Instant Pot Paleo Kung Pao Chicken

Quick and easy Instant Pot Paleo Kung Pao Chicken is good and tastes better than takeout in less time than it takes to order! Paleo and Whole 30 compliant.

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken

One of our favorite things to eat from takeout is Kung Pao Chicken – it's a little spicy, a little salty, and bursting with flavor. Kung Pao Chicken isn't the healthiest or wisest take-out option. However, it is easy to make at home, and adaptable to specialty diets like Paleo or Whole 30.

When we recently got an Instant Pot (who else has one? So far, it IS worth all the hype!!!!) we wanted to try out a ton of new recipes – and this Skinny Kung Pao Chicken has been one of our favorites so far!

How to make Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken

First you will want to assemble the following ingredients:

• Vegetable oil – We use vegetable oil since it has a high smoke point. You can use olive oil or mix vegetable oil with another oil if you want.
• Chicken – you want to use skinless chicken breast cut into cubes as the protein for this recipe.
• Zucchini, Red bell pepper, and Onion – you can use any vegetable combination you want, make sure they are diced. We like using these three since they all have different flavors and textures.
• Garlic – minced garlic gives a strong punch to this chicken, use fresh minced garlic.
• Cashews or peanuts – these are optional but give a nice crunch and nuttiness to this chinese favorite.
• Green onion – green onions are the solid garnish for this recipe since they add a fresh lift without having that pungent onion flavor.
• Ground black pepper, Red pepper flakes, Ginger – these spices define the kung pao sauce.
• Garlic coconut aminos or soy sauce – this is the base for the kung pao sauce, use regular soy sauce if you aren't paleo/Whole 30.

Once you have assembled the ingredients use the following method

Cook the chicken. Put oil to the instant pot and sautéed until the chicken is lightly browned.

Add other ingredients. Add the vegetables and garlic, stir. Put the sauces in the Instant Pot add the lid set and seal.

Cook. Cook on Meat or a similar setting (depending on your Instant Pot) for 30 minutes on Low pressure or for 15 minutes on High pressure. Release the pressure.

Serve. Serve this over our favorite cauliflower rice if Paleo or Whole 30 or regular rice. Enjoy!

Kitchen notes

Mix up the veggies. Feel free to use different vegetables than what we recommend here. We like to use a few that have different textures and are cut in different sizes.

Double the sauce. If you want enough sauce to soak some of that flavor into your rice, you can double the sauce for this recipe.

You can make it vegan. To make this vegan double the sauce and marinate pressed cubed Tofu in the sauce. Cook the vegetables in the slow cooker then add the tofu when serving. You can also double up on the vegetables if you prefer.

A few answers

How do we keep leftovers?

Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Can we cook this in the slow cooker?

Yes, you add all the ingredients and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.

Other recipes you can make in your Instant Pot

If you are on a Paleo or Whole 30 Diet, try enjoying it with our Best Ever Cauliflower Rice!

Check out these good Instant Pot recipes you can try next.

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Ingredients

• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 ½ lbs Chicken, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 zucchini, diced
• ½ red bell pepper, diced
• ½ cup onion, chopped red or white
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¾ cup cashews or peanuts, optional
• Green onion, to garnish
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ⅔ cup garlic coconut aminos or soy sauce

Method

1. Add oil to instant pot and sauté chicken until lightly browned.
2. Add vegetables and garlic, stir.
3. Add sauces and lid, set to seal.
4. Cook on Meat for 30 minutes on LOW pressure or 15 minutes on high.
5. Release and serve hot over cauliflower rice or regular rice if you prefer.
6. If making in slow cooker, add all ingredients and cook on high 3 hours, stirring occasionally.