Best healthy Instant Pot orange chicken recipe ever! Just 4 ingredients needed to make this easy orange chicken recipe in just 4 minutes, right in your pressure cooker
Oh I have to say that this may be our favorite 4 minute Instant Pot recipe so far! I have made orange chicken in the crockpot for years but now with this favorite 7 in 1 appliance of mine I had to try it in there to see how much faster it would be and it came out amazing!! As with most of my recipes I start with the way I’ve made it for quite some time and tinker with it until it comes out great in my Instant Pot, you can make it in your pressure cooker too this way. Using just 4 ingredients you too can make this Instant Pot orange chicken recipe in just about 7 minutes (the rice takes longer than this does…lol). Here’s how you make it, it’s also listed on our page with our other Instant Pot recipes. (originally published 2/17)
I know…looks fantastic right??!!
I will say it is even better than the one I’ve always made in my crockpot! I added a bit of onion to this one and it made for a great addition and came out tender just like the chicken, and great with the orange sauce.
Add a bit of chives or green onion to the top and serve it over rice and it’s not only a quick Instant Pot chicken recipe but a really healthy one too.
We call this “sweet chicken” in our house and my kids all love it!
This is the Instant Pot I have and may I say it has made my life so much easier, and has allowed us to sit and eat a great meal as a family more often because it cooks everything so quickly!
This is all you need to make this easy Instant Pot orange chicken recipe and a video showing how we made it
- Chicken breasts
- Barbecue sauce (I love this one – honey style is not best in pressure cookers as there is a lot of sugar content and can cause browning)
- Soy sauce
- Orange marmelade
- Onion
- Cornstarch (if you want to thicken sauce)
- Rice – this is how to make the perfect Instant Pot white rice
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
If you really like a strong orange flavor you can add 1/2 c. of marmelade, but we just like a hint so 1/3 c. is just perfect.
If you have a larger household just double this recipe and it works just fine too, may have to cook for 5 minutes instead of 4 if cooking a much larger batch.
Really healthy pressure cooker chicken recipe that never really gets old for us.
Find many more Instant Pot recipes on our site using the tab at the top of our main page, there are a few more chicken ones below to check out too ……. and enjoy!
- Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole
- Instant Pot spicy teriyaki chicken thighs
- Pressure cooker chicken and rice is one of the most popular recipes on The Typical Mom
- Easy Instant Pot butter chicken
- I have made orange chicken in the crockpot too for years so if you’re looking for a slow cooker version we’ve got that too!
Here’s the printable recipe and video showing you how we make our healthy Instant Pot orange chicken recipe:
Instant Pot Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts boneless skinless , can double recipe if you want 4 breasts
- 2 c barbecue sauce do not use honey style as there is too much sugar and may display burn message
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch to thicken sauce when chicken is done
- 1/4 c orange marmelade
- 1/4 onion cut into large pieces - optional
- chives or green onion to garnish
- 1/4 c water
Instructions
- Cube your chicken and add to your IP along with your bbq sauce, water, onion if you want, and soy sauce.
- Stir so chicken pieces are coated well.
- Turn your Instant Pot on pressure, high, for 4 minutes. Put lid on and close steam valve.
- When it beeps do a QR and carefully lift the lid.
- Turn IP to saute. Remove chicken pieces and put into a bowl.
- Put cornstarch in small bowl (if you want it a bit thicker) and add some hot bbq sauce from pot in with it and whisk together, add back into pot and stir.
- Add marmelade, stir and allow mixture to bubble for about 2 minutes, stir.
- Add chicken back in, turn off IP and serve over rice.
Video
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Made this tonight for dinner. I, too, wish it wasn’t quite so barbecue-y, but I did not have too much sauce, when served over rice. I did spoon some mandarin oranges over the top when serving. Delicious!
Personal preference for us all, try using more marmelade next time and less sauce or a bit of water to thin the bbq sauce down.
This would be healthier with home made BBQ sauce. Most commercial BBQ sauces have so much sugar they ought to be displayed in the candy aisle. Please don’t give dreck like that to your kids.
Made this for lunch today was very delicious thanks so much did a great job in my instant pot.
Does this say 2 cups of bbq sauce ? It was very bbq taste and not orange
Yes. Everyone has different tastes so if you want more orange add more marmelade.
I was a little apprehensive about this recipe because when I’ve used bbq sauce my instant pot always shows “burn” on the display. Sure enough I’m making it now and it is displaying “burn”. Any helpful hints?
Make sure you aren’t using honey style sauce as stated above it has a lot of sugar and sometimes triggers the burn.
Is there a way to freeze this for a meal prep?
This was delicious!!!!! I didn’t have enough bbq sauce but it was still great!!
This recipe was absolutely delicious. Thank goodness for this website, I am 3 for 3 with delicious recipes with my new instant pot.
I am so glad I can help!!
So glad I could help!
Made this tonight, exactly as written, and it was perfect! Thanks!
Oh I am so glad!
This is great & fast. What other veggies would you recommend that we could add?
I like to add veggies when ever possible.
You could add broccoli but can’t cook all together or that would be too long, that only takes about a minute for that veggie.
What would you do if you only had frozen chicken thighs?
They thaw pretty fast in the microwave, but otherwise, you’re supposed to be able to use frozen food in the pot. It would take longer to bring up to pressure, and probably would have to cook longer than 4 minutes, since it’s bone-in chicken.
Such a flavorful recipe! Love easy simple ingredients.
Which BBQ sauce do you recommend? Thank you!
I used Honey BBQ sauce from Sweet Baby Ray’s and it was DELICIOUS
Oh good!!
OH good!
Does it work well without any extra liquid in it? I looks delicious?
Thank you for sharing your recipes! They are a life saver for this mom of 4! I love that they are quick, simple and actually something my children will eat.
You are welcome, I’m glad it helps!