These are the best Instant Pot Chicken Tacos that you can make in your Pressure Cooker! Tender and moist shredded chicken, topped with your favorite toppings! This quick and easy recipe will be a great dinner idea for a family taco night or a big crowd cookout party!
I love making quick and easy recipes that can be served for dinner or made as a meal prep and used later during the week. Instant Pot Chicken Tacos is one of those recipes that need only a few ingredients to put together in a pressure cooker, set the cooking time, and your dinner is pretty much ready.
The prep takes less than 5 minutes, and the Pressure Cooker does all the cooking by itself. All that’s left for you is to add your favorite taco toppings.
I also like making these tacos with Instant Pot Pulled Chicken and Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork.
Table of contents
Why you will love this recipe
- Easy to make. The beauty of cooking in a Pressure Cooker: just put the ingredients in the pot, press the button, and wait until its done!
- Flavorful. Thanks to the salsa and spices, the meat comes out very juicy and flavorful.
- Customizable. This pulled chicken will be a perfect base for your tacos. When you assemble the tacos, you can use your favorite toppings and play around with flavors.
- Good for Meal Prep. This recipe keeps very well in the refrigerator or even in the freezer. You can easily make a double batch and save the extra for later.
- Great for a Crowd! If you are having a party and a BBQ cookout, this will be a great recipe to feed a big crowd with minimal work! Make double batch of this recipe, prep lots of toppings, an let your guests assemble their own tacos!
How to make this recipe
In Instant Pot, add ½ cup water or chicken stock, ⅔ cup salsa, 1 tsp chili powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, and stir everything.
Add boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Close the lid and make sure that the valve is fully closed. Cook on manual high pressure for 20 minutes. When done, do a 10 minutes natural pressure release.
When done, remove the lid and shred the meat with two forks.
Top the tortillas with this shredded chicken, add your favorite taco toppings, and serve!
How to serve
I like to serve the tacos with a wide range of different toppings, so everyone can choose their favorite and build up their own tacos. Here are a few ideas:
- Lettuce
- Fresh diced tomatoes
- Avocado
- Avocado Dip or Simple Guacamole
- Sour cream
- Salsa
- Jalapenos
- Shredded cheese
- Pico de Gallo
- Mango Avocado Salsa
Tips for best results
- When you store shredded meat, make sure you keep it together with the juices. It will help to prevent it from drying out.
- I usually use medium heat salsa. If you like more spicy food, use your favorite hot salsa.
- I also love adding 1-2 chipotle chilis, they add a deep smoky flavor to the dish!
- The average time to cook chicken breasts in an Instant Pot is 20 minutes, but it all really depends on the size of the meat. If it’s small, you can set the time for 18 minutes. For medium size, 20 minutes. And if it’s very large, 22-23 minutes will work better. You want the meat to be tender and fall apart. If it’s undercooked, it will be tough and chewy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can easily use frozen chicken breasts and cook it for 30 minutes instead of 20.
You can store it with the juices in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for about 4 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. If you decide to freeze, thaw it overnight in the fridge before serving. You can reheat it in microwave or on the skillet.
I like to do it old style, using two forks. You can also use a hand mixer and shred it right in the Instant Pot or in a mixing bowl.
This current recipe has a moderate amount of spice. If you like your food to be a bit “hotter”, you can add more heat to the cooking mixture, like more and spicier salsa, more chili powder, or cayenne pepper. You can also throw in a couple of jalapenos or chipotle peppers.
I love making extra and using it for the next couple of days for lunch or dinner in other recipes. You can add it to different meals, like salad, quesadillas, nachos, taco bowl, and many more.
If the meat is tough and rubbery, you most likely need to cook it longer. When cooked the proper time, the meat will be tender and juicy.
Hungry for more Party Recipes:
- Chicken Macaroni Salad
- Cherry Tomato Bruschetta
- Best Tzatziki Recipe
- Orzo Pasta Salad
- Chicken Cobb Salad
- Instant Pot BBQ Ribs
- Oven Roasted Corn
- Fluffy Pizza Dough Recipe
- Potato Salad with Bacon and Egg
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings
- Buttermilk Chicken Tenders
- Margherita Flatbread
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- ½ cup water or chicken stock
- ⅔ cup salsa medium heat
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In Instant Pot, add ½ cup water or chicken stock, ⅔ cup salsa, 1 tsp chili powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, and stir everything.
- Add boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Close the lid and make sure that the valve is fully closed. Cook on manual high pressure for 20 minutes. When done, do a 10 minutes natural pressure release.
- When done, remove the lid and shred the meat with two forks.
- Top the tortillas with this shredded chicken, add your favorite taco toppings, and serve!
We eat a lot of chicken tacos, and this recipe is so easy and clear! Can’t wait to put them into rotation.
This recipe for pot chicken tacos makes me drool just by looking at the pictures! I will definitely be making this for dinner, thank you for sharing this recipe!
Made these tacos for a party and everyone raved about them! The Instant Pot made the chicken tender and flavorful.
I love these photos and I love even more that it is an instant pot recipe.
Gonna try this
Loved the flavors! Proves that one does not need complicated ingredients to make a restaurant-quality meal!
One of my favorite recipes to make at home.
I love how easy and delicious this recipe is. Yum!
I used frozen chicken breasts for this recipe and they came out great. Very flavorful and perfect for a weeknight dinner!
So easy to make and even easier with frozen chicken breasts!
I am so glad I am able to use my pressure cooker on this recipe. This instant pot chicken tacos looks absolutely appetizing!
We absolutely love Mexican food. This sounds super easy. A great way to feed on the crowd on a fun weekend dinner.