Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken is tender and juicy with a creamy spicy sauce. It can be made with Coconut Rice in the pressure cooker at the same time.
Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken
Juicy, flavorful and delicious, Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken is a great staple recipe to have on hand.
The chicken can be shredded for tacos and burritos or mixed with the sauce and used as a dip.
My Air Fryer Spicy Bang Bang Chicken Wings and Bang Bang Shrimp are both very popular recipes on the blog, so this salad version came naturally.
Cast of Ingredients for Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken
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What is Bang Bang Sauce?
It is a sweet and creamy chili sauce.
It contains mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce and a hot sauce. My preference is Sambal Oelek Ground Chili Paste.
Bone Fish Grill and The Cheesecake Factory have made “Bang Bang” quite popular.
The sauce is so good, I suggest mixing up a batch and storing it in your refrigerator to use on fish and on sandwiches.
How to Make Bang Bang Sauce
How to Make Bang Bang Sauce.
- Grab some Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.
- Full Fat Mayonnaise. I’ve been really digging Duke’s brand lately.
- Sambal Oelek Ground Chili Paste is fantastic. The chili flavor is pure and doesn’t interfere with other flavors. It is a good staple to have in your fridge.
- Whisk up the ingredients really well.
- Use a funnel and pour into a squeeze jar.
Bang Bang Sauce will last up to two weeks in the refrigerator.
Season and Coat Chicken
For Bang Bang Chicken in restaurants, the chicken is coated and deep fried in hot oil.
The coating use is an egg wash and flour. That is not ideal for cooking under pressure.
How to Make Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken.
Using an Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or any brand Pressure Cooker or multicooker to make Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken things are a bit different.
The chicken is coated in egg whites and chili paste and then dredged in potato starch.
In order for the starch to stick and remain on the chicken, the chicken will quickly sear in a bit of oil.
Next the chicken will quickly cook under pressure and all the flavors will be locked in.
Quick Sear of Chicken
Why Do you Use Potato Starch?
Potato starch is very light and sticks to the meat nicely.
After heating the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, the starch is quickly seared onto the meat.
This coats and protects the meat or chicken from becoming dry, as the moisture is locked in.
The flavor is more pleasant than cornstarch and it just seems to work better.
Potato starch also helps when sauteing or browning. For instance, look at my Pressure Cooker Salisbury Steak recipe. The steaks sear and slide right off the bottom, without leaving much fond.
It is also not as high in carbohydrates as flour.
Coconut Milk and Hot Sauce
In the ingredients photo above, I have shown you the types of coconut milk, which I prefer.
They seem to be the best brands and highest quality.
Prepare the PIP Rice
In this recipe, we will make the rice at the same time as the Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken.
Grab a Stainless Steel Strainer Basket or Rice Washing Bowl and make sure to rinse the rice and remove as much starch as possible.
Seasoned Rice Vinegar adds a nice bit of flavor and sweetness to the rice.
Check out my Pressure Cooker Thai Moo Wan Sweet Pork for another recipe with coconut rice.
Tips and Tricks for Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken.
- Thoroughly wash the rice to remove excess starch and any arsenic that might be present.
- Mix up the Bang Bang Sauce in advance.
- Start with a hot pot and then add oil.
- Whisk the egg whites until very foamy.
- Shake off any excess potato starch prior to placing in the pot.
Pot in Pot Rice
A tall trivet will keep the rice pan lifted from the chicken.
Potatoes, carrots, turnips can be cooked pot in pot, instead of the rice.
Other Instant Pot Creamy Recipes to Enjoy:
- Pressure Cooker Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Pressure Cooker Jalapeno Honey Chicken w/Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Pressure Cooker Creamy Baked Ziti
- Instant Pot Creamy Parmesan Garlic Mushroom Chicken
Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken
I always love veggies, so I make a big pile of whatever I have on hand.
Red cabbage adds nice color, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers are all great with this Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken recipe.
The Bang Bang Chicken would be great with Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes too!
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk– a MUST have, probably my most used utensil
- Porcelain & Bamboo Salt Box with Spoon
- Gravity Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board
- Salbree Steamer Basket
- Ekovana Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker Stackable Pans Set
- Stainless Steel Tall/Short Trivet & Egg Cooker Set
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Here is the handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Sambal Oelek Ground Chili Paste (plus 1 teaspoon)
- 1 large Egg White
- 1/4 cup Potato Starch
- 2 pounds Chicken Breasts Boneless/Skinless
- 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
- 12 ounces Calrose Rice rinsed
- 1.5 cups Fresh Water
- 1/4 cup Seasoned Rice Vinegar divided
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
Garnish
- Red Cabbage shredded
- Carrots shredded
- Cucumber sliced
- Butter Lettuce
- Chives
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk egg white until frothy. Add in 1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek and whisk.
- Place chicken pieces into sauce and let sit 5 minutes.
- Rinse rice and add to rice pan with 1/4 cup of coconut milk, 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar and 1.5 cups (12 ounces) of water. Set aside.
- Whisk together mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, Sambal Oelek, pinch of salt and set aside. Pour into squeeze bottle, if desired.
- Select Saute/Browning on pressure cooker and allow to fully heat. Add oil. Remove chicken from egg white and dredge through potato starch and place into cooking pot. Sear each side for 10 seconds and then remove.
- Pour in the rest of the rice vinegar and deglaze cooking pot, making sure nothing is stuck on the bottom of the pot. Return chicken to cooking pot and pour in 1/4 cup coconut milk. Turn off pressure cooker and return chicken to cooking pot.
- Place trivet into cooking pot and place pan of rice on top.
- Lock on lid and close pressure valve. Cook at high pressure for 4 minutes. When beep sounds, wait 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
- Remove rice pan and fluff rice. Prepare each plate with garnishings and add a scoop of rice to each plate. Cut chicken into pieces and place on top of rice. Drizzle Bang Bang Sauce over chicken.
Nutrition
Pin this Instant Pot Bang Bang Chicken
Creamy Spiced Pressure Cooker Bang Bang Chicken
Chicken came out perfectly, but my rice was still crunchy. What did I do wrong?
I don’t know where to get potato starch. Is there a substitute? Can you use corn starch?
I am looking forward to trying this recipe. All of the recipes of yours have been great so far. Your website though…so many ads and takes forever to load due to the ads. The animated ads make scrolling hard.I don’t have this issue with any other blogs I regularly visit. I now limit my visits to your website (which makes me sad).
Where do you get the Thai sweet chili sauce and Sambal chili paste for this recipe?
Cant wait to try this.
I’ve linked to them in the recipe. Jill
I just need some advice – My husband, bless his heart, gifted me with a Mini-Duo Instant Pot and I need a larger one. Do your recipes always work with a 6 quart size?