Instant Pot Chicken is one of the quickest (and easiest) ways to cook chicken!
Just a few simple ingredients (and fresh or frozen chicken) are tossed into your electric pressure cooker, push a button and voila, dinner is ready!
You can barely prepare all of the toppings in the time it takes to make perfect Instant Pot Chicken breasts!
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I love my Instant Pot (and if you don’t have an instant pot, you need one)! If you’re asking yourself, what is the Instant Pot you’re going to love this! It’s an easy to use (aka super safe) pressure cooker that takes all of the “scary-ness” out of pressure cooking. (Check them out on Amazon here).
I love being able to grab chicken breasts right from the freezer, pop them into the Instant Pot and have a meal ready to go in just a few minutes. Not only is it healthy, it’s delicious and crazy tender!
If you use a crock pot regularly, you know you need to thaw frozen meat first and then the recipe usually takes several hours to cook (like my Crockpot Chicken Tacos).
Cooking chicken in the slow cooker is perfect for when I’m gone all day and want to come home to a meal that’s ready to go but the Instant Pot cooks a meal from frozen in just minutes. I mean, I do TRY to plan meals but sometimes it’s 5pm and I really haven’t even thought about dinner (please tell me I’m not the only one)!
In this recipe, you cook fresh chicken for 12 minutes and frozen chicken for 16! Are you beginning to see what I mean when I want to call it the Miracle Pot?
4 ingredients, that’s all it takes to get started. Chicken breast, taco seasoning (I prefer homemade taco seasoning), chicken broth and salsa – that’s it! Once cooked, you simply shred the chicken and you are ready to serve!
Traditional taco fillings and hard shells are perfect, but I also love to use soft tortilla shells or even to serve this over a bed of lettuce for the perfect taco salad!
We set out a whole tray of toppings, sour cream, Homemade Salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole… pretty much whatever you want! Have a little fun with your toppings to see what you can create!
I love to make this recipe not only because it is so simple, but because everyone in my family is satisfied! Seriously, who doesn’t love tacos?!
If you’re serving a crowd, this makes the perfect taco bar… and putting the Instant Pot on warm means your guests can serve themselves whenever they want.
Add in a simple tossed salad while the chicken is cooking and you have a complete meal ready in minutes!
This recipe both freezes and reheats perfectly! Left overs can be frozen in freezer bags to use later (if there is actually any left-over!) and microwaved until hot for a quick meal. We’ve also used this chicken to make a Nacho Platter for last minute guests!
Instant Pot Chicken is so easy to make and truly one of the most versatile recipes I have ever come across (and one you’ll pull your pressure cooker out for any day of the week). Super-fast, incredibly delicious and crowd pleasing…all reasons to whip up Instant Pot Chicken Tacos tonight!
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos (Pressure Cooker)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning store bought or homemade
- ⅓ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup salsa
FOR SERVING
- taco shells or tortillas
- cheese
- lettuce
- tomatoes
Instructions
- Place chicken breast in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add chicken broth.
- Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken breasts. Top with salsa.
- Press “Poultry” and cook for 15 minutes if frozen and 12 minutes if fresh.
- Once done, release pressure and shred chicken with two forks. Combine with sauce in Instant Pot and serve as desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Super simple and delicious. I used boneless skinless thighs because I didn’t have breasts. My family ate the whole pot of chicken.
I have an insta pot duo and do not have a “poultry” setting. What temp and how long do I set to pressure cook?
You can try a manual setting for the same amount of time Margaret. Enjoy!
What temperature do I set at? Sorry, new to insta pot!
High!
This was an easy recipe. I did like it but felt it needed a little more seasoning. Will make again.
Didnt have enough taco seasoning. Was lacking in flavor for sure. Would make again but with more seasoning.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t find it flavorful. It’s easy to add additional seasoning, even after cooking, if you prefer more seasoning.
Yummy! My picky eater even ate it. I didn’t have chicken broth so I used water instead and added chopped onions and minced garlic. I thought my picky eater would not eat it because of the salsa but he didn’t even notice. That’s a huge statement considering he can find a chopped onions, sorted in his mouth in spaghetti sauce. Definitely adding this to our meal rotation. Thanks!!
Great to hear Sina!❤️
This is my daughters favorite instant pot recipe. Thank you so much. Quick, easy, and loved by all in my house.
I make this all the time, families favorite taco recipe. I want to try skinless/boneless chicken thighs, or even a pork butt. Are any type of cooking time and/or liquid differences needed? Thank you.
I would suggest following the cook time for pork butt as found in our Instant Pot Pulled Pork Recipe and adding slightly more liquid than you would with chicken. Once cooked, skim the fat from the liquid and only add as much as needed (there will be extra).
Boneless chicken thighs will need about 10 minutes. Let us know how it goes!
Excelllent and easy!
I noticed in the comments you mentioned each chicken breast you use was about 6oz and I wanted to double the recipe. With that knowledge I used two large chicken breast (came out to about 28oz), 3 tbsp of taco seasoning (4 seemed a bit much), 2/3 cup chicken broth and 2 cups of salsa. I was preoccupied when it finished and took out the chicken 8 mins after the initial 12 mins. This was all done in the 6qt Instant pot and I followed the regular instructions. Everything came out great and I’d say it makes about 16 tacos this way. Hope this helps!!
Thanks for sharing James!
These were amazing!!!! My 5yo loved them so much she couldn’t stop eating them and ended up over eating and being super uncomfortable lol! And she wanted them again the next day! Thanks for the recipe! Super easy and convenient for a busy single mom :)
So happy to hear that you and your daughter love these tacos (maybe a little too much :))!
The tacos came out so flavorful and tender. Thank you for sharing.
If I wanted to double the recipe how much time would I need to add? Love this recipe! I make it for my family all of the time.
I haven’t tried it yet but the cooking time will probably be the same or a couple of minutes longer. Be sure to keep your Instant Pot under the maximum level. It will take longer to reach temperature with doubling or tripling. I’d suggest you check at the regular time, and add a few minutes if needed.
I have tried this recipe twice now and both times the “burn” message appeared. The second time I used twice as much chicken broth because I read adding more liquid would help avoid the message. Do you have any tips on how to stop this from happening? I have the insta spot ultra mini
Hmm… Things that cause the burn notice are usually stuck-on food from browning (which this doesn’t have) and if there isn’t enough liquid among other things of course.
If you’ve added extra liquid, I can’t say for sure what is causing it but you could try putting the chicken on a little rack if you have one and ensuring the salsa is on the chicken (and not directly on the bottom of the pot). I hope that helps!
I made this tonight with one pound frozen boneless chicken breast and the time required wasn’t enough but that’s okay… I put it back in for a few more. Shredded the chicken put it back in the instant pot heated through. also used the recommended homemade taco seasoning that she had a recipe for. Definitely worth taking an extra minute to make that. I’ve never made chicken tacos before that I really liked. These I really like a lot. Needed a little bit of kick so I added (on the taco itself) some hot sauce. I’m sure they’ll probably taste a whole lot better even tomorrow after sitting in the sauce overnight in the refrigerator. Definitely a keeper.
The recipe itself was pretty good. Although, I read reviews prior and made some modifications. I used chicken thighs because they tend to be more flavorful and juicy. I used a premmade hot taco seasoning mix and then added a few more spices. The cook time went as follows: poultry setting for 10 mins, natural release for 5 mins, shredded the chicken and then sautéed for 5 mins (since reviews said it was too runny which turned out to be true). This method turned out amazing!
I’ve made this twice now and it’s SOO good and incredibly easy. I make it exactly as is (with fresh chicken breasts). There’s a bit of leftover juice at the bottom so I always dump the whole thing into my kitchenaid, lock the top and turn it on low for a couple of minutes – it shreds the chicken perfectly and combines the juices for added flavor. :) Seriously the moistest shredded chicken I’ve ever had. Thanks for the great recipe
So glad you’ve been enjoying it, Elia! :)
I made this with frozen chicken thighs and it was a bit watery, so I simply set it to saute mode and reduced it. Took an extra 10 minutes or so. BEST chicken taco’s I’ve ever had! My review would be 5 stars if you mentioned reducing the sauce :)
Can this same recipe be done in an Air Fryer? I can set the temperature and time manually as there is no Poultry option, but does an Air Fyer cook the same as an instant pot?
An Instant Pot is a pressure cooker while an Air Fryer cooks like a small convection oven so it wouldn’t cook the same. This can be made in the slow cooker.
So easy, and they were a big hit in our home. We added lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and jalapeños on top of the tacos.
It came out really watery and bland. It’s not awful but I felt like I should have cooked the chicken in the broth, shredded it and simmered it in the salsa
Very good flavor! The chicken was a bit tough but I’ll try again using thawed chicken next time. Will definitely make again.