Need something quick and easy to serve over rice? I looked through what I had in the kitchen and this recipe was everything I wanted. Sweet, only as spicy as you want it, and flavorful. I used chicken thighs and some Chinese inspiration to make this hoisin chicken in the instant pot.
If you’re in the mood for a different style of chicken, check out my Almond Breaded Chicken Tenders in the Air Fryer.
Ingredients
- Hoisin Sauce
- Minced Garlic
- Ginger powder
- Sriracha sauce
- Corn Starch
- Sesame Oil
- Chicken
Optionally, I could also have added soy sauce, honey, red pepper flakes, and green onion. I wish I had sesame seeds in my pantry, to sprinkle on top. They are on my grocery list for my next trip.
Sweet and Umami Hoisin Chicken
This is up to you. I’ll give you my measurements but you can tweak this to your own tastes. I used 3/4 of a cup of hoisin sauce, a tsp of ginger powder, two cloves of garlic, a squirt of sriracha sauce, and 3 ‘shakes’ of sesame oil (probably a half tablespoon, at most).
If I made this again, I’d use soy sauce to tone down the sweet a little more and add to the umami flavors. I’d probably add the red pepper flakes to mine, too. That or use more sriracha sauce. We like a little kick in our food in my house, so a little more of that sweet and savory balance would be better, I think. I could have used a tad more sesame oil, too. That flavor kind of got lost in the sweet, so I should have used a tablespoon of oil. If you like ginger, you’ll want to use more than I did of that as well.
The Cooking of Hoisin Chicken
Literally, put it all in the instant pot and set it to cook. I had bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs, but next time I’ll use boneless and skinless chicken thighs. You can use breasts too. We like dark meat for Chinese dishes here, so next time the only change I’m making to the chicken is I’m going to cut the chicken into cubes.
Put a cup of water in the instant pot, add in your marinade ingredients, stir in the chicken or flip the thighs/breasts in the marinade. Secure the lid and set the cooker to High-Pressure for 15 minutes. If you have more than a pound and a half of meat, you will need to add more time. When it’s done, let it sit for an additional 5 minutes before quick-releasing the remaining pressure. Remove the lid carefully and let it vent while you make your rice.
Steamed green beans or broccoli would make great sides with sweet and spicy chicken. Place rice in a bowl, then veggies, then chicken and drizzle as much sauce as you want over the top of it all. Sounds so tasty I’m salivating just thinking about it. 🙂
Enjoy This Hoisin Chicken with Your Fam!
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Hoisin Chicken in the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Measuring Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup Hoisin Sauce
- 1 tbsp ginger powder
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp Sriracha sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb Chicken (of your choice)
Optional
- 1 tbsp honey will add to the sweet, less savory
- 1 tbsp soy sauce will cut the sweet a bit, add savory flavor
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes add 'heat'
- green onions to taste
Instructions
- Add 1 cup of water to the instant pot and stir in your marinade ingredients: Hoisin sauce, Sriracha sauce, sesame oil, ginger powder, minced garlic, and any other ingredients you think will be tasty together.
- If using boneless skinless chicken, cut the raw meat into cubes. If you're using bone-in, as I did, Place them in the pot whole. Coat the pieces in your marinade.
- Secure the lid and set the pressure cooker to High and set the timer for 15 minutes.
- After the cook-time is done let the pot sit for 5 min then use quick-release, being sure to keep all limbs and your face away from the vent. Check to be sure the chicken reached a temperature of 165°F.
- Add the cornstarch to thicken the marinade.
- Serve with rice or on top of green veggies such as green beans or steamed broccoli. Enjoy!
Notes
I have a whole 3-lb chicken and 2 lbs drumsticks. Should I use 5x the ingredients? Cook time the same?
Hey Stewart,
Since we’re talking about the sauce, you may not need 5x the ingredients, but you might need close to that. Just keep your proportions the same as you increase the amount of liquid until you have the amount you want.
As for cook time, you want to add 2 min per additional pound. Start with 15 min for the first pound, 17min for 2lbs, 19 min for 3lbs, and so on.