Last Updated on January 13, 2023 by Anne-Marie

Try this Instant Pot Orange Chicken recipe if you’re looking for an easy one pot dinner. It's so simple to make at home that you’ll stop ordering Chinese orange chicken takeout.

Why this recipe works

Orange chicken made in the Instant Pot is an easy weeknight meal your whole family will love.

It’s a one pot chicken recipe, making for easy cleanup

It’s versatile since you can use chicken breasts or thighs. Use whatever’s on sale or you have in the freezer.

You can double the recipe to make plenty of leftovers. That way you’ll have something to warm up for lunch or dinner the next day.

(Looking for more Asian recipes? Check out 35 of the Best Recipes to Serve with Fried Rice! )

How to make instant pot orange chicken

Cooking the chicken: You sauté the chicken right in the Instant Pot until it’s golden brown – 2 to 3 minutes.

When you’re sautéing the chicken, make sure to stir the chicken so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. (The olive oil and preheating the Instant Pot will help prevent sticking as well.)

Do a natural release: Do a 10-minute Natural Release. Then do a Quick Release to vent any remaining pressure.

Doing it this way makes sure that the chicken is nice and tender and the juices don't escape.

Make the orange sauce: Make the sauce separately (directions below). Add it to the chicken in the Instant Pot and stir.

Cook the chicken in the sauce. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Use a 10 minute Natural Release, a Quick Release to vent any remaining pressure.

Then turn off the heat. Then use the sauté function on Low.

Make the slurry: A slurry is the combination of cornstarch and a liquid (in this case, orange juice). It’s used as a thickening agent when making sauces.

(If you add just the cornstarch, you’d end up with a lumpy sauce!)

Add the slurry and cook: Cook until the sauce thickens, stirring once in a while.

How to serve orange chicken made in your Instant Pot

Serve this easy instant pot orange chicken with rice, vegetables or noodles.

Rice: You can serve the orange chicken on any type of rice (white, brown or instant rice) or quinoa. Whatever you have in the pantry!

Veggies: Serve it with your favorite stir fry or sautéed vegetables such as broccoli, bok choy, asparagus, sliced bell peppers, or snow pea pods (Chinese pea pods).

Noodles: Use what you have in the pantry – wide noodles, skinny noodles, gluten free, whole wheat – up to you!

Tips for making the best pressure cooker orange chicken

Low carb or Keto? If you’re on a keto or low carb diet, you can substitute Swerve Sweetener, Brown for the brown sugar.

You can also use a lower carb orange juice like Tropicana Trop50.

Grating the ginger and zesting the orange: I like using a citrus grater/zester tool to grate ginger and zest oranges.

I’ve used my Zesty Citrus Lemon Zester & Cheese Grater for over five years and love it.

Garlic: Use jarred minced garlic from the store to save time. I won’t tell if you don’t!

Gluten free? To make this orange chicken instant pot recipe gluten free, use tamari sauce instead of regular soy sauce.

Looking for more gluten-free Asian recipes? Try my Best Gluten Free General Tso Chicken Recipe.

Pressure cooking tips

Avoid a burn warning: Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot when adding the orange sauce to the chicken.

If browned bits are stuck to the bottom of the pot during pressure cooking, it could cause a burn warning.

So does food stuck to the rim, which prevents a good seal.

If you do get a burn warning and can’t figure out why, read this Instant Pot Burn Message article from Paint the Kitchen Red for lots of great tips!

Timing: Remember that an Instant Pot needs to come to pressure before the cooking countdown begins.

How long this takes depends on a number of factors, like the size of your pressure cooker.

I haven’t added pressurizing to the cook time since everyone’s pressure cooker if different.

So keep this in mind when starting dinner. (Give yourself another 30 to 45 minutes more time than the recipe calls for, just in case.)

Get more Instant Pot Tips at When is it Safe to Open my Instant Pot?

Looking for more Instant Pot recipes?

Need to make a bunch of hard boiled eggs? Try this Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Hard Boiled Eggs recipe!

It’s the only way I can make Sriracha Keto Deviled Eggs Recipe (Low Carb) or Wasabi Keto Deviled Eggs Recipe (Low Carb) without going crazy.

My family also loves Instant Pot Chili with Pumpkin. It’s a terrific way to use up leftover pumpkin from holiday recipes.