This delicious Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli recipe is a new, easy, healthier twist on the traditional take-out favorite.
In addition to being insanely delicious, this Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli recipe also happens to be low carb, and completely dairy-free!
And thanks to your pressure cooker, you’ll have a perfectly balanced delicious one-pot meal in less than 25 minutes of your time!
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This low carb Chicken and Broccoli recipe is bursting with flavor yet super easy to make in your Instant Pot, which is perfect after a busy day.
Chicken that’s cooked in the Instant Pot comes out juicy, tender, and packed with flavors, and adding the broccoli at the end ensures it’s cooked to perfection. The stir fry sauce cooked right in the pot is light and delicious too, and goes perfectly with the chicken and broccoli, even better served with rice!
The flavor of this chicken pressure cooker recipe is based on traditional Chinese stir fry, which involves some combination of protein and vegetables cut into bite size pieces and sautéed in a large pot or wok, often served with rice.
Ingredients
Chicken – you can use chicken breast or chicken thighs for this recipe. I’m a huge fan of using thighs because they’re so flavorful and become so juicy and tender when cooked in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. Opt for boneless skinless chicken pieces for this recipe, since you cut the chicken into bite-size pieces prior to adding to the pot.
If you’re using frozen chicken breasts, you’ll want to defrost them fully before using if possible. If the chicken is already in bite size pieces, the chicken will defrost quickly. If your chicken is still frozen, you actually can pressure cook it straight from frozen in the Instant Pot. You may just need to add on a few extra minutes to make sure the chicken is cooked through.
Broccoli – use fresh or frozen broccoli florets in this Chicken and Broccoli recipe. If using frozen broccoli, be sure to thaw it out first. Although the name of this recipe is Chicken and Broccoli, you can easily swap cauliflower for the broccoli in this instant pot recipe if you don’t like broccoli or if that’s what you have on hand. It makes for a different flavor dish but tastes just as delicious!
Soy sauce – since soy sauce contains a lot of sodium, I would highly recommend the low-sodium variety which typically contains about ⅓ less sodium than its traditional counterpart (especially if you’re watching your sodium intake). For any recipe with soy sauce, I recommend tasting the sauce before adding any extra salt. Oftentimes it is salty enough with the use of soy sauce alone!
Chicken broth – use low-sodium chicken broth in order to reduce sodium intake.
Olive oil – sesame oil will work as well if you have it on hand.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli
STEP 1: Gather your ingredients.
STEP 2: Cook onion in the Instant Pot on saute mode until almost caramelized. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
STEP 3: Toss in the chicken and pour in the stock.
STEP 4: Lock lid in place and cook the chicken for 7 minutes on High-pressure. Once the cooking cycle is done, do a quick release.
STEP 5: Add broccoli and make a slurry. Combine ½ cup of the cooking liquid with starch and pour it over.
STEP 6: On Saute mode, with the pressure cooker lid closed, saute the broccoli for 5-6 minutes. Season to taste and serve warm 🙂
Recipe Notes
- You can also make this recipe using beef, but then it would become a different dish, Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli.
- Stir fries are flexible recipes by nature—feel free to add more vegetables along with the broccoli if you’d like, such as mushrooms or bell pepper. I like to add a little bit of fresh grated ginger to the pot for an easy additional burst of flavor!
- If you like things a bit spicier, try adding some red pepper flakes. It will give you some heat that compliments the dish nicely. Or for a sweeter version, you can add up to 1 tablespoon of honey.
- Using sesame oil instead of olive oil adds a flavor that complements this chicken dish nicely! For added sesame flavor, try garnishing the final dish with toasted sesame seeds.
What to Serve with Chicken and Broccoli
Rice - Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli is great served over glutinous rice. Rice is a very common side for a stir fry.
If you like rice, you could also serve this with Instant Pot Brown Rice. Brown rice contains more nutrients than white rice and takes only 10 minutes to pressure cook in your instant pot! Try cooking brown rice with chicken broth instead of water for rice with more flavor.
Zucchini Noodles - if you’re looking for a low carb side dish option, this recipe also pairs well with zucchini noodles.
Cauliflower - Another low carb alternative to rice is cauliflower rice or cauliflower mash.
FAQs
What Does it Mean to Sauté?
To sauté is to cook an item quickly over high heat. The instant pot sauté feature is used to jumpstart the cooking process and brown food, which adds more flavor.
What Does it Mean to Caramelize?
Caramelization refers to the process of sugars beginning to brown through the application of heat in the pot. Caramelizing onions turns them a brown color and also makes them softer and sweeter.
Can I Add the Onion and Garlic Together?
The reason the garlic is added to the pot after the onion in this recipe is because onion takes a few minutes to soften, while garlic will begin to burn after only a minute or so. Garlic should only be sautéed for about 30 seconds to 1 minute to release its aroma without burning. Burnt garlic will taste bitter and unpleasant.
What is a Slurry?
A slurry is made by combining a starch (usually cornstarch) and liquid (usually water). If you add cornstarch directly to the pan without mixing with liquid first, it’s likely to form clumps. Making a slurry helps prevent this and results in a smooth sauce.
An easy way to create a slurry is to stir it using your finger in a small bowl. Make sure you stir the slurry right before using it—otherwise it may begin to separate over time.
How Many Teaspoons are in ½ Tablespoon?
One tablespoon is equal to 3 teaspoons, so there are 1.5 teaspoons in ½ tablespoon.
Why is the Broccoli Added at the End of the Recipe?
Broccoli cooks more quickly than chicken, so if it was added to the pressure cooker too early it would be overcooked and turn mushy before the chicken is fully cooked. It only needs to be sautéed for about 5 minutes to be cooked to perfection!
How Do You Cut Broccoli Into Florets?
If using fresh broccoli stalks, first remove the end of the thick stem, which tends to be quite tough. Separate the small florets by cutting away from the stem, keeping a small amount of the stem intact. If any pieces are too big, you can cut them into bite size pieces from there. Frozen broccoli is typically sold in bags already cut into florets.
You can also cut the top part of the stalk into bite size pieces to reduce food waste. The top part of the stalk is tender, delicious and nutritious! As you move down the stalk, you can peel away the tough outer layer and utilize the inside part which will be more tender.
Similar Recipes
Want more amazing Asian-inspired pressure cooker recipes? Try these instant pot favorite recipes! They are all great served with rice, too:
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts skinless and boneless
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- ⅔ cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 cups broccoli florets fresh or frozen, but thawed
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- olive oil as desired, but not more than 2 tbsp
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
- Set Instant pot to Saute and add olive oil.
- Add onion and cook on "saute" for a few minutes until almost caramelized.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add chicken and toss to coat with oil. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the stock and the soy sauce.
- Close the lid and cook at high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Once done, do a quick pressure release and open the lid.
- In a cup, combine cornstarch with ½ cup of cooking liquid and make a slurry.
- On the Instant Pot, press "saute" and pour the slurry over the chicken while stirring well.
- Add broccoli and close the Instant pot. Let the broccoli cook for 5-6 minutes on saute. (NO need for pressure cooking).
- Open the lid, mix a bit and serve :]
Nutrition
Notes
- You can also make this recipe using beef or tofu.
- Stir fries are flexible recipes by nature—feel free to add more vegetables along with the broccoli if you’d like, such as mushrooms or bell pepper. I like to add a little bit of fresh grated ginger to the pot for an easy additional burst of flavor!
- If you like things a bit spicier, try adding some red pepper flakes. It will give you some heat that compliments the dish nicely. Or for a sweeter version, you can add up to 1 tablespoon of honey.
- Using sesame oil instead of olive oil adds a flavor that complements this chicken dish nicely! For added sesame flavor, try garnishing the final dish with toasted sesame seeds.
Instant Pot's Chicken Broccoli Symphony
Great recipe very tasty
Hi..I just found this revipr..it sounds yummy and I am excited to try it but I would like to cook Jasmine/ white rice with the chicken and broccoli so that it's all in one pot.....is this possible
Thank you in advance..
Unfortunately adding rice would alter the liquid content too much, so you'll need to cook it on the side. It is delicious served over rice though!
Love this site. Your recipes are amazing. This is a silly question but when you change the setting from sauté to high pressure for 7 minutes- do you mean to seal the vent and pressure cook the broccoli for 7 minutes? It seems quite long for broccoli.
Thanks so much! Yes, that's exactly it. The broccoli does begin to fall apart and make sort of a sauce for the chicken.
Kind of confused by this one. It says 1/2 cup of cooking liquid to 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch. It did not thicken up the sauce at all
It is meant to only lightly thicken the sauce. If you'd like the sauce to be thicker, feel free to double up on the cornstarch!
This was great. We added a little twist at the end of ours. We made some tortellini and put it on the bottom of the baking pan, then pores this broccoli chicken mixture on top. We then added fresh mozzarella covering the top and broiled in the oven for 2 mins. Absolutely fantastic!
Wow, I love that idea. That sounds amazing!
That's a good idea Brian
Can this recipe be doubled (or halved again) if using an 8-qt Instant Pot?
Yes, it can be doubled as long as it's not past the maximum fill line. And it can be halved, but I would make sure to have enough liquid-- try using 1/2 cup chicken stock.