Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
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Taco night just got even better (and quicker!) with the juiciest, most flavorful shredded salsa chicken!
What’s better than build-your-own taco night? Tacos that you can make so effortlessly right in your pressure cooker.
It starts with boneless, skinless chicken thighs (of course!) cooked in your IP for 8 minutes in a pool of the most flavorful saucy goodness: restaurant-style salsa seasoned with a few pantry-essential spices.
When ready to serve, toss some of that shredded chicken in the leftover cooking juices in warmed tortillas along with all your favorite toppings for the best taco night ever.
(Side note: Not a fan of chicken thighs? Chicken breasts will also work beautifully here.)
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup restaurant-style salsa
- ½ cup Mexican beer, such as Modelo*
For serving
- Tortillas, flour or corn
- Pico de gallo
- Sliced avocado
- Sliced jalapeños
Instructions
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting.
- Season chicken with 1 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat canola oil; working in batches, add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side; set aside.
- Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic, chipotle chili powder, cumin and oregano until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in salsa and beer, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Return chicken to the pot and gently toss to combine.
- Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 8 minutes for chicken thighs or 13 minutes for chicken breasts. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Remove chicken from the Instant Pot® and shred using two forks; season with salt and pepper, to taste, if needed.
- Serve immediately in tortillas with desired toppings.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Wow, this made the best chicken tacos ever! So tender and flavorful. I just used water instead of beer, and the chicken was perfect.
Amazingly delicious, family favourite. You will want to bookmark this recipe to make again and again.
My family loved it! I substituted chicken broth for the Modelo, and it was still amazing.
Great recipe! The beer makes the taste.. i added a little more 😉 Perfect for a crowd !
This was tasty! The chicken was great, the juices after it was cooked was unbelievably spicy. Normally a lot of the flavor is in that stuff so we used it but I wished we hadn’t. Maybe it’s because the spice we used? The “chipotle chili peppers” spice was what did it. Or was it supposed to be “chipotle chili powder”? I only saw the peppers kind.
These were delicious! They had so much flavor and were easy to make. Your blog has become my favorite and it’s the first place I look for new recipes now.
these tacos were very tasty and fast to make with the instant pot. Thank you for the recipe and the video.
Wonderful flavors 🙂
I’m sorry, I meant to ask if you can make this with a slow cooker not pressure cooker ***
Hi, can you make this with a pressure cooker? If so, what are the directions for that ? Would love to make this as it looks so delicious !!
Thank you, Great recipe!
You should join this Instant Pot Tips & Recipes Facebook group. I got a lot of new ideas and recipes. highly recommended!
I’ll eventually try this, as I do almost all your recipes, just wanted to drop in to say that photo is outstanding. What a gorgeous presentation!!
These tacos were delicious and so easy to make! Making them again soon!
My family of 7 lived this! Excellent flavor.
Loved it. Great flavor, easy.
Just made these tonight and they were awesome!! I halved the chipotle chili powder because I thought it might be too spicy for my little ones and it was tasty. Lastly I was short on time so I sauteed the onions and garlic in olive oil in my IP then added spices for a minute then the salsa and water (didn’t have any Modelo on hand) and set it for 8 min. We can’t wait to get this again!!
Just made these and they were so easy and tasty!! Definitely adding them to the rotation! Thank you for all your delicious recipes – I’ve loved every one of them
Hello Chungah,
I must tell you how “beautiful” your chicken tacos look. I love tacos, and will certainly make this easy recipe. Yum they look delish.
Thank you for sharing.
Does the instant pot time need to be adjusted for chicken breasts.
Per the directions: “Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 8 minutes for chicken thighs or 13 minutes for chicken breasts.”
Curious to know how to prepare this without an Instapot (or pressure cooker). Please share advice
Could you use chicken breasts instead? If so, would you need to make any changes?