Instant Pot Low-carb Sesame Ginger Chicken is very versatile. Eat it plain, over zoodles, with rice, or in a lovely crunchy salad.
One of the things people often wonder is if it’s possible to make non-soup dishes in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. In fact, it absolutely is.
Not only can you make lots of rice and meat dishes, but you can also use clever techniques like using onions for the base in Chicken Shawarma.
Mainly this is a matter of also leveraging Pot-in-Pot cooking where possible.
In this dish that’s exactly what I did. I wanted to make a relatively dry chicken dish that could be used in salads. The way to do that is to cook the chicken, with lots of sauces, in a pot within the pot.
If you have questions about how to do PIP cooking I have a video that will teach you how.
Or you can forget about all that and just make this dish, and learn as you go.
EQUIPMENT YOU MAY NEED
Ingredients You'll Need
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Soy Sauce
- Sesame Oil
- Minced Ginger
- Minced Garlic
- Agave nectar
- Rice Vinegar
How To Make Ginger Chicken In Your Instant Pot
- Use a heat-safe bowl that fits inside your pressure cooker inner liner. I prefer stainless steel pots due to their heat conduction as well as safety profile.
- Put 1-2 cups of water in the inner liner of the pot. The steam created by this water is what will allow the pot to come to pressure
- Use a steamer rack to elevate the smaller bowl.
- Use enough cooking liquid to cook whatever is in that bowl.
That’s it. That’s really all you need to know to get started with this recipe.
You may also want to make this Easy Asian Peanut dressing to add additional flavor to your salad.
If you love this Ginger Chicken WIth Sesame Sauce, don't forget to share it on Facebook and Instagram so your friends can try it too! Make sure you Pin it so you can try it again soon.
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds (680.39 g) Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs, boneless, skinless , cut into large pieces
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Sesame Oil
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Minced Ginger
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Minced Garlic
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Agave nectar, or use 2 packets Splenda
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Rice Vinegar
Optional Ingredients for Salad
- Cucumbers, Julienned
- Carrots, Julienned
- Red Onion. chopped, sliced into thin rings (so good with this salad!)
- Crushed peanuts
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together and place into a heat-safe bowl. Place a cover on this bowl.
- Place 2 cups of water into the inner liner of your pressure cooker. Place a steamer rack in the liner, and place the bowl with the chicken on top of this rack.
- Set your pressure cooker on high pressure for 10 minutes. Once it is finished cooking, allow it to release pressure naturally for 10 mins, and then release all remaining pressure.
- Remove the chicken and shred.
- At this point, you can either eat it plain, over zoodles, or cucumber noodles, or in a salad like the picture indicates.
- Use this peanut dressing to add lots of great flavor to your salad.
Cynthia
Link to Peanut Dressing is broken. ?
Karen
I don't know how I haven't found you before today, but I am hooked on you and your recipes now! Have an IP question for you. Can I use a pyrex glass bowl that fits in the IP to make the rice? Thanks and can't wait to try all your recipes!
URVASHI PITRE
Hi there! Technically yes but glass conducts heat so badly that sometimes things are not cooked through in glass. You may need to increase cook times
Nicole
Ten minutes was not quite enough. I used a Corningware dish and 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into large pieces. I set the instant pot for 3 more minutes and it only took a few minutes to come to pressure. The chicken was so most and delicious!
Colleen
I prepared as directed and the thighs are under cooked.I then cooked the chicken on the stove top for another 10 minutes to make certain the meat was cooked completely. The taste of the chicken is wonderful, and your recommended peanut sauce is very very good. Urvashi, thank you for yet another wonderful recipe.
URVASHI PITRE
I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Rebecca Dingo
I followed the directions but my chicken was raw when it was done! The only thing I can imagine that I messed up is that I covered the bowl with the chicken with foil and then put in in the instsnt pot on the trivet. Any suggestions? I stirfryed the meat instead and it was still delicious, at least!
URVASHI PITRE
Sounds like maybe your pot didn’t seal and come to pressure? 10 mins is more than enough for chicken to cook
Andrew E
I had the same problem! I cooked this twice, once for 10 minutes, and once for 12, and both times had to saute the meat for a while until it was finished. I realized I was using boneless skinless breasts instead of thighs, which might be affecting the cook time. I tried it a third time with thighs instead of breasts, and used a smaller amount of chicken (0.8 lbs), and it came out wonderfully. I think the metal bowl I used just doesn't allow enough heat through to cook the inner layers of chicken when it's too full.
URVASHI PITRE
Yes chicken breast takes a lot longer to cook. Glad that worked!
Kerstin
I loved it over salad and with the dressing!!
Valeria Dombiak Woelfel
loved it and so easy o do! I am not a big salad person more the kind that I eat it because it is healthy and I have to ... well I enjoyed this salad! the peanut dressing is awesome as well