Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken

Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken is an easy 3 ingredient recipe for seasoned shredded chicken in the pressure cooker. Perfect for tacos!

Salsa chicken is one of the easiest Instant Pot recipes you can make! Seriously, you guys, there’s almost no way to mess this up, so it’s the perfect Instant Pot beginner recipe.

I’ve been making shredded chicken in the Crock-Pot forever, but making shredded chicken in the Instant Pot is 10 times faster. You can use plain broth or water if you want unflavored chicken, but if you add a jar of green salsa, you can make chicken enchiladas, tacos, air fryer chicken chimichangas, burrito bowls and much, much more. And if you like to do make ahead meals, this easy chicken recipe will make meal prep a breeze!

We make this salsa verde chicken at least once a week, so I may just be slightly addicted here. If you’re not a fan of salsa verde, you can make red salsa chicken, instead.

3 Ingredient Chicken

You only need 3 basic ingredients for salsa verde chicken:

• Chicken breasts
• Salsa verde — Make sure it’s thin (I use Herdez)
• Taco seasoning — homemade or a packet

This could easily be a 2 ingredient recipe, since all you really need is uncooked chicken and salsa. But I like extra flavor from the seasoning. If your salsa is thick, you can add a splash or chicken broth or water to avoid the burn notice.

How to make Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken

First, place the chicken breasts on the bottom of the inner pot. I sometimes add a little bit of olive oil, but it’s not required. Then, you sprinkle the taco seasoning over the chicken.

Pour the salsa over the chicken, but don’t stir everything together. If you need to thin the salsa, add water or broth now.

How Long to Pressure Cook

I always pressure cook the chicken for 10 minutes. When 10 minutes are up, do a natural release for 10 minutes and a quick release after that. Note — If you’re at a higher altitude or your chicken usually comes out tough, cook the chicken for 15 minutes.

How to Cook Frozen Chicken Breasts

Forgot to thaw the chicken out? No problem! Place the frozen chicken breasts into the Instant Pot flat or slightly standing up if they’re stuck together.

Add the salsa and taco seasoning, and pressure cook for 20 minutes. The chicken should be cooked at this point, but you can test with a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature is 165 degrees.

Use a Mixer to Shred the Chicken

Next, comes the fun part! You can use your electric hand-held mixer to easily shred the chicken! It’s super easy this way, and the chicken will absorb the liquid as you shred it.

You can also use your stand mixer for this part. Serve with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice or Brown Rice, and that’s it, friends. You are ready to eat!

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5 from 11 votes

Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken

By: Dee

Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken is an easy 3 ingredient recipe for seasoned shredded chicken breasts in the pressure cooker. Perfect for tacos!

Prep Time: 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Pressure time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes minutes

Servings: 10

Equipment

• Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil optional
• ▢ 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 2 pounds
• ▢ 1 packet taco seasoning See note
• ▢ 1 16-ounce jar salsa verde Thin — I use Herdez

Instructions 

• Add the olive oil to the bottom of the Instant Pot, and add the chicken
• Season the chicken with taco seasoning
• Pour the salsa verde over chicken, and mix slightly to make sure chicken is evenly covered
• Place lid on Instant Pot, set sealing valve to SEALING position, and hit PRESSURE COOK, or manual,  for 10 minutes. (Pot will say ON as it comes to pressure, then begin counting down at 10 minutes) 
• After 10 minutes of cooking, do a natural release for 10 minutes, then hit CANCEL and do a quick release until pin drops
• Open pot, allow to cool slightly, then use an electric mixer to shred the chicken

Video

Notes

Total time is about 30 minutes. About 10 minutes to come to pressure, 10 minutes to cook and 10 minutes natural release.

For frozen chicken, cook for 20 minutes with 10 minute release.

You can also shred chicken, using two forks if you don’t want to use a hand mixer

I use Herdez brand salsa verde, which is thin. If you’re using a thick salsa, you may want to add 1 tablespoon of water to thin it out.

I now use homemade taco seasoning. Original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Nutrition

Calories: 67kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 29mg, Sodium: 286mg, Potassium: 179mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 112IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 4mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main

Cuisine: Mexican

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More Recipes with Salsa Verde

• Crock-Pot Salsa Verde Chicken Sliders
• Salsa Verde Chicken Bake
• One Pot Salsa Verde Chicken Pasta
• Homemade Salsa Verde White Queso Dip
• Salsa Verde Breakfast Burritos
• Salsa Verde Dip

Recipe first published in 2018 and last updated in 2021