Instant Pot Island chicken bowls are the perfect easy summer meal! Shredded chicken is tossed in a sweet and tangy teriyaki-inspired sauce, quickly cooked in the Instant Pot, then served over rice with a side of fresh pineapple and avocado salsa.
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When it comes to summer food, I gravitate toward dishes that are fresh and simple. As much as I love cooking, the last thing I want on a hot day is to spend hours in the kitchen heating up my house, and I definitely don’t want to sit down to anything too hearty.
While it makes perfect sense to use your Instant Pot in the summertime, it can be hard to find Instant Pot recipes that are light and fresh instead of hearty soups and stews. That’s where these tasty island chicken bowls come in!
The chicken is made in the Instant Pot (or the slow cooker if you prefer!), so no heating the kitchen, they’re topped with the most deliciously fresh pineapple and avocado salsa, and they come together in under 30 minutes. The whole family will be able to get behind these!
How to Make Instant Pot Pineapple Chicken
So, there are a lot of variations of what exactly makes an island-inspired chicken out there – from BBQ to sweet and sour to spicy, but for this recipe we decided to go with a teriyaki-inspired sauce for our chicken! The sauce is perfectly sticky, and hits all the right notes of sweet, tangy, and salty. The first step in making these island chicken bowls is putting the sauce together, which is a breeze with the Instant Pot!
- Reduce the coconut aminos. Coconut aminos are our secret weapon when it comes to making delicious soy-free teriyaki sauce! You’ll simply set your Instant Pot to ‘saute’ then add a cup of coconut aminos and let them simmer for 5-8 minutes reduced by half. This thickens the coconut aminos and concentrates their flavors.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients. Next, you’ll add lime juice, sriracha, garlic powder, ginger, sesame oil, and pineapple juice to the sauce. Give it a whisk then turn off the Instant Pot.
- Add the chicken. Next up, you’ll add 2 pounds of chicken to the Instant Pot. I personally prefer using boneless/skinless chicken thighs for Instant Pot recipes because they retain the most flavor and don’t dry out – but if you prefer white meat you can use either chicken tenders or boneless/skinless chicken breast instead. Either way, you’ll simply toss the chicken with the sauce and then set it to cook for 12 minutes.
- Make the rice. While the chicken cooks, make your favorite rice according to the package instructions. If you’re eating grain-free, feel free to substitute with cauliflower rice instead!
- Make the pineapple salsa. To make the pineapple salsa, you’ll dice up 2 cups of pineapple, an avocado, some cilantro, red onion, and a small jalapeno, then toss it with lime juice.
- Shred the chicken and thicken the sauce. Once the timer on the Instant Pot goes off, you can manually release the pressure, then pull the chicken out and shred with two forks. Turn the Instant Pot back to ‘saute’ mode, then whisk together some arrowroot starch and water and pour it into the sauce. Whisk it again and let it come to a boil. Once the sauce is thickened, turn the pot off, then add the shredded chicken and toss to coat.
- Assemble the bowls. Spoon the rice into a bowl, then top with the chicken and pineapple salsa and serve!
Video
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
Instant Pot Island Chicken Bowls with Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
For the Island Chicken
- 1 cup coconut aminos
- 1/3 cup pineapple juice
- 2 tablespoons lime juice about 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons sriracha optional
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger or 1 teaspoon ground
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (may also use chicken breasts or tenders)
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch
- 4 1/2 cups cooked white rice or cauliflower rice for serving
For the Pineapple Avocado Salsa
- 2 cups pineapple diced
- 1 large avocado diced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice about 1 lime
- 1/3 cup fresh chopped cilantro
- 1/4 red onion diced
- 1 small jalapeno seeds removed, diced (optional)
Instructions
- Add the coconut aminos to the Instant Pot on saute mode and cook for 5-8 minutes, until thickened and reduced by half, then turn off the Instant Pot.
- Stir in the lime juice, sriracha, garlic powder, ginger, pineapple juice, and sesame oil. Add the chicken and toss to coat, then set the Instant Pot to ‘manual’ and adjust to cook for 12 minutes.
- While the chicken cooks, make the pineapple salsa. Add all of the salsa ingredients to a bowl and toss to coat, then set aside.
- When the timer on the Instant Pot goes off, manually release the pressure, then remove the chicken from the pot and shred with two forks, or with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.
- Put the Instant Pot back on ‘saute’ mode, then whisk the arrowroot starch with 1/4 cup water. Pour the arrowroot mixture into the sauce and whisk to combine. Let the sauce come to a boil and thicken, then turn off the Instant Pot and return the chicken to the pot and toss it to coat with the sauce.
- Assemble the bowls with the rice, chicken, and pineapple salsa and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Silly question-The nutrition info info is for 5 servings. So assuming the info is per serving?
Yep, the nutrition info is per serving!
This looks awesome! However our family has a coconut intolerance but no problem with soy. If I were to swap in soy sauce to make this how much should I use?
Soy sauce is much saltier than coconut aminos, so I’d recommend subbing 1/4 cup soy sauce + 3/4 cup chicken broth (rather than just soy sauce). Also, since the soy sauce + broth mixture won’t reduce down, skip the step of reducing at the beginning. I hope this helps, April! Enjoy!
how long for frozen chicken breasts?
12 minutes should still do the trick, Crystal! It’ll just take the Instant Pot a little bit longer to reach pressure!
Hi! My grocery store didn’t have coconut aminos and I won’t get a chance to stop by another one before I make this. I have both soy sauce and Tamari at home (low sodium versions of each) and don’t have any food intolerances – would one of those work as a substitute? If so, would you recommend one over the other? Thanks!
Hi Kate, without coconut aminos, the sauce won’t reduce down, and tamari and soy sauce are MUCH saltier than coconut aminos. Instead, I’d recommend subbing about 1/4 cup of tamari and 3/4 cup of chicken broth for the coconut aminos, and skipping the step of reducing at the beginning. At the end after you remove the chicken, put the pot back on saute mode and add arrowroot starch to the mixture about 1 teaspoon at a time until it reaches the desired thickness!
This was my first instant pot meal. I love this recipe. Delicious
This was delicious! Cassy Joy and Amber, you two bomber disappoint!
what kind of pineapple juice do you suggest?
Any 100% pineapple juice will do!
This was SOOOO tasty. Even my 13 month old gobbled up the chicken.
So glad you liked it Claudia!
Easy and super tasty! Sweet without being overpowering.
The Fed And Fit Cookbook includes macros, Is it possible to also add macros to your online recipes?
I am SUPER excited to try this one out tonight! Looks like a great weekday recipe. Thanks again!
This recipe is amazing! We used half coconut aminos and half low sodium soy sauce because it’s what we had. I sort of screwed up and boiled the sauce a little too long with the arrowroot powder (made the texture weird) – but that’s my mistake, not an issue with the recipe! To make it a little healthier we used brown rice and actually didn’t use all the sauce. This will absolutely be added to our meal prep rotation! I’m hoping that the avocados don’t brown immediately since they’re covered in lime juice.
So glad you enjoyed it Rebekah!
I own a ninja foodi. Can I cook this recipe in that as well since there is a high pressure cooking mode?
I made it in a Ninja Foodi and made it last night and it came out perfect!
So glad to hear that, Melinda! This one is on my menu this week too!
If using a slow cooker- do you make the sauce (add in lime juice, sriracha, garlic powder, ginger, pineapple juice, and sesame oil), before you add the uncooked chicken to the slow cooker? The recipe only specifies the reduced coconut aminos. More clarification on this would be greatly appreciated for slow cooker!
Yes, for the slow cooker, just follow the instructions for reducing the coconut aminos on the stovetop over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, then stir in the remaining sauce ingredients and add to the slow cooker with the chicken and cook for about 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low, until it is shreddable!
Great looking recipe! There’s only 2 of us so I was thinking of halving the recipe to only 1 pound chicken breast. If so, should I reduce the IP cooking time? Thanks so much!
I would keep the cook time at 12 minutes! One note – the Instant Pot needs at least 1 cup of liquid to come to pressure so I wouldn’t half the sauce.
Hi! You list adding pineapple juice into the instant pot in the directions but I don’t see an amount on the list of ingredients
Sorry about that, it’s 1/3 cup!