Easy Instant Pot Taco Chicken (Pressure Cooker)

Dear Friends! Our recipe for instant pot Mexican chicken can easily become a dinner staple. Or you can cook it in any pressure cooker that is similar to the Instant Pot brand.

Easy Instant Pot Mexican chicken

It’s crazy delicious because we made sure to have some extra spices to liven up the flavor. And best of all, it’s super juicy and so easy to make for a family meal. Our pressure cooker Mexican chicken is perfect when you’re craving tacos! The juicy shredded chicken is also great on salads, tostadas or quesadillas. Just add all the ingredients into your Instant Pot or pressure cooker and walk away for a few minutes. You’ll return to a fantastic meal!

Video: Instant Pot Recipe for Mexican chicken

Chicken tacos, quesadillas, salads and more!

The possibles seems endless with cooking this chicks in the pressure cooker. We absolutely love making shredded chicken tacos with them or on tostadas. Kids love them as chicken quesadillas, especially when you use a blend of Mexican cheeses.  And if you want to eat healthier, low carb chicken taco salad is the perfect low carb choice! We’re obsessed with cooking in our Instant pot. It’s such a great tool to use for quick and easy dinners. Pressure cookers have evolved tremendously over the years and cooking is so much easier. Here’s a great pressure cooker beef stew recipe here.

Can you Freeze This Recipe?

Yes, you certainly can! It’s a great meal prep or make ahead recipe too. Just make sure to take it out of the freezer and allow to thaw in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

Instant Pot Mexican Chicken

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

Feel free to adjust the spices as you prefer. Make it more or less spicy. Add oregano or change the cumin amount, etc.. You can also just replace the spices for 1 bag of taco seasoning if you prefer.
Chicken thigh or leg meat will be juicer than breast meat, but if you prefer, the breast meat still comes out quite nice. We'll usually prefer boneless, skinless but feel free to use whatever you have available.

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken , preferrably boneless and skinless (*see head note)
• 1 cup tomato sauce or salsa
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt , or more to taste
• Fresh cracked black pepper , to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder , or to taste (optional, for spicy flavor)

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)

Instructions 

• Add everything into Instant Pot (chicken, tomato sauce or salsa, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper and optional chipotle powder). Stir to combine all the spices into the sauce. 
• Close the lid, set to high pressure, and after the pressure cooker reaches full pressure,  cook for about 15 minutes *depending on size of chicken & preferred doneness.  (These are the steps we did for our Instant Pot: Press the "Manual" button. Set the time to 15 minutes and our Instant Pot starts up automatically, counting down the timer after it reaches pressure.)
• Take the chicken pieces out of the Instant Pot, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, then place back in the Instant Pot. Shed with a couple forks to break up the chicken.
• Taste the chicken and add more salt if needed. Serve in tacos, on salads, in quesadillas, etc.

Notes

For soft tortillas, we love to char them a little over a burner, or at least to warm them in the microwave. After warming, cover them in a kitchen towel, paper towels, or foil to help keep them softened and not dry out. 

For hard shells, warming them in the oven or air fryer a bit before serving makes them extra tasty. 

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 97mg, Sodium: 664mg, Potassium: 778mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 667IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 2mg

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Calories: 195

This recipe was originally published in 2019 and was updated in 2020.

Here’s our Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos Recipe 

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