Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken – 4 Freestyle Points
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Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken is absolutely genius! While your Instant Pot can make rice, we added this to already cooked brown rice. If you're like me and can't get enough of cooking in the Instant Pot, check out this post!
Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken
This is a great Instant Pot Chicken recipe to add to your menu plan. If you are following the WW FreeStyle Plan, you know that chicken can sometimes sound boring. This recipe adds tons of flavor and extra veggies to your routine.
No more boring flavor! The best Kung Pao chicken recipe is ready in minutes!
Don't have an Instant Pot? Check out this post for a guide to help you choose the right one! Here's another great post to use as a guide and for more recipes! Below is one of my favorites!
Prep for an Instant Pot Recipe
When using your Instant Pot for any recipe, make sure you have everything prepped in advance. I always make sure my liner is in place and I have the seal ring on my lid. You don't want to start putting ingredients in and realize you've made the mistake of not having your liner in place! That's a big mess and mistake nobody wants!
Since this recipe cooks in the liner and doesn't require the pot in pot method, it's super easy to just have your chicken and liquid ingredients prepared before sealing for cooking.
Note: Always make sure pressure is fully released before attempting to open the lid!
Other Note: The chicken dish is 4 point. If you add rice, there are 3 additional points per 1/2 cup!!
Directions for Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken
In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, chili paste, brown sugar, garlic, and cornstarch. Mix thoroughly with diced chicken, add 1 cup water, and pour into your instant pot.
Close the lid and set to high pressure, and cook for 5 minutes.
While that is cooking, cut your zucchini, onion, green onions, and peppers.
Vent your cooker, then add in vegetables plus some of your sesame seeds. Seal and cook another 4 minutes on high.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over a bed of cooked brown rice.
As you can see, this easily fits into the list of 30-minute meals you can make fast for dinner. We keep the chicken in the freezer at all times, and the Instant Pot means you can add just a couple of extra minutes to the cook time and cook from frozen!
Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken
Makes 6 servings
4 Freestyle SmartPoints per serving
Brown Rice is an additional 3 SmartPoints per 1/2 cup serving
4 Freestyle points – serves 6 (1/2 cup cooked rice is an extra 3 points)
Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken
Kung Pao spicy chicken with a kick!
- 2 cups diced/cubed chicken
- ½ red onion
- ½ cup diced zucchini
- ½ cup diced sweet red and yellow chili peppers
- ⅓ cup sliced green onions
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbs honey
- ½ - 1 tsp hot chili paste
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, chili paste, brown sugar, garlic, and cornstarch. Mix thoroughly with diced chicken, add 1 cup water, and pour into your instant pot.
Close lid, set high pressure, and cook for 5 minutes.
While that is cooking, cut your zucchini, onion, green onions, and peppers.
Vent your cooker, then add in vegetables plus some of your sesame seeds. Seal and cook another 4 minutes on high.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over a bed of cooked brown rice.
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This is happening, and soon! Thank you for the awesome recipe.
Hi! I’m loving your site! How many WW smartpoints are in the kung pao chicken? Thanks so much!
What about the peanuts? How much are we supposed to add, and when? My ancestry isn’t Chinese, but whenever I’ve had Kung Pao Chicken one of the ingredients was always peanuts.