Instant Pot Korean Chicken Meatballs
If you’re looking for a quick and easy dinner recipe, you have to try these Instant Pot Korean Chicken Meatballs. They’re super easy to throw together and only take 15 minutes to make!
Korean Chicken Meatballs
This back to school season brings on a major milestone in my family’s life: my son is starting kindergarten! I can’t believe it, it was just yesterday we drove the hour drive from the hospital in Red Deer, while I rode in the back with him the whole time to make sure he was okay.
Since this is new territory for me, I’m searching and creating quick and easy recipes to make those first few weeks of transition easier on all of us.
I recently purchased an Instant Pot and I love how fast and easy it is for creating healthy dinners. These Instant Pot Korean Chicken Meatballs are just that: quick, easy, and packed full of flavor.
In addition to meal planning, I’m making life easier on myself by using the Chicken App. This app is a lifesaver! I can add my grocery list, and use the share feature to make life that much easier. This way, my husband and I share a grocery list, so if he happens to be at the store he can check the list and pick up a few things for dinner. It saves me time and when I forget important items (which happens often), he can grab them for me.
Instant Pot Korean Chicken Meatballs
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you should definitely think about getting one but in the mean time: you can bake the meatballs at 425 for 25-30 minutes.
Related Recipes:
Korean Chicken Meatballs
Instant Pot Korean BBQ Chicken Meatballs. This Instant Pot recipe is heaven sent for busy weekday dinner ideas!
Servings 10 meatballs
Calories 94kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp grated ginger not packed
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup panko crumbs
- 1/4 cup chicken broth or water
- 1/2 cup Korean BBQ Sauce
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Optional: green onions for garnish.
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients (except for the panko crumbs, Korean BBQ sauce, and green onions) and mix together.
- Sprinkle the panko crumbs over the chicken, mix and let the panko soak into the chicken mixture for 5 minutes.
- Form into 10 balls. Add the olive oil and chicken broth or water to the bottom of the IP and then add the chicken to the Instant Pot, choose the poultry option and make sure it's sealed.
- While the balls are cooking make up the Korean BBQ Sauce.
- After the timer goes off, vent the Instant Pot.
- Serve the Korean Chicken Meatballs over quinoa or cauliflower rice. Drizzle the Korean BBQ sauce over the meatballs.
Nutrition
Serving: 1meatball (no sauce) | Calories: 94kcal | Carbohydrates: 2.8g | Protein: 8.8g | Fat: 5.3g | Saturated Fat: 1.4g | Cholesterol: 57.1mg | Sodium: 270.7mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.2g
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Congrats on your kindergartner! I feel like I might need to jump on this instant pot thing! #MM
What a bright and cheery kitchen, I would love when I get older to have such a place. Just love what you have done with the whole place. You’re a good daughter.
Thank you Kelly.
Recipe sounds great but don’t you need at least 1 cup of liquid when cooking with the IP?
I didn’t and it turned out okay 🙂
My meatballs stuck to the bottom of the IP when I followed the instructions and were quite charred, but still yummy. More liquid might be ideal. I hadn’t ever used the poultry setting before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. They were still AMAZING, though. Especially with the sauce. My nine year old wouldn’t stop eating them!
Oh no! That sucks that it happened, I guess more liquid or oil? (Mine didn’t stick much, but I’ll see what happens next time I make it.) I’m so happy you like it! Thanks for letting me know Brittni!
I just got the instant pot duo plus and it doesn’t have a poultry button. The equivalent I found said 12 min high pressure, after which they were steamed somewhat but still raw. The pressure never built up enough without liquid. I added a cup of liquid and did 6 min on high pressure and they were nicely browned on bottom, cooked and didn’t stick.
Thank you for sharing Jeannette!
Great recipe! I’ve been putting off trying out my Instant Pot for things other than the typical stews, etc but I’m so glad I did! After reading Brittni’s review I used a little extra oil and they came out nice and charred on the bottom, but did not stick. I was also too lazy to make the sauce so I used Japanese tonkatsu sauce which went well with these too. Definitely adding this to my recipe box!
Hey Lauren! Thanks so much for the review! I’m glad you liked it and hey – no shame in store bought 😀 Store bought sweet thai chili would be awesome too 😉
Sounds yummy! Is there a good brand of Korean BBQ sauce or sweet Thai chili sauce u can recommend?
I have never tried store bought Korean BBQ but Thai Kitchen makes my favorite sweet thai chili sauce!
Definitely needs liquid. I followed directions, and within 2 minutes, IP beeped and gave Overheat error message. Added some water and started over. Came out delicious!
How many minutes do you set it for?
I just hit the chicken or poultry button 🙂
On the IP, after you press Poultry, have many minutes do you set it for?
Hey Marcy,
I believe for this one I just used whatever the IP told me to do. I didn’t realize you could change it until recently haha!
I just made this for dinner and it was soooooo good! (I served it with brown rice and veggies). That sauce is so tasty and you’re right, a little goes a long way!
YAY! So glad you liked it!
Very good! I did saute the meatballs and put some broth in the post. Will definitely make again. Thanks for sharing.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I have to admit I was skeptical about not adding any extra liquid, but they turned out great. I did add the extra tablespoon of oil, as you suggested. Thanks for sharing!
That’s great to hear, glad you liked them.
Do you have suggestions for times on manual? My instant pot doesn’t have a poultry button.
Hey Taylor – 15 to 20 mins is what I do for chicken. If the meatballs are not very large, go 15 (I’m known to always overcook chicken 😉 ).
This sounds wonderful. So what’s the verdict: add some liquid or not? If so, how much?
I need to remake this! Mine was fine, but you know – maybe add 1/4 cup of liquid just to be sure and let me know 😉 I do have to remake it because it bugs me that some people had some issues 🙂
Hi, did you update the recipe on how much extra water is needed? Or can anyone who made this tell me how much total of water is needed?
Thank you!
Hey Nina,
I did add a bit of water to the instructions. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Anyone tried doubling the recipe? Is there enough room in the 6 quart?
I’m doubling it. It does not fit in the instant pot in one go, so I’ll be cooking twice. I also used the steaming rack rather than placing them directly into the instant pot. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Thanks Meg!
This recipe is a staple in our kitchen — thank you! We make it all the time.
A few changes we’ve made to the recipe for the IP: We use at least half to 3/4 a cup of chicken broth or stock since the IP needs liquid to come to pressure. We use a “fresh lightly dried” ginger that comes in a little plastic tub because we find it easier to work with/it doesn’t go bad as quickly as fresh. And we’ve come to prefer making this with ground pork instead of chicken.
Since we moved and no longer have no space in our kitchen, we’ve tended to use this recipe as our base recipe and saute the meatballs on the stove in a little oil 🙂 and the last time we made them, we put the Korean BBQ sauce right into the pan for the last minute or two and fried them a bit in that, which made for a sticky glaze on the outside that was really good!
Thanks for creating such a versatile base recipe, we’ve had a lot of fun (and great meals) experimenting with it! 🙂
Awesome, I’m totally searching for that ginger! we love ground pork too, I haven’t made it with it yet, I’ll be giving it a try!
These did not work at all without the extra liquid. I just selected the chicken button. It was defaluted to 15 mintues. After about 10 mintues I got the :burn” message. They were charred , stuck to the bottom and not cooked through. I had to actually break up the meatballs and combine with the BBQ sauce. Put the mess onto the rice I made. This was absoulte mess and will not be making these again.
I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you Richelle! Have a great day.
I wasn’t a fan of the “meat puddles” that are the result of this recipe. It’s just as easy and tastes better if you bake the meatballs.
I would recommend adding time to the recipe since most newer IP don’t have a poultry setting. Also, there’s a variation of times that can be used for a poultry setting, so that makes it even more confusing