Lemonade Chicken - 365 Days of Slow Cooking and Pressure Cooking (2024)

Lemonade Chicken–with a secret ingredient that your family won’t be able to guess and only a handful of total ingredients this sweet and sour chicken is delicious to eat, easy to make and quick to clean up after dinner is done. A perfect weeknight recipe! Can be made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.

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Lemonade Chicken

You may be thinking “lemonade chicken…that sounds weird!” I was in the same boat as you until I tried it! I thought it would be sugary sweet and taste strange. However, I am happy to report that I was very wrong! This easy dump and go recipe (can be made in Instant Pot or Crockpot) was quickly consumed by myself and Skyler and Terry (Sky’s friend that we love to have around to help us eat all the food I make). Sorry to Greg who didn’t get even a bite because it was all gone by the time he arrived home from work. It reminds me a bit of a sweet and sour chicken. You can’t even taste that there is frozen lemonade concentrate as the main ingredient. I didn’t tell the boys about it until after they ate it and they were shocked when I told them that there was lemonade in it. Try out this chicken soon…I think you’ll really love it.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts–I used a combination of both. I personally think this is the way to go…lots of flavor from the dark meat but not too heavy with the addition of the white meat. I did use frozen thighs and breasts (about a pound of each) but you can use fresh if you’d like.
• Frozen lemonade concentrate–do not dilute
• Ketchup–I always buy Heinz
• Seasoned rice wine vinegar
• White pepper–or black pepper
• Cornstarch–optional, but nice if you want to thicken up the sauce
• Kosher salt and pepper–to taste

Steps

Pour water into bottom of Instant Pot. Add in the chicken.

In a bowl stir together the lemonade concentrate, ketchup, vinegar and white pepper. Pour the mixture over the chicken.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes then move valve to venting and remove the lid.

Use tongs to move chicken to a cutting board and shred.

Discard all but 1 cup of the liquid in the Instant Pot. In a small bowl stir together 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of cold water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot. Let the sauce thicken and then turn off the Instant Pot.

Stir the chicken into the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste (I added in a big pinch of kosher salt and coarse black pepper).

Serve and enjoy. Top with slices of lemon, if desired.

Notes/Tips

• Try serving this chicken over rice. My son and his friend ate it ALL before I could make rice. A nice side of roasted broccoli would be nice with it too.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Other recipes you can make with seasoned rice wine vinegar are Instant Pot Bulgogi and Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken.
• Try making some brown rice in a separate Instant Pot to serve with this chicken.

Can I Make The Rice At The Same Time?

Pot-in-pot rice is a method of cooking rice in a separate container placed inside the Instant Pot. This method allows you to cook rice and the chicken at the same time. Here’s how you can cook rice at the same time as the chicken.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup of white rice
• 3 cups of water

Instructions:

1. Add the rice to a heatproof container that fits inside the Instant Pot (I often use this stainless steel pan*). Add in the rice and water.
2. Add the chicken ingredients into the Instant Pot.
3. Place the heatproof container with the rice on top of the chicken, using a tall trivet* to keep it elevated.
4. Close the Instant Pot lid and set the valve to sealing. Cook as stated in the recipe card.
5. Carefully remove the heatproof container with the rice from the Instant Pot. It will be perfectly cooked!

Note: You can use long grain white rice, converted rice, basmati rice, jasmine rice. Brown rice uses a longer cooking time (22 minutes) and won’t work for (pot-in-pot) this particular recipe.

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.?Use the filterto find exactly what you are looking for. 

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Lemonade Chicken

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

3.8 from 5 reviews

• Author: 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
• Total Time: 27 minutes
• Yield: 4–6 servings 1x

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Description

With a secret ingredient that your family won’t be able to guess and only a handful of total ingredients this sweet and sour chicken is delicious to eat, easy to make and quick to clean up after dinner is done. A perfect weeknight recipe! Can be made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.

Ingredients

Scale

• 1/2 cup water
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs and/or breasts (frozen or fresh)
• 3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
• Pinch of white pepper
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• Kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Instant Pot Instructions:

1. Pour water into bottom of Instant Pot. Add in the chicken.
2. In a bowl stir together the lemonade concentrate, ketchup, vinegar and white pepper.
3. Pour the mixture over the chicken.
4. Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes then move valve to venting and remove the lid.
5. Use tongs to move chicken to a cutting board and shred.
6. Discard all but 1 cup of the liquid in the Instant Pot. In a small bowl stir together 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 Tbsp of cold water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the pot. Let the sauce thicken and then turn off the Instant Pot.
7. Stir the chicken into the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste (I added in a big pinch of kosher salt and coarse black pepper).
8. Serve and enjoy. Top with slices of lemon, if desired.

Slow Cooker Instructions: (no water or cornstarch needed)

1. Add chicken into slow cooker.
2. In a bowl stir together the lemonade concentrate, ketchup, vinegar and white pepper.
3. Pour the mixture over the chicken.
4. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
5. Use tongs to move chicken to a cutting board and shred.
6. Stir the chicken into the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste (I added in a big pinch of kosher salt and coarse black pepper).
7. Serve and enjoy. Top with slices of lemon, if desired.

• Category: Chicken
• Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.