Skip the takeout and make this flavor-packed Instant Pot Mongolian Chicken… on the table in under 45 minutes!
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Instant Pot Mongolian Chicken
Did I mention how EASY this is? Just 10 minutes prep time is all that’s required, then let your pressure cooker do the rest of the work. 
A win-win situation!
You just can’t go wrong with this chicken in a sweet and savory Mongolian sauce. It’s budget-friendly, too!
Now that the weather is warmer, I’m trying to spend more time outside in the evenings working in my garden. My pressure cooker slashes the time of traditional recipes so that I don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen (when I’d really rather be outside!).
12/4/18: Recipe slightly revised
Enjoy!
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Instant Pot Mongolian Chicken
- Total Time: 42 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into one-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
- 2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic
- ¾ cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 1 cup shredded or julienned carrots
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- ⅓ cup cold water
- Sliced green onions and sesame seeds, for garnish
- Optional: Cooked white rice
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add ginger root, garlic, soy sauce, 1 cup water, brown sugar and hoisin sauce. Stir or whisk well to combine.
- Set your Instant Pot to the saute setting. Add olive oil. When olive oil is heated, add chicken and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Pour mixture over chicken and stir to combine. Add carrots and stir again.
- Turn your Instant Pot off. Place the lid on and lock. Steam release knob should be set on “sealing”.
- Cook on manual setting (high pressure) for 8 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Carefully remove lid and stir. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Prepare the cornstarch slurry by whisking together cornstarch and ⅓ cup cold water in a small bowl or large measuring cup until smooth. Add to sauce and stir to combine. Turn on the saute setting and continue to stir until slightly thickened (about 2 minutes). Turn off your Instant Pot. Sauce will thicken as it sits (about 5 minutes).
- Serve over cooked white rice (if desired) and top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
- Cook time includes the time my Instant Pot took to come to pressure
- I used an Instant Pot LUX80 8 quart in this recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Instant Pot
- Method: Pressure Cook
- Cuisine: Chinese
Keywords: mongolian chicken, instant pot, chicken
Hi! Can I use teriyaki sauce or “soyaki” sauce in stead of hoisin sauce?
Hi Katie, I haven’t tried it so I can’t say with 100% certainty. If you try it let us know how it turns out! 🙂
Made this dish last night. It was good but family agreed, we prefer the Mongolian Beef over the chicken. And as I did with the beef recipe, I cut back on the brown sugar to 1/2 cup and added some red pepper flakes. YUM!!!!!
★★★★
Made this tonight and it couldn’t have been easier or quicker!! (I confess to being out of dark brown sugar so added a dab of molasses, and had run out of hoisin sauce so used leftover Bibimbap sauce I had from a meal this week 🙂 The flavor was incredible and chicken was soooo tender. My husband loved it too. Definitely adding this recipe to the regular rotation. Thanks so much for the inspiration and sharing this awesome recipe!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for sharing, Heather! Sounds like you made some amazing substitutions that worked out perfectly! So happy to hear you enjoyed it 🙂
We loved it! I shared it with several people. They all agree tastes great and so easy. We have now added water chestnuts and baby corn. 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Amber! Water chestnuts and baby corn sounds like a delicious addition! 🙂
Will this recipe be the exact same if I am using a 6 qt IP? Thank you!
Hi Steph, I’ve only tested this recipe with an 8-quart so I can’t say with complete certainty. Here is an article on how to adjust for size differences with Instant Pots, I hope you find it helpful!
This was absolutely delicious. My mother loved it so much and she is a hard sell. I crave chinese take out quite frequently and this is a perfect substitute. I cut the sugar by about half and added 1 tsp of pepper flakes for some extra kick. I also used cauliflower rice! Thanks so much for sharing! Will definitely be making this again!
★★★★★
Thanks, Rebecca! So happy to hear your mom enjoyed it too! 🙂
This is amazing! I had everything but the hoisin sauce, only had full chicken thighs so I just cut out the bone and skin and chopped it up, will definitely make again with boneless chicken next time.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Ryan… so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Looks delish! But a whole cup of sugar…is that right?
Thanks so much, Susan! Yes, that’s how I make it to be sweet and tangy, but you can most definitely reduce the amount of dark brown sugar to your personal preference. Hope you enjoy! 🙂