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Instant Pot Sticky Korean Chicken…the best Monday dinner.
FOR REAL.
Sorry, I don’t mean to shout at you, especially on a Monday, but it’s true what I said up there, this is the best Monday dinner. It’s an under thirty minute meal, super simple, and extra delicious.
Ok, all the dramatics aside, I do truly love this recipe and am very excited to share it with you guys for so many reasons.
I wanted to start the week off with yet another Korean inspired recipe, because you guys…we are just two days away from boarding an airplane and flying off to South Korea. Craziness! It’s still unbelievable to me that we are headed there to watch my brother compete in the Olympics. I know I’ve been talking about this for weeks, but this is for sure the coolest thing to ever happen within my family. I have been following along with my brother Red’s Instagram stories (it is so fun having social media so we can all be a part of his experience). He spent Saturday in Soul, South Korea getting fitted for his Team USA Opening and Closing Ceremony outfit. Yup, just another normal Saturday…
Right, right.
One of my favorite Korean inspired recipes is Bulgogi, which is Korean gilled beef in a sweet and spicy sauce. It’s truly just so good. I have a recipe for Korean Bulgogi BBQ Steak Bowls that you guys all seem to love, but I wanted to create a lighter, simpler chicken version using the Instant Pot (don’t worry, I included slow cooker directions too).
The key to this recipe is all in the sauce, it’s sweet, sticky, and a little bit spicy. It takes normally boring chicken to a whole new level.
Most traditional Bulgogi marinades use pears and a lot of brown sugar, but I wanted to keep this chicken on the healthier side, so I swapped honey for brown sugar and reduced the sweetness a bit by omitting the pear (which I am really not a fan of anyway). The rest of the sauce consists of Gochujang (Korean chili paste) sesame oil, ginger and garlic.
And then? Everything gets mixed and cooked up in the Instant Pot (or slow cooker). It could not be easier.
I like to serve this Korean chicken over a bed of rice with some kimchi, toasted sesame seeds, and green onions. I also added in some thinly sliced mango…because I am obsessed and I can’t help myself. Mango is for sure not Korean, but it’s delicious. Just go with me on this one.
Here’s the thing, as I said, I’m sure this is not traditional. But that’s kind of the idea of these Korean inspired recipes I’m sharing, they’re only Korean inspired. I can’t wait to see how the recipes I’m sharing now, differ from the real deal Korean food that we will be enjoying in South Korea. My goal is to find some new inspiration while there and be able to come home and share new, more traditional, Korean recipes with you guys.
But until then, you should probably make this chicken, because traditional or not, it’s really stinkin’ good.
Also? I think if there’s one thing I would cook in the Instant Pot, it would be chicken. I’m not going to lie, I have a love/hate relationship with my Instant Pot. I’m still trying to figure certain things out. But if there’s one thing the Instant Pot seems to cook amazingly well, it’s chicken. No matter what, it always turns out tender, moist, and never dry.
That said, this can easily be cooked in the slow cooker or even in the oven.
And with that, I’m off to keep working away in preparation for my week away. Happiest Monday!
PS. I have only ever been out of the country once, and that was to Mexico, so this will be a whole new kind of experience for me. It should be fun…and very interesting, considering no one in my family knows even a little Korean. Ahh, yikes!
Instant Pot Sticky Korean Chicken
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 358 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1-2 tablespoons Gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- steamed white rice, for serving
- 1 cup kimchi
- 1 mango, sliced
- toasted sesame seeds and green onions, for serving
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of your instant pot the soy sauce, honey, Gochujang, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic. Add the chicken, tossing to coat. Cover and cook on high pressure/manual for 8 minutes. Once done cooking, use the quick release valve and release the steam. If needed to thicken the sauce, set the instant post to sauté and cook 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken. If the sauce seems thin, just continue to cook on sauté, checking often until the sauce is your desired consistency.2. To serve, spoon the chicken and sauce over bowls of rice. Toss the kimchi with the mangos and serve alongside the chicken. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and green onions. Enjoy!
SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS
- 1. In the bowl of your crockpot, combine 2 tablespoons water, the soy sauce, honey, Gochujang, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic. Add the chicken, tossing to coat. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours. If the sauce needs thickening, turn the heat to high and cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Finish as directed above.
NOPE….definitely not your average chicken.
Question: I think I’ll make the Sticky Korean Chicken recipe, only with beef. Your photo is beautiful. But it looks like the garnish are both orange and yellow, probably not both mango? Did you add something else?
Karen
Hi Karen, I top my chicken with kimchi and mangos. The mangos are yellow and my kimchi has orange carrots. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
I made this last night but made it paleo with coconut aminos. Oh.My. God. It was so good. I made enough for leftovers but we ended up eating it all! I served it with a whole 30 coleslaw and mangos. I can’t wait to make this again! Thank you so much!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you Alyssa!
One of the nice things about having a great meal at home instead of a restaurant is that they probably won’t kick you out if you lick your plate. This was that good. I had some kimchi paste (a gift from a Korean chef), so I whipped up some quick cucumber kimchi. I served the chicken over riced cauliflower with cucumber kimchi and julienned carrots, and of course the sesame seeds and green onions. It was divine.
Sounds amazing Becki! I am so glad you loved this recipe! Thank you!
I made this for dinner tonight and my family really enjoyed it; it was delicious flavor and tender chicken. I put the instant pot on sauté for about 20 minutes after cooking the chicken to thicken the sauce. Next time I will remove the chicken first, as it was falling apart by then and a little tough at the thinner edges of the chicken, and plan for the additional time. For that I give the recipe four stars, but I will definitely make it again with these adjustments.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Wendy! I hope it turns out better for you next time!
Hi Tieghan! I love your site and try your recipes all the time! On this one, the sauce turned out runny and not sticky for me. I was wondering if you could help steer me in the right direction as to what I may have done wrong. I cooked it in the crock pot on high for 4 hours, checked and saw that the sauce was runny, so removed the lid and cranked the heat to high and cooked for another 30 minutes but that didn’t really seem to change much. The only variation from the recipe that I made was that I used Sambal Oelek ground fresh chili paste because I had it on hand and couldn’t find the other one in my grocery store. I also just used 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I had on hand and cut into cubes before going into the crockpot (not sure it was exactly 1 1/2 pounds). I used soy sauce, not tamari. Let me know what you think I can do better next time! Thanks!
HI!! It’s hard to say, but it sounds like your sauce just need to be cooked longer to thicken. I would recommend leaving the lid off the slow cooker for and hour and see if it thicken up at all. If not, I would put the sauce on the stove top and boil 10-15 minutes. Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Glad you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
I’m not sure where I went wrong. The chicken shredded, the sauce was soup consistency, and I added starch like some reviews suggested but now it’s just like a thick stew. I used the instant pot.
Hey Melissa, the chicken should be tender, so it might shred. What size was your chicken? for the sauce I recommend simmering until it thickened to your liking. I don’t recommend adding starch. So sorry for any trouble, but I hope this help! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
Delicious! I also had too much water. Don’t forget that grocery store chicken breast usually has added water. I simmered for about 10 minutes to thicken. If you have regular soy sauce cut the amount in half. I reduced but not enough.
Thank you so much Lisa! I am so glad you loved this!
Like others, mine was way too liquid. I had to cook it down and add cornstarch… The chicken dissolved into stew. It still tastes ok, but it isn’t “sticky” and looks nothing like the photo. Disappointed. I think you need to change the recipe or at least take out the photo.
Hi Sarah. I am so sorry this did not turn out well for you. Is there any questions I could help you with? Please let me know!
I just made this tonight after searching for something to make with gojuchang and chicken. It turned out really delicious! I’m really going to enjoy the leftovers for lunch tomorrow too!
I did need to keep my instant pot on saute mode for about 20-30 minutes afterwards to reduce the sauce to a point where I liked it (I removed the chicken first to cool). To other commenters having trouble with a thin sauce, you can also try adding cornstarch to thicken it, but that’s a last resort. I’m guessing the sauce was thin after cooking because of all the liquid my chicken breasts released, but I was able to reduce it back to a little over 1 cup volume.
Hi Cat! I am really glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for adding some helpful tips for others! I hope you continue to love other recipes on my blog!
This dish came out really tasty, but I didn’t achieve the stickiness. Any thoughts!?
HI! I recommend setting the instant pot to saute and cooking an additional 5-10 minutes until it is your desired thickness. This usually works to thicken up the sauce and make it stickier! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
I wish I read the comments, this definitely does not look like the pictures. I’m pretty familiar with instant pot recipes and was skeptical how it would thicken in 5 minutes. After 8 minutes the chicken is over cooked and 30 mins later you’ll just be sauting boiling broth. Would not recommend doing his recipe with the instant pot, save your time and effort. Sorry for the bad review
Hi Mike! I am so sorry this did not turn out well for you. Is there any questions I could answer to help you with this? Please let me know, thanks!
This was amazing! My parents gifted me an instant pot a few months ago but I was not inclined to take it out of the box until tonight, for this recipe….and I’m so happy I did! So delicious! I was never a “recipe person” and still don’t consider myself one, except for yours! I just graduated from law school and have seriously depended on HBH’s blog recipes for the last three years. The first thing I plan to do with my first paycheck this fall is *finally* purchase your cookbook. I had to rearrange my “priorities” during law school and I’m stocked to re-rearrange them after the bar exam!
That is so amazing! Congratulations on graduating from law school, that is an awesome accomplishment! I hope you love the book and would love to hear what recipes you make from it!
Mine didn’t turn out sticky or pretty looking like yours – maybe because I was using a slow cooker? But it’s the flavor that matters so I really liked it. I just put some extra gochujang on it when I ate it and the mango and kimchi flavors go great together. I never would have thought of that! Next time I’ll try using less soy sauce since the sauce consistency seemed stickier with less than the recipe calls for.
Hi! When using the slow cooker, try leaving the top off of the slow cooker for 30 minutes or so before serving. This will help the sauce to thicken. Please let me know if you have any other questions. So glad you love this recipe! Thanks!
I’m a little worried that there isn’t enough liquid here for the slow cooker. I’ll try it out and hope it turns out OK!
Please let me know how it turns out and if there is anything I can help you with! Thanks Dan!
Is this okay to try with frozen chicken breasts?
I don’t recommend cooking the raw chicken from frozen. I would thaw and then cook. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂