Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs (Instant Pot, Paleo)

These instant pot honey garlic chicken thighs are one of my new favorite dishes to make! I made it a few times to test it, and then several other times recently just because it’s that good! These chicken thighs are made with a delicious honey garlic sauce that is so flavorful and there will be enough left over for drizzling extra onto your chicken thighs and any veggies you decide to pair this with. This recipe is made with clean, whole food ingredients and is also paleo friendly and gluten-free.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken Thighs

This recipe is pretty basic but the magic is in the sauce. Obviously, you will need some chicken thighs (I use boneless skinless chicken thighs) but other than that, most everything else you need is for the sauce.

The honey garlic sauce is made with, you guessed it, honey and garlic. In addition, you need coconut aminos, chili oil, vinegar, sesame oil and a little water. You will also need some chicken broth to cook the thighs in the Instant Pot and some basic seasonings like salt, pepper and garlic powder. Lastly, you need a thickener like arrowroot powder.

How To Prepare Paleo Honey Garlic Chicken

To start this recipe, trim any extra fat on your chicken thighs and then pat them dry. Sprinkle a little salt, pepper and garlic powder and then brown the chicken thighs in a mixture of avocado oil and sesame oil in the Instant Pot on sauté mode. Once the chicken thighs are browned, turn off sauté mode, remove the chicken thighs from the Instant Pot and set them aside. At this point, we add in the chicken broth and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the Instant Pot. Once the chicken thighs are added back to the pan, it’s time to make the honey garlic sauce. 

Mix all ingredients for the sauce together and then pour the sauce on top of the chicken thighs and broth in the instant pot. Make sure the chicken thighs are all covered in some of the sauce. I try and keep the chicken thighs in an even layer throughout the bottom of the pan. Next, you will pressure cook the chicken thighs on high for 9 minutes.

Once the chicken thighs are ready, do a quick release and remove them from the Instant Pot and then set to sauté mode once again. Mix your arrowroot powder with water and pour into the Instant Pot. The remaining sauce will begin to bubble and thicken for about 3 minutes. Then you can add the chicken thighs back into the pot and make sure they are covered with the honey garlic sauce.

What To Serve With Your Chicken Thighs?

I like to garnish this dish with sesame seeds, green onion and red pepper flakes. You can serve it with cauliflower rice to keep it paleo or you can add jasmine rice or brown rice if you prefer. You can pair is with garlic green beans or I also love adding some edamame or broccoli on the side.

These honey garlic chicken thighs hold up great for leftovers and make excellent meal prep! I’m also a huge fan of cooking with the Instant Pot because it’s just so quick and easy. Here are a few of my other favorite Paleo Instant Post Recipes

• Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana
• Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Chicken Tortilla soup
• Chipotle Chicken Soup

Print