Lately my dinner game has been lacking. Like seriously lacking. I got lazy over the summer and got stuck on the same recipes and didn’t branch out all that much. But it’s a new season and a fresh start, so last week I felt inspired again and started looking up new recipes and testing some of them out. I’ve been trying to do more in my Instant Pot which I got last spring and kind of forgot about over the summer.

Before I start this paragraph, I have to note that this isn’t an ad for Instant Pot, but it might as well be because I’m currently it’s biggest fan! I don’t think I even need my slow cooker anymore because this machine does that too. It is a pressure cooker, slow cooker, babysitter (kidding) and a bunch of other things that I haven’t even experimented with yet. I personally love it because it can make recipes just like my slow cooker, but in 30 minutes instead of six hours. For a busy mama, it’s basically my best friend as of late. And everything comes out so flavorful!

Another plus is that Amalia doesn’t like meat unless it’s a certain texture (#diva), and she likes the meat-based recipes that come out of the Instant Pot so far.

Last week, I made this honey teriyaki chicken recipe exactly as it was written here, but it was so salty even mixed with unsalted brown rice that it was pretty much inedible. I usually love that site for recipe inspo but am shocked that they posted this one as is. That said, the flavor was really good and I wanted to love it, so I tweaked it and tried again. The second time around it was less salty but still super flavorful and delicious. I’ve shared that version of the recipe below.

I served it over brown rice and, pro tip, if you don’t have time to meal prep or cook the rice that night, get the frozen bags of organic brown rice from Trader Joe’s and they take only three minutes to heat up in the microwave.

Do you guys have Instant Pots? If so, please share your favorite recipes, I want to try them all!

Honey Teriyaki Chicken Bowls: Serves 4

I adapted it this recipe from Creme de la Crumb.

Ingredients:
– 4 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
– 1 cup, tamari (or soy sauce)
– 3/4 cup, water
– 1/3 cup, honey
– 2 tspns, minced garlic
– 1/2 cup, rice vinegar
– 1 tspn, ground ginger
– 1/2 tspn, red pepper flakes (if you don’t like spice, skip this one)
– 3 tblspns corn starch + 3 tblspns cold water
– 2 tspns, sesame seeds
– Scallions for garnish
– Cooked white or brown rice for serving

Directions:
1. Put chicken breasts in Instant Pot/pressure cooker. Stir tamari, honey, garlic, rice vinegar, ground ginger, water, and red pepper flakes. Pour sauce over the chicken.

2. Place lid on the Instant Pot and turn the vent to “seal” mode. Press “pressure cook” and set the time for 30 min. When your Instant Pot beeps at the end of the 30 mins, allow a natural release for 10 minutes, then turn the vent to “release until the float valve sinks back down.

3. Transfer the chicken to a bowl (leave the sauce) and shred it with two forks. To thicken the sauce, keep the lid off and set the Instant Pot to the “soup” setting. When the sauce starts to boil, whisk corn starch and water in a small bowl and whisk that mixture into the sauce until it thickens up. Stir in the sesame seeds.

4. Turn the Instant Pot off and transfer the chicken back into it and stir it all around until the chicken is coated with sauce. Serve over brown rice and top it off with scallions, more sesame seeds and (optional) Sriracha.

5. Enjoy!

Photos by Julia Dags.