This Instant Pot Chinese Chicken and Broccoli is a healthy one pot stir fry. It’s an easy dinner idea that’s ready in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Sesame oil – you can use a neutral cooking oil like olive oil but it will alter the flavour of the dish.
- Chicken breasts – boneless skinless chicken thighs would also work for this recipe.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth would be the best substitute here.
- Garlic – I prefer freshly minced garlic but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Hoisin sauce – double up on the soy sauce or use oyster sauce instead.
- Soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best substitutes for soy sauce.
- Chili sauce – if you don’t want this dish to be spicy, leave this out altogether.
- Broccoli – use fresh broccoli or broccoli florets.
- White rice – feel free to swap this out for another rice variety of your rice.
- Butter – olive oil or any butter substitute will help make the rice nice and moist.
- Cornstarch – potato starch or arrowroot are both good substitutes here.
How to make Chinese chicken and broccoli in the Instant Pot
- Add the first 7 ingredients to the Instant Pot in order.
- Cook on high pressure for 2 minutes.
- Make the rice.
- Mix together the cornstarch slurry.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Stir in the cornstarch slurry and broccoli.
- Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve over rice and enjoy!
Time-saving recipe tips
To save some time, you can use frozen broccoli florets instead of chopping fresh broccoli yourself. A lot of grocery stores also have salad bars where you can find fresh broccoli pre-chopped!
Another big-time saver with this recipe: you don’t need to marinate the chicken! When you pressure cook chicken, it will marinate as it cooks. Just one more reason to love the Instant Pot!
Frequently Asked Questions
Actually, this dish is one of the healthier Asian recipes! The problem with some Chinese dishes is the amount of sodium in them. Fortunately, when you make this recipe at home, there are easy ways to reduce the sodium. You can use low-sodium soy sauce or simply use less of it. For this recipe, you will only use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. If you divide that by four servings, you’ll realize just how small of an amount it really is.
The sauce for this recipe cooks alongside the chicken and is made up of pantry staples you already have on hand. All you need is sesame oil, chicken broth, minced garlic, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and chili sauce! If you’re not a fan of spice you can leave out the chili sauce, but it adds a nice kick to the dish.
The chicken and broccoli are cut into small, bite-sized pieces. As a result, the actual pressure cook time is only 2 minutes. The longest part is waiting for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, which can take 10 to 15 minutes. You’ll have a delicious meal ready to go in less than 30 minutes!
Storing and reheating
This Chinese chicken and broccoli recipe is great for meal prep lunches and dinners! Once it’s completely cooled, transfer it to glass meal prep bowls and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. Make sure to store the chicken and rice separately.
When you’re ready to reheat, sprinkle a bit of water over top of the rice and microwave for 1-2 minutes until heated through.
Can you freeze Chinese chicken and broccoli?
Yes! This recipe can be frozen for up to 3 months. To avoid freezer burn, just be sure that the food is completely cool before you transfer it to freezer-safe Ziploc bags or airtight glass containers. Defrost it in the fridge overnight then microwave it for 1-2 minutes and serve with fresh rice.
More Asian-inspired Instant Pot recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning the Instant Pot Chinese chicken and broccoli into your lunches for the week.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
Instant Pot Chinese Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 chicken breasts, diced
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chili sauce (such as sambal oelek or sriracha)
- 1 head broccoli, chopped
Rice
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp Butter
Cornstarch slurry
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Add sesame oil, chicken, garlic, chicken broth, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and chili sauce into Instant Pot. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal.
- Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 2 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10 to 15 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook the 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put all ingredients for rice into a rice cooker and cook while chicken is cooking. Mix cornstarch and water together to form a slurry.
- Do a quick release of the pressure once chicken is done by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon, then open lid when pressure gauge has dropped and lid opens easily. Switch to saute mode and stir in cornstarch slurry, then stir in broccoli.
- Replace lid on Instant Pot and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes to steam the broccoli. Serve and enjoy!
