Easy 3 ingredient Instant Pot shredded chicken recipe that we use to make soft tacos often! Simple pressure cooker dump recipe that’s healthy and so cheap that it feeds all 5 of us for under $10.00.
I’m in love with my Instant Pot! It makes dinnertime so much easier. Last night I made this 4 ingredient Instant Pot shredded chicken “Hawaiian style” and it came out SO very delicious. It’s one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes . (originally published 1/17, affiliate links present)
I added it to small soft tortillas with some cheese and avocado slices and made chicken tacos with it.
Seriously the cheapest meal ever and such a hit with the kiddos. You can even make air fryer flautas with this inside, or with the leftovers.
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then LIKE our IP Facebook page for new ideas daily.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
Everyone raved about how good this turned out and it just took 15 minutes to cook in my new favorite appliance.
You can use the leftovers out of the fridge to make chicken salad the next day too. On top of a bed of fresh lettuce or just on bread as a sandwich, are great lunch ideas.
This is a lot better than just a plain traditional bowl of shredded chicken though:
I mean if you want to make this with just salt and pepper then follow our Crockpot frozen chicken recipe instead. It will come out simple like you see here above instead.
Instead, this one is packed with barbecue flavors! Here are a few questions you might have before you get started:
We say a pressure cooker! We’ll show you how to do it right here if you have one. You can make tender boiled shredded chicken on the stovetop but that takes a lot more time too.
15 minutes on poultry setting is sufficient. A whole chicken takes closer to 25 since it is bone in.
- It’s great if you’re batch cooking too!
- Amazing doesn’t even describe this 3 ingredient Instant Pot recipe!
Just 3 ingredients and an Instant Pot and you’re ready to go! But any brand will do. I have them all. A Crockpot Express, Mealthy, Ninja foodi all work the same.
- Here’s a tip: how to cook frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot just in case you forgot to thaw it beforehand.
We love it like I said, served in flour tortillas but we’ve served it over rice before too and it’s just as good.
It is a pretty healthy chicken recipe too and really inexpensive to make costing only about $10 total for the whole meal which served all 5 of us + leftovers for me to eat it for lunch the next day.
Of course you can make this and create Instant Pot chicken bowls. Add all your favorite fixin’s on top with some Instant Pot white rice.
Totally up to you…….
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
- Instant Pot
- I HIGHLY suggest you get this non stick pot
- 1 bottle of barbecue sauce (about 20 oz., not honey style, we like this one)
- 1 can of chunk pineapple
- 3 -4 boneless chicken breasts
- diced, fresh or frozen
- already cooked shredded chicken is perfectly fine, just adjust time to 3 minutes high pressure
- Small tortillas, cheese, and avocado if you want to make them into soft tacos
- Onion – optional
- Pinch of chili powder for heat – optional
Salt and pepper, garlic powder – optional
If you happen to have the burn message displayed on your pot follow these steps on how to deglaze your Instant Pot.
- There’s no need to cook the chicken. It will cook in the sauce and water or use chicken broth for liquid instead.
I’m constantly adding to my Instant Pot recipes. You can find them on my Instant Pot Recipes tab, so bookmark it and refer back to it later!
If you want to make this in your slow cooker here are the directions for crockpot bbq chicken recipe. 😉
If you’re looking for more chicken in the Instant Pot try these:
- Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole
- Try our cheap Instant Pot teriyaki chicken
- Easy Instant Pot orange chicken
We make shredded beef tacos out of this French onion pressure cooker roast recipe too, and our Hawaiian chicken is the bomb.
I have found that 5 minutes on high is good for diced chicken breasts. 3 minutes for diced chicken thighs, and the poultry button works for whole breasts or an Instant Pot whole chicken.
- I have made this many times, but now prefer to dice chicken into bite size pieces. It is done faster, absorbs more of the sauce, and cooks more evenly.
- You’re also pretty assured it’s cooked through so you don’t have to check the internal temperature.
- Makes meal prep easy to just cut beforehand, and easier for kids to eat too.
Quick release and done!
If you want to make Crockpot taco meat or slow cooker shredded chicken here are recipes using that method too. You can also make boiled shredded chicken on the stovetop.
Time needed: 15 minutes.
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
- Prepare
Empty 1/2 jar of barbecue sauce on bottom of Instant Pot. (do not use honey variety as that will burn)
Put chicken breasts on top of your sauce. Make sure they are cut in half or thirds so they cook through. You can dice into bite size pcs. too for a shorter cook time.
Then squeeze the other half of jar on top of the chicken. Pour 3/4 c water or broth inside your bbq sauce jar. Put lid on and shake, pour this on top of chicken.
Add chunks of pineapple (and sliced onion + soy sauce if you choose to add that). Gently stir so chicken is well coated. - Cook
Close Instant Pot and make sure steam valve is closed. Set to poultry setting, high for 15 minutes (automatically sets to this time when you hit the poultry function, very thick breasts may take longer to become very tender to shred).
When it beeps allow to naturally release for 5 minutes, then do a quick release and lift lid. Use 2 forks to shred chicken right in the pot.
Add some to small tortillas to make soft tacos with some cheese and avocado, or leave chicken whole and serve on top of rice.
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Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 jar barbecue sauce 20 oz. or so, not honey style or one with a lot of sugar in it
- 1 c chunk pineapple
- 3 chicken breasts cut in half or thirds, boneless / skinless, can dice for shorter cook time
- 1 bag flour tortillas pkg. small
- 3/4 c water or use chicken broth
- avocado sliced, optional
- 1 c pineapple juice from the can you’re using
- 1 onion sliced, optional
- 1 tbsp soy sauce optional
- 1 c cheese
Instructions
- Empty 1/2 jar of barbecue sauce on bottom of Instant Pot. (do not use honey variety as that will burn)
- Put chicken breasts on top of your sauce. Make sure they are cut in half or thirds so they cook through. You can dice into bite size pcs. too for a shorter cook time. Then squeeze the other half of jar on top of the chicken.
- Pour 3/4 c water or broth inside your bbq sauce jar. Put lid on and shake, pour this on top of chicken followed by chunks of pineapple (and sliced onion + soy sauce if you choose to add that). Gently stir so chicken is well coated.
- Close Instant Pot and make sure steam valve is closed. Set to poultry setting, high for 15 minutes (automatically sets to this time when you hit the poultry function, very thick breasts may take longer to become very tender to shred).
- When it beeps allow to naturally release for 5 minutes then do a quick release, lift lid.
- Use 2 forks to shred chicken right in the pot. Add some to small tortillas to make soft tacos with some cheese and avocado, or leave chicken whole and serve on top of rice.
Video
Sam says
What size instant pot do you need?
The Typical Mom says
6 or 8 qt
Kathryn Pollock says
This looks yummy but my husband does not like pineapple. What can I substitute?
The Typical Mom says
Just use broth instead of pineapple juice and omit fruit all together.
Ashley says
What ingredients are included in the nutritional facts that you listed?
The Typical Mom says
Everything that is in the recipe card is calculated by the card itself
PJ says
Great recipe but to avoid the burn error do NOT add the bbq sauce to the pot. Instead add your chicken to a steamer basket or oven safe bowl along with onions and drained pineapple, reserve the juice. Add 1 cup of water, close the lid and lock steam valve. Hit pressure cook and adjust time to 10 minutes. Let pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. after the 10 minutes is up do a quick release and remove the lid. Remove chicken and shred. Heat the half the bottle of bbq sauce, the reserved pineapple juice and soy sauce in a medium pot on the stove on medium heat. Heat to just barely bubbling. Remove from heat and add desired amount to shredded chicken. Enjoy!
The Typical Mom says
If you don’t buy a honey style sauce it works just fine as is but yes this is a great alternative cooking strategy.
Allyson Schumacher says
Thinking of making this with a pork tenderloin. Would the cook time be the same?
Avery says
In the video, after the pineapple you add something else (it looks kind of like soy sauce). It’s not on the ingredient list. What is it?
The Typical Mom says
Oh yes, sorry. Occasionally I add a tbsp. of soy sauce.
Lesley says
I kept getting the “burn” error. After 3 attempts of stirring and adding more juice , I gave up.
Janelle says
I had the same issue
The Typical Mom says
Did you include the water, if not it will not have enough liquid.
Melissa Crist says
Same issue and i included the water
SUHARRIS says
I’m new to the instant pot. Could I do this with frozen chicken? What would I need to change?
The Typical Mom says
Increase time….maybe 3 more minutes??
Brookelyn says
Your frozen foods will thaw as the IP comes to pressure, so you don’t want to increase the cook time, or you risk over-cooking the chicken and making it dry. Using frozen foods takes a little bit longer to cook because it takes a little bit longer for the IP to fully pressurize. But thawing in the IP for a few minutes is a lot less time than thawing in the sink or refrigerator, so you’re still saving time!
Fay says
Can I make the recipe without the pineapple?
The Typical Mom says
Yes of course
Elaine says
I just made this and the bottoms of the chicken breasts ended up completely burnt. I removed the burnt parts and shredded the rest and it was still delicious, but any idea what I did wrong? I followed the instructions exactly. I used Sweet Baby Rays Hickory & Brown Sugar BBQ sauce–could that be why?
The Typical Mom says
Could be the brown sugar sauce or you pushed chicken down instead of laying on top of sauce so it was too close to bottom. Ours was browned but definitely not burned.
Kara says
Do I have to use that much bar-b-que sauce? Will it work with half that amount or will that be too dry?
Linda Slager says
I did it with half the amount of bbq sauce and a large can of pineapple. The only thing I would change is use half the juice from the larger can of pineapple.