Instant Pot Chicken Tacos

instapot-chicken-tacos

Cheat’s Chicken Tacos

Who doesn’t love chicken tacos? My kids love tacos.

But making chicken tacos usually requires a fair investment of time. So, in our house, chicken taco eating is usually reserved for restaurants. Not anymore!!!

Time-Saving Tactics are a Parent’s Best Friend

Enter: Instant Pot. Love it.

I will say this: there are things you can do with it to make life easier and there are things you can do just as well without it. I am working on finding some great ways to use it to streamline my family meal planning and I am sure it definitely has a place in my overall strategy.

One of the first things I noticed is that A LOT of people were making various forms of “pulled” meats. “Pulled” or shredded meats (in our case pulled chicken) usually require long braising time so this seemed like a good place to start.

So I was thinking… Instant Pot Chicken Tacos!

Can You Really Make Chicken Tacos with the Instant Pot?

YES YOU CAN! Here we go! And OMG, super easy too!!

I found a bunch of different recipes, all simple and all basically the same. Sauteed onions & garlic, maybe chillies or vegetables, chicken and some sort of sauce or thick liquid to cook in.

So we’re making tacos… what goes with tacos? SALSA!! I grabbed all my bits at the store and chose a salsa that I knew wouldn’t be to spicy, cuz I needed the kiddos to eat this too! (Of course you can bump up the spice if you want… if you like spice you probably know more about how to do that than I do.)

If you are using you Instant Pot for the first time (so excited for you) here’s a quick and easy Instant Pot tutorial.

So Yum. So Healthy. So Easy. Seriously.

Here is how I did it!

Instant Pot Chicken Tacos

This Instant Pot Chicken Tacos recipe is a godsend for busy parents. Takes half the time of braising and shredding chicken the normal way, and it's so easy!

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Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, School Lunch

Cuisine American, Mexican, Tex-Mex

Equipment

Instant Pot

Ingredients

olive oil or oil of choice (small amount, for frying)
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
3 to 4 lbs chicken breasts or tenders (leave whole)
2 jars salsa of choice (roughly 3 cups)
2 to 3 cups chicken broth
Tortillas, rice, shredded cabbage, cilantro, avocado, cheese, white or black beans, peppers, whatever floats your taco boat! (optional – to serve)

Instructions

Saute garlic and onion in a small amount of oil right in your Instant Pot.
Pour in chicken and salsa, then add chicken broth so that the meat is fully submerged in liquid.
Pressure-cook on high-manual for 20min. Quick release when complete.
Remove chicken from liquid (set aside liquid – I froze mine to make chicken tortilla soup later).
Shred chicken with two forks. Cover & refrigerate for later use.
When you're ready to serve, assemble with your choice of ingredients. I served mine on flour tortillas with rice, shredded cabbage, cilantro salad dressing, avocado and cotija cheese. They were DELICIOUS!!! You can also add white or black beans, peppers, whatever floats your taco boat!

Notes

I also made lots of extra chicken and over the week we had the chicken with pasta, on salads and made super simple chicken & cheese quesadillas too!! You can even use it easily in your kids’ lunches!

Keyword chicken taco recipe, instant pot chicken, instant pot recipe, kid-friendly meals