bit more cornstarch if you’re looking for a thicker sauce. The sauce did thicken as it cooled, but I am impatient 🙂
★★★★
This recipe was delicious and easy to make. My only issue was that the sauce was very liquidy with the 2 teaspoons of tapioca flour so I added more. And then I added too much and it got super thick, but that was my mistake, not a problem with the recipe. The flavor was very good. I made it with broccoli and served it with cauliflower rice. I will be making this again, and trying to take it easy on the thickening agent.
★★★★
This recipe is AMAZING! It’s definitely in our rotation for meal prep. I love that it’s well balanced with protein and veggie. I follow the instructions to a T and it comes out perfect every time.
★★★★★
This is the first thing I’ve ever cooked in my instant pot, so the detailed instructions were very helpful. I was a little nervous about some of the cooking times, for example my pot got up to max pressure in about 3 minutes, rather than 15, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.
If I was to cook it again I’d possibly add orange zest directly into the chicken, or possibly marinade it as it wasn’t overly orange flavoured. It was however still delicious!
★★★★
So glad you loved this! All Instant Pot’s are different. Ours is almost 4 years old, so I’m sure they’ve gotten better in that time!