Pressure Cooker Chicken Tacos

You will love our easy pressure cooker chicken tacos recipe with boneless skinless breasts or thighs. It is cheap to make in an Instant Pot or as a Ninja Foodi recipe as a healthy dinner option that everyone loves.

Want a fast and healthy dinner idea? Shredded chicken tacos are it!! Make them as easy as with just 4 ingredients or with a creamy sauce we will share with you as well. One of our easy Instant Pot recipes using fresh or frozen chicken.

I have all of the different brands at home, they all work basically the same. Whether you’re using an IP, Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi the high pressure function is present. You just throw all the ingredients in to make this one pot meal and it’s done in 25 minutes.

If you want super EASY just use our 4 ingredient Instant Pot salsa chicken recipe. This one adds a bit of cream cheese to make the sauce thicker and creamier. Both are great but of course the first one is healthier with fewer calories and fat.

Best Chicken to Make Tacos

Let’s talk about chicken breasts shall we. There is a big difference if you look at them at the store. For me, typically the store brands that are super cheap are HUGE and have NO flavor at all. You don’t want those. Yes you do want boneless skinless so it cooks thru evenly but you don’t want them an abnormally large size either.

With other proteins I can’t tell as much of a difference as I can with poultry. I’ll spend a few extra dollars to buy organic because they’re more flavorful, have less fat and are free from hormones (which is what makes them gigantic in the others). Ok so there’s my two cents, take it as you may……

Instant Pot Chicken Tacos with Frozen Chicken

You can, we cook frozen chicken in Instant Pot quite frequently and for this there really isn’t a difference in cook times either. Biggest tip when using these is to separate them if you pull them out of the bag and they’re all stuck together in one big clump. Run them under cool water and break apart, then throw them right in.

I usually have a bag of these in my deep freeze at all times just in case it’s like 4 and I haven’t pulled out anything to cook that night. Seriously, nobody ever knows the difference when it is presented on the table. Since it is submerged in a sauce when cooked either way the meat comes out fork tender and super moist.

Ingredient Notes

Now let’s talk about salsa, you want it chunky. Remember that it will break down fast so it will basically become a liquid during the cook time. Yes you want and need some liquid to it but I like salsa pico de gallo or you could even use Qdobo salsa verde for a different taste some nights.

Medium size breasts or even large chicken thighs could be used. If they are frozen you want to make sure they are separated and either way they need to be of similar sizes.

You want some liquid to get the pot to come up to temperature and steam the meat so tender that it will shred easily with 2 forks.

I use a can of diced tomatoes, petite, to add flavor and texture with some taco seasoning either packaged or homemade. Then serve this inside taco shells in air fryer made from homemade.

How to Make Creamy

If you wanted a creamier texture you could allow a block of cream cheese to soften on the counter. Before adding the lid cut it into small chunks and plop on top of the meat. When done it will create more of a Ninja Foodi crack chicken creamy texture.

Does the Instant Pot Make Good Shredded Chicken?

Yes!! The high pressure will break down the connective tissues and literally fall apart. The longer it cooks the more tender it gets. You will not need a knife to cut it rather with two forks it will pull or shred apart really easily to toss with any sauce of your choice.

What if my chicken isn’t tender enough to shred.

In the chance that you follow the instructions exactly, lift, try to shred Shred Instant Pot shredded chicken with two forks and serve and it doesn’t fall apart without knives they were too big. If this is the case you can save it, don’t worry. Just keep the lid off and set to saute. Let it bubble and cook in order to break down the connective tissue. Keep trying and once it falls apart turn the pot off.

What do you do with it once it is done? You don’t just have to serve these inside tortillas y’all. This is one of my favorite Foodi recipes because you can do so much with it. Pile it on top of tortilla chips with 1/2 cup of cheese melted on top of that! pressure cooker chicken taco bowls are great served over rice with avocado slices on top too.

How else can you use this? We have a ton of leftover chicken breast recipes listed here too. The thing you need to remember when you’re done initially is to let it cool completely before transferring it into a bag. Suck ALL of the air out of that and place it into the fridge. You will need to use it within 2-3 days.

How to freeze leftovers

If you aren’t going to cook it again that quickly then you should put that freezer bag in the freezer instead, that way it will last a few months. When you’re ready to thaw that out just leave it in the fridge overnight and then use the next day. Easy peasy right? I hate wasting food so we are all about making delicious meals with what’s left too.