Last updated on November 14th, 2018 at 07:46 pm
This Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken is the perfect, healthier, homemade dinner in under 30 minutes. This spicy Chinese takeout favorite is simple and quick to prepare with just the perfect balance of sweet and tangy.
General Tso’s chicken is a favorite, everyone loves it. It is generally a deep-fried chicken dish that is served in restaurants, and it’s quite a popular takeout dish. While I love deep-fried food just as much as anyone, I usually hate deep-frying anything at home.
Which is where the Instant Pot comes in. While we’re still packing for our move, the Instant Pot has not been packed, it’s probably the only appliance I have left and I love it. It has come in super handy during this time. I think I’ve been making chicken noodle soup in it pretty much every week.
Making Asian food at home is quite easy. Once you learn what the basic ingredients are, you’ll love cooking Asian food at home all the time because it really is super quick and it’s just so darn good. And this General Tso’s chicken really is as easy as they get, especially in the Instant Pot.
All you have to do is pretty much dump and turn on the Instant Pot then go and watch tv while it’s doing its thing.
TIPS FOR MAKING GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN IN THE INSTANT POT:
Prepare your chicken first by cutting boneless, skinless chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Boneless skinless chicken thighs can be used as well if you prefer dark meat. Chicken thighs also have more moisture and more flavor.
Start cooking your rice or vegetables when you turn your Instant Pot on. Vegetables that could be served as a side to this are steamed broccoli or asparagus.
Make-ahead tip: You could prepare this the night before right in the instant pot bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it over night until ready to cook. OR if you’re lacking fridge space, mix it all together (minus the cornstarch paste) in a ziploc bag and place that in the fridge. When ready to cook, just dump all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and set it on.
Love your Instant Pot as much as I do? Try these other IP recipes:
Instant Pot General Tso's Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breast skinless and boneless, cut into bite size pieces
- 1/4 cup soy sauce low sodium
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger fresh, grated
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Optional Garnish
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer's guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
- Add the chicken pieces to the Instant Pot then dump the rest of the ingredients to it, excluding the cornstarch and water. Stir everything well with a spoon.
- Close the lid (follow the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Poultry setting and set the timer to 5 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer's guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
- Switch the Instant Pot to the saute setting (do not put the lid on). Transfer the chicken to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
- In a small bowl whisk the cornstarch and water together then pour over the sauce and stir. Cook for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the chicken back to the Instant Pot and turn off your Instant Pot by pressing the cancel button.
- Garnish the chicken with sesame seeds and green onions. Serve over rice.
Watch How To Make It
Notes
- I strongly recommend reading the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to use your Instant Pot before attempting this recipe.
- Substitutes: Boneless skinless chicken thighs may also be used with the same cooking time. Rice vinegar can be substituted with cider vinegar. Red pepper flakes can be replaced with cayenne pepper. Hoisin sauce is a delicious sweet and spicy mix and a must for many authentic Asian meals. A simplified shortcut to using something else instead would be mixing sweet barbecue sauce with sriracha and five-spice powder.
- For less sweetness, feel free to reduce the honey or brown sugar.
- Nutrition: Nutritional information does NOT include rice. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
It was such an easy recipe. The dish itself turned out good but was a bit too sweet. I will definitely make it again but cut back on the brown sugar and/or honey. Otherwise, it was really good.
I was wondering, my instant pot doesn’t have a poultry setting, is there another setting I could use?
Just the manual setting is fine.
I enjoyed this but the sauce was super thick when I opened the IP and there wasn’t a lot of it. I’m wondering how to thin it out a bit? Anyone else have this issue? No way would I consider thickening it anymore with cornstarch.
This type of dish is meant to have a nice and thick sauce that really clings to the chicken. If you want it a bit thinner to coat your rice, I would slowly add some low sodium chicken broth and stir well until it’s reached the consistency you like!
should you thoroughly cook the chicken at the beginning on the saute mode or is it still raw when you switch to poultry mode
No need to cook it thoroughly on saute, it will be cooked fully after the pressure cooking process.
How long do I keep it on the saute setting at the beginning of the recipe?
Just until everything everything is warmed through!
Is there a way to cook the rice in the Instant Pot at the same time as the chicken and make this a truly one pot meal?
You can, but the water will mix with the sauce during the cooking process so you won’t have that classic General Tso sauciness. Put in equal amounts of rice and water and set it using the rice function on your pot.
You can easily make rice separately in the same pot. Use a trivet, place it right on top of the chicken/sauce mixture, your instant pot should have come with one. Place a high heat safe dish, like Corning Ware, onto of the trivet, with equal parts rice and water in it. Make sure you leave enough room for the rice to cook/expand. Set the pressure cooker time to 10 mins, that should give enough time for chicken and rice to cook, and do a natural release.
I have a rice cooker that helps
This was devine!!! Even the leftovers were great.
How many servings does this make
As you can see in the recipe card, this makes 4 servings.
Is it rice vinegar or rice wine? Thank you for recipe and video!!
It’s rice vinegar. 🙂
Seriously love this recipe! Want to make it for a big family dinner on Sunday. What do I do if I want to double the recipe? Double ingredients? More time? Please let me know! (My husband seriously is the pickiest eater, so if he loves it, everyone will!)
Just double the ingredients, the same amount of time will work just fine. Enjoy!
My instant pot will not allow me to go all the way down to 5 minutes on the Poultry setting. It goes down to 10 minutes (the minimum), and then cycles back to 120 min (the maximum). Did you mean 10 minutes in your recipe above, or do I have a wonky Instant Pot? 😉 Will set it for the minimum of 10 minutes and see how it turns out…
I meant 5 minutes. I know not all Instant Pots are the same, so if 10 min is the minimum for your IP I would set it to 10 minutes. Let me know how it turns out.
It still turned out delicious 🙂 thanks for the recipe!
Glad to hear it!
Poultry setting is the same as high pressure cooking.. try that feature instead of poultry.
Can this be made in a slow cooker too?
Yes you can! Cook on low for 3-4 hours.
Thank’s for detailed guidance
Simply stated… WOW! That was sooooo goooood! Couldn’t find “Dark” Soya though so added a dash of regular sodium along with the required low sodium. Again, turned out sooooo goooood! (The family was impressed too)
It looks so delicious. You make me really crave for one xD
Also, I love the functions of instant pot a lot. Gotta buy it soon!
Yes, you should! It’s really my favorite appliance in my kitchen right now. 🙂
Natalie it took me a year before buying one, and to be honest I’m not too sure why I waited. I love mine, sure makes cooking a lot easier…
Same here, Tony. I dropped a bunch of hints to family members after Thanksgiving and three of them kicked-in and got me The Pot. I love it dearly and use it it 3-4 nights every week.
It won’t grow your hair or improve your sex life, but the Instant Pot will rekindle your love of cooking and make putting dinner on the table a whole lot less arduous and boring.
I Do Not Have a Instant Pot But I do Have a Slower Cooker. Would I use the Same Recipe for a slow cooker?
Yes, or you could even just do this in a regular pot and cook the chicken for about 10 minutes or until cooked through, then follow the rest of the steps the same.
can you make this in a crock pot I don’t own and instant pot don’t think I would use since I’m the only one who lives in my house
You absolutely could, I think you’d need to cook the chicken for 3 to 4 hours on low or high for about 2 hours.
Thank You Joanna
Thank you so much, this is wonderful.
My pleasure!