Instant Pot Chicken Tacos with fresh or frozen chicken breast or thighs and chock full of vegetables. These pressure cooker tacos are cooked and then combined with fix ins all in one pot! Serve with a side of Greek yogurt guacamole, mango salsa or guacamole salsa. Or be lazy like me.
We love tacos and who doesn’t?! They gotta be quick and healthy though. Like our ground chicken tacos, buffalo chicken tacos, fish tacos and shrimp tacos. Yum!
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos
These are easy Instant Pot chicken tacos you can cook after work. Says me, lazy Ukrainian Mexican.
It takes 15 minutes to cook fresh chicken breast or 20 minutes for frozen. Yes, frozen (see below how)! I swear frozen chicken turned me into Instant Pot crazy lady. A healthy one. If you wanna be like me, check out all of my healthy Instant Pot recipes.
These pressure cooker chicken tacos are loaded with vegetables and black beans aka vitamins and fiber. Everything is mixed in one pot and then loaded in taco shells. Let’s do it!
Simple Ingredients
- Chicken breasts or thighs
- Salsa
- Cumin
- Corn or whole wheat tortillas
That’s it! It’s crazy!
Fixings Ideas
The key with tacos is not to go crazy about the amount of ingredients because you might hate making them like I did. Tacos can be overwhelming with the amount of chopping and specific toppings you might think you have to get.
You don’t have to with these Instant Pot chicken tacos.
- Romaine, iceberg lettuce or even kale, shredded
- Low sodium canned black beans
- Instant Pot corn or frozen (thawed) corn
- Cilantro, finely chopped
- Radishes, thinly sliced
- Avocado, chopped
Sprinkle cheese, drizzle yogurt and more salsa, and squeeze lime juice on each taco.
What Chicken Can I Use?
Chicken breast is a given. It’s a default meat in this Instant Pot chicken taco recipe. But what about other options?
Frozen Chicken Breast
Cooking meat from frozen is one of Instant Pot’s best features. Make sure to separate frozen chicken breasts (thighs). NO one blob. Cooking time will be 20 minutes and Instant Pot will take a bit longer to come to pressure.
Chicken Thighs
If you are in a rut or find chicken breast dry, boneless and skinless thighs would work. Chicken thighs will shred, so don’t worry about that.
How to Make Pressure Cooker Chicken Tacos
If you are new to pressure cooking, check out my Instant Pot guide. It explains what happens, why and how to avoid failures. If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet but are thinking about buying one, I explain which Instant Pot to buy in my humble opinion.
1. Cook Instant Pot Chicken for Tacos
- In Instant Pot, add 1 lb chicken breasts.
- Place 3/4 cup salsa on top.
- No extra liquid is necessary – it will work! And do not stir!
- Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cooking on High for 15 minutes
- Release pressure using quick release method – turn valve to Venting position.
2. Mix Fixings and Chicken Right in the Pressure Cooker
- Open the lid and remove chicken breasts onto plate.
- Shred chicken with 2 forks. Set aside.
- Transfer chicken broth from Instant Pot to a bowl.
- Return shredded chicken to Instant Pot along with beans, corn, cilantro, cumin, salt, lettuce and 1/4 cup reserved chicken broth.
3. Stir and Serve
- Stir.
- Serve Instant Pot chicken tacos with warmed up corn or whole wheat flour tortillas.
- Sprinkle cheese, drizzle yogurt and more salsa, and squeeze lime juice on each taco.
Hope you enjoy this easy Instant Pot chicken taco recipe and share with friends and family!
More Healthy Mexican Instant Pot Recipes
Did you know we have entire Youtube channel dedicated to healthy Instant Pot recipes and tips? My goal is to help you become confident with your Instant Pot by demonstrating each delicious foolproof recipe in step-by-step videos.
Make sure to subscribe and hit the Bell icon not to miss new videos.
- Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup
- Instant Pot burritos
- Instant Pot rice and beans
- Instant Pot carnitas
- And for more dinner ideas see 30 healthy Instant Pot recipes.
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
Instant Pot chicken tacos with fresh or frozen chicken breast or thighs and chock full of vegetables all in one pot.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 tacos 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
- 3/4 cup salsa
- 14 oz can low sodium black beans, rinsed & drained
- 2 cups corn
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Romaine lettuce heart, shredded
- 10 small corn or whole wheat tortillas
- Cheese and yogurt, for serving
Instructions
- To the Instant Pot, add chicken breasts (if using frozen make sure they are separated) and salsa on top. Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cooking on High for 15 minutes for fresh or 20 minutes for frozen. Display will say ON, Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure, you will see a bit of steam coming out from a release valve, then float pin will rise and countdown will begin.
- After 15-20 minutes your chicken is ready, Instant Pot will beep and display will say OFF. Turn the release valve to Venting position, wait until the float pin drops down and open the lid.
- Remove chicken breasts onto the plate and transfer liquid to a bowl. Shred chicken with 2 forks and return to Instant Pot along with beans, corn, cilantro, cumin, salt, lettuce and 1/4 cup liquid from cooking. Stir.
- Serve with warmed up tortillas and your favourite toppings.
Notes
You can use fresh or frozen chicken breasts. Make sure frozen chicken pieces are separated.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
I add the lettuce separately to each taco so I can refrigerate and then reheat the leftover filling without having to heat the lettuce. The whole family loves it!
★★★★★
That works for sure. That is the best when entire family enjoyed the meal.
Yummy! Except cumin seeds are not a good flavour substitute for the powder. As always Olena, thank you for helping with an easy peasy dinner.
★★★★★
You are welcome, friend! Ooops, no. You could grind them up for future use.:)
My children loved these Tacos
★★★★★
Fantastic! Glad kiddos enjoy this recipe, Lynne!
Love this quick and easy meal for the family.
★★★★★
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe, Tita. 🙂
The juices and salsa left when chicken is done, make awesome liquid to cook rice in! You could have the chicken over the rice next time. Or just keep chicken warm while rice cooks, Mexican-chicken rice bowls instead of tacos.
So true! Chicken burrito bowls.
The only thing I would do differently next time is add the shredded lettuce and cilantro individually after it all comes out of the pot. That way you can eat it as leftovers! Kids and husband loved this, too.
★★★★★
You are way more lucky than me! What is wrong with our family because there was no leftovers?! We always eat more than anyone else.:) But you can do that, for sure. Or shredded cabbage is a good replacement for lettuce and doesn’t get soggy. Glad it was a hit!
AMAZING. The whole family loved it, including my 6 year old who tends to be a bit of a picky eater and very against trying new things! I mean I still make her try stuff, but it’s just really nice when something is so good she doesn’t put up a fight lol.
★★★★★
Yay!!! LOL I understand. I have an 8 year old who is a bit picky but I still put what he doesn’t love in front of him. Sometimes it flies by and eventually you end up with a good or not so bad eater. Giving up will lead only to a junk food eater. It’s a slow progress. Bravo, mama!
So good!
★★★★★
These Instant Pot chicken tacos were so good!
★★★★★