Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
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This Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken is the perfect, healthy, homemade dinner in under 30 minutes. This spicy Chinese takeout favorite is simple and quick to prepare with just the perfect balance of sweet and tangy.
Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
General Tso’s chicken is a favorite, one that everybody loves. If you’re wondering what exactly this dish is, don’t worry I’ve included a little section below to explain. For those of you who have ordered this dish before, you know that it is the perfect mix of sweet and sour.
I decided to do a healthier spin on Tso Chicken today using my oh so handy instant pot. That means that I had this dish served up in less than 30 minutes! Healthy, tasty, and quick? Now who doesn’t love that.
What Is General Tso Chicken?
Now while this dish is one of the most popular orders in Chinese restaurants here at home, it’s not exactly authentic. Westernized versions are also known as orange chicken if that’s a little more familiar. It is usually served deep fried over a mountain of white rice, but today I decided to cut back on some of the calories and axe the frying. So let’s get into it! Break out that Instant Pot and let’s get cookin.
Ingredients In General Tso Chicken
- Chicken – I used chicken breast today but chicken thigh is a tasty alternative, just keep in mind it’ll need to be cooked a minute or two longer than breast.
- Soy Sauce – Low sodium so we can control the sodium level in this dish. I also used a bit of dark soy sauce for that umami flavor.
- Sweet – I used both brown sugar and honey to get some rich sweetness and an ooey gooey sauce, you’ll thank me later.
- Aromatics – Garlic and ginger, fresh is preferred!
- Rice Vinegar – The tangy key to this General Tso Chicken recipe. If you don’t have any on hand apple cider vinegar is a great substitute!
- Red Pepper Flakes – We need a little heat in this dish and red pepper flakes are the perfect addition.
- Tomato Paste – The perfect little acidic base for our sauce, it will also give the dish a nice rich color.
- Hoisin – If this thick sauce isn’t already a staple in your fridge, it should be. Pick some up as it’s so crucial in lots of Asian dishes!
- Cornstarch – We’re going to make a slurry with cornstarch and a little bit of water to help our dish thicken.
How To Make Instant Pot General Tso Chicken
- Saute the sauteables: Turn your Instant Pot on the saute setting and add the chicken first. Then add the rest of the ingredients (save for our cornstarch slurry) and stir well. Close the lid and set the Pot to the poultry setting.
- Finish the sauce: Allow the pressure to naturally release before removing the lid. Transfer only the chicken to a bowl and switch to the saute setting before adding the slurry. Cook this sauce for an additional 2 minutes till it has thickened and dump the chicken back in before giving it a good stir.
- Garnish and serve: Serve this dish over a nice mound of hot white rice. I love to garnish this dish with some toasted sesame seeds and fresh green onion!
Other Ways To Make General Tso Chicken
Slow cooker
This dish is perfect made in your slow cooker! Just sear the chicken a bit on the stove before adding to the slow cooker. Whisk all of your sauce ingredients together separately (save the cornstarch slurry) and pour over the chicken. Cook all of this on low for 3 – 4 hours. Incorporate the slurry in the last 20 minutes of cooking or until thick and serve over rice!
Stove top
If you’d like to make this over the stove just saute up your chicken before removing and cooking your aromatics and chili flakes till fragrant. Add all your sauces and slurry and allow to cook for a few minutes till the sauce is thick. Add the chicken and combine well before serving!
How To Store Leftover General Tso Chicken
In the fridge this chicken recipe will last up to 4 days as long as its container is airtight. It can also freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, just be sure to thaw completely in the fridge and before reheating over the stove.
Craving More Instant Pot Recipes? Try These Dishes:
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Shawarma
- Butter Chicken
- Mongolian Beef
- Pasta E Fagioli
- Swedish Meatballs
- Beef And Broccoli
- Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
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Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast (skinless and boneless, cut into bite size pieces)
- ¼ cup soy sauce (low sodium)
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (fresh, grated)
- 3 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Optional Garnish
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 green onions (chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer’s guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
- Add the chicken pieces to the Instant Pot then dump the rest of the ingredients to it, excluding the cornstarch and water. Stir everything well with a spoon.
- Close the lid (follow the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Poultry setting and set the timer to 5 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer’s guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
- Switch the Instant Pot to the saute setting (do not put the lid on). Transfer the chicken to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
- In a small bowl whisk the cornstarch and water together then pour over the sauce and stir. Cook for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the chicken back to the Instant Pot and turn off your Instant Pot by pressing the cancel button.
- Garnish the chicken with sesame seeds and green onions. Serve over rice.
Equipment
Notes
- I strongly recommend reading the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to use your Instant Pot before attempting this recipe.
- Substitutes: Boneless skinless chicken thighs may also be used with the same cooking time. Rice vinegar can be substituted with cider vinegar. Red pepper flakes can be replaced with cayenne pepper. Hoisin sauce is a delicious sweet and spicy mix and a must for many authentic Asian meals. A simplified shortcut to using something else instead would be mixing sweet barbecue sauce with sriracha and five-spice powder.
- For less sweetness, feel free to reduce the honey or brown sugar.
- Nutrition: Nutritional information does NOT include rice.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I have made this before and loved it.
We have a large family and last time I only made the four servings. If I am to double the chicken, do I need to add an any of the cook time?
If you’re doubling the chicken in your Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken recipe, you generally do not need to increase the cook time. The Instant Pot cooks under pressure, so it typically requires the same amount of time to cook double the quantity of chicken. However, the pot will take longer to come to pressure due to the increased volume, which indirectly increases the cooking time.
Always ensure that the chicken is fully cooked by checking its internal temperature should be at least 165°F (74°C). If it’s not, you can always close the pot back up and cook for an additional few minutes. Happy cooking!
This was Good! and easy. Flavour good. I left chicken in strips instead of bite size and will do that again. I’ve tried others with bite size chicken and it gets a bit dry. Sauce was not quite what i expected but it was still good. I will make it again Had frozen asian veg in freezer so made a stir fry and makes for a good easy meal If there was a 4.5 possibility that’s what I would have given it
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the General Tso’s Chicken and found a technique for the chicken that worked well for you! The stir-fry addition sounds like a delicious complement to the meal. Thank you for sharing your experience and tweaks – it’s always helpful to get feedback and new ideas!
I don’t have an Instant Pot – I have a slow cooker and an air fryer. Any way I can adjust this recipe for those? Thanks!
Certainly, you can adapt this recipe to suit the appliances you have on hand. For a slow cooker, you can cook the chicken on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. As for the sauce, you may wish to thicken it on the stovetop using a cornstarch slurry before adding it to the chicken. If you prefer using an air fryer, you can cook the chicken at 375°F for about 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through, and then toss it in the sauce. Remember to adjust cooking times to ensure the chicken is fully cooked.
Do you use oil to saute the ingredients? How long do you saute before you switch to pressure cooker? How do you get the chicken out when you’ve stirred everything together? Thank you.
Great questions! In this recipe, there’s actually no need to sauté the ingredients first. Just toss everything into the Instant Pot, and you’re good to go! It simplifies the cooking process without sacrificing any of that delicious flavor. For a more visual guide, there’s a video embedded in the recipe card that walks you through each step. Hope this clears things up, and happy Instant Pot cooking!
Got the burn notice very quickly. had to add more water. Also, don’t think the pre sauté is necessary. Just throw everything in and set high pressure for 10 minutes. Tasted great.
It was an instant hit! 🤤
Easy to make, wonderful flavor.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Oops. I forgot to rate the recipe. It was fantastic! 5/5 stars.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I found this recipe tonight and made it as a quick meal before work. I didn’t have time to thicken the sauce with cornstarch and water but it was still delicious. I doubled the sauce and added broccoli. I saved this recipe to make again in the future. Thanks for sharing!
Hi there! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and found it to be a quick and delicious meal. It’s fantastic to hear that the recipe worked well even without the thickening step – that’s the beauty of cooking, it’s flexible! Doubling the sauce and adding broccoli sounds like a wonderful way to personalize the dish and add some extra veggies. Thank you so much for saving the recipe, and I look forward to hearing about your future cooking experiences with it. Happy cooking and enjoy those future meals!
I see you listed using a mixture of sweet bbq, Sriracha, and Chinese 5 spices as a substitute for hoisin sauce. Do you have a ratio for that mixture? I can’t find a gluten free hoisin sauce around my area, but I found the other ingredients.
Thank you!
So it would depend on how spicy you like your food, so I personally I would probably use 1.5 tablespoons of sweet bbq sauce, 2 teaspoons sriracha and about 1/2 teaspoon of chinese 5 spice.
Thank you so much! I’ll try that.
My IP doesn’t have a Poultry button. Any suggestions?
Yes, use the Manual button and high pressure for the same amount of time.
Oh my goodness! Delicious and so easy!
This was so delicious! My husband hates most chicken recipes but he loves this so much he’s asked me to put it into weekly rotation and make extra for lunches as well. My kids all loved it as well! I should mention this was my first time using the sauté setting on our insta pot and I am pleased with how easy it was(yay for less dishes). Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe! 😍
Just got an instant pot for Christmas and this was my first experiment. It was delicious, easy and quick. I’ll make this again.
I used chicken thighs and ended up leaving it on natural release/warm for 30 minutes while I finished up making rice & veg. No dryness with thighs. Tasted great & very easy!