Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken

Instant Pot sweet and sour chicken with frozen popcorn chicken and pineapple, or fresh bite size breast pieces is the easiest meal ever! Panda Express copycat recipe you love served on a bed of rice. With a homemade sauce you should make it right at home this week.

Ninja Foodi Sweet and Sour Chicken

I love copycat recipes! When it’s way too hot or cold outside to go out to dinner, or we’re trying to save money these come in handy. You can make this with fresh meat or with frozen breaded like we did here. Toss with our copycat Panda Express sweet and sour sauce and bam dinner is done.

Our Instant Pot sesame chicken is a close second to this one. I bet they will become new family favorite one pot meals you’ll love too. You can make both in your Ninja Foodi too. Let us know what you think. 😉

We also love recipes with pineapple like this one. A few other Instant Pot chicken recipes have it too. Want to use fresh chicken breasts or thighs instead to make something similar?

Sweet and Sour Chicken Instant Pot with Pineapple

If you want to use fresh meat then follow our Ninja Foodi pineapple chicken recipe instead and add diced green peppers to that. Both are delicious so I’d suggest you try it both ways and see which you prefer.

Sometimes you really need quick and easy, throw in what’s in the bag kinda’ meal. You know what I mean I am sure. That is when using a bag of frozen popcorn chicken can help a lot. Cooked in a sauce you get tender meat with the breading you love.

Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken Frozen

Using bagged already breaded and precooked meat makes things a lot easier. If you wanted to use fresh or already diced (like above) and frozen that is a possibility as well. I would use the same recipe and timing listed below. Realize that frozen meat in an IP will release more moisture so sauce will become a bit thinner is all.

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Frozen Popcorn Chicken

The fastest way by far is the one listed below. You can find a bag of these at almost every grocery store in the seafood section. They are bite sized already breaded with the meat inside. You can bake, microwave, air fry or throw them into a pressure cooker like we did here to warm.

Is sweet and sour chicken the same as orange chicken?

The taste is slightly different but yes they have similar flavors. You can use our Crockpot orange chicken recipe for the latter. Here are a few questions you might have right now you want answered before you get going on this:

Of course as always you can make this in any sort of pressure cooker you have including as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe too.

What is Chinese sweet and sour chicken made of?

Using bite sized pieces of chicken (or pork) it is stir fried in a homemade sweet and sour sauce typically made of:

1. Sugar
2. Ketchup
3. White vinegar
4. Soy sauce
5. Some include pineapple, green peppers and onion

You’ll want a whisk too to mix the sauce really well before you add that into your pot. I like my veggies cut into large chunks. That way they keep some texture and aren’t mushy at all once the cooking is over. The smaller you cut them the softer they will be. Just a tip.

Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken with Bottled Sauce

You could use already made sauce you can find at the store in the Asian section as well if you preferred. Use any and all colors of bell peppers you like. If you only really like green though, then stick with those. Totally up to you.

Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken Ingredients

1. Instant Pot
   1. I HIGHLY suggest you get a nonstick pot for easier cleanup, linked above
2. Bag of popcorn chicken or make homemade popcorn chicken homemade
3. Pineapple chunks
   1. could substitute a bit of pineapple juice for broth for a sweeter taste
   2. maybe 1/2 of a cup at most
4. Bell peppers
5. Onion
6. Sesame oil
7. Ketchup
8. Soy sauce
9. Sugar
10. Apple cider vinegar
11. Chicken broth
12. Cornstarch to thicken sauce a bit

Of course these are optional and if you aren’t fond of them you could omit. I add them to just about everything because it is a cheap way to add flavor and texture. We serve this on top of our Instant Pot white rice.

Can you make this with jar sauce?

Yes you could and you would leave out the ingredients for the sauce. Only risk of this is if it is too thick it may trigger the burn notice. We have done this to make our Instant Pot orange chicken which is not breaded. Both are covered in a glaze like sauce, typically served over rice though orange chicken is usually lighter colored.

Why are we using frozen popcorn chicken instead of breading it ourselves.

1. It makes things REALLY easy and quick.
2. Honestly it’s a mess to bread meat and try cooking it in a pressure cooker. It’s really better to fry or air fry it so it sticks well.
3. These actually taste great and create just like at a restaurant

Copycat Panda Express sweet and sour chicken

At the end of the day it’s cheaper vs. all the ingredients necessary to make your own breaded chicken.

How to Make Pressure Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken

This has such a short cooking time too! Just 4 minutes on high pressure to heat up the sweet and sour sauce, add the chicken breast pieces, cook and then quick release. I would say from start to finish including prep time, sauteeing, and pressure cook time it’s under 30 minutes which is great.

1. Chop all vegetables and whisk together your sauce mixture EXCEPT the cornstarch in a bowl. Set your pressure cooker to saute for 10 minutes.
2. Add your sesame oil and once it’s warmed add your vegetables. Cook until they’re beginning to soften, 3-4 minutes. Then pour in your sauce mixture and stir. Allow to heat for 3 min.
3. Put cornstarch in a small bowl with some of your hot sauce from the pot and whisk together until smooth.
4. Dump this into the pot to allow the sauce to thicken until time is up on saute function, about 2 min. Turn saute function off.
5. Pour in your frozen popcorn chicken and stir. Add pineapple chunks and stir.
6. Put pressure cooker lid on and close steam valve. Set to pressure cook high for 4 minutes. Do a quick release. Stir and serve over pressure cooker rice topped with green onions.

So easy right? You can really boost the amount of veggies to add in to this. There is a suggestion below as to what was added here but that is up to you. Remember they should all have similar cook times though. Firmer is a bit better that is why onions and bell peppers work so well as you can see here.

What do you serve with sweet and sour chicken?

• You could make a batch of pressure cooker fried rice and serve together
• Pressure cooker Quinoa is a good option too. Those are both gluten free if that’s important.

If you have an air fryer you could have both pots going at the same time and make: A simple batch of air fryer cauliflower is always the perfect side dish.

And there you have it!! Can you make this chicken in a Ninja Foodi too? Yes, just use the lid that isn’t attached for this one. This recipe will work in any brand you have including a Crockpot Express pot. Follow directions below to enjoy it tonight.

Ninja Foodi Chinese Recipes

• This Instant Pot stir fry is loaded with vegetables too.
• Simple Instant Pot Asian chicken has a sweet and savory sauce too.
• Our Instant Pot pulled pork sauce is quite amazing
• Pressure cooker cashew chicken is simple and delish too

Nutritional facts including saturated fat and calories are listed below in this printable recipe card.