Mandarin Chicken is a wonderful recipe that can be made in either the Crock Pot or Instant Pot Pressure cooker.
This recipe was given to me by a co-worker years ago. I fell in love with the simplicity of this dinner and better yet, loved it even more when my boys devoured it and asked for more.
That’s a win in my book for sure.
Served over rice, it’s a complete meal with only a few minutes preparation. Watch the Video Tutorial to see how it all comes together so easily and quickly.
Regardless how simple this recipe is for Mandarin Chicken, you and your family will love it.
Mandarin Chicken is tangy and sweet. Just a real combination of delicious flavors in your mouth.
Place chicken in Instant Pot and add the mixed salad dressing and cranberry sauce. Pour over the top and then top with mandarin orange. It really is just that simple.
Set your Instant Pot and you are ready to set the table, cook up a quick vegetable, or put your feet up after a long busy day. Your family with thank you and you will love Mandarin Chicken too.
Quick Tips
Substitute French Dressing for Russian Dressing. They both are wonderful!
Don’t have an Instant Pot? No Trouble! Mandarin Chicken can be made in the Crock Pot too.
Follow the instructions and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4-6 on high to cook your chicken. Delicious!
Step by Step Instructions
- In a rice cooker, place 2 cups rice and 4 cups liquid and get it started cooking. This will ensure that your meal will all be done at once if using the Instant Pot
- In a small bowl combine salad dressing and cranberry sauce. Mix to combine and set aside.
- Place Chicken Breasts into Instant Pot. Pour mixture over the top. Pour drained mandarin oranges on top. It’s important to add an additional ½ water to the Instant Pot for everything to cook properly.
- Set to Manual for 18 minutes. Natural Release for 5 minutes and Quick Release the remaining.
- Serve over a bed of rice. Place chicken on top with some of the juices and additional mandarin orange. Enjoy!
- For full recipe – Scroll to the very bottom of post for Recipe Card
Want to make your sauce thick? That's super easy. Reduce sauce in a sauce pan over medium heat until you reach desired thickness OR make a cornstarch slurry (2 Tbls cornstarch with a little liquid and stir in)
You will have a rich thick drizzle sauce for your rice and chicken too.
More great Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Parmesan
- Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
- Chicken Parm Pasta
- How to make Teriyaki Chicken
- Instant Pot Hamburgers
- Chicken Tuscan Pasta
- Instant Pot Steak Fajitas
- Chicken Taco Soup
- Easy Swiss Steak
- Crack Chicken Pasta
Mandarin Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
- 3-4 Chicken Breasts
- 1 Can Cranberry Jelly - *I prefer with whole berries
- 1 Cup Russian Dressing - *Could substitute French Dressing
- 1 Can Mandarin Oranges
- 2 Cups Rice
- 4 Cups water
- ½ Cup water - *Instant Pot Recipe Only
Instructions
- In a rice cooker place 2 cups rice with 4 cups water. Salt to taste and start.
- In a small bowl combine salad dressing and cranberry sauce and miix to combine. Set aside.
- In a Crock Pot or Instant Pot: Place Chicken Breasts, pour mixture of salad dressing and cranberry sauce on top. Pour drained and rinsed can of mandarin oranges on top. (add ½ cup water to instant pot - Omit for crock pot)
- Instant Pot - Cook on Manual for 18 minutes. Natural Release for 5 minutes, Quick Release remaining time. Crock Pot - Cook on low for 6-8 hours until done.
- Serve Mandarin Chicken over Rice. Enjoy
Notes
Nutrition Disclaimer
All nutrition values are approximate and calculated by a plugin and are provided as a courtesy. Adding or subtracting ingredients will change the nutritional value.
Barbara Carter
I would like to cook rice along with this by the pot-in-pot method. Would the rice overcook with the 18 minute cook time? Could I safely reduce the time to maybe 10 minutes? Would like some advice to truly make this a one-pot meal.
Devour Dinner
Hi Barbara!
To make this a pot in pot meal, this is what I would do. I would cut up the chicken into smaller pieces (think Chicken Tender size),cut your chicken breast into long strips. This will help speed up the cooking time. I would cook the chicken as the recipe states on the bottom of the Instant Pot and place a higher trivet on top for the rice. Rice could then be cooked in a Pot in Pot method for a 12 minute cook time and you should be fine. As always chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Sue
I am looking for delicious insta pot recipes. I love using my insta pot and do need more recipes. Having them dump recipes is a plus---I like things I can fix quickly but still taste really good.
Devour Dinner
I agree Sue! A Good Dump and Go recipe are great. This recipe is a good one. We love to shred the chicken and let it sit in the sauce. It's delicious!
Bonnie
You know that beautiful picture at the top of the recipe? Well, that’s not what you get. I made this tonight, followed the directions and ended up with a large pot of brownish liquid with chicken breasts floating in it. The mandarin oranges had disintegrated into nothingness. The “sauce” was the consistency of water. We ate it, but it was a disappointment, that’s for sure.
Devour Dinner
Hi Bonnie, I'm sorry it didn't turn out exactly liked you had hoped. There are many factors when it comes to a recipe. If the chicken was frozen it can hold more water, or some chicken will just hold more water than others. You can quickly thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry of 2-3 tbs cornstarch to some of the liquid in the pot and add and allow to cook for a few minutes. That will also help. I enjoy shredding the chicken into the sauce so that my chicken is all coated in the marinade of flavors too. I hope that helps!
Anna
In had a similar experience where I ended up with something like mandarin chicken soup. And I didn't add any extra water to my instant pot. I think next time I will either halve the sauce ingredients or double the chicken, and that should help!
Lynn @ Oh-So Yummy
cranberry and mandarin sound like a fab sweet component to this dish! i would like to start using my IP more, especially with simple recipes like these! thanks for sharing your home recipes!
Devour Dinner
Hi Lynn! Cranberry and Mandarin are a fun combination and this is one of the easiest recipes in the IP. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
Edel
OMG! It’s really easy. Like I say, dummy-proof recipe hehehe. Going to make it sure. Thank you for sharing!!
Devour Dinner
Haha... Yes Edel! It's Dummy-proof for sure! It just can't get any more simple than this. Let us know how you like it!
Hillary
Looks so simple and yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Juanita Deloris
I am always on the lookout for something different to do with chicken. This recipe looks like it will be really good! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kristen
Delicious, I’ll be saving this one!
Kristin's Peppermints and Cherries
Your recipes never disappoint! Pinned! Love the video too! I would have never thought to mix the dressing and the cranberry. 🙂 What a fun discovery!
Devour Dinner
Thank you Kristin! It's such a different combination but the flavors come together so perfectly! So glad you like the video's too. It shows just how simple this recipe is. 🙂
Kristi Ann
This looks so delicious. Definitely trying the easier, crock pot version you mentioned!