This Instant Pot Honey Balsamic Chicken is the perfect meal prep recipe – serve it with roasted vegetables for a full healthy meal!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Great for meal prep: It’ll last in the fridge for up to 5 days, so you can enjoy it throughout the week.
- Delicious sauce: The chicken is cooked in balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon and garlic for the best flavour.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like canola oil or avocado oil.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth would be the next best thing to chicken broth.
- Chicken breasts – you can also make this recipe with boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- Balsamic vinegar – try using ride wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead (although the flavour will be different).
- Honey – agave, maple syrup or brown sugar would be the best substitutes here.
- Dijon mustard – stone-ground mustard would provide a similar flavour.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best, but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
Roasted vegetables
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like canola oil or avocado oil.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best, but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Baby potatoes – swap out for another potato of your choice or use another vegetable entirely.
- Carrots – swap out for another veggie of your choice like parsnips.
- Green beans – swap out for another veggie of your choice like asparagus.
- Red pepper – use any other colour bell pepper instead.
How to make honey balsamic chicken
Step 1: Roast the vegetables.
Toss the veggies in olive oil and garlic, and roast in the oven on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Step 2: Add everything to the Instant Pot.
Add all the chicken ingredients to the Instant Pot in the order listed.
Step 3: Cook on high pressure.
Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
Step 4: Shred the chicken and serve.
Shred the chicken then serve in meal prep bowls with the roasted vegetables.
Side dish ideas
On its own, this Instant Pot chicken meal prep recipe is a complete gluten-free dinner idea. If you want to change things up a bit, here are some ideas:
- Serve it in bowls over white or brown rice or with quinoa
- Tuck it into flour tortillas, pita bread or naan
- Serve it over greens with homemade dressing for a healthy salad
- Swap out the roasted vegetables for brussels sprouts salad
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use chicken thighs?
Absolutely! Just make sure that the thighs are boneless and skinless, since the skin won’t get crispy and it’ll increase the calorie count.
Is honey balsamic chicken healthy?
This honey balsamic chicken is super healthy with only 295 calories per serving. Keep in mind that if you swap out the chicken breasts for thighs, that will slightly increase the calorie count.
Can you make it in the oven instead?
You can definitely give it a try! I’d suggest turning this into a sheet pan recipe or marinating the chicken thighs in the honey balsamic then bake them in the oven at 425F until they reach an internal temperature of 165F.
Storing and reheating
This Instant Pot chicken meal prep recipe will last in the fridge for 3-5 days. Once everything has completely cooled, transfer individual serving sizes to glass meal prep containers. That way, when you’re ready to enjoy, all you have to do is pull a container out of the fridge and stick it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes! I suggest sprinkling some water over top of the chicken before microwaving to make sure it doesn’t dry out.
Freezing the chicken
While the roasted vegetables won’t defrost very well, you can definitely freeze the chicken for easy Instant Pot meal prep. Freeze it in airtight glass containers or freezer-safe Ziploc bags for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, transfer it to the fridge to defrost overnight then reheat. Easy-peasy!
More make-ahead meal prep chicken recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Instant Pot Ramen Noodles with Chicken
- Meal Prep Instant Pot Jambalaya
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- If you plan to use this Instant Pot Honey Balsamic Chicken for lunches, grab some glass meal prep bowls.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
Instant Pot Honey Balsamic Chicken {Meal Prep}
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Roasted vegetables
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 cup baby potatoes
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss vegetables with olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Add all ingredients for chicken to Instant Pot in order that they are listed. 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 5 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook the 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, roast veggies for 15-20 minutes until fully cooked, tossing halfway through.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily. Shred chicken, then serve in meal prep bowls alongside roasted veggies. Enjoy!
