Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli

Honey garlic Instant Pot chicken and broccoli is a cheap Ninja Foodi or pressure cooker recipe with vegetables and meat cooked together in one pot meal. Like our popular Instant Pot Chicken and Vegetables recipe but with florets cooked in a sweet teriyaki sauce.

Chicken and broccoli in Instant Pot actually comes out so good and quickly too. Together, cut up into bite-size pieces to begin with it is an easy and healthy meal that can be immediately served over rice for dinner tonight. One of our Instant Pot recipes for beginners on our site. (affiliate links present)

How to Cook Ninja Foodi Chicken and Broccoli

You can of course cook this with the same directions in any pressure cooker brand you may have at home. If you are making this as a Ninja Foodi recipe you will use the pressure cook button with the lid that is not attached. If you wanted to make this air fried I will explain that method below too.

This go around I used boneless skinless chicken breasts but you could easily make Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken Thighs this way too. The biggest thing to remember is that the meat needs to be cubed into bite size pieces so that the cook time for everything is the same and cooked to tender and not mushy.

How do you keep chicken from getting tough in Instant Pot?

You may not have cooked it quite long enough if it isn’t so tender that it shreds easily with 2 forks. Give it a bit more time. Now you could cook the meat and bake frozen broccoli in the oven separately if you wanted a crisp on that part too. My husband has a thing with not mixing and matching ingredients sometimes so I get it.

What is the sauce made of from Chinese chicken and broccoli?

The first 7 ingredients are essentially what is in this sauce. You can thicken with some cornstarch or arrowroot if desired too but that isn’t necessary. A sweet and savory coating that makes your veggies and meat taste wonderful. You could add a pinch of red pepper flakes to make spicy.

• Chicken broth
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• Brown sugar
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• Rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• Salt and pepper
• Chicken defrosted, diced
• 4 c broccoli florets
• Carrots julienned, shredded, optional
• 1/3 c cornstarch + 1/3 cup cold water

You could make the same basic meal as Air Fryer Chicken and Vegetables and then toss everything with the sauce when browned. This would give you some crisp on the outside of every piece, if you prefer that texture.

Do you need to add water when cooking chicken in an Instant Pot?

Not much. Reason why you don’t is that the meat will release broth while it cooks. I typically will only add 1/2 cup or so to start the steaming process. With this we add more because we havve other ingredients in the mix.

How to Cook Chicken and Broccoli in Instant Pot

If you wanted to cook your grains with the meat I would follow our Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice directions. Florets wouldn’t work in that as 8 minutes would just disintegrate your florets. Instead what would work better would be to add frozen peas and carrots, about 1/2 cup of those instead into the mix.

• Prep chicken by cutting it into small bite size pieces. In order for everything to cook at the same rate they need to be small.
• Add broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, rice vinegar, salt and pepper to the Instant Pot.
• Mix well. Add the chicken, fresh broccoli florets, carrot shreds and garlic.
• Stir in the broccoli and items together to combine.
• Place the lid, close steam valve and seal both shut.
• Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. When cooking is complete, quick release the pressure.
• Carefully remove the lid and use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and broccoli mixture, leaving the liquid in the instant pot.
• Set the instant pot to saute and bring mixture to a boil.

Whisk together in a small bowl the cold water and cornstarch slurry until smooth, add into sauce to thicken. Once thick, a few minutes, turn pot off and return meat and broccoli to coat.

What is the best way to cook chicken with broccoli over rice?

If you make this you can certainly serve it a number of different ways. If you are looking for a bodybuilding chicken broccoli rice recipe you’d want to make wild rice grains. Use a slotted spoon to just get a bit of the sauce. We usually serve with brown rice or we like Instant Pot white rice 2 cups worth with sesame seeds on top for added flare.