Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Super flavorful shredded chicken thighs are just 30 minutes away with this instant pot shredded chicken tacos recipe!
These easy tacos boast moist and tender shredded chicken thighs that are seasoned to perfection with zesty spices and brightened up with citrus juice.
And don’t worry if you’re an instant pot novice, this recipe walks you through how to use the instant pot so everything turns out perfectly.
So what are you waiting for, grab your instant pot and make this recipe!
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos
These citrusy shredded chicken tacos are so good, they’ll become your go-to taco for Taco Tuesday.
And not only is the chicken so good, it’s also way easy to make.
The recipe calls for just regular, everyday ingredients but together they create a fabulous, extraordinary dish!
Simply coat chicken thighs in oil and spices, then pop them in the instant to quickly tenderize and cook. Within minutes they’ll be perfectly cooked and ready to be shredded up for tacos.
Not only is this instant pot chicken so good wrapped in warm corn tortillas and served as delicious tacos, but it can also be added to so many dishes. Burritos, taco salad, and nachos are all meals I’ve enjoyed with this chicken.
Ingredients
Here’s a rundown on what you’ll need to make shredded chicken thigh tacos in the instant pot.
- Chicken Thighs – More flavorful and juicy than chicken breast. These will cook down to a juicy, flavorful taco filling.
- Olive Oil – A healthy fat that will help coat the chicken meat in all the tasty spices.
- Spices – A perfect blend of cumin, chili powder, paprika, and salt come together to season the tacos to your dream flavor.
- Onion and Garlic – They’ll be sautéd in the fond (the brown bits left at the bottom of a pan after cooking meat), becoming caramelized and add incredible flavor to the dish.
- Orange Juice and Chicken Broth – Liquid is needed to cook in an instant pot. These two liquids make the chicken so delicious.
- Lime Juice – Who doesn’t love the bright flavor of lime in their tacos?
How to make instant pot shredded chicken tacos
Making chicken tacos at home is easy, and it’s made especially fast and easy when you use the instant pot. Here’s how it will go:
- Flavor the chicken. Coat the chicken thighs in oil and spices.
- Heat the instant pot. Press the sauté button on the instant pot and let it heat up.
- Brown the chicken. To add flavor, brown the thighs in the heated instant pot.
- Deglaze the pot. Add diced onions to the pot and cook, stirring regularly to loosen up fond on the bottom of the pot. Then add the garlic and liquid.
- Pressure cook. Place chicken in the pot, put the lid on the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes after cook time is done.
- Shred, assemble tacos and enjoy. Remove the lid, take out the chicken, and discard the excess liquid still in the pot. Shred the chicken and enjoy on warmed corn tortillas topped with red cabbage, cilantro, and lime juice.
Tips for the best tacos
Pay attention to these tips so your chicken tacos turn out just as delicious as they should:
- Get spices in all the crevices. Chicken thighs have lots of nook and crannies. When seasoning the chicken, make sure to get the spices in all the crevices. You may need to get your hands dirty because hands work best for this.
- Shred chicken the fast way. To shred chicken really fast and get perfect consistently sized shreds, use a hand mixer. I like to shred the chicken right in the pot of the instant pot after it’s finished pressure cooking. If you don’t have a hand mixer, you can use two forks to shred the chicken instead.
- Salt onions while sautéing in the pot. While sautéing the onions, add a pinch of salt. The dash of salt will help deepen the flavor of the dish as well as help break down the onions as they cook.
- Briefly cook the shredded chicken to remove excess liquid. So you don’t have drippy tacos, cook off the excess liquid from the chicken after shredding it. It doesn’t take very long, and it really helps make your tacos less messy while also concentrating the flavor.
- For good browning, don’t crowd the pot. When you are browning the chicken thighs, make sure not to crowd the pot. Crowding the thighs will make it so the chicken steams instead of browns. Brown the chicken in two batches, cooking about 3 – 4 thighs at a time for the best color.
Ideas to top your tacos
These shredded chicken tacos are flavor packed and exciting even with just the shredded chicken on a tortilla. But if you want to add a little extra flair, here are some ideas for toppings:
- Salsa (red or green)
- Hot sauce (we’re big fans of Cholula!)
- Cabbage (I suggest red cabbage for crunch and great color contrast)
- Cilantro (for freshness)
- Extra lime juice (the chicken is already tossed in lime juice, but to me, you can’t have too much lime juice)
Storage and reheating tips
If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers of this shredded chicken, here’s how to store it and reheat it.
First of all, don’t assemble it into a taco to store it. The tortilla will just get soggy.
Instead, store just the shredded chicken in an airtight container (preferably a clear one so you can easily identify it in the fridge and it’s less likely to be forgotten and wasted). The cooked chicken will stay good in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Alternatively you can freeze the chicken in a freezer bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
You can reheat it in a skillet over medium low heat with a little oil. Cook for a couple minutes.
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
For the chicken thighs
- 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs ~ 7 – 8 thighs
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 1 TBS cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup orange juice from one medium orange
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 TBS lime juice
For the tacos
- 12 corn tortillas
- ⅛ head red cabbage thinly sliced
- lime wedges
- some cilantro
Instructions
- Place chicken thighs in a large bowl. Evenly coat the thighs in oil, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and salt.1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 2 TBS olive oil, 1 TBS cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp paprika, 2 tsp salt
- Plug in the instant pot. At first the screen will say OFF. Press the sauté button (located in the bottom left corner of the control panel). The screen will then say 00:30 (safety feature that automatically turns off the instant pot after 30 minutes). A few seconds later the screen will say ON. Then after a few minutes it will say HOT.
- Add the first batch of chicken thighs to the hot inner pot (3- 4 thighs), making sure not to crowd the pot. Let sit undisturbed for 2 minutes. When well browned on first side, flip the thighs and let brown for 2 minutes on other side. You're just browning the meat, not trying to cook it through.
- Remove browned thighs, put back in the large bowl, and add second batch of thighs. Brown on both sides for 2 minutes like you did with the first batch of thighs.
- Remove second group of thighs and put back in the large bowl.
- Add diced onions to the instant pot. Stir and sauté for 5 minutes, scraping up browned bits (known as fond) from the bottom of the pot. Add minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic
- Pour in the orange juice and broth. Loosen up any remaining fond.½ cup orange juice, ½ cup chicken broth
- Place browned chicken thighs into the pot. Put the lid on the pot and make sure the vent knob is in the sealing position.
- Press the cancel button to stop the sauté function. Then press pressure cook. Pressure cook on high pressure (click pressure level button to adjust this) for 10 minutes (you can adjust the time with the – and + signs).
- now let the instant pot do it's thing. The screen will say ON. After it's reached pressure, the screen will then start counting down the cook time.
- After it's counted all the way down from 10 minutes, the screen will say L 0:00. It will then start counting up from when the pressure cooking time ended. The keep warm button will also be lit. No need to touch the instant pot, just let the pot sit for 5 minutes as the pressure slowly lowers.
- After 5 minutes, turn the vent knob to venting. Let the remaining steam and pressure release, then open the lid.
- Take the chicken out of the pot, leaving the liquid in the pot. Discard the excess liquid. Shred the chicken. I like to turn the sauté function back on, add the shredded chicken, and cook off extra moisture on the chicken for a couple minutes.
- Put shredded chicken in a bowl. Toss the chicken in the lime juice.2 TBS lime juice
- Assemble your tacos and enjoy!12 corn tortillas, ⅛ head red cabbage, some cilantro
