Making a new dish can help turn an otherwise uneventful day into something special, especially if you’re craving something that isn’t usually keto-friendly.
Orange chicken is usually made with breaded meat, which contains too many carbs to be eaten on a low-carb diet. It also tends to include sugary sauces to further contribute to the dish’s unhealthy and inflammatory properties.
This is why it is very hard to eat low carb at Chinese restaurants. However, if you swap a few ingredients, you can make low carb Chinese dishes at home.
My Low Carb Instant Pot Orange Chicken recipe will satisfy your cravings for traditional orange chicken without kicking you out of ketosis. I swapped out inflammatory ingredients for healthy ones, including an easy homemade sauce that contains no refined sugars.
Similar to my Keto Orange Chicken recipe, but this time I use an Instant Pot.
The chicken is flavored with fresh ginger, olive oil, and garlic. These three ingredients alone have enough medical properties to be considered holistic medicine.
For example, ginger has been shown to possess powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can be used to help protect against heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, cancer, and the aging process (1). It also has calming properties to help soothe nausea or an upset stomach.
Cooking your vegetables in olive oil has been shown to increase their polyphenol and carotenoid bioavailability, thanks to its healthy fat content. One study found that cooking garlic in olive oil helped boost its absorbable polyphenol concentration (2).
Polyphenols are plant metabolites that have been shown to protect against cancer, neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis (3).
Additionally, garlic has antitumor and anti-microbial properties to further protect against disease (4). It also helps keep blood sugar levels stable.
The sauce is made with orange zest, which provides a good source of vitamin C. Other ingredients include orange extract, apple cider vinegar, chicken broth, coconut aminos, and the erythritol.
You’ll enjoy the taste complexity of this dish (without the carbs) while saving time by preparing it in your instant pot!
In my recipes, I use the instant pot 3-Quart Duo Mini 7-in-1. Just follow the steps below and this will be your favorite keto chicken dinner!
How to Make Low Carb Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, except for the xanthan gum. I use xanthan gum for keto because it’s a low carb thickener for sauces, unlike cornstarch.
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Set your instant pot to “saute” and allow it to heat up. Put the olive oil in and wait until it gets warm. Then add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook until lightly brown while stirring occasionally. Then turn the “saute” mode off.
Pour in the sauce and stir. Put the lid on and set the instant pot to “pressure cook” and cook on high for 5 minutes. Make sure the lid is on “sealing.”
When done, do a quick release and remove the lid. Follow the directions below if you want the sauce to be thicker. Serve warm with steamed vegetables or cauliflower rice (see my recipe to learn how to make cauliflower rice).
More Low Carb Asian Cuisine Inspired Chicken Recipes You Can Try:
- Keto Thai Chicken Stir-fry with Cashew Nuts
- Keto General Tso’s Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
- Keto Sesame Chicken
- Instant Pot Keto Chicken Fajita Soup
Keto Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
For Chicken:
- 1 lb chicken breast
- ½ tsp fresh ginger grated
- ½ tsp garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- sea salt to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- sesame seeds for serving, optional
For orange sauce:
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp erythritol
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp xanthan gum + 1 tbsp water optional, if you want to thicken the sauce
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix all sauce ingredients (except xanthan gum).
- Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Turn the “saute” mode on your Instant and let it heat up. Pour in olive oil and wait until hot. Then add garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Turn the “saute” mode off.
- Pour in the sauce and give a good stir. Put the lid on, press “pressure cook” (manual), and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Make sure you turn the valve to “sealing.”
- Once the time is up, do a quick release and take the lid off.
- If you like the sauce to be thicker, dissolve 1 tsp of xanthan gum in 1 tbsp of water and add this mixture to the instant pot. Turn “saute” mode on again and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until your sauce reaches the desired consistency.
- Transfer the chicken to the platter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional) and serve.
