18 Convenient Chinese Instant Pot Recipes

In many ways, these Chinese Instant Pot recipes make it easier for people to experience Asian food. Instead of using a wok (a Chinese frying pan with an oval bottom), a bamboo steamer, and even a rice cooker, you can cook everything in a single pot.

People are always busy nowadays. That’s why it’s important that people should have healthy home-cooked meals to recharge at the end of the day. That’s where Instant Pot comes in. With so many functionalities, you can now easily create a feast for yourself and your family.

Thanks to me and the list of recipes below, you will be able to cook great Chinese delicacies using the versatile Instant Pot. It’s time to make a positive change in your life. Let’s go!   

Making Chinese Food The Instant Pot Way

With the help of Instant Pot, you can recreate some of the best Chinese-style recipes in the most convenient way possible. Just cut up the ingredients, pop them into the device and wait for everything to be ready.  

1. Cantonese Braised Beef (Wen Niu Nan)

Total time: 2 hours

If you want to fight off the cold winter, let me introduce you to a beef-based recipe in China called Wen Niu Nan, or Cantonese Braised Beef. The warm broth, tender meat, and refreshing vegetables will pick your spirit up in no time.

The secret to getting a chunk of beef to soften up is to braise it for a long time. The traditional method would take around 4-6 hours. However, with the ability of pressure cooking, the Instant Pot will tenderize the meat in half of the usual time. When you’re done, strain the meat.

In the next step, combine the meat with Daikon (white radish), scallion, and chicken stock. Both Daikin and scallions give the stew a very fragrant smell while the stock has its usual savoriness. Drizzle in a bit of soy sauce and oyster sauce to enhance the umami of the stew.  

This Braised Beef recipe is a favorite of many Cantonese people.

2. Beef And Broccoli (Bai Jia Li Niu Rou)

Total time: 20 minutes

When it comes to Chinese cuisine, nothing is more simple yet healthy than a plate of Beef And Broccoli stir-fry, or Bai Jia Li Niu Rou. This delicacy packs full of nutrients, so it might be a good option for your daily meal plan.

By using the Instant Pot, the beef will be tender. You only have to cut the meat into bite-sized chunks, which will lead to a better spread of the sauce throughout the meat.

The sauce consists of soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch. This mixture offers the sweetness of the sugar and the umami from the soy sauce. The cornstarch will thicken up the liquid, thus concentrating the flavors even more.

While cooking the beef, you can microwave or boil the broccoli. This makes the vegetable turn bright green and improves the texture. Finally, mix everything in the Instant Pot and cook until the dish is ready to serve with steaming white rice.

3. Moo Shu Pork (Pork With Stir-Fried Vegetables)

Total time: 15 minutes

In case you want to improve your diet with more balanced meals, I have just the right recipe for you. It’s a Chinese pork delicacy from Shandong province called Moo Shu Pork. This specialty will make you salivate due to its savoriness.

By cooking the pork in a mix of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and cornstarch, you can bring out the tastiness of the pork. The hoisin sauce seeps its sweetness into every inch of the meat, while soy sauce gives the pork a mild saltiness.

To even out the richness of the sauce, you add the vegetables for extra fiber. If you don’t have time, just get a bag of coleslaw. However, it’s best to use fresh ingredients like green and purple cabbages. Scallion is also a great garnish to the dish.

4. Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)

Total time: 25 minutes

As part of the Cantonese cuisine, Char Siu, or Chinese BBQ Pork, is arguably one of the most iconic dishes in the world. Thanks to its unique appearance and equally distinctive taste, this version of BBQ pork has captured the hearts of many people.

Traditionally, Char Siu is time-consuming to make. However, this Instant Pot-based recipe will save you a lot of time with its modern take. First, marinate the pork with a mixture of honey, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine).

This marinade adds a very pleasant and savory aroma, as well as turns the meat into its signature red color. After that, cook the meat under high pressure. This step breaks down the tissues and tenderizes the meat, so you can enjoy it with a side serving of rice.   

This quick tutorial will show you how to make Char Siu using an Instant Pot.

5. Potsticker Dumplings (Jiaozi)

Total time: 32 minutes

According to popular belief, Potsticker Dumplings, or Jiaozi, originated in the Han Dynasty of Chinese history (3rd century B.C – 3rd century A.D). Due to the popularity of this delicacy, it has spread all over the world with so many variants.

For this recipe, I want to show you how to make Jiaozi using turkey meat as opposed to the traditional pork filling. First, stir-fry the ingredients, including ginger, garlic, and turkey, inside an Instant Pot. The garlic will make the meat very fragrant, with the pepperiness from the ginger.

Next, wrap the filling with a thin layer of dough to form a half-moon shape. The layer keeps most of the moisture inside so the meat stays tender.

To cook the dumplings, pan-fry them until the skin on the bottom turns crispy. This creates a very crunchy texture. The next step is to steam the Jiaozi in a steamer basket in the Instant Pot. This will result in a very juicy upper layer as opposed to the lower one.

6. Sweet And Sour Pork (Gu Lu Zhu Pa)

Total time: 10 minutes

Sweet And Sour is a style of cooking that’s existed in China for quite some time. First appearing during the Tang Dynasty (7th – 10th century A.D), this cooking method is now available with so many variations and ingredients.

The most popular version of this style is the Sweet And Sour Pork. There are two major parts of this delicacy: the sauce and the pork. First, combine vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar to make the sauce. The vinegar brings the acidity while the brown sugar the sweetness.

Add the sauce to the pork in an Instant Pot. This will help the flavors to coat the meat evenly. That means, when you take a bite, you can feel the sweet and sour sauce first before the savoriness of the pork slowly reveals itself.

7. Pork Steamed Dumplings (Shumai)

Total time: 50 minutes

Shumai, or simply Pork Steamed Dumplings, is a staple of the famous cuisine of Hong Kong. On every street corner of the city, you will see many restaurants selling this dish as a brunch or breakfast dish.

Although their names are both Dumplings, don’t mistake this Dumpling for the previous Potsticker. With Shumai, the seasoned meat sits firmly inside a wrapper. This thin outer layer keeps the meat very juicy. The dough wrapper also offers a chewy contrast to the tender meat.

With this recipe, you can even make Shumai without having to own a clunky bamboo steamer. Just pour enough water to cover the bottom of the pot so you can steam the Shumai. This method can help you cook the delicacy to perfection.  

This recipe for Instant Pot Shumai is going to take over your home meals.

8. Chicken Lo Mein (Chicken With Mixed Noodles)

Total time: 25 minutes

Noodles have been essential to Chinese cooking since the Han Dynasty (3rd century B.C – 3rd century A.D). That’s why there are so many noodle-based Chinese dishes nowadays. In this entry, I want to focus on a delicacy called Chicken Lo Mein.  

What you will need is fettuccine noodles (or egg noodles if you can’t find them), shrimp, and butter. Instead of traditional stir-frying, you mix the ingredients in an Instant Pot. This will get the noodles to soak up the flavors and stay flavorful.

This method can improve the taste by keeping the heat inside, so everything can cook much faster. This also means the flavoring agents, including chicken stock, lemon, and pepper flakes will have more time to release their aromas into the dish.   

9. Chicken Sesame (Zhi Ma Ji)

Total time: 20 minutes

When it comes to overseas Chinese cuisine, it’s almost just as interesting and diverse as mainland delicacies. This type of Chinese food has developed into a separate branch with unique tastes that you can’t find anywhere in China.

In this example, I want to show you an Asian-inspired chicken specialty called Zhi Ma Ji, or Chicken Sesame. With such a combination of savory chicken meat and a brown sauce, you will never be able to stop eating this dish.

The preparation process is simple and quick. You only have to use the Instant Pot to do the cooking. Saute the chicken until the meat turns brown and fragrant. This step also releases rich chicken juice into the bottom layer of the pot.

Next, combine soy sauce, honey, and garlic into the chicken. This mixture will blend with the chicken juice to create a very appetizing sheen around the chicken meat. This improves a lot of the texture as well as the flavor.    

10. General Tso’s Chicken (Zuo Zong Tang Ji Rou)

Total time: 50 minutes

If you have a chance to eat at a Chinese American restaurant, you will probably come across this next entry. General Tso’s Chicken is a plate of crispy chicken nuggets topped with a sticky and shiny brown sauce.

The reason why the dish got its name is unknown. Many believe that it came from Hunan province, the birthplace of General Tso, a military leader of the Qing Dynasty (17th – 20th century A.D). However, people from the region say they have not heard of the dish before.

On a side note, people often wonder what the differences between sesame chicken and General Tso’s chicken are. Despite their somewhat similar looks, these dishes are nothing alike. 

Following this recipe, you need to get the meat to crisp up. The outer shell will keep the core from drying out. Other than that, the crispy layer is good at retaining the delightful sauce, adding a new side to the chicken.

For the sauce, you add soy sauce, vinegar, and brown sugar into the Instant Pot. With this mixture, you can get a lot of sweetness from the sugar and tanginess of the vinegar. The soy sauce acts as a counter-balance to keep the flavors from being too overwhelming. 

11. Cashew Chicken (Yao Guo Ji Ding)

Total time: 25 minutes

Yao Guo Ji Ding, also known as Cashew Chicken in English, is another creation by Chinese people overseas. And this is a flawless summer recipe cooked by an instant pot. 

Instead of utilizing tanginess to flavor the chicken, this dish relies on the nuttiness of cashew nuts as the attention grabber.

Before you cook the chicken in the Instant Pot, remember to coat the meat in a layer of flour. This has the effect of keeping the chicken as moist as possible by creating a velvety sheen around the meat.

And, of course, you have to mix the signature sauce that includes ketchup, vinegar, and honey. This special brown sauce can enhance the taste of the chicken more with sweetness, savoriness, and sourness. In the end, toss in the cashew nuts for a finishing touch.

12. Orange Chicken (Cheng Zhi Ji)

Total time: 35 minutes

Another dish that the overseas communities have contributed to the diversity of Chinese culinary wonders is Orange Chicken or Cheng Zhi Ji. This is another unique item that you are more likely to find in North America than in China.

This delicacy is unique in that it combines two opposite flavors to form a delectable delicacy. With savoriness, you already get the richness from the chicken as well as the savory fragrance of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic.

On the other hand, Orange Chicken is not complete without a special sauce consisting of orange juice, brown sugar, and cornstarch. It adds a level of acidity and even sweetness that complement the other ingredients so well.

You can experience the Chinese flavors with this Instant Pot Orange Chicken.

13. Kung Pao Chicken – Stir-Fried Chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding)

Total time: 15 minutes

Kung Pao Chicken, or Gong Bao Ji Ding, can trace its origin back to the Qing Dynasty (17th – 20th century A.D). As a staple from Sichuan province, Kung Pao chicken will give your taste buds an explosion of impactful flavors.

Similar to many Chinese-style chicken delicacies, what brings the most attention is the sauce. For this dish, you will see a combination of brown sugar, rice wine, and soy sauce. This special Kung Pao sauce has a lot of savoriness and sweetness to improve the meat.

Brown the chicken first to let the richness come out of the meat. Then, pour the sauce in and wait for the liquid to thicken up. Toss in some red chilies into the Instant Pot as they can give the meat a very authentic Sichuan kick to your taste buds.

14. Lemon Chicken (Ning Meng Ji)

Total time: 20 minutes

If you are still craving something a little sour, let me introduce you to another Asian-inspired delicacy called Lemon Chicken. This dish is a familiar option in many overseas Chinese restaurants, and now you will be able to recreate it using an Instant Pot.

For starters, similar to Orange Chicken, you will get most of the interesting flavors from the lemon sauce. You can make it by mixing lemon juice, soy sauce, and honey. Though this special liquid contains a lot of sourness, the sweetness from the honey will even out the overall aroma.

You can simply cook the chicken by combining the meat with the sauce. Cook until you can get a whiff of the rich and savory fragrance from the pot. That’s when you know the specialty is ready to serve alongside white rice.

15. Honey Garlic Chicken (Suan Zi Mi Zhi Ji)

Total time: 40 minutes

Honey Garlic Chicken is not only a well-known dish for many Chinese people but in other Asian communities as well. The combination of flavorful ingredients and irresistible texture is even better now with the help of the convenient Instant Pot.

For every Chinese-styled delicacy, there is always a savory sauce that accompanies it. In this example, you combine honey, ketchup, and soy sauce. The honey gives this dish its iconic sweetness while the soy sauce and ketchup add a hint of umami to the meat.

On the other hand, brown the chicken so the meat can release its richness into the sauce. You must stir well so the meat will have enough time to absorb the sauce, increasing its savoriness. The garlic caps everything off with a very pleasant aroma.

16. Chinese Fried Rice (Chao Fan)

Total time: 25 minutes

Speaking of popular dishes in many communities, Fried Rice is also another one. You can find many variants of this simple rice-based Chinese meal across Asia and the world. Today, I will show you a vegan-friendly option with Instant Pot.

For the ingredients, you can pick out any vegetables that you like, but I highly suggest carrots, green peas, and red pepper. They are very easy to find, and they offer different interesting textures: the crunchiness of carrots, starchiness of the peas, and softness of the peppers.

Since rice can be bland, you should add a bit of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil. The vinegar will bring out the acidity while the soy sauce can balance out the overall flavor with its savoriness. As a result, even without meat, this recipe is still very rich and healthy.

This Chinese Fried Rice using an Instant Pot recipe can save so much time.

17. Tofu Pudding (Dou Hua)

Total time: 18 minutes

What makes it so great about using Instant Pot is that aside from savory dishes, you can also make a lot of good Chinese desserts.

The first item is Tofu Pudding or Dou Hua. This sweet treat from China derives from tofu, which originates from the Han Dynasty (3rd century B.C – 3rd century A.D). It’s very refreshing to have during the scorching summer and chilling winter.

The thing that attracts people most about Dou Hua is the consistency of the tofu. It’s silky smooth, to the point where you can feel it slide down to your stomach almost instantly. Aside from that incredible texture, the nutty aroma of this tofu delight from China is very apparent.

Aside from the Tofu, there is a layer of syrup that makes Dou Hua irresistible. To whip it up, you just combine sugar, water, and ginger in a small heated pan. Thanks to the sugar, it’s already sweet, but the ginger also adds a bit of spiciness to the mix.

18. Red Bean Soup (Hong Dou Tang)

Total time: 1 hour 18 minutes

Like Dou Hua, Red Bean Soup or Hong Dou Tang is another Chinese dessert that’s perfect for any season of the year. This particular delicacy is available in China, Taiwan, and other big Chinese-speaking communities around the world.

With the Instant Pot, you can easily recreate this special dish by using a few simple ingredients like red beans, mandarin peel, and brown sugar. Thanks to the pressure cooking process, the beans will soften enough to release all of that starch.

That step thickens up the soup and gives it a very nutty flavor. When you add the brown sugar in, it can enrich the taste of red beans with some sweetness. On the other hand, the mandarin peel provides a mild zestiness to contrast with the sugar.

Red Bean Soup is a nice Chinese-style dessert for Instant Pot.

Chinese Instant Pot Dishes Combine Old With New

As you can see above, the Instant Pot offers you a very wide variety of options when it comes to Chinese-inspired food. Those recipes make use of modern technology to recreate some of the most authentic and traditional delicacies easily at home.

With just one convenient device, you can make a fantastic and exotic feast for your whole family. This change in meals will hopefully improve everyone’s mood during the week.

And with that, I’ve come to the end of the article. If you like what you just read, show some appreciation by hitting the like button and sharing this post on your social media. Don’t worry: The journey is not over yet, and I will see you again soon!