Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken Recipe

Name: Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1-2 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs; 3/4 cup San-J Teriyaki sauce; 1/4 cup orange juice; 1/4 cup chicken broth (or water); 1-2 teaspoons fresh ginger; 2 Tbsp cooking oil; sesame seeds and green onions for garnish (optional); To thicken sauce:; 1/4 cup water; 1-2 teaspoons cornstarch

March 2, 2017 by Janice

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

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Do you love Teriyaki Chicken? We sure do. And since we love our Instant Pot too, we decided to make Teriyaki Chicken — in an Instant Pot! This super easy Teriyaki Chicken recipe will help you have dinner on the table in an instant – well almost an instant. Thanks to San-J for sponsoring this post and providing an awesome giveaway prize.

In 1988, before being gluten-free had become mainstream, my mom took me to a naturopath to help me cope with my immune system disorder. Along with a slew of homeopathic treatments, the doctor put me on a strict food diet that eliminated many things from my diet, including sugar and gluten.

Out of solidarity and to improve their health as well, my mom and twin sister, Susan, also went on the diet with me. Fortunately, we lived in Vancouver, BC — a very health conscious city which had several fabulous health food stores — which allowed us to find gluten-free products.

One of the first products we got hooked on back in those early gluten free days, was San-J Gluten Free Tamari Soy Sauce. We ate stir fry several times a week and San-J Tamari Sauce was a staple for us.

Over the past thirty years, I still reach for San-J Gluten Free products, even though I now eat some gluten in my diet.

They are delicious, high quality sauces that are non-GMO, kosher, and gluten-free. I can trust San-J to give me fantastic results whether I am adding them to a stir-fry, using in a salad, or just flavoring plain rice.

Like many of you, I have now become obsessed with the Instant Pot. So I decided to make a Teriyaki Chicken in my Instant Pot.

For this recipe, I used San-J Teriyaki Sauce, which is a rich, flavorful Tamari based sauce that is sweet with hints of ginger and garlic.

You can use San-J Teriyaki Sauce straight out of the bottle as a marinade or as sauce for stir fry or fried rice.

In this recipe, I have added orange juice and chicken broth in order to create enough liquid for the compression pot.

If you are stir-frying with this recipe, you can use the San-J Teriyaki Sauce by itself or use the Teriyaki Sauce with a 1/4 cup of orange juice.

Before you begin, rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.

I actually like to brine my chicken in a bowl of lukewarm salted water for 15 minutes. I find that brining my chicken makes it juicier and more tender. But if you are in a hurry, just move on forward.

Set Instant Pot to Saute.

While your Instant Pot heats, combine in a small bowl Teriyaki sauce, orange juice, chicken broth and fresh ginger and set aside.

When the Instant Pan is hot, on Saute, add cooking oil and brown chicken for two minutes on both sides.

(Several folks have asked which Instant Pot we use… this is the one we purchased on Amazon in December.)

You can skip the browning step and simply cook the chicken in the sauce in the Instant Pot. Browning on Saute mode increases the flavor and reduces cooking time by a couple minutes. But it is up to you. Either method works. (Let me know in the comments if you brown your chicken in your Instant Pot or not.)

This next step is also optional and I have been testing which method works best for me — to cook the chicken in the liquid or to use the wire rack and keep the chicken above the liquid. Honestly, the jury is still out. I can’t decide if it makes a big difference or not on whether the chicken is more tender. I would love your feedback.

If you are going to use the wire rack, remove chicken from Instant Pot and place the Instant Pot wire rack in the pot.

Place chicken on wire rack, (if your chicken will not all fit on wire rack, skip the rack and just place chicken in the bottom of the pot.)

Pour Teriyaki mixture into the Instant Pot over top of the chicken.

Close Instant Pot lid and seal the steam valve.

Cook for 7-10 minutes, depending on thickness of chicken.

If you are in a hurry, you can do a quick release. But account for a quick release when you determine your cooking time.

For example, if you haven’t browned your chicken and you are doing a quick release, you probably want to cook for around 10 minutes. If you allow a natural release, that will keep the chicken cooking while the pressure is releasing and 7-8 minutes might be fine.

Whichever method of release you choose, check that the core internal temperature of your chicken is 165°F. If your chicken isn’t quite ready, turn Instant Pot to Saute and finish cooking.

With the Instant Pot, you don’t want to over cook your chicken as it can get tough or rubbery. So do some tests and see what works best for you.

Now it is time for the sauce. Remove the chicken from the pot, set aside and cover to keep warm.

Turn Instant Pot to Saute and mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with cold water.

Bring the sauce to a boil and add cornstarch mixture. Stir until sauce is thick and bubbling.

Return chicken to the Instant Pot to coat in sauce and re-warm.

Serve over a bed of steamed bean sprouts, rice, or noodles and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

Ingredients

1-2 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs
3/4 cup San-J Teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
1-2 teaspoons fresh ginger
2 Tbsp cooking oil
sesame seeds and green onions for garnish optional
To thicken sauce:
1/4 cup water
1-2 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions

Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towels.
Set Instant Pot to Saute.
While your Instant Pot heats, combine in a small bowl Teriyaki sauce, orange juice, chicken broth and fresh ginger and set aside.
When the Instant Pan is hot, on Saute, add cooking oil and brown chicken for two minutes on both sides.
Remove chicken from Instant Pot and place the Instant Pot wire rack in the pot.
Place chicken on wire rack, (if your chicken will not all fit on wire rack, skip the rack and just place chicken in the bottom of the pot.)
Pour Teriyaki mixture into the Instant Pot over top of the chicken.
Close Instant Pot lid and seal the steam valve.
Cook for 7-10 minutes, depending on thickness of chicken.
Allow for a natural release or if you are in a hurry, you can do a quick release. But account for a quick release when you determine your cooking time.
Whichever method of release you choose, check that the core internal temperature of your chicken is 165°F. If your chicken isn't quite ready, turn Instant Pot to Saute and finish cooking.
Remove the chicken from the pot, set aside and cover to keep warm.
Mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with cold water and turn Instant Pot to Saute.
Bring the sauce to a boil and stir until sauce is thick and bubbling.
Return chicken to the Instant Pot to coat in sauce and re-warm.
Serve over a bed of steamed bean sprouts, rice, or noodles and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

Enter to Win a $75 Amazon Gift Card and a bottle of 10oz. San-J Teriyaki Sauce

If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet, winning this $75 Amazon Gift Card would be a great reason to jump on the Instant Pot bandwagon!

But, whatever you choose to spend your Amazon cash on, you can enter for your chance to win — because we can all use some extra cash to spend.

Enter using the form below. (Sorry to our Canadian friends, this giveaway is for the US only.)

Entry -Form

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored so extra thanks for reading and sharing.
We’ve used our Amazon affiliate link to the particular Instant Pot that we purchased ourselves.
Written by Janice Croze, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
Pin with me at pinterest.com/5minutesformom

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About Janice

Janice is co-founder of 5 Minutes For Mom. She's been working online since 2003 and is thankful her days are full of social media, writing and photography.