Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

FAQs

Does cooking chicken longer in Instant Pot make it more tender? ›

If your boneless chicken breast winds up with a weird, rubbery texture, it probably means that you need to cook it longer. In general, the Instant Pot does better with longer cook times for meat.

Why is my Instant Pot shredded chicken rubbery? Rubbery Instant Pot shredded chicken is usually the result of overcooking the meat.

Alternative Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 cup pineapple juice. 1/3 cup water. 3 tablespoons vinegar. 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

I typically cook 3 breasts at at time for my little family, which yields about 6 cups of shredded chicken. To cook more chicken breasts at once, layer the chicken side by side if frozen or stacked if fresh. Add 1 cup of water plus kosher salt and black peppercorns. Set the cooking time for just 10 minutes.

Overcooking or cooking at too high a temperature can result in tough, dry chicken. Undercooking can leave chicken undercooked and chewy.

One is having the chicken submerged in the liquid and the other option is placing the chicken on top of the trivet. Submerging the chicken method is great for shredding in enchiladas, etc; while cooking the chicken on the trivet creates a firmer chicken that can be sliced for salads, etc.

Overcooking might play a role in your chicken's tire-like texture. Leaving chicken in a pan, oven, or grill for just a little too long can suck the moisture right out and leave you with a dry, rubbery bird. Without moisture, the protein fibers in the chicken become elastic.

While sweet and sour can be found in diverse forms in China, the American version builds upon the simple mixture of sugar, vinegar, and spices with the addition of fruit juice—most commonly pineapple—and ketchup, giving the sauce both its red hue and uniquely Western flavor.

If the sauce isn't thick enough, you can add one more tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk it in. But remember, the sauce will thicken even more as it cools down. So only add more cornstarch if the sauce is way too thin.

From personal experience of not having canned/fresh pineapples in the kitchen, I just used a bit of lemon juice and an orange cut into large chunks. Chinese plum sweet & sour mix is one of my favorites.

Can you overcook chicken in a Instapot? ›

Chicken can get a rubbery texture in the instant pot when over cooked. To avoid this, try not to over cook your chicken.

So can a Crock-Pot cook better chicken than an Instant Pot? Well, it really depends on what you're making. The Instant Pot cooks chicken much faster than its non-pressure counterparts, but the resulting texture isn't going to be the same as what you'd get with a slow cooker or Dutch oven.

Pressure cooking, like slow cooking, will tenderize tough cuts of meat like beef brisket, beef chuck, pork shoulder and lots of other cheaper, tougher cuts. Pressure cooking (or slow cooking) is not the best approach for cooking expensive, tender steaks or rib roasts.

Because chicken breast is so lean, just a couple of extra minutes of cook time turns them from juicy to overcooked and dry.

For optimal results, it's generally recommended to cook chicken on the low setting in a crockpot. This slower cooking method allows the chicken to become more tender and absorb flavors, resulting in a juicier and more flavorful dish compared to using the high setting.

In addition, chicken breast has less fat and can become dry (chewy or rubbery) if cooked for too long.