Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

This Instant Pot salsa chicken is so easy to make and you only need 3 ingredients! Really healthy pressure cooker recipe that we make into shredded chicken tacos loaded with flavor and lots of vegetables. Quick and easy lunch or dinner our whole family loves.

If you’re looking for a super simple and healthy pressure cooker recipe this Instant Pot salsa chicken is it! You literally need 2 ingredients to make it, can serve it on top of rice or shred it and make chicken soft tacos like these too! They are full of flavor and packed with vegetables too. The perfect quick lunch or dinner your whole family will surely love. It got two thumbs up by all 5 of us today so we added it to our long list of under 30 minute Instant Pot recipes too so you could try them yourself! (originally published 2/18, affiliate links present)

• Like I said, 3 ingredients are the base of this easy Instant Pot salsa chicken! You can pack it full of other veggies like we did too though. I add an onion to just about every recipe and I had a bell pepper in the house so I threw that in too.

• It gave them some added flavor but if I hadn’t had them on hand it would’ve been delicious as is too.

I had small flour tortillas, shredded cheese and a few avocados at home so I whipped this up and shredded the chicken breasts when they were done to make these tacos for lunch. If I had sour cream on hand I would’ve added that too.

I don’t always cook healthy meals, I love comfort food too but when I can create a low fat dinner that is full of flavor like our Instant Pot chicken cacciatore I’m thrilled! Another goal is creating a meal for under $10 that feeds all 5 of us…this fits both bills.

• I used 2 large boneless chicken chicken breasts because that is all I had and there were only 4 of us at home but you could easily add up to 4-5 depending on their size and it would work the same.
• If you’re using frozen chicken breasts follow the guidelines on how to cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot.

After cooking your frozen chicken just shred it. Then add your salsa and veggies and put it back into your pressure cooker on low for 5 minutes (high for 2).  This will allow your veggies to soften to the texture you want. If not soft enough put the lid back on and let it sit in the steam.

This is what you need, and additional add ins, for pressure cooker salsa chicken 

1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts
   1. could use chicken thighs
2. Salsa – I really like at least a cup of salsa that’s chunky. You can find it in fridge section of store but keep these on hand too for just in case throw together meals
3. Water or chicken broth – use if your salsa doesn’t have much juice, you only need a bit
4. 1 packet or 2 tbsp. of this taco seasoning

Once you’re done with the high pressure cycle and quick release I like to remove the chicken and really shred it well in a bowl. You can even use your stand mixer to break it up fast! It will be so tender though that 2 forks will surely do the trick.

Add ins if you’re making this Instant Pot recipe for shredded chicken tacos

• Bell pepper
• Onion
• Avocado
• Shredded cheese – I love pepper jack or Mexican blend
• Sour cream
• Taco sauce – spicy or I like this green taco sauce

You can serve it over Instant Pot white rice too like we did above, both ways are good.

• We’ve made this salsa chicken crockpot recipe in our slow cooker too.

After you’ve made these try some other easy Instant Pot chicken recipes here

• Instant Pot chicken noodle soup
  • Crack chicken pasta in the pressure cooker rocks
• 4 different types of Instant Pot tacos
• Simple and tender Instant Pot teriyaki chicken
• Pressure cooker beer can chicken
  • This crockpot salsa beef is on our list to try next!

Note: Some people have been apprehensive because they say you need at least 1.5 cups of water or cooking liquid to cook anything or you’ll get the burn notice. This is not true. First off the chicken will produce chicken broth once it’s cooked. The salsa has at least 1/2 cup of juices and liquids in the jar/can so not to worry my friends.

• I would never tell you to pressure cook something that didn’t work myself. Ever!

Print Pin

Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

This Instant Pot salsa chicken is so easy to make and you only need 3 ingredients! Really healthy pressure cooker recipe that we make into shredded chicken tacos. 

Course Entree, Main Course

Cuisine American, Mexican

Keyword chicken, easy, instant pot, pressure cooker, salsa

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 65kcal

Author The Typical Mom

Ingredients

• 2-4 chicken breasts medium size, boneless, skinless, cut in half
• 1 jar salsa 15 oz
• 1/4 c chicken broth or water, not necessary if your salsa has a lot of liquid
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning optional but adds a lot of flavor, I use 1 tbsp for 2 breasts
• 1 onion sliced, optional
• 1 bell pepper sliced, optional

Instructions

• Cut your chicken breasts in half lengthwise and put inside your Instant Pot or pressure cooker. Sprinkle your taco seasoning on top of them
• If you are adding sliced onion and/or bell peppers add them on top of your chicken.
• Pour salsa on top of everything.
• If your salsa is very chunky without much liquid add 1/4 c. water or chicken broth, if it is more liquidy this isn't necessary.
• Close lid and steam valve and set to poultry, normal setting for 15 minutes.
• Do a quick release. If making shredded chicken tacos use two forks to shred the chicken inside the pot.
• Can serve whole breasts on top of rice or use shredded chicken inside small tortillas topped with salsa mixture inside pressure cooker and other taco ingredients like cheese etc...

Video

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

Amount Per Serving (6 oz)

Calories 65 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Cholesterol 36mg12%

Sodium 121mg5%

Potassium 220mg6%

Protein 12g24%

Vitamin A 15IU0%

Vitamin C 1.7mg2%

Calcium 3mg0%

Iron 0.2mg1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.