This Whole30 instant pot sesame chicken recipe is the easy button when it comes to making a healthy weeknight dinner. It’s paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and only has a 15 minute cook time. This quick take out fake out Whole30 chicken recipe will be a family favorite, or a perfect meal prep recipe!
This is such a quick and easy Whole30 instant pot recipe to throw together, which makes it really great for meal prepping for the week, or for feeding the family on a busy weeknight. All that’s required is some diced chicken, a bit of searing and mixing together a sauce to pour over the chicken before letting the instant pot do it’s thing for 15 minutes.
There’s no added sugar, grain, gluten or dairy in this recipe at all, so not only does it work for Paleo or Whole30 eaters, it’s allergen friendly for many different dietary requirements. To learn more about Whole30, check out this post on what Whole30 is and the benefits!
Whole30 and Paleo Sesame Chicken Ingredients
Many of the ingredients in this sesame chicken recipe are common paleo and Whole30 pantry staples, or that are otherwise easy to find. A few of the ingredients required for the recipe include arrowroot flour, coconut aminos, sesame oil and white wine vinegar. These can all be found on Amazon, or at major grocery retailers like Target, Walmart and Whole Foods. They can also be purchased online for a lower price from Thrive Market, which is basically like if Costco and Whole Foods had a baby, lower prices on Whole Foods type products.
The other necessary ingredients are also really common. Onion powder, chili powder, minced ginger and minced garlic, along with oil and apple juice. Juice is Whole30 compliant when used in a recipe, just not for drinking. You could substitute orange juice, but it will change the flavor profile. Either way, just ensure that it’s 100% juice with no added sugar or other additives.
How to Make Whole30 Instant Pot Sesame Chicken
Start by dicing the chicken into bite size pieces and then coating with the salt, pepper and arrowroot. You’ll then sear the chicken on both sides by first heating the oil in the instant pot on sauté mode. It’ll take about 2-3 minutes to brown on one side, and then you can use tongs to flip and let sear for an additional 2-3 minutes.
While the chicken is searing, mix all of the sauce ingredients into a small bowl. Then you’ll simply pour it into the instant pot over the chicken and mix around so it’s combined with the chicken pieces. Close the lid, set the valve to sealing and then set the instant pot to high pressure for 15 minutes. When it finishes, do a quick release.
You can then choose to thicken the sauce more if you’d like by using a bit more arrowroot. You should dissolve the arrowroot in a tablespoon of water first before adding that into the sauce because it ensures that the arrowroot will not clump up.
The Whole30 instant pot sesame chicken is great served over steamed or roasted broccoli, cauliflower rice, or in lettuce cups as Asian-inspired tacos even! Or, if you tolerate rice, brown or white rice is awesome to soak up all the delicious sauce!
Other Whole30 Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love:
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
40 Whole30 Instant Pot Recipes
5 Minute Instant Pot Chicken Meatballs & Marinara
PrintInstant Pot Sesame Chicken: Whole30, Paleo, GF
This Whole30 instant pot sesame chicken recipe is the easy button when it comes to making a healthy weeknight dinner. It’s paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and only has a 15 minute cook time. This quick take out fake out sesame chicken will be a family favorite, or a perfect meal prep recipe!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
- 1.5–2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite size pieces
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp arrowroot flour
For the Sauce:
- 1 cup apple juice (100% juice, no added sugar)
- 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- Optional: sliced green onions or additional sesame seeds to garnish
To Thicken:
- 1/2 tbsp arrowroot dissolved in 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Dice the chicken and sprinkle the salt, pepper and arrowroot over the chicken while it’s on the cutting board. Use your hands to mix around and coat the chicken with the arrowroot.
- Put the instant pot on sauté mode and add the oil into the pot. Once it’s hot, add in the chicken and brown for about 2 minutes on each side. Do not fully cook, just lightly sear.
- While the chicken is browning, mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Once the chicken is done browning, press “cancel”. Dump the sauce ingredients into the instant pot and stir in with the chicken.
- Put the lid onto the instant pot, set the valve to “sealing”. Next, set the instant pot to high pressure for 15 minutes.
- When the instant pot is done, do a quick release and set it back to “sauté” mode. Bring to a simmer and let sauce thicken. If you want the sauce thicker, then dissolve 1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour in with 1 tbsp of water in a small dish, and then pour into the instant pot. Stir to combine, let thicken and then serve!
Notes
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs can be substituted
- Orange juice can be used in place of apple juice, but it will change the flavor of the dish
- When working with arrowroot, if you need to thin it out you can do so by adding 1/4 cup of water incrementally, or vice versa you can thicken it by incrementally adding 1-2 teaspoons of arrowroot dissolved in a bit of water at a time.
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Claire says
This turned out so well, and was delicious served over rice. I used orange juice to add that bit of sweetness to the sauce. I will definitely keep this on the list for a quick weeknight dinner!
Amara says
My husband and I have been on the paleo diet for a month or so now and this is one of our favorite meals so far! Even my super picky kids loved it. Thank you!
Abbey says
My husband and I loved this recipe! We had it with sautéed cauliflower rice, broccoli, and mushrooms for a great whole30 quick dinner! Thanks for the easy, delish recipe, Bailey!
paleobailey says
I’m so glad you both loved it!! Thank you so much, Abbey! I really appreciate you taking the time to come back and leave a review! <3 - B
Jamie says
This is amazing- so good!!! I skipped the browning and used half frozen chicken thighs- cooked and then shredded, no dicing raw chicken, sorry Bailey! Still came out amazing! Thank you!
paleobailey says
Shredded chicken sounds awesome, too!! I’m all for no extra prep work 😉 Thank you so much for giving it a try, and taking the time to leave a review! It’s super appreciated <3 - B
Linh says
Can I use Tapioca starch instead of arrowroot flour?
paleobailey says
Sure!
Tara says
This is absolutely delicious! Made it a few nights ago and it was a huge hit! Definitely going into the rotation.
Jackie says
This was so easy!! Whole family loved it, even picky 6 and 4 year olds!
paleobailey says
So great!! Thank you so, so much for letting me know!