Name: Instant Pot Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs; ½ cup low sodium soy sauce; ½ cup brown sugar or ⅓ cup honey; 2 tablespoons rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic; 2 tablespoons canola oil (or other neutral oil); 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 tablespoons water; salt & pepper (to taste); chopped fresh pineapple or pineapple chunks (optional, for serving); chopped green onions (optional, for garnish); cooked rice and vegetables (optional, for serving)

This delicious Instant Pot Hawaiian teriyaki chicken is packed with flavor. The meat is juicy and tender and the sauce is lick-the-spoon good. Serve it with pineapple over cooked rice and steamed vegetables and you’ve got an easy, delicious meal.

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Hello, my friends and welcome.

I’m super excited to share this Instant Pot Hawaiian teriyaki chicken with you.

At first glance, it might remind you of these recipes on my site:

In fact I debated about posting another similar recipe, but in the end I decided it deserves its permanent place on the blog because this Instant Pot Hawaiian teriyaki chicken is excellent.

A perfect formula

Why reinvent the wheel when you’ve got a perfect formula, right?

Here’s what you need to make it work:

Boneless skinless chicken thighs – I know some people are opposed to using chicken thighs (preferring chicken breasts). But I absolutely love using chicken thighs especially for these Instant pot meals. The main reason is because unlike chicken breasts, chicken thighs stay juicy and tender when cooked in an electric pressure cooker. Feel free to try other types of chicken in this recipe, but keep in mind they may not be as tender and juicy as the chicken thighs.
The Sauce – Pressure cooker recipes need the steam from a heated liquid in order to get up to pressure and cook the food. Thinner sauces work better in electric pressure cooker recipes because there’s more liquid to create steam, which helps build the pressure.

The Thickener – After cooking, adding a combination of cornstarch + water to the simmering sauce helps to thicken it. Thick sauces coat the meat and veggies better and add a lot more flavor to each bite.
The Broiling – Once the chicken is cooked and the sauce is tender, pop the combo under the broiler for a few minutes. The broiling step is optional, but I love the nice color and caramelized flavor it adds to the meat.

This IP Hawaiian teriyaki chicken

Now that you have a good sense for the formula I’ve used in these Instant Pot chicken recipes, let’s talk about what’s unique about this recipe.

Spoiler alert–it’s the sauce.

Only 5 pantry-friendly ingredients in this easy teriyaki sauce:

Low sodium soy sauce – I haven’t tried it with regular soy sauce but I’m guessing since I use very little additional salt in this recipe that it may make the chicken too salty.
Brown sugar or honey – both work well so the choice is yours!
Rice vinegar – I haven’t tried it, but I’m guessing you can sub other types of vinegar for the rice vinegar if you need to.
Minced fresh garlic – Don’t use the refrigerated kind, it won’t be as flavorful.
Canola oil – You can use any kind of neutral oil in this recipe.

Yes it’s simple, but also super flavorful and delicious. You may want to keep a spoon handy to sneak a taste when it’s done.

Serving Suggestions

I serve this dish with cooked rice (white or brown). It’s nice to garnish it with chopped green onions, grilled or fresh pineapple (or canned pineapple chunks) and/or serve it with vegetables. Stir fried or roasted vegetables (I love the frozen stir-fry mix from Costco), zucchini/yellow squash and bell peppers or steamed frozen broccoli are some of my go-tos.

I hope you give this Instant Pot teriyaki chicken a try. You’ll enjoy every bite.