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Instant Pot Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs

Instant Pot Kung Pao Meathballs in a bowl with green rice

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5 from 1 review

A little sweet, a little spicy and oh so moist!  These Kung Pao meatballs are amazing!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Chicken Meatballs

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • big pinch of kosher salt
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 egg, whisked
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs (can substitute with any bread crumb)
  • Optional for toppings: chopped roasted peanuts and/or sesame seeds
  • Optional for serving: Instant Pot Green Veggie Rice

For the Kung Pao Sauce

  • 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
  • 2 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (use 1 tablespoon for less heat)
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons cool water

Instructions

For the Chicken Meatballs

  1. In a large mixing bowl, add ground chicken, green onions, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, egg, and panko breadcrumbs.  Gently mix by hand until combined.  Using a small cookie scoop (about a 2 teaspoon scoop), form meat into balls.

For the Kung Pao Sauce

  1. To the pressure cooker pot add soy sauce, chicken broth, rice vinegar, sugar or honey, chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, and ginger and whisk to combine.  Arrange meatballs in a circular pattern on top of the sauce.
  2. Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position.  Cook at high pressure for 4 minutes.
  3. Note: If making theGreen Veggie Rice in a separate pressure cooker, start that now.
  4. When cooking is complete, use a natural release for 5 minutes and then release any remaining pressure.
  5. As is, the sauce is quite thin.  If a thicker sauce is preferred, use a slotted spoon to remove meatlballs to a plate and set aside.
  6. Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch and water and whisk until well combined.  Use the saute function to bring sauce to a simmer, then pour in half of the slurry and whisk until thickened, about 1 minute.  Add the rest of the slurry to thicken the sauce more if desired.
  7. Return the meatballs to the sauce and stir to coat the meat.
  8. To serve, place a scoop of meatballs and sauce on top of rice.  Sprinkle with roasted peanuts and sesame seeds and devour!

Freezer Instructions

  1. Prepare meatball mixture and place balls on a cookie sheet.  Set in the freezer until frozen then place in a freezer safe ziplock bag.
  2. When ready to cook, prepare Kung Pao Sauce as directed above and arrange frozen meatballs in the pot.  Cook at high pressure for 6 minutes and continue with step 4.

Notes

  • As written, the sauce has an amazing spicy kick.  Cut the chili garlic sauce down by half to make a more mild sauce.