Slow Cooker or Instant Pot General Tso's Chicken (Paleo)
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 3 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos or soy sauce*
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp almond butter or favorite nut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tbsp fresh minced ginger
- 3 tbsp red hot chili pepper chopped*
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds optional
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion optional
Instructions
- For your Slow Cooker:
- Place your chicken into a air tight container or large ziplock bag. Sprinkle the arrowroot powder on the chicken, and shake to coat so each piece is covered.
- Heat a large skillet to medium high heat, add in cooking oil to coat. Place chicken inside the pan once hot, and saute on each side for a few minutes until the outside is lightly browned. Place the chicken inside your slow cooker.
- In a medium sized bowl mix together these ingredients: coconut aminos or soy sauce, vinegar, tomato paste, honey, almond butter, sugar, garlic, ginger, chili flakes, and water. Whisk until somewhat smooth (may be chunky from the paste and nut butter). Pour on top of the chicken. Note that if your slow cooker generally cooks pretty fast, it might need more liquid. Add in an additional 1/2 cup water or chicken broth, and you can always thicken the sauce at the end.
- Cook on low for 4 hours. Remove the lid, if sauce isn't thick enough, add additional tbsp of arrowroot powder and cook for another 20 minutes.
- Serve with rice, or cauliflower rice. Top with sesame seeds and green onion to serve.
- For the Instant Pot:
- Place your chicken into a air tight container or large ziplock bag. Sprinkle the arrowroot powder on the chicken, and shake to coat so each piece is covered.
- Select the saute function. Once hot, add your cooking oil. Place garlic and chicken in the Instant Pot. Saute for just a few minutes, until the chicken is lightly browned on each side. Select the cancel function and remove the chicken from the pot. Place the water in the pot, and deglaze the pan.
- In a medium sized bowl mix together these ingredients: coconut aminos or soy sauce, vinegar, tomato paste, honey, almond butter, sugar, ginger, chili flakes, and water. Whisk until somewhat smooth (may be chunky from the paste and nut butter). Pour into the Instant Pot, and using the liquid, deglaze the bottom of the pot scraping up any browned bits. This will help from preventing the "burn" to appear on the IP. Now add the chicken back to the pot with the liquid.
- Secure the lid to your Instant Pot. Select the Manual function, and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Use a quick release, and once steam is completely vented, open the lid.
- Check to see if the sauce needs to be thicker. Add in an additional tbsp or arrowroot powder for thicker sauce, and select the saute function. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve with rice, or cauliflower rice. Top with sesame seeds and green onion to serve.
Notes
*If using coconut aminos, you will not need the addition of honey since it's sweeter than soy sauce.
**you can use 1 - 2 tbsp crushed red pepper in place of the red hot chili pepper. Vary up the spice by using just a little bit of the red hot chili pepper, or adding in additional red pepper flakes for more spice.