Soy Sauce Chicken is a beloved Chinese dish that you’ve probably seen before hanging in a Chinatown restaurant window somewhere.
An Easier Version of Soy Sauce Chicken
We have a recipe for the traditional version of soy sauce chicken, which is ridiculously delicious, but in my dad’s attempt to nail down a superior flavor and look, his recipe is a bit time intensive. This riff on Soy Sauce Chicken is super easy. AND it comes together in an Instant Pot! Instant Pot Soy Sauce Chicken. With all mentions of the Instant Pot, magic ensues from here on out.
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs go into the Instant Pot and come out tender and imbued with that umami soy sauce-y goodness. Shred the chicken and serve over bowls of rice with your choice of veg. Spoon some of the braising liquid over and voila–extremely delicious meal in almost no time.
Even without an Instant Pot, this recipe is easy to prepare. My mom would make this for dinner when we were growing up, because she could be sure that we wouldn’t in any way protest and that she could save the liquid for next time.
The chicken would simmer for a couple of hours on the stove, and we’d wait until it got sticky and tender. At the end of the meal, the liquid always went into plastic soup containers and into the freezer. I had many an elementary school lunch of my mom’s Soy Sauce Chicken over rice while the other kids munched on their turkey and ham sandwiches.
Don’t Forget to Save Your Braising Liquid!
This instant pot soy sauce chicken recipe uses the exact same quantity of ingredients as my dad’s soy sauce chicken recipe, but you’ll notice that there are halved measurements in parentheses.
That’s because the great thing about Soy Sauce Chicken is that once you make it, you can save the braising liquid and freeze it for later.
But to make this quantity of chicken, you really only need half the liquid and even then you’d be left with a good amount to make this dish a couple more times. You might need a bit more soy sauce and wine to taste. This Soy Sauce Chicken braising liquid is something that can be replenished several times––which means really fast and easy dinners over and over again!
Before You Start: Quick Recipe Guidelines
- If making the full recipe, you can freeze the reserved liquid and use it again 3 to 4 times.
- If you halve the recipe, you’ll have less liquid, which is good for 1 to 2 additional uses.
- When reusing the liquid, just add more water, more ginger and scallion, and an additional teaspoon of salt, if desired.
- If you’d rather use chicken on the bone, you could also make this recipe with bone-in chicken thighs, chicken legs, wings, and/or chicken leg quarters.
Ok let’s get started! (Scroll down to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients!)
Instant Pot Soy Sauce Chicken Bowls: Recipe Instructions
Grab your instant pot. Turn on the sauté setting, and add the oil and ginger. Let it caramelize for about 30 seconds. Then add the scallions and cook another 30 seconds. Add the star anise, rice wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, and water.
Close the lid of the instant pot, and make sure you have your vent set so it is not venting. Cook for 5 minutes on the high pressure cooking setting.
Safely release pressure, open the lid, and carefully lower the chicken thighs into the instant pot.
Cook the chicken for 15 minutes on the high pressure setting. (Update: we originally stated 20 minutes, but some readers have been saying that the chicken is dry. While ours turned out super moist and tender, we’ve reduced the cooking time.) Carefully release the vent when the timer is up. As soon as all the steam has escaped, you can open the instant pot.
Use two forks to shred the chicken into big chunks and serve over rice with sauce spooned over the top. Let the braising liquid cool, and store it in containers in the freezer. When you need it again, let it thaw in the refrigerator and throw it back in the instant pot with more chicken.
Questions about any of the ingredients we used in this recipe?
Here are some helpful links:
- What’s Mei Kwei Lu Rose-flavored Rice Wine?
- What’s star anise?
- What’s the difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce? Check out our Sauces, Vinegars & Oils page for an explanation.
Instant Pot Soy Sauce Chicken Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 7 slices ginger
- 2 scallions (cut into 3-inch pieces)
- 3 star anise
- 1 1/2 cups Chinese Rose Wine (mei gui lu, or Shaoxing wine; ¾ cup or 175ml if replenishing existing sauce)
- 1 1/2 cups light soy sauce (3/4 cup or 175ml if replenishing)
- 1 1/4 cups dark soy sauce (2/3 cup or 155ml if replenishing)
- 1 cup sugar (plus 2 tablespoons/25g; 1/2 cup or 100g if replenishing)
- 2 teaspoons salt (1 teaspoon if replenishing)
- 8 cups water (5 cups/1.2L if replenishing)
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Instructions
- Grab your instant pot. Turn on the sauté setting, and add the oil and ginger. Let it caramelize for about 30 seconds. Then add the scallions and cook another 30 seconds. Add the star anise, rice wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, and water.
- Close the lid of the instant pot, and make sure you have your vent set so it is not venting. Cook for 5 minutes on the high pressure cooking setting.
- Safely release pressure, open the lid, and carefully lower the chicken thighs into the instant pot.
- Cook the chicken for 15 minutes on the high pressure setting. Carefully release the vent when the timer is up. As soon as all the steam has escaped, you can open the instant pot.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken into big chunks and serve over rice with sauce spooned over the top. Let the braising liquid cool, and store it in containers in the freezer. When you need it again, let it thaw in the refrigerator and throw it back in the instant pot with more chicken.
What size instant pot do you use? I have a 6 quart, how should I change the recipe quantities? Thanks!
Hi Dori, sorry we missed this comment! We have an 8 qt instant pot, but it wasn’t filled with this recipe. We had about 10 cups of liquid.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was family approved! With all the braising liquid, I wondered why only 8 skinless boneless thighs was noted. It reached the max line of the instant pot. The braised pork belly was a hit so decided to try this. I’m glad I did.
As you noted that the braise can be reused and replenished, how can I add more liquid without going above the instant pot max line? I had just an inch below the max line left tonight.
Thanks for another great recipe.
So glad you liked it, Verna! The next time, you can probably get away with just adding a couple good pinches of salt. The time after that though, consider replenishing. If you’re still worried about the quantity of liquid, I would halve the amounts called for in the replenishing measurements. Hope that helps!
Hello! This looks great and we are so excited to try it!
I had a quick question about reusing the master stock – the recipe says to thaw and reuse by replenishing just water and scallion and ginger in the Quick Recipe Guidelines. In the Ingredient List, other ingredients such as soy sauce and Shaoxing are mentioned for replenishing. What would you advise? For context, we are reusing the master stock from your pork belly recipe! Also, should we use ALL of the master stock each time, or portions?
Thanks!
Hi Stephanie, you should use all of the master stock each time. In the recipe card, you’ll see in the italic gray text we have guidelines for how much to replenish.
Thanks!
Loveed the recipe! I have made it with both pork and chicken! But just wondering. When reusing the sauce do I need to pressure cook it again before adding the meat? After replenishing i ended up with 3 tubs of sauce versus 2! So I wasn’t sure if I did it right or not.
Thanks, Arden! You don’t need to pressure cook it again, you just need to top it off with the additional ingredients as described in the recipe card. If you feel like the last batch left you with a solid volume of sauce, you can shortcut the replenishing and simply add a healthy sprinkling of salt.
Love your blog!! Can you use regular Chinese Cooking Wine or do you have to get this rice rose wine?
Hi Chris, if all you have is regular cooking wine, go for it!
It turned out great! Can I keep the sauce in my refrigerator rather than freezing it?
Hi Mimi, you can keep the sauce in the refrigerator for no more than a week.
This was DELICIOUS! I always get excited after preparing one of your recipes. Generally my first thought after my first bite is, “I MADE THIS!! WHOO HOO!” It was really flavorful. I made it with Sherry as I lack either Shaoxing or Rose wine. My Toddler ate it and she doesn’t love meat. Served it with steamed broccoli with sauce poured over it. It did make A LOT of sauce. If I didn’t have a big freezer, I wouldn’t have much room to store it!
Thank you, Heather! The toddlers are the toughest customers, and I’m so glad yours liked this recipe :) Luckily with a big freezer you can nurse that sauce for a handful more batches!
Two things I want say:
1) this is delicious!
2) respect the max fill line of your pressure cooker.
#2 is important or you’ll be like me and have a volcano of soy sauce steam cover your kitchen.
But this was still a hit!
Hahahah oh no, good tips, Chi! Glad you enjoyed it nonetheless ^_^
I’d like to try this with bone in chicken drumsticks. Do you have any thoughts on if I would need to adjust the cooking times?
No need to adjust the cooking time, Jason.
Hi, looks so delicious! I don’t have an instant pot though, is it possible to make it without?
Hi Evelen, I believe all Instant Pot recipes can be made in a regular pot. You just have to adjust the cooking time and amount of liquid.
Can a crockpot be used? Any advice doing so?