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I love this easy recipe for Instant Pot chicken teriyaki bowls because it’s so fast and packed full of veggies and protein! It’s the perfect busy weeknight meal for one or the whole family.
How to make Instant Pot teriyaki chicken bowls
This recipe for a chicken teriyaki bowl needs to immediately become a part of your weeknight repertoire. You know those nights when you’re just exhausted and ordering out sounds so easy and yummy?
Life hack: this is the meal that you’d order out, except it’s a lot cheaper, healthier, and yummier! And it takes about the same amount of time to make as it would to order from your local Japanese takeout.
Trust me: it’s a recipe to memorize.
What kind of chicken should I use?
My personal favorite cut of chicken for these teriyaki bowls is the tenderloin. Chicken tenderloins are hard to dry out, they’re inexpensive, and they’re very tender.
Additionally, the cooking time for tenderloins matches perfectly with the cooking time for rice.
It’s okay to use a different cut of chicken (like breast or thigh), but you’ll want to make sure that you cut larger pieces down to a size similar to a tenderloin—a strip that’s about an inch or two in width, max.
This will ensure that you don’t overcook your rice while trying to cook your chicken!
Can I freeze Instant Pot chicken teriyaki bowls?
These bowls are great freezer meals! If you’re going to freeze multiple servings, pop each serving into a freezer container (I use these), then let each bowl rest, lid off, until it cools down.
If you don’t do this, you’ll get a bunch of condensation frozen as ice on the top of the container.
Once the bowls have cooled off, just close the lid and they’re good to freeze for up to a month!
How to make Instant Pot Chicken Teriyaki
You know I like to keep my recipes easy, so here’s the drill for these Instant Pot chicken teriyaki bowls:
Heat, season, sear, stir.
And here’s the slightly more in-depth version:
Start off by seasoning your chicken while your Instant Pot heats up (set to High Saute). I find that my 6 Quart Instant Pot Duo fits everything perfectly.
Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and sear it in that nice, hot oil. This adds amazing flavor!
Next, you’ll remove the chicken to a different plate, deglaze the pan with some water or chicken broth, and add in your rice. Layer your chicken back on top, add some teriyaki sauce, and cook!
Once the rice is done, you’ll add in some frozen veggies and just let those steam for a bit with a quick stir into the rice.
And that’s it! Easy as pie (easier, actually), definitely healthier than pie, and almost as yummy.
More easy weeknight dinner recipes
- Country Style Ribs
- Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Egg Noodles
- Chicken con Broccoli
- Easy Mac and Cheese Dinner
- Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
- Instant Pot Ramen Stir Fry
Instant Pot Chicken Teriyaki Bowl
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 cups water or chicken broth
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce*
- 3 cups frozen stir fry veggie mix**
- sesame seeds for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat Instant Pot to High Sauté and add olive oil.
- Season chicken on both sides with salt, garlic powder, ginger powder, and pepper (salt to taste).
- When the oil is hot and shiny, add the seasoned chicken and sear for 3 minutes on each side.
- Remove chicken to a plate.
- Deglaze pot with water or chicken broth, then use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add rice and stir into the broth or water, then lay the cooked chicken on top of the rice. Pour any reserved juices from the plate into the pot.
- Drizzle teriyaki sauce over top of the chicken; DO NOT MIX.
- Close the lid, turn knob to Sealing, then press the Manual or Pressure Cook button and adjust the time to 5 minutes. Allow a 10 minute natural pressure release (the Instant Pot will display L0:10), then turn the sealing knob from sealing to venting and open the lid.
- Quickly add frozen vegetables and stir. Replace the lid and let steam through using the residual heat for about 5 minutes. Do not use the steam setting. Open the lid and ensure the vegetables are warmed through, then serve with extra teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds, if desired.
PRODUCTS WE LOVE
VIDEO
NOTES
- To save time, you may skip searing the chicken (though searing the chicken does add additional flavor). Add the oil, rice and liquid to the Instant Pot® and lay the raw, seasoned chicken tenderloins on top of the rice. Drizzle the teriyaki sauce on top of the chicken, then proceed with the recipe as written on step 8.
- *You may use your favorite homemade or store-bought teriyaki sauce.
- **If you prefer to use fresh vegetables, I suggest cooking them separately and adding them to the cooked chicken and rice, omitting step 9.
How much rice do we add? I don’t see it in the ingredients list.
Hi Kari,
Sorry for the confusion, the post has been updated. This recipe uses 1 cup of rice!
Enjoy,
Sin
In the ingredients list I don’t see the rice (type, how much) listed. The recipe itself talks about when to add but how much? Please clarify. Thanks
Hi Jen,
Sorry for the confusion, the post has been updated. This recipe uses 1 cup of rice!
Enjoy,
Sin
How much rice do you use? I don’t see it in the list of ingredients
Hi Lori,
Sorry for the confusion, the post has been updated. This recipe uses 1 cup of rice!
Enjoy,
Sin
How much rice?
Hi Teri,
Sorry for the confusion, the post has been updated. This recipe uses 1 cup of rice!
Enjoy,
Sin
Tried the recipe and absolutely loved it!!! But it burned a little during the steam part… stopped the cooking processes. I just closed it and let the veggies finish with the remaining heat. I didn’t mix until I added the frozen veggies? Was that a mistake? I’m trying to figure out because the taste was amazing! (Even with a little burn)
Thanks for sharing
Author
Hello! There’s no pressure cooking involved when you add the vegetables- you just let the residual heat steam the veggies through. I’ve edited the recipe card to clarify this step! Thanks!!
On step 9, do you just put the lid on or actually set the steam mode? We clicked on steam and left it on the high setting since it didn’t say. We ended up having a burn although it still turned out great!
Author
Hi, Pat. Sorry about that! You just put the lid on and let the residual heat steam the vegetables through. I will edit the recipe card to clarify. Thanks!
Author
Hi! I’m not sure how the cauliflower rice would cook up with everything and be able to give an accurate time since I’ve never pressure cooked it before! i wouldn’t want it to turn into cauliflower mash! you could certainly cook the cauliflower rice separately.
This recipe was so easy and delicious. I used a coconut amino based teriyaki sauce and it came out great. I am new to instant pot cooking, so this was a great beginner recipe to learn how to sauté and pressure cook together.
The only slight learning curve I had was that my frozen vegetables didn’t cook with the residual heat after 5 mins. I wasn’t sure what to do so I did a zero minute pressure cook which I know was wrong. Maybe I should’ve waited a few more
minutes instead..? I may try yo defrost the vegetables in the microwave for a minute and then add them next time. Overall, I really enjoyed this and will be adding this to my recipe rotations! Thank you for helping me learn the instant pot. 🙂
I also had the same issue. I have the Instant Pot Duo Crisp and I even let the frozen veggies sit for 10 minutes using residual heat and they were still completely frozen. What should I do in this situation?
Thanks!
I would check to ensure your Instant Pot is still on the Keep Warm mode, or you can press the Saute mode and heat the veggies through. Another option is to microwave or steam the veggies beforehand and add them to the pot.
Lisa, I loved this recipe! I used 4 chicken legs. Delicious!
I found it to be EXTREMELY salty! Would you recommend using half the salt?
Author
I personally did not, but as always, you should salt to taste. If your sauce had a lot of sodium in it, that could also contribute to the saltiness. I have edited the recipe card to help. Thanks!
@Lisa Childs, I used the kikkoman Teriyaki brand. It says 27% sodium in one tablespoon. I could probably go without the salt for seasoning and just use the teriyaki?
It was my first meal in the Instant Pot Duo Crisp. I just went step by step and it worked pretty good! However, maybe I missed something but I would prefer to add additional seasoning at the end of the cooking. Overall, 5+ 😛
Hi,
I’m feeding a family of 7.Do I just double or triple the recipe or ingredients? 1 cup of rice or a pound of chicken tenderloins is not enough to feed a family of 7. Thanks!
Author
Hi Leilani! I haven’t tried tripling this recipe but with this recipe, i don’t forsee an issue with it. I would add an additional 1/2-3/4 cup water and 5 minutes to the cook time if you do! The rice may be a little soft, but it’s better than dry or burnt!
Hi Lisa, can I double this recipe? Any changes if I can ?
Yes, keep the cook time the same!
This was so good!! I used chicken thighs and Soy Vey and jasmine rice (no rinse) Thank you for such an easy healthy great tasting recipe
I have the 3 quart instant pot, can your recipes be used in the 3 quart instead of the 6 quart?
Hello, most recipes are typically tested in a 6 quart Instant Pot. But 99% are compatible in a 3 quart Instant Pot. Some of the larger recipes, like crab legs, might have a harder time fitting in the smaller Instant Pot. Similarly, some recipes that use the pot-in-pot method might need some adjustments so the pan will fit.
what times would one use to double this recipe
In general when doubling the time on a recipe, I usually keep the time the same, or add a minute or two. For this recipe, I would keep it the same!
Delish
Two teaspoons of salt is way too much for both of us. If I make it again I will reduce it down to 1/2 or even leave it out altogether since I am on a salt restricted diet. I also bought a bag of fresh stir-fry that I cooked in a wok just before serving. That worked well.
I found in extremely salty as well. Next time I’ll just omit the added salt. Other than that, very quick east and delicious.
Thanks for the feedback! Omitting the added salt would help. Another idea: sometimes chicken broths have high salt content. It helps me to use a low sodium chicken broth, or even just water, to deglaze the pot (as directed in this recipe.) It’s always easier to add in salt or flavor afterwards, if needed.