This delicious shredded chicken is done in under 20 minutes in the Instant Pot. Easy and tasty filling for your tacos.
Serve with our 5 Minute Blender Salsa Fresca for a speedy midweek dinner!
My kids can never get enough of tacos. My son’s favourite meal is slow cooked pulled pork tacos. He asks for them often. So I decided to come up with a recipe, that has a similar taste but is quicker, simpler and uses leaner chicken breasts.
Just think of tender and saucy shredded chicken inside a crispy hard shell taco. Don’t forget to add some zippy tomato salsa or black bean and corn salsa and you’ve got yourself a delicious weeknight dinner. A meal that is cooked in less than 20 minutes and requires only 5 minutes of hands on time.
That’s a real winner! Don’t you think? It’s no wonder I make it once a week and no complaints from my crew.
Instant Pot Chicken
As much as I love my recipe for a whole chicken in Instant Pot, cooking skinless boneless chicken breasts is much easier and faster. It is also incredibly versatile.
Obviously, you can use this chicken as a filling for tacos but you can also make quesadillas. Or top your salads with this healthy and nutritious protein.
Another great way to eat this chicken is in a bun with some slaw as a sandwich. You can also roll it in a soft tortilla with some rice for a hearty burrito or top your nachos with it! The variations are endless!
Apart from chicken breasts, all you need for this recipe is a seasoning mix and crushed tomatoes. Since Instant Pot is not able to come to pressure without at least ½ cup of liquid I am using tomato passata or crushed tomatoes to both infuse the chicken with flavour and add liquid to the pot.
The most amazing thing is this recipe only takes 8 minutes in the Instant Pot at high pressure! What a quick meal idea!
If you want your Instant Pot to make your whole Tex-Mex meal, try my Chicken Tortilla Soup!
How to Make It
The seasoning mix is pretty simple. I like making my own as I tend to have all spices needed for Tex Mex flavours. If you don’t have them, feel free to use your favourite taco or fajita spice mix from a supermarket.
My ingredient list is short. Cumin, oregano, chilli powder, salt and garlic are the basic ones. I also like to add a little bit of chipotle paste to add a touch of smokiness. You can also use smoky paprika if you don’t have chipotle paste.
The rest is simple. Just mix the spices with canned crushed tomatoes and pressure cook for 8 minutes. Then shred the chicken with two forks and mix with the sauce. Job done!
Serving suggestions
Wondering how to serve your wonderful chicken? Here are my suggestions for turning it into a Tex-Mex feast:
- Salsa. Use your favourite store bought salsa or make my 5 minute blender salsa.
- Guacamole
- Grated Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Cilantro Lime Slaw
- Soft or Hard Tacos
More Favourite Tex-Mex Recipes
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Equipment
- 1 This is an affiliate link.Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts large
- 1 ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika or chipotle paste
- 3-4 cloves garlic pressed
- 225ml/1 cup tomato passata/crushed tomatoes
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients except for the chicken breasts. Arrange the chicken breasts at the bottom of the Instant Pot, pour the sauce over and mix to coat the chicken.
- Pressure cook on Manual at high pressure for 8 minutes. Allow for natural pressure release. Take the chicken out of the pot and shred with two forks, bring back to the liquid. Initially it will look like the chicken is swimming in the sauce but give it 10-15 minutes and most of the sauce will get absorbed up by the chicken.
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