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.