Yield: 6 cups shredded chicken

Spicy Shredded Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

salsa chicken recipe garnished with cut limes in a white enamel dish

This delicious spicy shredded Instant Pot salsa chicken recipe is equally perfect for busy weeknights and weekend meal prep! It's easy to prepare, super versatile, and freezes well. Just 4 ingredients and under 40 minutes prep to table!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Place the stainless steel insert pot into the Instant Pot base, along with a steamer insert. Pour in the chicken stock.
  2. Arrange the chicken breasts, on top of the steamer insert. Stir the taco seasoning into the salsa. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the salsa/seasoning mixture, and pour the rest over top of the chicken.
  3. Lock the lid on top of the Instant Pot and make sure the steam release knob is turned to “sealing”.
  4. Press the Manual (Pressure Cook for the new IP-DUO60) button on the front. High pressure should automatically be selected, but if it’s not for some reason, press the Pressure button to toggle it to high.
  5. Use the plus or minus buttons to set the cook time to 15 minutes. Wait a few seconds and you should hear a beep. At this point, the display will read “on”, indicating that the Instant Pot is pressuring up. Once it comes to pressure (about 9-10 minutes), it will switch to the timer to pressure cook the chicken for 15 minutes.
  6. When the timer goes off, allow the pressure to naturally release (NPR: natural pressure release) for 5 minutes. Then use a thick towel or a pair of tongs to turn the steam release knob to “venting” to release any remaining pressure. If you’ve never experienced this before, it can be pretty forceful, so pull your hands away quickly, stand back, and allow the steam to escape.
  7. Once the pressure is released, remove the lid and transfer the chicken breasts to a platter with a pair of silicone-tipped tongs. Shred chicken with two forks.
  8. While you're shredding the chicken, press the Sauté button and then the Adjust button to select "high" to reduce the remaining chicken stock mixture in half.
  9. Press the Keep Warm/Cancel button to turn the Instant Pot off. Then add the shredded chicken and remaining fresh salsa/seasoning mixture and stir.
  10. Season with salt, as needed, and serve warm with cut lime wedges (optional).

Notes

Frozen chicken breasts: You can use frozen chicken breasts in this recipe. Keep in mind that the Instant Pot will take slightly longer to come to pressure, and add an additional 5 minutes to the cook time (for a total of 20 minutes cook time).

Storage: Cooked salsa chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Alternately, you can place cooled leftover chicken in a freezer Ziploc bag and freeze for up to two months.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8 servings

Serving Size:

3/4 cup

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 116.9Total Fat: 1.6gSaturated Fat: 0.0gCholesterol: 0.0mgSodium: 139.1mgCarbohydrates: 1.3gFiber: 0.2gSugar: 0.2gProtein: 27.3g

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

Have you tried this recipe?

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