Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken is absolutely genius! While your Instant Pot can make rice, we added this to already cooked brown rice. If you’re like me and can’t get enough of cooking in the Instant Pot, check out this post!
This is a great Instant Pot Chicken recipe to add to your menu plan. If you are following the WW FreeStyle Plan, you know that chicken can sometimes sound boring. This recipe adds tons of flavor and extra veggies to your routine.
No more boring flavor! The best Kung Pao chicken recipe is ready in minutes! If you LOVE Chinese food, don’t forget to check out Instant Pot Lo Mein and Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken!
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced/cubed chicken
- ½ red onion
- ½ cup diced zucchini
- ½ cup diced sweet red and yellow chili peppers
- ⅓ cup sliced green onions
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbs honey
- ½ – 1 tsp hot chili paste
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, chili paste, brown sugar, garlic, and cornstarch. Mix thoroughly with diced chicken, add 1 cup water, and pour into your instant pot.
- Close lid, set high pressure, and cook for 5 minutes.
- While that is cooking, cut your zucchini, onion, green onions, and peppers.
- Vent your cooker, then add in vegetables plus some of your sesame seeds. Seal and cook another 4 minutes on high.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over a bed of cooked brown rice.
Prep for an Instant Pot Recipe
When using your Instant Pot for any recipe, make sure you have everything prepped in advance. I always make sure my liner is in place and I have the seal ring on my lid. You don’t want to start putting ingredients in and realize you’ve made the mistake of not having your liner in place! That’s a big mess and mistake nobody wants!
Since this recipe cooks in the liner and doesn’t require the pot in pot method, it’s super easy to just have your chicken and liquid ingredients prepared before sealing for cooking.
Directions for Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken
In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, chili paste, brown sugar, garlic, and cornstarch. Mix thoroughly with diced chicken, add 1 cup water, and pour into your instant pot.
Close the lid and set to high pressure, and cook for 5 minutes.
While that is cooking, cut your zucchini, onion, green onions, and peppers.
As you can see, this easily fits into the list of 30-minute meals you can make fast for dinner. We keep the chicken in the freezer at all times, and the Instant Pot means you can add just a couple of extra minutes to the cook time and cook from frozen!
Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken Weight Watchers Points
The point values below have been updated for the recent changes that Weight Watchers made.
Makes 6 servings
Blue Plan– 4 points total including rice. 1/2 cup of rice is 2 points.
Purple Plan– 2 points total including rice
