Want a few other healthy Instant Pot chicken recipes? You might also enjoy this Instant Pot Yellow Chicken Curry, and this Chicken Vegetable Soup.
Instant Pot Orange Chicken – Beginner Recipe
When I first received an Instant Pot for Christmas a few years ago, I was COMPLETELY overwhelmed by all of the buttons and functions.
After about a week of shying away from it, and about 3 batches of incredible bone broth and shredded chicken my husband was brave enough to make, I finally gathered up the courage to experiment.
For some reason, Instant Pot Orange Chicken was engrained in my head.
(I later realized this was the first Google result after searching for “Instant Pot recipes.” LOL)
So I set to work creating this gluten-free orange chicken recipe with only a slight bit of trepidation of the almighty pressure release valve. (For real, you need to be careful with that thing!)
Since then, I have learned all of the ins and outs of How to Use an Instant Pot – and this orange chicken is a great beginner recipe to start with!
Ingredients
The ingredients you will need to make this classic Chinese recipe are rather simple to find. It may look like a lot, but trust me – you don’t want to leave any of them out to get the best flavor!
- Chicken – One pound of chicken breasts are tenderized and then cut into cubes.
- Starch or Flour – This gives the chicken a nice coating so it can get crispy in the Instant Pot.
- Use tapioca starch if on a Paleo or Whole30 diet, or a gluten-free 1-to-1 blend if not.
- Oranges – Fresh orange juice and orange zest really pump up the flavor and natural sweetness in this dish.
- Garlic & Ginger – It’s best if you use both FRESH garlic cloves and ginger.
- I like to buy the jars of ginger paste from the produce section so I can easily scoop out what I need.
- Sweetener – Pure maple syrup is used as the sweetener in this recipe, but coconut sugar, brown sugar, or even honey can be substituted.
- Chili Garlic Paste – Depending on how spicy you like your orange chicken, you can use anywhere from 1 to 2 teaspoons.
- Soy Sauce – Regular soy sauce, gluten-free soy or Tamari sauce, or coconut liquid aminos can all be used interchangeably.
Preparing the Chicken
In order to get the most juicy and tender chicken, you’ll want to make sure and tenderize the chicken breasts before cooking.
It may seem like an unnecessary additional step, but trust me – you’ll get melt-in-your-mouth chicken if you do this!
After you’ve pounded it to about 1-inch thick, cut the chicken into similarly sized 1-inch cubes.
Add the chicken to a bowl and toss with the starch or flour, salt, and pepper until it is completely coated.
Easy Orange Sauce
The key ingredient to this orange sauce recipe is that you MUST use FRESH orange juice and zest.
Please make sure you DO NOT skimp and buy the orange juice from concentrate. The dish just won’t taste NEARLY as good.
Also, make sure you ZEST the oranges before juicing.
Add the orange juice, zest, soy or Tamari sauce, maple syrup, and chili paste to a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
You can store this healthy orange sauce in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days if meal prepping ahead of time.
How to Make
The process of making this orange chicken is actually rather easy, making it a great recipe for Instant Pot beginners.
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Add oils, garlic, and ginger to the Instant Pot while it is set to the Sauté function. Sauté for 1-2 minutes.
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Add chicken cubes and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. After sautéing, scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure any bits are no longer stuck.
- This step is HUGELY important. If you do not scrape the bottom of the pot you’ll end up getting that dreaded BURN error.
- Pour sauce over chicken and be sure to lift it off the bottom of the pan so it does not burn.
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Place lid on Instant Pot and close pressure valve. Using the manual pressure cook function turn to High Pressure and set the timer for 5 minutes.
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Keep the lid on and the valve closed for an additional 10 minutes after the timer goes off. (This is called a 10 minute natural pressure release, or NPR.)
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Turn the Instant Pot off, and open the pressure valve. Once the lid has unlocked, you can serve your orange chicken over cauliflower rice with sesame seeds and green onions.
Serving
While this Instant Pot orange chicken tastes delicious when served over regular white rice or Instant Pot Basmati Rice, you can also keep it Paleo and low-carb by serving it with cauliflower rice.
Sprinkle a bit of finely chopped green onions and sesame seeds on top for a pop of color.
If you want it a little spicier, serve it with additional chili garlic paste or a bit of red pepper flakes.
Make it Paleo and Whole30
A few simple substitutions to the gluten-free orange chicken recipe can easily make it Paleo and Whole30-approved:
- Use tapioca starch is instead of the gluten-free flour to coat the chicken.
- Coconut liquid aminos should be used instead of soy or Tamari sauce to make it free of soy.
- Pure maple syrup or another unrefined sugar should be used as a sweetener.
- Chili garlic PASTE is used instead of Sriracha. (Sriracha tends to have sugar added to it.)
- If on a Whole30 diet, use 2 tablespoons date paste or date syrup instead of the maple syrup to sweeten it up.
How to avoid the burn error?
One of the most common mistakes people run into when making this recipe is the dreaded burn error.
To avoid this, make sure you thoroughly scrape the bottom of the pot before pressure cooking.
If any bits of food are stuck, the Instant Pot will think it’s burning and not allow you to cook your chicken.
What Kind of Instant Pot is Best?
After a bit of research, I found that the 6-quart Instant Pot is the way to go. It has enough room for large batches of soup, but it is still a great size to fit into your cabinets with ease.
I have the Instant Pot Duo Plus 6-quart, 9-in-1, and it works for just about any and every use you can imagine!
However, if you think you will be making A LOT of bone broth, or enormous batches of soup, you might want to look into the Instant Pot Duo Plus 8-quart.
Want more recipes like this?
Thai Yellow Chicken Curry with Carrots and Potatoes
Sweet & Spicy Baked Thai Chicken Wings
Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder | Vegan
Instant Pot Orange Chicken Recipe
Instant Pot Orange Chicken is made with fresh oranges, Asian flavors, and is so quick and easy to throw together in under 30 minutes! It is a healthy, gluten-free, and dairy-free Instant Pot chicken recipe that can easily be made Paleo and Whole30 friendly.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
- ¼ cup gluten-free 1-to-1 flour all purpose flour or tapioca starch
- ½ tsp. salt to taste
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil toasted
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- ½ tsp. ginger crushed
- ¾ cup orange juice fresh
- 1 Tbsp. orange zest
- 3 Tbsp. Tamari sauce soy sauce, or coconut liquid aminos
- 2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1-2 tsp. chili garlic paste depending on desired spice level
- Sesame seeds
- Green onions
- Cauliflower rice
- See this recipe in Meal Plan #9
Instructions
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In a one gallon-sized zip-top bag combine chicken cubes, tapioca starch, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat chicken completely.
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Add oils, garlic, and ginger to the Instant Pot while it is set to the Sauté function. Sauté for 1-2 minutes.
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Add chicken cubes and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. After sautéing, scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure any bits are no longer stuck. (This step is HUGELY important. If you do not scrape the bottom of the pot you'll end up getting that dreaded BURN error.)
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In a medium-sized bowl combine orange juice, zest, coconut aminos or soy sauce, maple syrup, and chili garlic paste. Whisk to combine.
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Pour sauce over chicken and be sure to lift it off the bottom of the pan so it does not burn.
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Place lid on Instant Pot and close pressure valve. Using the manual pressure cook function turn to High Pressure and set the timer for 5 minutes.
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Keep the lid on and the valve closed for an additional 10 minutes after the timer goes off. (This is called a 10 minute natural pressure release, or NPR.)
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Turn the Instant Pot off, and open the pressure valve. Once the lid has unlocked, you can serve your orange chicken over cauliflower rice with sesame seeds and green onions. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
A few simple substitutions to the gluten-free orange chicken recipe can easily make it Paleo and Whole30-approved:
- Use tapioca starch is instead of the gluten-free flour to coat the chicken.
- Coconut liquid aminos should be used instead of soy or Tamari sauce to make it free of soy.
- Pure maple syrup or another unrefined sugar should be used as a sweetener.
- Chili garlic PASTE is used instead of Sriracha. (Sriracha tends to have sugar added to it.)
- If on a Whole30 diet, use 2 tablespoons date paste or date syrup instead of the maple syrup to sweeten it up.
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Claire says
When did you add the sesame oil? Thanks!
Stephanie Briggs says
How do you make this without it burning to the bottom of the pan? I did everything as instructed and still got the burn alert.
London says
Hi Stephanie! The biggest thing to do to prevent this is to make sure you scrape the bottom of the pot REALLY good before sealing it. Also, if it keeps happening you can always add a touch of water/broth to give it a little more moisture. Too much of the sauce could have evaporated off before you had the chance to close the lid. This can happen if you forgot to close the pressure valve or if you sauteed the sauce too long. Hope this helps!
Dan B says
I also got the “burn” alert when making this recipe. You don’t think it has anything to do with the fact I was using an 8 qt Instant Pot vs your 6 qt? Despite the burnt bottom of the insert, the chicken came out delicious! Thank you.
London says
Hi Dan! An 8-qt. pot could definitely be the cause of this. Try adding a touch more liquid next time (~1/4 cup) and see if this helps! Also, scraping the bottom of the pot is a must to prevent this error, too. Thanks for your question!
Emily says
If I wanted to add broccoli to this recipe when would be the best time to add it in? Still getting comfortable with my instant pot and the timings.
Thank you!!
London says
Oh, broccoli will be great in here, Emily! I would release the pressure once the initial 5 minutes are up (ignoring the 10 minute NPR instructions), turn the Instant Pot to the saute function, and cook your broccoli with the chicken for 4-5 minutes, or until it is done to your liking. Would love to know how it turns out! Thanks for the question!
Emily I says
It worked out great!!!
It was easy and delicious. Thank you so much for your advice ????
London says
That’s awesome to know, Emily!! Thanks so much for commenting back to tell me 🙂
Jess says
You still show soy sauce in step 4 so I was a bit confused. I’m assuming hats supposed to be the aminos?
London says
Hi Jess! Yes, you can use soy sauce and coconut aminos interchangeable if you are not Paleo, but definitely want to use the coconut aminos if you are! Thanks for the question 🙂
Laura Heath says
This dish tasted amazing and was so easy! The chicken was unbelievably tender. Being gf I didn’t think I could eat dishes like this any more and I’m so glad I found this recipe. I am new to cooking/baking and I’ll definitely be making this meal again.
London says
Yay!! That’s so great to hear, Laura! It’s amazing how far gluten-free ingredients have come in the past few years. Thanks so much for your comment and rating!
JA says
It was delicious! My second time using the instant pot! I will be making this again!
London says
Yay Janna!! So so happy you enjoyed it and that your new Instant Pot endeavors have been a success! Thanks so much for the rating and review 🙂
Alia says
Just want you to be aware that both soy sauce and tamari are not paleo. Soybeans are a legume and therefore not allowed. There’s already a lot of misinformation out there regarding what is and is not considered paleo, so thought I’d let you know. I will be trying this tonight (with coconut aminos) and excited to see how it turns out!
London says
Hi Alia! My sincere apologies for the confusion! I have updated the recipe to reflect the correct ingredients (with the other variations in the notes!) Thanks for pointing this out. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Bonnie says
The pictures look delicious! Fortunately for me, I’m eating some grains including rice which is in the picture. I endured cauliflower rice for years but I’m so glad I don’t have to do that anymore. It isn’t Paleo, but I like to base a lot of my cooking off of Paleo concepts to keep it free of other things I don’t eat.
London says
Thanks so much for your kind words, Bonnie! I definitely agree that rice tastes much better than cauli rice 🙂
Bonnie says
I made this tonight and I loved it! My husband said it was done well but he’s not a fan of those flavours. I didn’t realize until now that I automatically used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce as a habit for paleo cooking. I don’t do soy in any shape or form. I would make it again if it was just for me or anybody but my husband. I made a triple batch because I have an 8qt and like to have leftovers. I didn’t have chili garlic paste, but I had some red Thai curry paste which has similar flavours and it went really well. I made it a bit more spicy than planned but it was nice to contrast the sweetness. I cooked it the 5 min as stated but sautéed about 8 minutes because there was so much chicken to cook. Having never eaten or cooked orange chicken before, I’m quite pleased that this turned out so well!
London says
So so happy you enjoyed it, Bonnie! Coconut aminos are a great substitution for soy sauce in Paleo cooking. Thanks so much for the comment and rating 🙂
Madi says
Super tender meat and very easy to prepare. It was a win with the family!
hannah says
if i want to double this recipe, would i double the time? thanks!
London says
You should not have to double the time, Hannah, it will just take longer for the Instant Pot to come to pressure. Thanks for the question!