Chilli chicken is a very popular Indo-Chinese dish with bold flavors. Bite-sized pieces of boneless chicken breast or thighs are cooked in a sweet and spicy sauce and served with hakka noodles or fried rice. An easy recipe adapted for the instant pot.
If you like sweet and spicy flavors, do try this chicken shashlik. It is quite addictive!
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If you are familiar with Indian street food, you'll know that Indo-Chinese food is a thing in the subcontinent. A fusion of sweet, sour and spicy flavors, it is not anything like authentic Chinese or authentic Indian fare, but it is delicious all the same. Not to mention popular. You'll find chow mein or lo Mein, manchurian, chicken hakka noodles, and chilli chicken in every street corner or dhaba, and even on the menus of big restaurants!
An easy chilli chicken recipe
This chilli chicken recipe is vibrant, colorful and a little spicy. All the usual suspects of Indo-Chinese cooking go into it like soy sauce, chilli sauce, ketchup and vinegar. But I have adapted the original to make it easier and healthier. I make it in the instant pot and don't deep fry the chicken prior to cooking it. The result? The effort and time taken to make this recipe gets reduced, but it still tastes really good! Sweet, right?
Ingredients
- Boneless chicken breast or thighs
- Cooking oil
- Ginger, minced
- Garlic, minced
- Soy sauce
- Red chilli sauce or hot sauce
- Tomato ketchup
- Brown sugar
- White vinegar
- Black pepper, ground
- Cornflour or cornstarch
- Red onion
- Green and red peppers
- Serrano chillies
- Spring onions
Note: exact quantities of these ingredients are mentioned in the recipe card below.
How to make chilli chicken in the instant pot
Preparation
1. Cut the onions and peppers into squares and chop the chillies. Like so -
2. Put the soy sauce, red chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, brown sugar, white vinegar and ground black pepper in a bowl. Add ½ cup water and whisk lightly with a fork or spoon to combine into a sauce.
3. Mince the ginger and garlic, if using fresh. Bottled ginger and garlic pastes are also available in most supermarkets.
4. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Cooking
1. Switch on the instant pot and press saute. Add the oil and wait for the display panel to show HOT. Add the minced ginger and garlic and fry for a few seconds in the hot oil.
2. Add the sauce (step 2 of prep) and the chicken. Stir through to mix the two and cancel saute.
3. Secure the lid and press the poultry button. The timer will show 15 minutes. Make sure the steam release handle is sealed. When the pot beeps, wait for 10 minutes, then release pressure by turning the steam release handle to venting.
4. Open the pot and switch back to saute mode, Add the vegetables (onions, red and green peppers and green Serrano chillies). Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly soft but still crunchy.
5. Add the cornflour dissolved in 4 tablespoons water and cook for 1 minute more. The sauce will thicken immediately and become glossy. Cancel saute and take out the chilli chicken in a bowl. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve warm with rice or noodles.
Why this recipe works
1. Sweet and spicy flavors come together in a perfect combination.
2. It's an easy version of stove-top chilli chicken.
3. It's also healthier because the chicken is not deep fried.
4. It's got lots of gravy, so goes very well with fried rice or noodles.
5. It uses very common and easily available ingredients.
More Indo-Chinese recipes you might like
📖 Recipe
Chilli Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts or thighs, boneless
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon red chilli sauce or hot sauce
- ½ cup tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon black pepper ground
- 2 tablespoon cornflour dissolved in 4 tablespoon water
- 1 red onion
- 1 green pepper
- 1 red pepper
- 2 Serrano peppers
- 1 bunch spring onions
Instructions
Preparation
- Cut the onions and peppers into squares and chop the chillies.
- Put the soy sauce, red chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, brown sugar, white vinegar and ground black pepper in a bowl. Add ½ cup water and whisk lightly with a fork or spoon to combine into a sauce.
- Mince the ginger and garlic.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Cooking
- Switch on the instant pot and press saute. Add the oil and wait for the display panel to show HOT. Add the minced ginger and garlic and fry for a few seconds in the hot oil.
- Add the sauce (step 2 of prep) and the chicken. Stir through to mix the two and cancel saute.
- Secure the lid and press the poultry button. The timer will show 15 minutes. Make sure the steam release handle is sealed. When the pot beeps, wait for 10 minutes, then release pressure by turning the steam release handle to venting.
- Open the pot and switch back to saute mode, Add the vegetables (onions, red and green peppers and green Serrano chillies). Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly soft but still crunchy.
- Add the cornflour dissolved in 4 tablespoons water and cook for 1 minute more. The sauce will thicken immediately and become glossy. Cancel saute and take out the chilli chicken in a bowl. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve warm with rice or noodles.
Notes
- Use a neutral cooking oil like canola.
- Ginger and garlic pastes are available in jars in most supermarkets.
- Don't over cook the vegetables. You don't want them raw but you do want a slight crunch.
- If the sauce becomes very thick after adding the cornflour, thin it with a little water.
Bala says
i tried this and came out well 🙂 yummy and healthy
as mentioned early few suggestions , chicken weight should be mentioned
secondly , i don't see poultry in my Instant pot (its 6q Deo Plus 9-in-1) so did manual 15 min and 10 min natural release . i feel the chicken is overcooked so next time will do 15 min and a quick release . Overall its a success - Thanks for sharing
Saima says
Thanks Bala! I really appreciate your detailed feedback. I've added the weight of the chicken as per your request. If you click on 'Metric' in the recipe card, it will show you the weight. If you don't have a poultry button, 5-8 minutes of manual pressure will do to cook boneless chicken.