This incredibly easy, delicious treat of a dinner is my take on a recipe from Once a Month Meals. I resized it for two people, decreased the amount of liquid, cut the sugar and salt way back, and added some True Orange Ginger. The result is even more flavorful, and a bit less runny. As the chicken cooks and releases some of its own juices, the sauce does remain thin. You can remove the chicken after cooking and use the sauté function to reduce the sauce, add some arrowroot or another thickener, or just eat it as is. That’s what we ended up doing. While it isn’t a thick sauce, it is quite flavorful. I didn’t want to wait to dig in, and you probably won’t, either! When you open the steam valve and get a good whiff, you won’t want to spend a minute more cooking. While we didn’t end up eating all the sauce this time, I’ve included all of it in the nutrition information calculations in case you do. 

I’ve written the recipe as a freezer meal to be cooked straight from frozen in the Instant Pot. Or you can cook it from fresh ingredients (without needing to adjust the settings). Just pile everything into the inner pot and start cooking. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can also cook it on the stovetop. It should take about 15 to 20 minutes at a moderate simmer in a covered pot. Cook the rice separately.

You’ll find a printer-friendly version of the recipe at the bottom of this page. 

Updated 12/10/17 to include instructions for adding corn to make this a one-pot meal. Please note that I did not update the nutrition information. If you’re using the corn, just use the package info.

Update 6/19/19: I had been using 2 chipotles with 1 tablespoon of sauce. I have since found that using just 1 chipotle gives a better flavor, with plenty of heat. The change to the nutritional info is negligible.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp brown sugar lightly packed, about ¾ oz. (20 g)

1 chipotle + 1 Tbsp sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

6 oz. orange juice

1 tsp Lawrey’s salt

½ tsp True Orange Ginger

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp garlic powder

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1¾ lbs.)

½ cup Uncle Ben’s whole grain brown rice

1 cup frozen corn (optional)

Preparation:

1.) Measure the brown sugar into a 64-oz freezer container. Mince the chipotle, measure the sauce, and add to the container.

2.) Add the next 5 ingredients (orange juice through garlic powder) to the container; stir to combine.

3.) Add the chicken in a single layer, pressing down to submerge. Label the container and freeze.

4.) Place the rice in a ziptop bag. Once the chicken mixture is frozen, tuck the rice bag into the freezer container.

5.) When you’re ready to cook, set aside the bag of rice. Remove the entire frozen block from the plastic container and place it in the inner pot. Place a trivet on top of the block. It doesn’t matter if the trivet feet don’t touch the bottom of the pot.

6.) Fold a length of foil in half, and lay it across the trivet. This will serve as a sling to lift the rice pan out of the pot.

7.) Place a heat-safe pan on the foil sling. Add the rice and one cup of water to the pan, and cover the pan with its lid or another piece of foil. Fold the ends of the sling over the top of the pan.

8.) Leaving the Instant Pot lid off, press the “Sauté” button to turn the pot on. Press the “Adjust” button as needed to set the level to “normal”. Cook for 5 minutes. (Note that the “Sauté” function automatically stops at 30 minutes. You’ll have to set a separate timer or watch the clock to measure the 5 minutes.)

9.) After 5 minutes, press “Keep Warm/Cancel” to end the sauté function. Close and lock the lid, and shut the steam valve. Using either the “Poultry” or “Manual” button, set the pot for 15 minutes at high pressure. When the cook time is up, allow 10 minutes NPR (natural pressure release) then release any remaining pressure.

10.) Carefully lift the rice pan out of the pot, using the foil sling. Check the chicken and rice for doneness. Stir the corn into the chicken mixture and replace the lid (no need to turn the pot back on). Let sit for two minutes, then stir again and serve the chicken over the rice.