Now for the fun part. I served these drumsticks with Jasmine Rice and Steamed Broccoli. Creating this complete meal from start to plated/packaged took 35 minutes. I buy our organic drumsticks from Costco. They come in a 3 part package, each part containing 4-5 drumsticks depending on how large they are. This particular package had 5. Here’s my recipe for the General Tso Sauce and Chicken, both of which are cooked in the Instant Pot. I used to use a store bought sauce, but wished the ingredients were cleaner. So I experimented with making my own, and honestly, it’s not difficult at all. I love that I can control the ingredient quality and avoid some of the things I didn’t like about store bought varieties {such as excessive sugar, soy or canola oil, and added preservatives.}

 

 

While the Instant Pot does its thing, I prepare the rice and broccoli. For the rice, your package should have cooking instructions, but I use 2 cups dry rice, 3 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil or butter. I cook on medium low heat covered for 15 minutes. I measure this out and start cooking it once the drumsticks are seared and the Instant Pot has been set to do it’s thing independently. Doing so means the rice is done cooking a few minutes before the drumsticks are ready to come out. Cauliflower rice, brown rice, or quinoa would also pair well with this dish.

While the rice is cooking, I wash, chop and steam the broccoli over a pot of boiling water. Two large heads of broccoli, weighing about 16-20 oz. in total before removing stalks, yields enough for 4-5 servings. This entire process takes less than 10 minutes, so I start that last. Once the rice and broccoli are finished, I portion or plate them up. Often we will eat one serving each and package up the other servings for Jason to take to work throughout the week. He tends to be the envy of the office with his home-cooked meals, but let’s stay on topic.