This easy Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken (or pork) dish is packed with flavor. The meat is juicy and tender and the sauce is absolutely delicious. It has quickly become family favorite.
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Hello, friends!
I’m super excited to share this recipe with you.
It fits in the same category as these favorite Instant Pot chicken dishes:
Using an electric pressure cooker has been a game changer for quick and easy meals that our whole family loves.
Most of the time in this recipe is hands-off time, making this dish a perfect one for a busy weeknight.
You can also make the recipe in advance and let it keep warm, until ready to serve. I’ve told you before how much I love make-ahead-able recipes. On busy nights, the “keep warm” function is my best friend.
Can I use other kinds of meat?
I love recipes that use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the pressure cooker. I’ve found the dark meat is a bit more forgiving and tenderizes rather than drying out.
I haven’t tried this recipe with chicken breasts but I’m guessing they would also work.
I made this recipe with pork sirloin roast, cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces in place of the chicken thighs and it worked really well and was really tasty.
Feel free to experiment with bone-in chicken or other cuts of pork, as desired. You may have to adjust the cooking time slightly, but I think it most will work with a bit of time adjustment.
Can I skip broiling the meat?
After cooking the meat in the pressure cooker, the recipe calls for cooking the meat under the broiler for a couple of minutes. The broiling step is optional, but I think it adds a nice color and caramelized flavor.
A few ingredient preferences
This recipe uses fresh garlic. I’ve mentioned before that if you sub the refrigerator minced garlic you won’t get as good of flavor. The refrigerator minced garlic has a milder flavor plus sometimes has a bitter aftertaste that changes the taste quite a bit.
I love my garlic mincer (aff. link) and it makes using fresh garlic a lot easier. I use it every day. It is a bit of a pain to clean, but I recently discovered that a toothbrush is the perfect size to get in the grooves and clean it well.
On the other hand, I’ve found that using the refrigerated ginger paste instead of fresh ginger is a nice shortcut and I haven’t noticed any flavor sacrifice. You can sub an equal amount of ginger paste for minced or grated fresh ginger in most recipes.
This dish has plenty of flavor. You’ll want to make sure to use low sodium soy sauce and do not add additional salt to the meat before adding it to the pressure cooker. You can always add additional salt later if it needs it.
What to serve it with
I love serving this dish over rice with stir fried vegetables (Costco makes a great package of stir fry vegetables in their freezer section that I love).
Adding some freshly grilled pineapple is always a delicious idea. This time I grilled the pineapple on a cast iron grill on the stove so I didn’t have to freeze my toesies off grilling outside. It was delicious.
The combo of the tender chicken in the glazed sauce with the fresh grilled pineapple and stir fried vegetables had be swooning over every bite.
Update (3/12/22): I’ve found that you can cut down the cooking time to 10 minutes in the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
This easy Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken (or pork) dish is packed with flavor. The meat is juicy and tender and the sauce is absolutely delicious. It has quickly become family favorite.
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or boneless pork sirloin, see note
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar or honey
- 1 6-ounce can (or ¾ cup) pineapple juice divided
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce see note
- ½ tablespoon minced ginger or ginger paste
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
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Trim excess fat from chicken. Place whole pieces in bottom of electric pressure cooker insert.
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Add honey to large microwaveable liquid measuring cup and microwave in 30-second increments until honey is runny (skip this step if honey is already runny or using granulated sugar).
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Combine honey, ½ cup of the pineapple juice (save the remaining juice for thickening later), low sodium soy sauce, ginger, and minced garlic to large glass measuring cup and whisk until smooth.
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Pour sauce mixture over chicken in Instant Pot. Lock lid in place and cook on HIGH pressure for 10 minutes. When time is up, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then do a quick release.
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Remove chicken to a 9×13-inch baking dish leaving liquid in the pot. In a small bowl whisk together 2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch and remaining pineapple juice (about ¼ cup). Select the sauté function on the Instant Pot. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the Instant Pot and heat until thickened, whisking to avoid lumps.
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Pour thickened sauce over chicken in baking dish. Preheat broiler. Place baking dish directly under broiler and broil for 2-4 minutes until meat browns slightly (see note).
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Serve chicken with sauce over cooked rice with other steamed vegetables and fresh grilled pineapple, as desired.
Recipe Notes
1. You can also make this dish with pork. A pork sirloin roast works well. If using pork, cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces before placing in the pressure cooker.
2. This dish has plenty of flavor. You’ll want to make sure to use low sodium soy sauce and do not add additional salt to the meat before adding it to the pressure cooker. You can always add additional salt later if it needs it.
3. The broiling step is optional, but I think it adds a nice color and caramelized flavor.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
