The Orange Chicken Dish at the Asian Restaurants is delicious. Now you can make it at home.
Cook this Instant Pot Orange Chicken Recipe in 15 minutes! It is an easy, delicious, quick meal that your whole family will love.
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Instant Pot Orange Chicken
This Instant Pot Orange Chicken recipe is a favorite in our home. My husband requests it all the time.
Cook your rice in a Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup (Uncooked) Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White, 1.0-Liter. Then start throwing together the ingredients of the Orange Chicken in the Instant Pot.
The Orange Chicken will be done in 15 minutes. In fact, the chicken will be done before the rice! You will drool with anticipation.
It smells so good! It also tastes so good, you will want to double the recipe to save for leftovers the next day.
Is Orange Chicken Sweet?
If you have never had Orange Chicken, it is sweet and salty with bites of orange flavor…. And it is GOOD!!!!!! I serve it over a bed of brown rice with a side of steamed broccoli.
Top it with chopped, fresh green onions and BAM! Magic in the kitchen. It will be gone in minutes.
If you are not a broccoli fan, chopped bell peppers are a nice addition to the dish also.
This recipe is very sweet. Topping it over the rice cuts some of the sweetness.
Tip:
Tip: If you don’t like very sweet dishes, one option is to reduce the amount of orange marmalade to half a cup and add in 1 tablespoon of fresh orange zest. Reducing the amount of marmalade will make the sauce a bit more watery, therefore, you will will also want to add in a little more cornstarch in the end.
Tip 2: Another option is to keep the recipe exactly how it is and add in a little more soy sauce. The salt flavor will level out some of that sweetness.
What Barbecue Sauce should you use?
Here in the South, we have several vinegary liquid barbecue sauces. You will want to stay away from those sauces in this recipe.
Instead, you will want to use a thick, sweet barbecue sauce. I use Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce because it is cheap and you can find it anywhere.
However, any thick barbecue sauce will work. If you like spicy dishes, choose a thick spicy barbecue sauce. If you like tangy, use a thick tangy sauce.
The orange flavor really comes out in this dish and the barbecue sauce is used to balance the orange from becoming overwhelming. It also helps with thickening the sauce.
Can you use frozen chicken?
Several people ask if you can use frozen chicken. I always use fresh chicken.
If I have frozen chicken, I thaw it out before using it. When you cook in the Instant Pot, natural juices from the chicken release.
If you use frozen chicken, it is likely to release more juices than the fresh chicken, causing a watery sauce. This is why I personally recommend either thawing the chicken before cooking or using fresh chicken.
However, my readers have told me that they have made this recipe using frozen chicken. They increased the cooking time from 4 minutes to 7 minutes. My readers were happy with the end results.
What if you want a thicker sauce?
To thicken the sauce, you must add 2 tsps of cornstarch to the sauce. You will need to sauté the sauce with the chicken for about 6 minutes to help reduce the liquid.
You will also need to let it cool down 3 to 5 minutes. The cooling process allows some of the steam to evaporate and the cornstarch to set into a thicker form.
Since writing this post, my bff blogger friend Karrie, from Tasty Ever After, recently introduced me to the brilliant Wondra All Purpose Quick-Mixing Sauce ‘N Gravy Flour 13.5 oz (Pack of 2)
.
It magically thickens all of your gravies and sauces. It works 10 times better than cornstarch. I can’t find it at my store, so I order it on Amazon.
Cornstarch works fine, but Wondra works BRILLIANTLY! It also doesn’t change the flavor of your sauce like cornstarch sometimes can.
If you don’t have a bottle, get one! I did not change out the ingredient of cornstarch in this recipe, because most people can find cornstarch, however not everyone has access to Wondra.
If you choose to use Wondra instead of cornstarch, cook it the same way with the same 2 tsp measurements. It thickens like cornstarch, only better.
Looking for a healthier option idea?
I typically serve this orange chicken over steamed rice. I am obviously not watching my carbs in this meal with the sugar content and starch in the ingredients.
However, for a healthier option, my cauliflower fried rice makes a great substitute for white rice. The cauliflower fried rice is significantly less in calories, is loaded with tons of nutrition, and has a great flavor!
Plus it is quick and simple to make. This recipe is a great way to sneak in some extra veggies.
What if you get a burn notice?
I have never had a burn notice. HOWEVER, I have had some readers say they received a burn notice. Other bloggers have had the same issue with some of their recipes.
What I have learned is that not all Instant Pots are the same. The older models can be more sensitive than the new models. This is a great article explaining the burn notices and what to do if you see a burn notice.
Are you looking for more great Instant Pot Recipes? Try some of these winner dinners!
All of these recipes can easily be made in the Instant Pot. Add them to your weekly meal plan and tell me what you think after you made them!
- Mongolian Beef
- Gumbo with Shrimp and Sausage
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Chili Mac and Cheese
- Italian Beef with Spicy Pepperoncini
- Mac and Cheese
- Country Style Steak
- Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
- Italian Pot Roast Dinner
- Shredded Buffalo Chicken
- Stuffed Cabbage Soup
- Mexican Chicken Soup
- Jalapeno Popper Chicken
- 15 Minute Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken
- Hawaiian Pulled Pork
Please leave me a comment below if you make this Instant Pot Orange Chicken and tell me what you thought about it. I would love to hear back, and so would my readers.
Also post your picture of your Instant Pot dinner on Instagram or Facebook, and tag @aforkstale with #aforkstale hashtags! I will share with my followers! xoxo!
15 Minute Instant Pot Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts Do not use thin breasts. They will dry out.
- 3/4 cup favorite dark sweet barbecue sauce ( I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 3/4 cup orange marmalade
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- chopped green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Chop 4 chicken breasts into hearty bite size chunks.
- In Instant Pot, add in chopped chicken, 3/4 cup barbecue sauce, and 2 tbs soy sauce.
- Cook on manual high for 4 min.
- When done, fast release steam.
- Take 1/4 cup of the barbecue chicken broth sauce out of Instant Pot and mix with 2 tsp cornstarch in a small bowl. (This prevents lumps. Cornstarch will thicken sauce.)
- Add cornstarch broth mixture back into Instant Pot.
- Add 3/4 cup orange marmalade. Mix well.
- Change setting on Instant Pot to sauté setting and sauté for 6 min or until sauce thickens.
- Allow it to rest 5 minutes before serving. This will thicken sauce also.
- Garnish with green onions. Serve over rice, noodles or by itself.
Krista Trujillo says
My picky eater (6 year old daughter) has announced this is her favorite meal.
MeLisss says
Seriously good, I mixed chicken and bbq sauce really well to make sure chicken wasn’t directly touching the instapot and no burn notice. Chicken comes out like you browned it bf you put it in the instapot which I love bc it saves that step. Truely a yummy recipe for those quick after work dinners.
Christina says
Followed recipe as is, and no burn notice. I added crushed red pepper flakes to the sauté stage, as I wanted my extra spicy. Highly recommend recipe. Will make again.
Wagirl says
This was very good. I used chicken thighs so reduced the cooking time by a minute so as not to over cook. Also cut back marmalade to 1/2 cup. Very easy and the fam loved it.
Lindi Franks says
Fantastic orange flavor! Very quick & easy to make. A true “No Brainer”! We will definitely be making this a part of our dinner menu over & over. Loved it!
Meredith Richardson says
Very yummy. Not too spicy and good orange flavor. Chicken was so tender.
I did heavily spray my pot with canola oil and the mixed the chicken, BBQ and soy sauce well. No burn message. Some of the pieces of chicken were dark, almost looked burnt but they were just slightly crispy almost so hubby loved that.
chef quelle heure says
Make as is. don’t mess with perfection!
Heather says
Excellent made it the way it was written. Kids loved it. Will be making again.
Diane says
You won’t believe how good this is!!!!