Instant Pot chicken tacos are a quick, easy dinner made with just a handful of ingredients. Chicken tenders, chicken broth, salsa, and taco seasoning combine in this hands-off meal that the whole family will love.
Taco night is a favorite in our house, and when we are looking to make it as easy and quick as possible, we lean heavily on this four ingredient Instant Pot chicken taco recipe. It is just a few minutes of hands-on time, and the chicken cooks perfectly every single time. If your plate is already full and you are looking for a brainless dinner that everyone will love, look no further than this instant pot salsa chicken. It is amazing in tacos, but such a great meal prep option to use in dozens of recipes throughout the week.
Why This Recipe Works
- Made with only four ingredients.
- It is done in 30 minutes.
- Using chicken tenders makes the juiciest shredded taco chicken.
- This taco chicken is amazing in so many different recipes.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
- Combine the chicken tenders and chicken broth in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Then add in the taco seasoning and the salsa. Seal the pressure cooker and set it to cook for five minutes at high pressure.
- After the chicken finishes cooking, shred it with two forks right in the Instant pot.
- Once the chicken is fully shredded, give it a final toss so everything is well combined.
Ways to Use Taco Chicken
- Tacos: We love to make a taco bar with this chicken, taco toppings, and shells.
- Quesadillas: Taco chicken gives them an extra boost of flavor that my kids are obsessed with.
- Chimichangas: Combine salsa chicken with beans and cheese, like I do with my beef chimichangas, and bake it (or fry it) all together in tortilla shell.
- Burritos: When you combine this recipe with my cilantro lime rice and your favorite burrito fillings, it is magical.
- Taco Salad: Romaine lettuce, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, beans, corn, salsa, and taco chicken make the perfect weekday lunch.
Tips and Tricks
- Stick with chicken tenders. This recipe will work with chicken breasts and chicken thighs, but chicken tenders are part of what keeps this recipe juicy and tender.
- Use homemade salsa. If you are looking to do more from scratch cooking, this blender salsa is easy to make and great for recipes like this.
- Use homemade taco seasoning. My recipe for homemade taco seasoning uses spices you probably already have in your pantry and three tablespoons of it perfectly replaces a grocery store packet of taco seasoning.
- Use your stand mixer to shred the chicken. I love using the paddle attachment of my stand mixer to quickly shred chicken. It is worth the extra bowl to wash every time.
Meal Prep
This is an ideal recipe to make Sunday night to use throughout the week. It works in different recipes for weekday lunches and its a great option for teenagers who come home from practice starving.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Reheat in the microwave, covered. Add more salsa as needed during reheating to keep the chicken from drying out.
Freezing
These leftovers freeze really well. Freeze them in the liquid you cooked them in. This will help the chicken stay really moist as it thaws and reheats. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding more salsa if needed.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
I love making a full spread when we have taco night. Here are some of my favorite recipes.
- Pico de Gallo: This will always be my very favorite taco topping.
- Guacamole: This simple recipe is always the first thing gone when I bring it to a party.
- Cilantro Lime Rice: My kids love having rice with their tacos or using it to fill a burrito.
- Margaritas: This recipe is a fan favorite with both my readers and my own friends and family.
If you make these Instant Pot shredded chicken tacos or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I always love hearing how your family enjoyed my recipes.
Instant Pot Taco Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken tenders
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 ounce taco seasoning or 3 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
- 1 cup salsa
- 18 small flour tortillas
- shredded cheese for topping
- diced tomatoes for topping
Instructions
- In the base of the Instant Pot, combine the chicken tenders and the chicken broth. Top with the taco seasoning and salsa.2 pounds chicken tenders, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 ounce taco seasoning, 1 cup salsa
- Seal the Instant Pot, with the steam release set to sealed. Set the Instant Pot to manual, high pressure for five minutes.
- After about 10 to 15 minutes, the Instant Pot will reach pressure, and then it will cook for 5 minutes. At the end of the cook time, turn the steam release to venting. Once the float valve drops, about five minutes, open the pressure cooker.
- Shred the chicken tenders and mix to combine them with the liquid. I sometimes like to remove the chicken tenders, shred them using the paddle attachment of my stand mixer, and then return everything to the pressure cooker. Toss it all to combine well and then use the chicken to make tacos, using your favorite toppings.
Notes
Eric says
I’m comparing to another recipe. The other one says 3 chicken breasts, which is what I’m using. This one says 1lb. Should be about the same. However, the other says to use a lot less broth and c
Set to cook on “Poulty” for 12 minutes as opposed to this which says “Manual” for 5 minutes. I don’t have a manual setting, so I’m going to use Poulty for the 5 you say and hope that works. Any ideas on that?
I’m sorry, Eric, I can only speak to the way that I’ve done it. If you try it that way let me know how it goes!
Callid says
Can i our frozen chicken in or does it need to be thawed?
I have not tried it with frozen chicken breasts. But! I recently made shredded chicken with frozen chicken breasts in the IP and it only required me adding time to the cook time.
Rachal says
How much time did you add for frozen?
Morgan says
I made this last night and it was delicious! My husband is super picky and doesn’t even particularly like chicken all that much but he licked his plate clean and couldn’t stop talking about how good these tacos were! He even said we need to add it into our weekly dinner rotation, they were so good.
Thanks so much for a delicious, easy and quick recipe!!
I’m so happy you liked them Morgan!
Jen says
I made the recipe exactly as directed and chicken was very tough and dry. Should the recipe have said natural pressure release for 10 minutes instead of QR? It wasn’t very clear.
I’m really sorry that the recipe didn’t turn out for you Jen. I make this probably once a week and never have that. Make sure that your chicken stock covers the chicken tenders (the amount listed should be enough). And definitely a quick release, not a natural release. In my experience, a natural release can mean longer cooking time, which has made other recipes for me turn out tough dry chicken in the past. I did update the recipe to make it more clear.
Heather says
These were so delicious!! Thank you!
So happy you liked them Heather!
Erin Blanke says
Such a good recipe! Pro tip: shred the chicken using your stand mixer. Works great every time!!
So glad you liked it Erin!
teri says
I have a huge question. You specifically say quick release, and then immediately say it should 10 more minutes to do this quick release. when I quick release it takes about 30 to 60 seconds to open, a natural release would be 10 minutes. or do we natural realize for 10 minutes then vent all the way. It seems to me that you are completely contradictory here
It is a quick release. With this recipe it did take my pressure cooker quite a bit of time for the float valve to drop, but every pressure cooker is different.
Rod says
My kids like the chicken diced, like they would get from a Qdoba or Chipotle. Does the chicken have enough firmness to dice or should I dice the raw chicken before cooking in your opinion?
I don’t think this is a good recipe for dicing. You might like these instead! Chicken Tacos We literally ate them last night, we have them once a week, lol!
Karen Self says
Do you have this recipe for a crockpot?
Thank you!! ♥
I sure do! You can find it here: Crockpot Chicken Tacos.
Ashley says
Did this recipe recently change? I don’t remember there being salsa in the IP when cooking last time I made this.
It did! This recipe recently got a facelift. My kids actually like this version better, but if you’d like the old version it is: 1 pound of chicken, 3 cups of chicken broth, and 3 tablespoons of taco seasoning.