This Paleo and Whole30 Sweet and Sour Chicken is made in the Instant Pot so it’s fast, easy, and a great meal for weeknights! Family (and kid!) approved, made with real-food ingredients and ready in 30 minutes.
If you haven’t fallen in love with the Instant Pot yet, now is most certainly the time!
It took me awhile – as it does with anything and everything new – but after doing some experimenting and creating a few new recipes, I have to say I’m totally hooked!
So hooked, that maybe at some point I’ll branch out from chicken recipes. Perhaps, but for now, the chicken is working for us, so let’s just go with it. Exhibit A – Paleo + Whole30 Sweet and Sour Chicken made in the Instant Pot.
The Instant Pot is my first experience with a pressure cooker, so naturally there’s a bit of a learning curve when trying out a totally new cooking method.
Timing is everything – as with most cooking – but this is especially so with pressure cooking, since you can’t peek into the pot to see how things are going – that is cooking commitment on a level I’m just not used to.
Ahh! The pressure! Pun not originally intended, but, I think I have to go with it now that it’s there 🙂
So, yes, the Instant Pot has a million uses and I’m still taking baby steps at the beginning, but I’m noticing that it’s really fun to use it for “saucy” recipes.
Because it can saute AND pressure cook, it’s a breeze to make a deliciously thick sauce with everything else you’re cooking, all in one pot. Enter takeout-fakeout galore! At least, that’s what came to mind for me – saucy Chinese takeout.
I’ll probably have at least 2 more coming after this Sweet and Sour Chicken – that’s what happens when I become obsessed with an idea – just a warning 🙂
The recipe itself is very, very simple. The ingredients are all easy to find in your local store EXCEPT for the Whole30 compliant ketchup. If you want to make this Whole30, you have 3 options for the ketchup:
- Use Tessemae’s Whole30 compliant ketchup
- Make your own homemade ketchup with my recipe here
- Use tomato paste with the addition of more garlic and ginger to make up for flavor
If you wind up going with the tomato paste, you won’t be missing out since there are lots of other ingredients making up for flavor!
To sum up the recipe – chop ingredients, sear chicken, add sauce, pressure cook, thicken sauce. That’s it! The entire meal will be ready in 30 minutes or less, and your family will be amazed that it’s actually healthy!
On second thought, don’t even bother to tell them it’s healthy, sometimes those kinds of secrets are better kept, well, secret – just between you and me.
I think we’re ready to cook (no pressure, haha!) get your Instant Pot out and let’s go!
Sweet and Sour Chicken in the Instant Pot {Paleo, Whole30}
Sweet and Sour Chicken in the Instant Pot {Paleo, Whole30}
This Paleo and Whole30 Sweet and Sour Chicken is made in the Instant Pot so it's fast, easy, and a great meal for weeknights! Family (and kid!) approved, made with real-food ingredients and ready in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 2" pieces
- Sea salt and pepper
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in 100% juice fruit and juice separated (see below)
- 1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks from the can
- 3/4 pineapple juice from can divided 1/2 + 1/4 cup
- 1/3 cup raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup Whole30 ketchup homemade or purchased*
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger minced
- 1 large red bell pepper cut into 1-2” pieces
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (or more for a spicier sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
- Sliced green onions for garnish
- Toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
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Have your ingredients cut/chopped and ready to use. Turn your instant pot to “saute” and once it reads "HOT" add the coconut oil. Sprinkle your chicken with a bit of salt and pepper while waiting for pot to heat.
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Add chicken (in 2 batches) and cook about 1-2 minutes on each side (approximate), turning with tongs. Do not cook the chicken through or wait for it to turn brown - searing it on both sides is the goal.
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While chicken sautés, whisk together the 1/2 cup pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup (or tomato paste) garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes.
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After chicken sautés, and add the sauce mixture, pineapple chunks and red bell pepper, and bring to a simmer. Cancel saute function. Secure the lid, place the steam release on “sealing” and set to high pressure for 5 minutes (you can also use the “poultry” button if you have it.)
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After 5 minutes, quick release the pressure by turning steam release to “venting”. Once pressure is released, carefully remove the lid.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot starch with remaining 1/4 cup pineapple juice until dissolved, then add to the pot and carefully stir. Turn pot to “sauté” again and cook 3-5 minutes or until sauce thickens to preference.
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Press “cancel” and allow pot to cool down a bit before serving. Serve hot, garnished with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds, alongside cauliflower rice and/or roasted broccoli. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*Here is my recipe for homemade Whole30 ketchup. You can also purchase it here. In a pinch, tomato paste can be subbed in (for Whole30 if you don’t have compliant ketchup), you can add a bit more minced garlic and ginger if desired to make up for the flavor.
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken:
Want More Takeout Inspired Whole30 and Paleo Recipes? Try One of These!
Chicken Stir Fry with Veggies and Garlic Sauce
Pork Lo Mein with Sweet Potato Noodles
One-Skillet Teriyaki Meatballs
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YUM! I don’t have Chinese food often (for obvious reasons) and never think to make it at home…but when I do it’s always “sweet and sour” something I crave! 🙂 Thank you, can’t wait to try this! I too am bonding more with my IP and it’s becoming less intimidating! Love the convenience and that I’m now seeing more healthy recipes like this for it! Yes! Keep those IP recipes coming! No pressure! 😉
I bought an instant pot over a year ago on a black Friday deal. I’ve yet to use it as I’m afraid of it blowing up. ? it takes up a lot of space in my cupboards. I should probably give it to someone. ?
Please consider giving it a try with a simple recipe or two. Chicken shredded is so easy. Hard-boiled eggs, easy fast potatoes! You will find that the Instant Pot does not blow up and is really quite wonderful! This sight has given me so many recipes that are very easy, and so good and made testing out the IP fun! IT WILL NOT BLOW UP and you will love the time savings!
Thank you Phyllis for your kind words of encouragement. I may give it a try yet.
Thank you Michele I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. I’m just getting used to my instant pot too, I had never used the sauté function before. Thank you for the good ideas!
Oh that’s great to hear! I absolutely love that you can saute right in the same pot!
Can you make the recipe without an instant pot?
You rock! This recipe was awesome! Now I have two instant pot recipes I love …. this one and your last one, the bbq chicken. Hubby was a big fan too! Thank you and keep ‘em coming 🙂
Awesome! New one coming this week, I’m loving the instant pot!
Can you make this recipe in a slow cooker instead or without an insta pot?
This is a delicious recipe! It comes together quickly and is packed with flavor.
Is there a way to do it not in an insta Pot
Yes – I would cook it stovetop, in the sauce, covered (not sure of the time) if you’re not pressure cooking.
Just made this last night and everyone LOVED it. So good. Thanks!
Just found the recipe the other day and made it last night…it is amazing! My husband and I both LOVED it!
So thrilled you enjoyed it!
Yummm!! Thank you for never letting me down! I doubled the recipe and tripled the veggies plus added some chopped yellow onion. Breasts instead of thighs because it’s what I had. Other than that I followed the recipe pretty closely and it came out so awesome. My Toddler loved helping and ate a huge bowl, while my husband didn’t help much but also ate his fill 🙂 big thumbs up from both! I started following you when I was doing a whole30 and normally split my time between you and Nom Nom Paleo when it comes to all things Paleo (and instant pot!) We will be making this again soon!
Could you use a slow cooker?
Hi! I just made this tonight for dinner, and everyone loved it, including my picky toddler! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Absolutely amazing! My entire family loved it! I’ll definitely be making this one again!!!
Made this tonight and it was delicious. Thanks for always having such awesome recipes?
I so want to make this but don’t want an insta pot and dont plan on buying one. Any suggestions on how to make it without one? Pretty sure I can figure it out but wasnt sure if you had tried yet. Thank you so much. Love the recipes!!
Going to a Game of Thrones party for the first episode of the last season tonight and wanted to make a wholesome sweet and sour chicken dish to venture a little deeper into the versatility of my new Instant Pot. Looks like this recipe is a winner.
Hi- at which point do you cut the chicken into pieces? Do you do that before adding to the pot, or after it sears, or after the whole thing cooks? It wasn’t really clear in the instructions. Thank you! Looking forward to trying this!
This was my first time trying out my Instant Pot — thanks for all the helpful tips about the Instant Pot embedded in your recipe directions.. gave me so much more confidence!
Quick, easy and delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Any ideas of what I could sub for pineapple- we are doing Atkins and the carb count for pineapple is too high for us 🙁
I literally make a recipe from your site EVERY WEEK NIGHT (I don’t cook on the weekends).
Could you create a way to save my favorites?
Pinterest
Delicious!! I had to sub a couple ingredients (olive oil instead of coconut oil; corn starch instead of arrow root; organic ketchup instead of Whole 30 ketchup) but it was fabulous anyway!!
Wonderful.
Recommend putting the red bell in AFTER pressure cooking. While the sauce is thickening then it’ll still be crunchy. Mine turned to paste.
This one is a keeper!
This was delicious. Even my increasingly picky teen loved it. So much in fact that the next day she ate ALL the leftovers and told me, “Sorry I didn’t leave any for you. But I liked this just that much.” Will definitely be making this one again.
I loved this! I just got an Instant Pot and wanted to try some new recipes with it. I did change it a bit, like I used tomato paste because my partner is SCD. I only had thin cut breasts and honestly the searing was a disaster—the chicken stuck ALL over the pot and I’ll skip next time if using thin cut meat. Also, I don’t like peppers so I used onion instead and it was amazing. Added a tbsp. sesame oil to the sauce instead of sesame seeds. Again, since my partner is SCD I didn’t do the arrowroot at the end and we just scooped the chicken/pineapple/onion directly out of the pot. My partner was very skeptical but he loved it too!
Just made this for dinner tonight—so delicious! If I wanted to add some more veggies, would it work to include some chopped onions and thinly sliced carrots?