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Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken is a quick & healthy version of P.F.Chang’s Sweet and Sour Chicken. It’s all about the fabulous addictive Sweet and Sour sauce loaded with pineapples, bell peppers & onion. Ready in 15 mins & kids friendly.
Sweet and Sour Chicken Healthy
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken is as easy and as delicious as this Instant Pot Mongolian Chicken.
Finger licking good sauce that is sweet, sour with juicy pineapples, crunchy bell peppers and so so tender chicken.
If you love P.F.Chang’s Sweet and Sour Chicken you can try this recipe which tastes just as good but is healthier.
You won’t get crispy fried chicken coated in sauce but I promise you won’t miss them either.
This Healthy Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken breasts diced into cubes.
Imagine outstanding sweet and sour sauce coating every piece of chicken. So Yum!
Tastes absolutely amazing with steamed Jasmine rice or any rice and noodles.
So, if you manage to steam some rice you’ll have dinner ready in just 15 mins.
How incredible is that? 😀
What’s Sweet and Sour Chicken?
Sweet and Sour Chicken is an America-Chinese takeout favorite chicken dish that contains lightly breaded and deep fried chicken tossed in sweet and sour sauce along with bell peppers, onion and with or without pineapple.
However, today’s Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken with pineapple is made with sauteed boneless chicken. There’s no breading or deep frying involved.
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken – Ingredients
Find the Ingredients with actual measurements way below the post on the “Recipe Card“. The list below is just a reference.
- Chicken: I used Organic boneless and skinless chicken. You can use chicken thighs as well. Dice the chicken into 1 inch chunks.
- Bell Peppers: We love bell peppers and used 3 colors – yellow, red and green. You can use whatever you have on hand.
- Yellow Onion: Don’t use red onion, it will change the flavors of the dish and make it overwhelming. You can definitely use sweet white onion for this recipe.
- Sweet and Sour Sauce: For the sauce you will need tomato ketchup, cider or rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, light soy sauce. If you love a slight kick in your food you can always add crushed red pepper flakes. However, this recipe contains none.
- For flash marinating the chicken: Light Soy Sauce, paprika, crushed black pepper and salt.
- Any neutral oil.
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken with pineapple – Tips
How to make Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken?
Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements way below the post on the “Recipe Card“.
Step #1 Saute Chicken
Flash marinate the chicken with paprika, salt & light soy sauce and saute the chicken in your Instant Pot (SAUTE function, NORMAL settings) until they turn golden around the edges.
This simple process makes a huge difference in the recipe and adds tons of good flavors.
Step #2 Pressure cook chicken
Add water and de-glaze the pot very well. This is so important to prevent the BURN error.
Loosen every bit of bits and crumbs stuck at the bottom of the pot.
If using fresh pineapple chunks add them now and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 1 mins (for organic farm fresh chicken) and for 3 mins for regular chicken.
After a QUICK PRESSURE RELEASE (QPR) open the lid of the pot.
Step #3 Add sauces, thicken sauce, add veggies
Add the sauce ingredients and mix well with the rest of the ingredients in the pot.
Turn back the SAUTE function and keep it at LOW.
Add the cornstarch slurry and simmer the sauce until it thickens.
It’s time to add the veggies and mix everything together. Turn off the Instant Pot.
Step #4 Rest and serve
Cover the Instant Pot with a lid and allow the Sweet and Sour Chicken to rest for just 2-3 mins.
The residual heat will help cook the veggies and still keep them crisp.
Serve and enjoy!
Serving Ideas
Try this Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken with steamed white Jasmine rice or Noodles for a perfect Asian Take-Out style meal.
Can you freeze Sweet and Sour Chicken?
Yes, you can freeze it. However, the bell peppers will lose the crispness and will turn soft and limp when the dish is thawed and re-heated.
Storing Tips
This Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken will last for 5 days in the refrigerator when stored in air tight moisture free containers.
When you re-heat it later the bell peppers will turn soft.
Try these Easy Asian take-out favorite recipes from Foodies Terminal.
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
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Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts diced into 1″ chunks (453 g)
- 1/2 cup green bell pepper made into 1/2 inch squares
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper made into 1/2 inch squares
- 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper made into 1/2 inch squares
- 1 cup fresh pineapple diced into 1/2 inch chunks (or canned pineapple drained)
- 1/2 cup onion diced into 1/2 inch squares and petals separated (use yellow or white onion)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (diluted with 4 tbsp water)
- 3 tbsp Avocado oil (or use any neutral oil)
- 1/4 cup water (Read NOTES below)
For Flash Marinating Chicken
- 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- Salt (to taste)
For Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (you can add more sugar if you prefer very sweet sauce)
- 1/2 cup Tomato Ketchup
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
Instructions
- Flash marinate the chicken with the ingredients list above in the “For Flash Marinating” chicken section.
- Set the Instant Pot on SAUTE and set it on NORMAL.
- Add oil and when the oil becomes moderately hot add the flash marinated chicken and saute until they are nicely golden around the edges.
- Add water & also diced fresh pineapple chunks and de-glaze the pot very well so that there are absolutely no bits and crumbs stuck at the bottom of the pot. This will prevent the BURN error in your Instant Pot.
- CANCEL the SAUTE function. PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for 1 min if using farm fresh ORGANIC CHICKEN and in case of normal chicken set the time for 3 mins.
- Once the pressure cooking cycle is over the Instant Pot will begin to beep. Immediately do a quick pressure release by moving the valve manually from the SEALING to the VENTING position.
- Open the lid carefully and add all the suce ingredients like the brown sugar, ketchup & vinegar. Give everything a good mix.
- Press the SAUTE function and keep it on LOW.
- Add the corn starch slurry and mix well. Simmer the sauce until it thickens. It takes roughly 2-3 mins for the sauce to thicken beautifully. You can adjust the consistency of the sauce according to your preference. Simmer less for a slightly thin sauce.
- Add the soy sauce, the bell peppers and the onion (read notes below for tender onions) and mix everything very well. Turn off the Instant Pot and cover the pot with a lid. Rest for 4-5 mins. The residual heat will help cook the bell peppers and the onion and you’ll have them crisp tender at the end. If you prefer softer well cooked veggies read notes below. Serve hot with rice or noodles. Enjoy!
Notes
- Measuring units used, 1 cup = 240 ml & 1 teaspoon = 5 ml.
- Chicken: You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts.
- Crisp Tender Veggies + Onion: Today’s recipe will reward you with just that.
- Love well cooked soft onions & Veggies? Pressure cook the Onions with the chicken and add the bell peppers while simmering the sauce to make them tender but not completely mushy. Allow the dish to rest for 4-5 mins covered as the recipe suggests. I would not recommend pressure cooking the bell peppers because they will become utterly mushy and taste bogus!
- Avoid BURN error in your Instant pot by de-glazing the pot very well with the help of a spatula. There should not be any bits and crumbs stuck at the bottom of the pot.
- Sweet and Sour Sauce: If you prefer really sweet sauce you can always increase the amount of brown sugar in the recipe.
- Sauce Consistency: We love a thicker sauce that beautifully coats each and every piece of chicken. If you prefer a slightly thinner sauce simmer the sauce a bit less.
- Fresh Diced Pineapple Chunks: Add them before pressure cooking the chicken and pressure cook them together.
- Want to use canned pineapple? Add them along with the other veggies.
- Water: If using canned pineapple you can sub the water in the recipe with the canned pineapple juice.
- For a slight heat in the recipe you may add crushed red pepper flakes. I didnot add any.
KLT says
Just made. Love! Used frozen pineapple.Next time might add a little heat.Yummy.
Foodies Terminal says
Hey KLT! Thanks so much for the amazing feedback, appreciate it! So glad that you enjoyed the recipe. Extra heat is super for those you prefer spicy food…so yum! Hope you try our other recipes as well and thank a lot for stopping by! Take care… Meghna.xoxo
Deanna says
Thanks for the recipe! It turned out fantastic! My only issue is that mine turned out with ALOT of juice from the chicken, in addition to the sauce. I used boneless chicken breasts. I only added 1/4c of pineapple juice (I used canned pineapple), and followed the recipe for the sauce. Any idea where I might have gone wrong?
Foodies Terminal says
Hey Deanna, so glad to know that you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback and for giving the recipe a try! Let me just ask you – did you add the water in addition to the pineapple juice? If yes, than from next time I would skip adding the water if adding pineapple juice. And if you did not add any water in addition to the pineapple juice than the problem is the chicken believe me! It happens to me a lot of times, sometimes chicken releases a lot of juices and makes the dish watery, sometimes the chicken doesn’t release a bit of water! The juices released from the chicken cannot be controlled, because it’s tough to make out which chicken will release juices and which ones won’t. From my experience I found that organic chicken doesn’t release a lot of juices as compared to the regular variey. The only way you can fix the issue is by simmering and cooking down the sauce. Or you can also try this and see if it works – instead of adding 1/4 cup liquid add just 2 tbsp and see it works for you 🙂 Hope it helps Deanna! Let me know if I answered your question 🙂 Hope you also try other recipes from this blog and enjoy making them. Take care Deanna 🙂 – Meghna XOXO.
Sue says
This turned out really good. However your recipe doesn’t mention when to put the pineapple in. I put it in with the vegetables. I think next time I will add broccoli, finely sliced carrots and snow peas instead of 3 different peppers. I actually had to pressure cook it for zero minutes because the peppers were still hard. I also added fresh ginger and garlic to the sauce.
Foodies Terminal says
Awesome Sue! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks much for your lovely feedback.
Bonnie says
Very good; wasn’t necessary to even pressure cook
Foodies Terminal says
Thanks Bonnie for trying it out 🙂 Keep coming back for more such great recipes 🙂 – Meghna.