These Instant Pot Chicken Tacos are a healthy and easy meal prep recipe made with shredded chicken and all of your favourite taco toppings.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – use any neutral cooking oil like canola oil or avocado oil.
- Chicken breasts – you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe, but it will increase the calorie count.
- Salsa – I prefer fresh salsa like the Gourmet Fresh brand but jarred salsa will also work.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic has the best flavor. Jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Chili powder – if you don’t have any chili powder, use a combination of paprika, cumin and cayenne.
- Cumin – coriander is the best substitute for cumin.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
To serve
- Corn tortillas – feel free to use flour tortillas or even lettuce wraps for a low-carb option.
- Avocado – sliced avocado or guacamole would both work here.
- Pico de gallo – fresh or jarred salsa or even some diced tomatoes would be delicious.
- Lettuce – use any variety of your choice like iceberg or romaine.
- Cilantro – if you’re not a fan of cilantro, you can leave this out altogether.
- Red onion – white onion would also be good but will have a milder flavour.
- Shredded cheese – use your favourite blend like Tex Mex, cheddar or Monterey Jack.
How to make chicken tacos in the Instant Pot
- Add all the chicken ingredients to the Instant Pot in order.
- Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Prep your choice of toppings.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Assemble your tacos and dig in!
Chicken Taco Tips & Variations
- Shred the chicken using a mixer: To save time, you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer to shred the freshly cooked chicken instead of using forks. Keep in mind that you can only do this when it’s still warm!
- Reuse the chicken: Instead of tacos, use the chicken taco meat to make enchiladas or burritos. You could even serve it over rice with all the toppings for a yummy burrito bowl.
- Add more spices: For even more flavor, add in some homemade taco seasoning.
- Serve with different sauces: Add some sauce over top of your tacos like lime crema (a combination of sour cream and lime juice/zest), sriracha or avocado cream sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
The sky’s the limit when it comes to what toppings you want to add to your tacos. I like sticking to the classics like avocado or guacamole, pico de gallo, lettuce, cilantro, red onion and shredded cheese, but you can add on any toppings of your choice!
You can use frozen chicken for this recipe, but you’ll need to increase the cooking time. Try cooking on high pressure for 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes. You might need to play around with the cooking time based on the thickness of the chicken breast.
These tacos aren’t really spicy. They have a bit of flavor from the chili powder, but it’s not overwhelming. If you’re a big fan of spice, add some diced jalapenos and/or sriracha on top of your tacos!
There are a lot of different ways to use shredded chicken! Rather than serving Instant Pot shredded chicken tacos in taco shells or on corn tortillas, you can use the shredded chicken for taco salad bowls, make salsa chicken or even use it for white chicken chili. The options are endless!
As long as you don’t go over the maximum line in your pressure cooker, you can double this taco recipe without any changes to the cooking time.
Storing and reheating
These Instant Pot chicken tacos are great for meal prep. Store the shredded chicken and all the toppings separately in airtight glass containers or meal prep bowls for 3 to 5 days. When you’re ready to make your tacos, sprinkle a bit of water over top of the chicken and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Assemble the tacos with your fresh toppings and enjoy!
Freezing the shredded chicken
While you can’t freeze the toppings, you can definitely freeze the shredded chicken. Once it’s completely cooled, transfer the chicken to airtight glass containers or freezer-safe Ziploc bags and freeze for up to 3 months. The night before you want to use the chicken, stick it in the fridge to defrost and then reheat the next day to make your fresh Instant Pot chicken tacos.
More Instant Pot taco recipes
- Instant Pot Flank Steak Tacos
- Instant Pot Ground Turkey Tacos
- Instant Pot Taco Meat
- Instant Pot Chicken Tinga Tacos
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you want to add the Instant Pot shredded chicken tacos into your weekly lunches.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 chicken breasts
- 1 (500mL) container salsa (ideally fresh salsa but jarred will work)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
To serve
- Corn tortillas
- Avocado
- Pico de gallo
- Lettuce
- Cilantro
- Red onion
- Shredded cheese
Instructions
- Add all ingredients for chicken in the order listed to Instant Pot. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal.
- Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare toppings for tacos. Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook the 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Shred chicken, then serve in corn tortillas or atop lettuce in meal prep bowls with toppings of choice. Enjoy!
