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
- 1 ounce taco seasoning 1 packet, or 2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- ⅓ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup salsa
For Serving
- 12 taco shells or small flour or corn tortillas
- toppings as desired see notes
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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Absolutely delicious and SO easy. I made for a get together and it was a huge crowd pleaser . A friend who prefers beef tacos said she actually the chicken. The only thing was that I don’t have a poultry button on my pot but did the same time on manual pressure and it was great ! Can’t wait to make again!
This is a family favorite :-) Thank you so much Holly for such an easy and amazing recipe. I had a quick question. Can this be made with chicken thighs? If yes, can I substitute say 1.5 lbs of boneless thighs for the same recipe? What should the cooking time be?
While I have only tried this recipe as written, other readers have had success with chicken thighs Pari. I would substitute the same quantity of chicken for the same amount of time. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
This is so yummy! My family loves it. Trying to put it in my fitness tracker however and I need to know the serving size please. In grams if possible. :)
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Shauna! For the most accurate nutritional information we always recommend using a nutrition calculator like My Fitness Pal or something similar.
One more question! I see the 2x button over there to double the recipe. Is that how I double it? I want to make for 7. It’s ok to layer the chicken in the instapot? Does the liquid have to cover the chicken? Might be a silly question but I’m still a newbie instapot user. Thank you!
Yes, you can double by hitting the 2x. You can layer in the instant pot and the cook time should remain the same and you do not need to fully cover the chicken with liquid. I hope this helps Shauna!
Best recipe!
Love this recipe. Quick and easy when you forget to defrost your chicken. Thanks for the share. You have a great menu.
I made this once with my mother-in-laws instant pot and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe!
I don’t have an instant pot, so how long should I cook it in the crockpot? Gotta make it again!
Hey Jessica, check out this Crockpot Chicken Tacos recipe for more information on how to prepare it in a crockpot.
Came out awesome ! Such an easy weekday dinner.
Hi,
Made these before and they were FANTASTIC! My question is, can these be made and put on keep warm without over cooking. Thx
Appreciate your site!
Hi Jo, this taco filling should be fine left on keep warm for a while. Depending on how long you intend to leave them on the keep warm setting you can add a little extra chicken broth to help prevent them from drying out!
This recipe is damn delicious and a new go to! Directions and measurements were spot on! I used a medium salsa 2nd time around and a little more heat was even better. THANK YOU!
The first time I made this, my boyfriend said they were the best chicken tacos he’d ever had. So very easy and delicious.
Thank you!
I found a recipe that was easy and I had all the ingredients for! I will be making this again, but I have to get the timing of it right. I had to also put on high pressure for 2 min because the chicken did not shred easily the first time, but I’m also still not an Instantpot pro., I’m still learning. Thanks!
Delicious, once I finally managed to get it cooked. I have an 8 quart Instant Pot and got a burn notice when I used the 1/3 cup chicken broth called for in the recipe. Once I increased the chicken broth to one cup, it cooked perfectly. Thanks for a great, simple recipe.
Super good!! i really like this recipe. I also made the homemade taco seasoning and that was the right thing to do. :) What i liked about that is that the salt was not overpowering as it can be in mixes. So I am saving that recipe too!
The chicken makes delicious sauce with the salsa, the broth and the spices. It’s really awesome. I had to cook my chicken a tad longer to get it to shred better so for me, I had to cook unthawed breasts 15 min on poultry setting.
Love your recipes!!
Listen. I NEVER comment on things like this but wow this recipe is good lol. My husband and I have made it 4 TIMES IN 2 WEEKS. And for someone who hates cooking and really isn’t good at it (aka me) this recipe is literally perfect. I make the homemade taco seasoning and use it every time which I think makes a difference for the better. 10/10 would recommend to anyone, so easy and so delicious.
Thank you very much for taking the time to comment Nastasia! So happy that you and your husband love the chicken so much!!
2 small/medium breasts. Not done en oi ugh to shred. Had to recook.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. Chicken breasts can range in size from 5oz to 10oz so if they were large, they certainly could need a bit of extra time. Also, if the chicken breasts were frozen in a clump (instead of individually frozen), that could cause it to need more time to cook through. I hope that helps.
Do you have any tips on multiplying the recipe by 2 or 1.5? I made it last week for 4 and it was SO good, but I’m cooking for 6 this week!
This recipe can be doubled. I’d leave the cook time the same. If you click the Print button on the recipe card, you can adjust the number of servings on the recipe. Hope that helps!
This was so good! I used 1/2 cup of broth because my machine calls for more liquid, but it turned out great. Thank you!
You’re welcome Emmy, so glad you love the chicken tacos!
I followed the recipe exact and the chicken was nowhere near done. I put it back in on manual pressure.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. Chicken breasts can range in size from 5oz to 10oz so if they were large, they certainly could need a bit of extra time. Also, if the chicken breasts were frozen in a clump (instead of individually frozen), that could cause it to need more time to cook through. I hope that helps.
It was so easy to make this in the instant pot with frozen chicken! It came out delicious. Thanks for a great recipe.