Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
Instant Pot Salsa Chicken is a quick and easy recipe to make with just a few ingredients. With only 30 minutes of your time, you can have a perfectly healthy meal that can be used in tacos, burritos, over rice, and salads. Similarly, this dish can be made with fresh or frozen breasts.
We love making easy and delicious recipes in the pressure cooker. The beauty of it is that you can have a perfect meal in a fraction of the time. Some of our popular recipes are Pressure Cooker Taco Soup and Loaded Baked Potato Soup.
Instant Pot Shredded Salsa Chicken
Instant Pot Salsa Chicken recipe is PERFECT for feeding a larger crowd or hosting an event. With this recipe, you can use the chicken in so many ways, like using it for enchiladas, tacos, roll-ups, salads, and many more. I love this recipe especially when it comes to a meal planner or cooking for a crown.
With just a few ingredients, and about 30 minutes of your time, you end up with the best pressure cooker Mexican shredded chicken recipe. Feel free to use it on tacos, bowls, or salads.
Therefore, making this dish is not only easy and healthy but it can be used in literally dozens of meals. On top of that, the dish is a time saver and budget-friendly. All you need is chicken breasts and salsa. However, we try adding some seasoning to it to give the chicken a more profound flavor.
Another benefit of making this meal is that you can use frozen chicken breasts. Not only will this save you time, but will result in a juicy and flavorful meal.
WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR INSTANT POT SALSA CHICKEN?
- Instant Pot or any other electric Pressure Cooker.
- Fresh or frozen chicken breasts. If using frozen breasts, make sure they are not stuck-frozen to each other. This is important, as it may not cook uniformly.
- Water, broth, or pineapple juice.
- Tomato-based salsa.
- Minced garlic or garlic powder.
- Seasoning.
HOW TO MAKE Instant Pot Salsa Chicken?
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For fresh chicken breasts (or thawed breasts):
- Place the chicken breasts in the inner pot of the pressure cooker.
- Next, add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, water, or pineapple juice. If you add pineapple juice, it will result in a sweeter dish.
- Add 1 cup of salsa, seasoning, and garlic powder to taste.
- Set the pressure cooker to 10-12 minutes (depending on breast size) on high pressure, and turn the valve to seal in the steam. If the chicken breasts are smaller than average, set the cooking time to 8-10 minutes.
- After cooking time has elapsed, you will allow for 10-15 minutes of Natural Pressure Release (NPR) time.
- Let it rest briefly then shred it before eating.
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For frozen chicken breasts (or thawed breasts):
This recipe is great because frozen chicken breasts work just as fine.
How do I know if CHICKEN breast ARE COOKED?
The best way to check is by using a food thermometer. A cooked chicken breast should have an internal temperature of about 165 degrees F before being safe to consume.
Therefore, once the cooking time is over in the pressure cooker, it is best to check its internal temperature. If the internal temperature is less than 160 degrees, place it back inside, and cover the lid. Cook for another 3-5 minutes on high pressure.
How to make Instant Pot Salsa Chicken Tacos?
- Once the chicken is cooked in the pressure cooker use tongs to transfer it into a bowl.
- Also, you can place the chicken breast onto a cutting board and cut it, or shred it into pieces, based on preference.
- Once shredded, add some of the cooking liquid to it for a juicier flavor. The chicken will absorb the liquid, and become tender and more flavorful.
- Lastly, put the meat on top of the tortillas. Top with some avocado, cilantro, and cheese.
- Enjoy!
What do you serve Salsa Chicken With?
As described above, salsa chicken can be used in a variety of dishes. Similarly, it can be consumed as it is, and we prefer to mix it with the below dishes:
Recipe Tips:
- Use enough liquid. For moist and juicy meat, is important to use enough liquid when cooking.
- As described above, use at least 1 1/2 cups of liquid when cooking the breastWe recommend using broth or pineapple juice instead of water for deeper flavorter.
- Also, if your chicken breasts are larger (over 10 oz. or more), increase the cooking time by 3 minutes.
- To make the dish spicier, use some red pepper flakes.
Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs chicken breasts boneless and skinless fresh or frozen
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth water or pineapple juice
- 1 cup salsa mild or hot
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 jalapeno chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning herbs
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- Juice and zest from one lime
Instructions
- If using frozen chicken, before you add it to the Pressure Cooker, make sure its not stuck together.
- Add chicken breasts to the Instant Pot. It is okay if the breasts overlap.
- Add liquid of choice (broth, water, or juice) and the rest of the ingredients.
- Place the lid and lock it, make sure to point the valve to sealing.
- Press manual and select 12-15 minutes for fresh/thawed chicken breasts, or 20-25 minutes, for frozen. It will take the pot about 10 minutes to come to pressure.
- Once the cooking is done and you hear a beep, leave additional 10-15 minute Natural Pressure Release.
- After, open the valve to release the remaining pressure.
- Fully cooked chicken breast should have internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- You can chop it and serve it as it is, or transfer the chicken to a large bowl and shred it. Use the cooking liquid to add it to the shredded chicken to make it moist and flavorful.
- Enjoy over tacos, burritos, enchiladas, or salads.
Nutrition
