Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken: A healthier spin on a favorite take-out dish that is made in under 10 minutes thanks to the Instant Pot.
You guys know how I meal plan for you?
And I follow those meal plans myself MOST of the time….BUT this past week I found myself minutes before dinner without a meal ready.
I had planned to get dinner done before my evening of shuffling kids, but I got distracted. I wish I could say it was because I was cleaning my house or catching up on laundry. But nope–I got busy trying to make a DIY Burlap Wreath and it was NOT as easy as I thought.
Anyways, back to dinner.
So I had some chicken, some peppers and a pineapple and decided it looked like the makings of Homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken.
But there was that time thing again….so entered my Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
I mean this simple chicken recipe, could not be easier and blows any take-out Sweet and Sour Chicken out of the water. Not to mention, my version is lower in fat, calories, sodium and sugar. YAY!!
I created the sauce with a mixture of Apricot All-Fruit Jelly and Low-Sodium Soy Sauce. The sweetness from the apricot jam (which has NO added sugars!) and the saltiness from the soy sauce and the tang from Rice Wine Vinegar pair together perfectly and create the base of this simple, simple Sugar-Free Sweet and Sour Chicken.
And you guys…..dinner was done in less than 15 minutes.
Now maybe I will have time to try that wreath again…….or catch up on my DVR (laundry can wait!)
Notes on Gluten-Free Sweet and Sour Chicken
- If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can still make this Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe on the stove-top. First, brown the chicken. Remove chicken from pan and make the sauce. Once sauce has come to a boil, reduce heat add in vegetables and chicken and simmer covered for 15-20 minutes to deepen in flavors.
- If you have a corn allergy, you can substitute the cornstarch for tapioca starch (be sure to fully dissolve the tapioca starch before adding to the sweet and sour sauce first.)
- If you can’t find Apricot All Fruit, feel free to use apricot preserves.
- I used reduced sodium soy-sauce for my sweet and sour chicken sauce, regular soy sauce/tamari can be used as well–it just may be saltier.
- If you need this to be Gluten-Free, be sure to use gluten-free soy sauce.
- This is delicious served with Cilantro Lime Rice. But a tip I like to make this even faster, is to make large portions of rice at once and freeze in 4 cup measurements to pull out for easy meals like this. You can also serve this over Cauli-Rice.
- If your children don’t like peppers/onions in their sauce–omit them. And serve with steamed veggies on the side.
- Feel free to use all green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers or a mix.
- This sauce is on the sweeter side, which is GREAT for my kids–for me, I like to add Sriracha to my serving. If you want your whole dish to be spicier, add 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha or hot sauce during cooking process.
Be sure to check out all my Easy Healthy 30 Minute Family Meals! Or if you are looking for Gluten free Recipes–check out my collection of Easy 30 Minute Gluten-Free Meals.
Be sure to check out all my Easy Healthy Instant Pot Recipes. And if you are a new Instant Pot user, be sure to read my Instant Pot 101, where I walk you through important must knows when using an electric pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1/2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 onion, diced into 1 inch chunks
- 1 red pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 yellow pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
- 1/2 cup apricot all fruit jam
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot function to saute and heat the oil.
- Add chicken and saute just until lightly browned on all sides--about 2 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients (except for cornstarch) to Instant Pot and throughly stir.
- Close Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes (under poultry setting if your pot has this setting). Be sure to seal the vent.
- Once chicken has cooked, do a quick release method after 5 minutes.
- Turn Instant Pot back to saute and add the cornstarch that has been mixed with 1 tablespoon water back into the Instant Pot. Bring to a boil and let sauce thicken.
My Must Have Instant Pot Accessories
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Additional Easy Family Meals
Easy No-Boil TexMex Pasta Bake
15 Minute Stir-Fried Chicken and Bok Choy
Easy Tilapia Veracruz
My Must Have Instant Pot Accessories
Kristen Chidsey
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What is the serving size for this dish?
Hi Nicole, each serving size is about 1.5 cups. I hope you enjoy!
Hello! The video has fresh grated ginger, but ginger is not stated in the written recipe. How much does that change the flavor and what would the dried ginger (powder) equivalent be (fresh is better, but we can’t always get it in our store!)? Thank you!
Hi Anne! I will update the recipe card asap. I used 1 teaspoon freshly minced ginger. If you don’t happen to have fresh, omit completely. The dried overwhelms the flavors. Enjoy!
This was easy and delicious! I used coconut aminos in place of soy sauce to decrease sodium content as much as possible.
Wonder if I could replace chicken with extra firm tofu?
Hi MFL! I am so glad you enjoyed. I have not tried this recipe with extra firm tofu–but would love to know how it goes if you give it a go.
Can I make this in my instant pot with cooked chicken? What do I need to change?
I there Marsha! You can make this in your Instant Pot, but would be just as quick to do stove-top since chicken is cooked. I would saute onions and peppers, then add chicken and ingredients for sauce (expect for cornstarch). Bring to a boil on the stove and then add in dissolved cornstarch mixture. And simmer until thicken. If using instant pot, saute peppers and onions using saute function, add in ingredients for sauce (expect for cornstarch), turn off saute and put lid on instant pot. Cook for 1 minute on high pressure in instant pot. Do a quick release after 5 minutes. Turn Instant Pot BACK to saute function and add in cornstarch mixture. Let mixture come to a boil and thicken, for a few minutes.
Can this be made with frozen chicken?
Hi Dawn! If you make this with frozen chicken, you will need to increase cook time to 10 minutes and chop your chicken up after you prepare this meal.
Prep time is way more then 5 minutes. Maybe 30-45 minutes is more accurate. Also cook time to sauté was definitely more then 2 minutes, more like 10 minutes and then the pressure cook.
15 minutes for everything is about 1 hour off
Hi Chris, I am sorry it took much longer for you to prep. Everyone moves at different paces so the prep time is always an estimate. As for saute, let your inner pot get really hot first–that will help sped it up! 🙂
Just made this for the first time and it was a hit!!! Great recipe and video. Will definitely be trying your others.
I love hearing that Stephen! Thank you for sharing!
You must have caught my vibes, I have been thinking I need to find a sweet and sour recipe. 😁
Perfect timing Emily 🙂
Hi, when making this on the stove top – when do you add the veggies/fruit? Do they go in with the sauce or get sauteed with the chicken?
Great question Katie–you should add the vegetables and fruit with the sauce. I will update the post now to clarify!
Hi – I don’t see water in the recipe. I thought water is required to bring the cooker up to pressure. But perhaps the rice vinegar and the water from the peppers and the pineapple are enough?
Hi Kathi!
Yes it is CRUCIAL to have enough liquid in any pressure cooker recipe–I only added in an additional 1/2 cup chicken stock/water. However, the apricot preserves, juice from fresh veggies/fruit, and rice wine vinegar/soy sauce actually create more than 1 cup liquid. If you watch the video you can see that before I add cornstarch, the recipe is very liquidy.
The first 2 times I made this I added 1 cup chicken stock, but it lacked flavor–so then I tried it several times with 1/2 cup chicken stock and uped the preserves (to the amount) stated in this recipe. And it worked perfectly!
Can I adapt the recipe to serve 8 – 10?
Hi Judy! Yes, you can adapt this recipe. The easiest way is to double the recipe–leaving you with 10 large servings. If you don’t want large servings, or leftovers increase the ingredients as follows:
1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, diced into 1 inch chunks
1 extra large red pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 extra large (or 2 small) yellow pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
2/3 cup apricot all fruit jam
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
The cooking instructions should remain the same. If you double the recipe, I would increase the total cooking time by 2 minutes.
Thanks for your quick reply. This recipe sounds great. I’m looking forward to making it soon. Just have to buy a pineapple. Does canned pineapple work?
Canned pineapple will work great Judy 🙂
That’s great. Thanks.
Hi. It says the serving is for 6. Can you tell me the serving size? For the stove top, brown the chicken, make the sauce, then add the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 20 min? Is that correct? Thanks again! This looks super yummy!
Hi Laura! Yes, the serving size is for 6–that would be about 3/4 cup give or take (to be served over rice). And yes, to make on the stove, brown the chicken, make the sauce and add chicken back in for 20 minutes. Add the cornstarch in after the 20 minutes of simmering and cook for 1-2 additional minutes to thicken. Enjoy!
Wow, this recipe looks amazing!! Can’t wait to try making it over the weekend, thanks for sharing!
You bet Diego. I hope you enjoy!
I love my instant pot, but I have only played with five or six recipes. I need to make your Sweet and Sour Chicken next week for dinner!
Nichole, it is SO SO good and easy! I hope you love it!