How to Video
Instant Pot Bourbon Chicken
A little sweet and a little spicy, this EASY Instant Pot Bourbon Chicken recipe is BIG on flavor and takes just minutes. It's a fan favorite and also freezer friendly!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup organic or all-natural ketchup
- 1/4 cup bourbon or other whiskey
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (decrease to 1/8 teaspoon, if sensitive to heat)
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions (plus more for garnish)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless medium chicken breasts or thighs
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Optional for serving: Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice or Instant Pot Brown Rice, stir fry vegetables
Instructions
- Combine Ingredients: In the Instant Pot, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, ketchup, bourbon, oil, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and green onions. Add the chicken and stir to coat.
- Pressure Cook: Lock and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 7 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, then quick release the pressure. (The chicken is done when it is no longer pink inside and/or registers 165°F internally.)
- Dice Chicken: Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, dice or shred the meat, and set aside.
- Thicken Sauce: Set the Instant Pot to “Sauté." In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Stir this cornstarch mixture into the sauce and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened, about 3 minutes. Press “Cancel.”
- Serve: Stir the chicken back into the sauce to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed. Serve over basmati or brown rice. Garnish with green onions and serve with stir-fried vegetables, if desired.
Freezer Instructions
Freeze For Later: Follow Step 1. Pour the sauce and chicken into a gallon-size freezer bag or container. Seal and freeze (if using a freezer bag, set it in a bowl or round container with a diameter similar to the Instant Pot so it will fit in the pot when frozen).
Prepare From Frozen: Note: Have cornstarch and (optional) cooked rice and stir-fried veggies on hand to complete this meal. Set the Instant Pot to “Sauté.” Transfer the frozen meal to the pot and cook for 5 minutes to release some liquid. Press “Cancel.” Follow step 2, but cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Follow steps 3 through 5.
Notes/Tips
- Keep in mind that the Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes or so to come to pressure. Be sure to tack that on to the total cook time in your mind.
- If you don't end up using all the cooked rice in a recipe, you can freeze the leftovers. We've written an in depth post on how to freeze rice here.
- Gluten-Free Version:
- Use coconut aminos or GF Tamari soy sauce instead of soy sauce.
- According to Beyond Celiac, most bourbon is gluten-free due to the distillation process, however, you can omit bourbon/whiskey and use apple juice or no salt chicken stock/broth instead.
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Use our Crock Pot Honey Bourbon Chicken recipe.
- How to Replace the Bourbon: One of our readers tested this recipe without the bourbon and reported that their family thought it was still delicious. Another tester said it worked with chicken broth instead. Other recipes say to use apple juice instead.
- Where We Get Our Chicken: We get our meat from ButcherBox. The chicken is organic and curated from small, trusted farms. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat--like uncured bacon, wild salmon, and grass-fed beef--and have used it for years ourselves.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 429 kcal (21%) | Carbohydrates: 32 g (11%) | Protein: 40 g (80%) | Fat: 12 g (18%) | Cholesterol: 109 mg (36%) | Sodium: 1351 mg (59%) | Fiber: 1 g (4%) | Sugar: 25 g (28%)
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