Instant Pot Orange Chicken

We’re grateful to hear many of you enjoyed the tasty twists with our Instant Pot Lemon Chicken. A recipe inspired by my dad’s Chinese restaurant!

So how can we miss experimenting and recreating this classic favorite Chinese Takeout – Orange Chicken!

Orange Chicken

The classic Orange Chicken is wok deep-fried, crispy golden, battered chicken nuggets in a sticky, sweet, savory, and tangy orange sauce.

Crunchy, juicy, bursting with umami flavors – a very addictive combination. Many people love this popular American Chinese dish. 

United States’ largest Chinese fast food chain – Panda Express – claims to have invented the original orange chicken.

In fact, their Panda Express Orange Chicken is one of their best-selling signature dishes.

As usual, with our Instant Pot Orange Chicken recipe, we’d like to have some creative fun with it!

You won’t need to dice, batter, or deep fry the chicken. But rather, it’s a much easier, healthier, simpler yet still delicious orange chicken you can make at home with pantry ingredients.

Enjoy this tender and juicy chicken drowned in a sweet and tangy honey garlicky orange sauce. 

How to Make Instant Pot Orange Chicken

Here are the simple ingredients for making Orange Chicken in Instant Pot:

Orange

Since the orange is one of the key ingredients, try to use a fresh, juicy, sweet, and intensely-flavored orange for best results.

Preparations: Zest an orange, and set aside the orange zest. Then, freshly squeeze the orange juice from the fresh orange.

Chicken

Don’t worry! The chicken didn’t run away as we were developing this orange chicken recipe! hehe~

We developed this recipe with bone-in skin-on chicken thighs because the results will be better using dark meat.

Marinate Chicken in Instant Pot

First, add garlic cloves, ginger slices, onion slices, ¼ cup (63ml) regular soy sauce, ½ tsp (2.5ml) sesame oil, 2 tbsp (30g) ketchup, orange zest, 70ml – 90ml orange juice, 1 tbsp (15ml) Shaoxing wine (optional), and ½ cup (125ml) unsalted chicken stock in your Instant Pot. Mix well.

Add chicken thighs in Instant Pot skin side down.

Now, we’ll marinate the chicken in the inner pot for at least 30 minutes to up to 2 hours in the fridge. 

Pressure Cook Orange Chicken

After marinating the chicken, place the inner pot back in your Instant Pot.

Flip the chicken thighs over so the chicken skins are facing up.

With Venting Knob in Venting Position. Close the lid. Then, turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.

Pressure Cooking Method: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 6 minutes, then Natural Release for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, release the remaining pressure by turning Venting Knob to Venting Position.

When the Floating Valve drops, open the lid carefully.

Sweeten and Thicken Instant Pot Orange Chicken

Now, set aside the chicken thighs on a serving plate. 

Then, bring the orange sauce mixture to a simmer with the “Saute” function.

Add in 1 to 3 tbsp honey to sweeten the sauce. Taste and adjust the sweetness as you add the honey.

In a small mixing bowl, mix 2.5 tbsp (22.5g) cornstarch with 3 tbsp (45ml) cold water. Mix it into the orange sauce one-third at a time until desired thickness.

Once again, taste the yummy honey garlic orange sauce, then season with salt or regular soy sauce if necessary. For reference, we added 3 large pinches of salt to season it properly.

Place the chicken back into the orange sauce.

Optional Flavor-Boosting Step: Broil Chicken with Air Fryer Lid or Oven

Option 1 – Oven or Toaster Oven

Place the Orange Chicken on an oven tray under the “Broil” function (or the highest temperature setting) for a few minutes until the tasty orange sauce is caramelized.

Option 2 – Air Fryer or Air Fryer Lid

Place air fryer basket with the tray on the middle rack in Instant Pot.

Layer chicken on the air fryer tray in Instant Pot.

Place the Air Fryer Lid on Instant Pot.

Press “Airfry” button, set Temperature to 400°F and Cooking Time to 15 minutes.

Then, air fry the second batch of orange chicken in Instant Pot.

Garnish and Serve Instant Pot Orange Chicken

There are a lot of garnishment choices!

For example, you can garnish your deliciously caramelized orange chicken with finely sliced green onions, orange zest, orange slices, and toasted sesame seeds.

Side Dishes to Serve with Orange Chicken

You can serve this tasty Orange Chicken with a large variety of side dishes to make it a complete meal. A complete Chinese homecooked meal usually includes protein, rice, vegetables, and a nourishing Chinese soup.

Here are some delicious Chinese side dishes: 

• Rice and Grain: Instant Pot Rice, Chinese Sticky Rice, Chinese Egg Fried Rice, Brown Rice, Instant Pot Quinoa
• Vegetable Side Dishes: Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce, Instant Pot Broccoli, Instant Pot Cabbage, Instant Pot Green Beans, Instant Pot Zucchini
• Soups: Pork Shank Carrots Soup, Chinese Pork Bone Soup

Enjoy this Juicy Caramelized Instant Pot Orange Chicken!

Other Popular Chinese Takeout Recipes

• Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
• Instant pot General Tso Chicken
• Instant Pot Mongolian Beef
• Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Pork Chops