This Instant Pot Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup with Sweet Rice (Samgyetang 삼계탕) is a delicious and healthy soup. It features a whole chicken stuffed with sweet rice, ginseng, ginger, garlic, and jujube.
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In Korea, this soup is actually very popular during the summer months. It is thought that by eating heat you will fight off the heat. Plus it is believed that the boost from the ginseng will help replenish your stamina from being drained by the hot days. This soup is known to also be an immune booster. Replenish your stamina and boost your immune system, sign me up!
Using a smaller chicken or cornish hen
I used a regular-sized whole chicken in this recipe. Traditionally, you would use a small chicken or cornish hens, which are usually about one to two pounds. If you plan to use a small chicken (one to two pounds), then cut the rest of the ingredients in this recipe in half. You will also need to only pressure cook it for 20 minutes, and then do a quick release of the steam.
The smaller chickens/cornish hens are best for a single serving and serving it whole when it’s ready to eat. The regular-sized chicken, as I used in this recipe, is just too large and is why pulling the meat off the bone helped when it was time to serve and eat. However, even if you use a regular-sized chicken (4 to 5 pounds), you could still serve this with whole pieces of the chicken if you wanted to be a bit more on the traditional side of how this is really served in Korea. For example, you could separate off the legs and place them into individual bowls when serving.
Key features and tips
As you may have noticed, we don’t add any salt to the water or the chicken during the prep or cooking process. This is intentional because traditionally, each person will add salt to their own bowl of soup to their individual liking when it is time to eat. This is what we do in our home as well. You could also add in salt to taste to the entire pot after it has finished cooking if you’d like, but we like to salt up our own individual bowls. We also like to add in a splash of sesame oil to our individual bowl of soup too.
What ingredients will I need to make this Instant Pot Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang) recipe?
- Whole chicken (or smaller chicken/cornish hen if wanting a smaller portion)
- Sweet rice
- Garlic
- Ginger root
- Dried ginseng root
- Dried jujubes
I purchased my Smagyetang kit at my local Korean market. Here is a similar Samgyetang kit I found online if you don’t want to buy all the ingredients individually:
Let’s make this healthy Korean Chicken Soup
Step 1: Rinse the sweet rice
Rinse the sweet rice with cool water and drain. Continue rinsing and draining the rice until the water runs clear.
Step 2: Stuff the chicken, add other ingredients and cover with water
Stuff the chicken with the rice, garlic, and ginseng. Tie up the legs with cooking twine, or place small slits in the skin by the legs to truss the chicken. Place the stuffed chicken in the pressure cooker insert. Note: If everything won’t fit inside the chicken, leaving the garlic and ginseng outside of the chicken cavity in the Instant Pot insert is totally fine as well.
Add the ginger root and dried red jujube dates around the chicken.
Cover the chicken with water. You just want enough water to completely cover the chicken. That’s why we didn’t put an exact amount of water in the recipe, just in case you chose a smaller chicken.
Step 3: Let the Instant Pot do its magic
Lock and seal the lid according to your pressure cooker’s instructions. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes (for a full-size chicken, about 4 to 5 pounds). If you’re doing a smaller chicken or a cornish hen (about 1 to 2 pounds) cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
When the time is up, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then quickly release any remaining pressure. Pull out the chicken. Scrape the rice out of the chicken into a bowl. Discard the ginger root. Keep the garlic cloves, ginseng root, and dried dates if you want to eat them. You can also discard them if you’d like.
Step 4: Serve and enjoy
Place the cooked rice, into individual bowls and add the clear chicken soup on top of the rice. You can eat the dried jujubes, just make sure you remove the seeds first. You can also eat the garlic cloves and ginseng root (otherwise discard). Typically, each individual takes a piece of the chicken (such as a leg) and eats around the bones themselves. You can also pull the meat off the bone and add pieces of chicken to each individual bowl as we did. Each individual can add salt and pepper to their own soup bowl to their liking and a sprinkle of sliced green onions. Enjoy!
Serving suggestions
We usually eat this soup with a side of kimchi. One of our favorite types of kimchi to eat with this soup is our spicy radish kimchi. Yummy!
Want more side dish recipe ideas?
- Korean White Kimchi (Baek Kimchi)
- Easy Napa Cabbage Korean Kimchi – Cut-Up Kimchi
- Korean Seasoned Spinach Side Dish (Sigeumchi-namul)
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Instant Pot Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang)
Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
This Instant Pot Korean Chicken Soup with Sweet Rice (Samgyetang 삼계탕) is a delicious and healthy soup. It features a whole chicken stuffed with sweet rice, ginseng, ginger, garlic, and jujube.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, about 4lbs, cleaned/prepped (see notes for smaller chicken/cornish hen)
- ½ cup sweet rice
- 10-12 cloves garlic
- 2 chunks ginger root, about 1 Tbsp
- 2 dried ginseng root (about 3oz)
- 4 dried jujubes
Instructions
- Rinse the sweet rice with cool water and drain. Continue rinsing and draining the rice until the water runs clear.
- Stuff the chicken with the rice, garlic, and ginseng. Tie up the legs with cooking twine or use a slit in the skin to keep the legs in place. Place the stuffed chicken in the pressure cooker insert. (If everything won’t fit inside the chicken, leaving the garlic and ginseng outside of the chicken cavity in the Instant Pot insert is totally fine as well.) Add the ginger root and dried red dates around the chicken.
- Cover the chicken with water.You just want enough water to completely cover the chicken.
- Lock and seal the lid according to your pressure cooker’s instructions. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
- When the time is up, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes, then quickly release any remaining pressure. Pull out the chicken. Scrape the rice out of the chicken into a bowl. Discard the ginger root. Keep the garlic cloves, ginseng root, and dried jujubes (remove the seeds) if you want to eat them (or discard).
- How to serve: Place a serving of the cooked rice into individual bowls and add the clear chicken soup on top of the rice. Typically, each individual takes a piece of the chicken (such as a leg) and eats around the bones themselves. You can also pull apart the meat from the chicken and serve that way as well, as we did. Each individual adds salt and pepper to their soup bowl to their liking and adds a sprinkle sliced green onions. Enjoy!
Notes
If you plan to use a small chicken/cornish hen (one to two pounds), then cut the rest of the ingredients in this recipe in half. You will also need to only pressure cook it for 20 minutes, and then do a quick release of the steam.
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