Chicken and eggplant in garlic sauce is my all-time favorite dish from the Chinese takeout menu. I LOVE eggplant and I like how it tastes so good with chicken and deliciously hot, tangy, and sweet garlic-based sauce. Served with hot fried rice this dish is my kind of comfort food.
Why I LOVE this homemade version of the Chinese takeout dish
- Loaded with flavorful, tender, and juicy purple chinese eggplant
- GARLIC and lots of garlic
- Healthier since you get to control how much soy sauce to add
- Ready in 15 minutes
Tips
Tips for making perfect chicken & eggplant in garlic sauce:
- Cut eggplant into thicker wedges
- Quick-release after the pressure cooking cycle completes and press cancel while the pressure releases so the eggplant does not overcook
- Ground chicken works really well for this recipe but you can also use thinly sliced 1-inch pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
Process
Step by step recipe:
step 1: Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and corn starch in a small bowl and keep aside.
step 2: Cut the eggplant into thick wedges.
step 3: Mince lots of garlic, I love this oxo garlic mincer.
step 4: Turn the Instant Pot to Saute mode and heat oil. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 secs.
step 5: Add chicken, cook for 3 minutes breaking the chicken with spatula.
step 6: Add ¼ cup of water and eggplant. Close the Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to sealing. Set on Manual/Pressure Cook(Hi) for 2 min.
step 7: Press Cancel and quick release. Open the Instant Pot and set to Saute mode. Add the mixed reserved sauce.
step 8: Gently stir everything together. Bring to gentle boil and then turn the Instant Pot off. Enjoy with hot fried rice!
We enjoy this spicy chicken and eggplant dish over fried brown rice. Check out my Instant Pot brown rice recipe for perfectly cooked, nutty brown rice. Once you have the brown rice cooked here is a simple recipe to make fried rice. Since the Eggplant and Chicken dish is so flavorful I usually do not add more spices, garlic, etc to this the fried rice.
Quick fried rice recipe
- Scramble 2 to 3 eggs in some oil and keep aside.
- In a medium pot or Instant Pot, heat oil and add 1 to 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables. Sauce for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add cooked brown rice and 1 to 2 teaspoons of soy sauce. Soy sauce is optional but tastes great.
- Mix in the fried eggs and enjoy hot.
Here a quick video showing how to make and chicken & eggplant in garlic sauce, using the Instant Pot!
Did you enjoy this quick and delicious meal? Here are some of my other favorite recipes for busy weeknights:
★ Have you tried this recipe? We love your feedback, Please click on the stars in the recipe card below to rate.
Instant Pot Chicken & Eggplant in Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 chinese eggplant cut into ½ inch thick and 2 inch long wedges
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 3 tablespoons garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes less for a milder dish
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
Instructions
- Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and corn starch well and keep aside.
- Turn the Instant Pot to Saute mode and heat oil. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 secs.
- Add chicken, cook for 3 minutes breaking the chicken with spatula.
- Add eggplant and water. Close the Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to sealing and pressure cook for 2 minutes followed by Quick Release.
- Open the Instant Pot and set to Saute mode. Add the mixed sauce and stir everything together. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Bring to gentle boil and then turn the Instant Pot off. Serve with hot fried rice.
Video
Nutrition
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Hans Susser says
Beats any Chinese take-out 🙂
Good Stuff!
Archana says
Thank you, Hans!
Ellanor Aquitaine says
Sounds delicious with even just the aubergine and fresh herbs always make your food look soooo good!
Also, I love garlic in my food too. When a recipe call for only 1 or 2 gloves of garlic I chuckle and instantly go to chop up 3 or 4 because the flavour is so good. Here we say that Vampires don't like the smell of garlic, so eating lots of it will keep them away ... but the flavour is good enough reason for me 😀
Archana says
Thank you Ellanor! I had no idea about the vampire story with smell of garlic. Now I have even more reason to eat more!! Thank you!
KR says
I do not like eggplant.... but I promise, I try this recipe. Because it look like so delicious and maybe I will surprised 🙂 🙂 🙂
Archana says
Thank you! It is delicious and the eggplant almost melts in your mouth. I hope you like eggplant. It is one of my fav veggies and I cannot get enough of it. May be it will open up a whole new world of flavor for you.
Grubbing With Jess says
I've been obsessed with eggplant lately! I love roasting them!! 🙂
Archana says
I love eggplant on every which way too!! SO flavorful
Linda Parker says
I made this for the first time last night... it was absolutely delicious... thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I am new to using the Instant Pot and this recipe made it very simple for me to do. I am also a lover of Indian dishes, so now I can't wait to try the ones you have posted. Thx again, have a great day:)
Archana says
Hi Linda! Thank you for your lovely comments. I am so happy that you enjoyed this easy recipe. You will surely enjoy the new cooking experience in the Instant Pot. I have lots of Indian recipes on my blog and I can't wait to hear how you like them.
Nancy Adkins says
Made this tonight!!! Amazing. Better than our favorite Chinese Resturant. But then since we live in rural Hawaii finding GOOD Chinese is hard. I did add some more spice. And served over brown rice. It is now going to be a regular in our house. Will try it with boneless Chicken Thighs next time I think. And some time I think just the Eggplant or maybe with Tofu.
Archana says
Hi Nancy! Thank you for your feedback. Happy to hear that you enjoyed this simple dish. And all the variations you are thinking sound delicious and will work very well with this base recipe. Enjoy!
Eggplant Lover says
We adapted our favorite Chinese eggplant recipe using the method you described and it turned out perfect. Being able to make Chinese style eggplant without frying it in lots of oil is a huge win. Thanks for sharing!
Archana says
Awesome! Thank you for the feedback.
Michelle says
Hi Archana. Are Chinese eggplants the same as Japanese eggplants (the long thin purple ones?) Otherwise could you give a weight for the eggplants? Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Michelle. Yes the long thin Japanese eggplants.
Virginia Cooke says
I've really enjoyed this recipe but it doesn't say when to put the mixed sauces back in to the pot. So I assumed that was at the same time as putting the water in, so I did that and it came out just fine. Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Virginia, The mixed sauce goes in step 6. I am glad it worked for you along with water and you enjoyed the recipe.
Virginia Cooke says
Oh so it does! Sorry, I missed that. Thanks for your reply.
Archana says
Thank you for trying my recipe!
Shelley says
Hi! Can you please tell me how much to cook for if using small chicken breast pieces? Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Shelley, 4 minutes cook time will work for half to 1-inch chicken pieces.
Lara Diamond says
By corn flour, do you mean corn starch? Or corn meal? Three markets I checked didn’t have corn flour.
Archana says
Hi Lara, Corn starch and I will update the ingredient list too.
jade jackson says
Your photo shows vegetables in the dish.... but they're not in the recipe. What veg did you add to the dish? And did you cook them in the Instant Pot along with everything else?
Archana says
Hi Jade, So this recipe has eggplant. I add them along with the chicken. Hope this helps.
IPnewbie says
This was delicious! I also love ordering eggplant at Chinese restaurants but sometimes the eggplant is too firm and almost always it's too greasy - the Instant Pot is the brilliant solution to both problems. Made a few changes to accommodate my taste, my daughter's palate, and the small size of my Mini - halved the amount of chili flakes and used 3 Tbsp garlic. For the sauce, I used 3 Tbsp soy sauce and 2 Tbsp oyster sauce + 1 Tbsp water to cut down on the sodium. Sadly, I could only squeeze in about 2 large eggplants. Thinking about cutting them into slightly smaller pieces next time though I realize they may disintegrate even more. Even with those modifications, it turned out well, and my 5-year-old loved it and even asked me to make it again, though she had declared in advance that she wouldn't eat it because she didn't like eggplant. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Archana says
You are welcome! I am so glad you enjoyed it. I agree it’s SO much healthier than the greasy restaurant versions
Robert says
Hi!
Made this last
night. The flavor is great, but one question I have is how did your eggplants stay purple (as seen in the photo) while mine are definitely grey-ish (also probably a tad on the mushy side) Followed the directions, using a 6QT Instant Pot Duo Plus. Any ideas?
Archana says
Thank you! Some of my eggplant also turned grayish. The kep is to do quick release and open the lid as soon as the pressure cooking is done.
Marla says
Tastes just like my favorite Chinese dish from Chinatown. I just love my instant pot. Thank you for this delicious recipe!!!
Archana says
You are welcome! Thank you for the feedback
Nicole Sislen says
I made my sauce with just 5 tbs coconut aminos, 2 tbs white rice vinegar, 1 tbs braggs Apple cider vinegar and a half a packet of stevia. On keto diet so trying to keep it low sodium, low carb, super low sugars. I added some Himalayan sea salt for taste and was perfect! Sooooo fast to prepare and eat! Definite repeat!!! Thanks so much!
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback! And I like all your modifications too.
Douglas Davis says
Just made this with two fresh (non-Japanese) eggplants from a neighbor's garden. It is absolutely delicious. I am having it over jasmine rice that I made yesterday to go with the baingan bharta (Indian eggplant dish) I made yesterday, also in my Instant Pot.
This is a really great dish, and I will probably make it again in the future!
Thank you for sharing!
Sham says
I only have one Chinese eggplant. Can I substitute rest of eggplant with broccoli and how should I change the cooking time or recipe?
Archana says
Add one eggplant. After pressure cooking cycle completes, add small cut broccoli and keep the lid closed for 5 minutes so the broccoli steams without getting mushy.
Donna M Peterson says
This was so good. My entire family loved it. I served it over white rice and accompanied by sauteed baby bok choy. I had an Italian eggplant and I tried to cut it into similarly sized pieces as shown in your recipe. It worked fine. I will definitely make this again.
Archana says
Thank you!
Anna says
The garlic chicken and eggplant turned out great! I didn't have any oyster sauce on hand, so I substituted with hoisin, added a couple of pinches of dark brown sugar and a 1/2 tsp. of fish sauce. I also added 1 small chopped onion and would probably add additional vegetables in the future. I didn't have any ground chicken, but ended up using a package of chicken thighs cut up into 1 inch pieces that I sauted with the garlic and red peppers, including a heaping tablespoon of Chicken Better than Bullion (this stuff is awesome!). I also cook my rice with 1.5 tablespoons of the Chicken better than bullion to add additional flavor. I would definitely make this again!