Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos
April 29, 2024Super flavorful shredded chicken tacos are just 30 minutes away with this instant pot shredded chicken taco recipe!
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