Healthy Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
If you are here reading this, there is a good chance you probably know what an Instant Pot is! Ya know, that small, nifty electrical kitchen appliance that miraculously cooks just about everything perfectly by using highly pressurized hot air? Yeah.. that one!
Lately we have been on a tear with publishing Asian inspired Instant Pot Recipes. Making some of your favorite Chinese Takeout Dishes in a Pressure Cooker is genius!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- IT’S HEALTHIER: Often, a lot of sauces in Chinese Food has MSG, additives and/or preservatives in them. When you make your own, homemade versions, you can be sure exactly what you are putting in your food and, your body!
- IT’S LESS EXPENSIVE: A lot of the ingredients in this recipe, you probably already have. And, even if you don’t, once you have them, you’ll have enough to make several of these meals. So, it is much cheaper than ordering from a restaurant.
- IT’S FASTER: From start to finish, this recipe can be done in less than 20 minutes! Much quicker than running up the street to grab it yourself or waiting for delivery!
- IT’S FRESHER: No more luke warm food by the time it gets to your dinner table! This is hot, fresh, delicious and ready to serve as soon as it comes out of your Instant Pot.
- IT’S DELICIOUS! – Pressure Cooking is so awesome because it locks in all those flavors and aromas while it’s cooking.
Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
Rumor has it that General Tso’s Chicken is one of the most ordered takeout items in America. There is just something about that tender chicken that is slightly crispy on the outside covered in that delicious General Tso’s Sauce. How can I describe the sauce? It’s sort of sweet and tangy, but in some versions it’s a bit spicy as well. There are several Asian inspired spicy chicken dishes out there, like this really cool Volcano Chicken. And, with red pepper flakes, our version is definitely on the spicy side, but you can tailor that as you’d like. It’s served over rice with some green onions on top and it’s absolutely delicious.
The only problem is that ordering it from a takeout restaurant isn’t the healthiest thing to do. They often fry their chicken in a lot of oil and their sauces have a lot of preservatives and additives that aren’t great for you. But our Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken is totally on point with the taste, but much healthier and convenient that takeout!
Pressure Cooker General Tso’s Chicken Ingredients
For step-by-step instructions, check out the printable recipe card below. But here is what you will need to get started:
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1lb chicken breast, cubed
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
-
3/4 cup chicken broth
How To Make General Tso’s Chicken In An Instant Pot
Notes, Tips and Variations
- DO YOU NEED DO USE CHICKEN BREAST?– Nope, you don’t have to. Boneless Chicken Thighs would also work well in this recipe!
- CUT OUT SOME SODIUM!– If you are on a low sodium diet, you can certainly use low sodium soy sauce to cut out a little of the salt.
- NO RICE VINEGAR– Rice Vinegar is pretty easy to find at your store, but if you don’t have any on hand and you have Apple Cider Vinegar, you should be ok to sub that out.
- FROZEN?- One of the really awesome things about an Instant Pot is that you can use frozen chicken for this recipe. Just throw it in like you would regular chicken and it will cook up just fine! Or, you can actually make this recipe (everything except for the rice) and put it in a freezer bag. You can keep it in your freezer for up to 4 months. Just throw everything in your Instant Pot and follow the cooking instructions for a quick and easy dinner!
- SAUCE TOO WATERY?– If you need to thicken up your sauce a bit, you can easily just add some more cornstarch. Or make a cornstarch slurry out of 2 parts cornstarch and one part water.
- TOO SPICY?– Our version of this General Tso’s Chicken has some kick! That’s how we like it! If you want to ease up on the red pepper flakes, go for it!
- GARNISH – Garnish with green onions, scallions or red pepper flakes.
I hope you enjoy this recipe for Instant Pot General Tso Chicken Recipe. We’d love to hear how it turns out in the comments section. Enjoy!
Some of our other Asian Inspired Instant Pot Recipes that we’ve made are:
- INSTANT POT SESAME CHICKEN
- INSTANT POT ORANGE CHICKEN
- INSTANT POT CASHEW CHICKEN
- INSTANT POT SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN
- INSTANT POT BEEF AND BROCCOLI
- INSTANT POT FRIED RICE
Instant Pot General Tso's Chicken
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 lb chicken breast cubed
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, brown sugar, tomato paste and red pepper flakes and whisk well. Set aside.
- Place remaining 2 tablespoons oil into instant pot. Saute and let oil heat up. Meanwhile, prepare your chicken.
- Add chicken breast and egg and mix well.
- Dredge chicken into cornstarch.
- Mix well to evenly coat and place into the hot oil in the instant pot. Saute chicken until breading begins to turn golden brown.
- Add garlic powder, ginger, chicken broth and sauce and mix.
- Place the lid on the instant pot and seal shut. Close the pressure release valve. Set the pot to manual, high pressure for 5 minutes.
- When cooking cycle is complete, quick release pressure and open the pot.
- Stir and serve over warm rice topped with chopped onions and sesame seeds.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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