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Juicy and flavorful, Instant Pot Chicken Tacos are a quick and delicious weeknight dinner. Perfect for freezer meals and make-ahead dinners, these shredded chicken tacos will become a family favorite.
Chicken tacos are something that most families can agree upon for dinner. They work so well because they’re versatile and adaptable to the preferences of everyone around the kitchen table.
And even better, they are freezer-friendly and that makes you a meal prep boss.
Is it better to use chicken breasts or chicken thighs?
You can use either and/or both! This recipe calls for chicken breasts, but you can easily sub in chicken thighs or use a mixture of the two.
How to Freeze and Reheat
Storing leftovers: Allow the chicken to fully cool before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Reheating leftovers: Microwave leftover chicken for 30-60 seconds.
Freezing leftovers: Allow the chicken to fully cool before storing it freezer-safe storage. I love to freeze ours in 1-cup Souper Cubes and then transfer the frozen chicken to reusable freezer bags.
What to Serve With This Recipe
These Instant Pot shredded chicken tacos are incredible with Instant Pot cilantro lime rice in a taco salad shell topped with chipotle sauce, cilantro chimichurri, or mango pico de gallo.
I personally love to top mine with pickled radishes and homemade pickled vegetables.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Try our homemade gluten-free taco seasoning.
- To avoid over or undercooked chicken, it is best to use uniform sizes of chicken breast in the Instant Pot. My pieces of chicken were about 10 oz each.
- Many people love to shred their chicken with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer. I’m not a fan of this because I find it makes the texture of the chicken too mushy, but do what works best for you.
- You can easily double this recipe depending on the size of your Instant Pot. Just watch the max fill line of your Instant Pot.
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breasts {or mix of chicken thighs}
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 14 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes {subbing in salsa ok}
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Sprinkle chicken breasts evenly and on all sides with taco seasoning.2 lbs chicken breasts, 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- In a metal mixing bowl that will fit in your Instant Pot, combine: chicken stock, garlic, tomatoes, and lime juice.3/4 cup chicken stock, 2 cloves garlic, chopped, 14 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes, 1 tbsp lime juice
- Add 1 cup of water to the insert of the Instant Pot. Place a metal trivet in the insert.1 cup water
- Place the bowl with the chicken breasts on top of the trivet.
- Lock the lid into place and set the steam release handle (valve on top) to “Sealing”. Press Manual>High Pressure>12 minutes for smaller chicken breasts or 15 minutes for large chicken breasts.
- When the Instant Pot has finished cooking, it will beep and switch to ”keep warm".
- Allow it to sit with the lid on for 10 minutes and then do a manual release with the nozzle set to venting.
- Shred chicken with two forks.
- If desired, transfer meat to a foil-lined baking sheet and put under the oven's broiler for 2-3 minutes.
Notes
- If you don’t have a trivet and bowl that will fit in the Instant Pot, you can place all the ingredients directly into the insert.
- If you’re not using a trivet, you will want to add the diced tomatoes on top of the chicken and not stir them into the chicken stock to prevent a burn notice.
- Frozen chicken breasts will need 17 minutes at high pressure. Make sure frozen chicken breasts are separated and not in one big clump.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love this chicken taco meat recipe. Super speedy and very versatile for any Mexican dish calling for shredded chicken!
So glad you enjoyed it, Kim!
Hello, just curious on the best way to defrost and use the left over frozen shredded chicken? Do you usually just thaw it out in the fridge and use the next day? I was worried it would get a weird texture or mushy. 🙂
I usually defrost it overnight in the fridge. To use, we make more tacos, BBQ chicken sandwiches, or add it to soup (after it has finished cooking).
It’s never been mushy for us!
Thanks, I always refer back to this for timing on fresh and frozen chicken. Easy weeknight taco dinner!
You’re welcome and I love you!