Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Chicken

Name: Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts; 1 cup low sodium chicken broth; 1 tablespoon dark chili powder; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

April 25, 2019

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This Instant Pot Mexican shredded chicken comes together in a total of 30 minutes! Use the pressure cooker to quickly shred chicken for an endless amount of dishes. This easy Instant Pot shredded chicken recipe will be your go-to!

Front shot of cooked shredded chicken in a white bowl with an instant pot in the background

What is the Instant Pot?

front display of an instant pot with 10 minutes selected on pressure cook setting

Instant Pot is a brand name, and they produce a variety of different types of cooking tools. They sell rice makers and other gadgets, but their pressure cooker is the most popular Instant Pot product.

Here is how a pressure cooker like the Instant Pot works: the inside becomes pressurized, leading to your food being prepared more quickly. I was excited because I’ve always wanted one, and I won this in a contest for my Bolognese recipe!

Now, I use it to make so many different recipes- many on this blog!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Mexican shredded chicken

To make this Mexican chicken, I highly recommend keeping it as simple as possible. This is what I used:

Chicken breasts
Chicken broth
Mexican seasoning

What type of chicken to use for shredded chicken

overhead shot of chicken breasts in the instant pot in chicken broth and holding a small bowl of spices

Chicken breasts are the larger chicken pieces that shred the best when you cook them in the Instant Pot.

If you use boneless chicken thighs, they might not shred as easily but it is still a great substitution!

What is Mexican seasoning?

There are a few different combinations of spices used in traditional meat rubs or seasonings. Most types of Mexican spice blends include chili powder and garlic powder.

This is what I used in my spice blend:

Dark chili powder
Smoked paprika
Cumin
Oregano
Garlic powder
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Seasoning tip:

If you don’t have all of these seasonings or want to make your prep time shorter, you can just buy a premade Mexican seasoning of your choice.

How to make Mexican shredded chicken

overhead shot of uncooked chicken breast in the instant pot pressure cooker with spices spread over the top

To keep the process of making this shredded chicken recipe easy, I went ahead and added:

Two whole chicken breasts, a cup of chicken broth, and my favorite spice blend all to the inner pot.
Mix together the spice blend in a small bowl, then sprinkle it on top to cover the chicken breasts.

Broth tip:

Depending on the size of your Instant Pot, it may require more or less liquid.

Instant pot settings

I have the digital version, but the same settings will apply to the other models. I selected “high pressure,” 10 minutes of cook time, and my “keep warm” setting was on.

Depending on how many chicken breasts you have inside will affect the preheating time. However, mine took about 10 minutes to come to pressure.

After 10 minutes of cooking, I do a natural release of 10 minutes. Natural release means do not release the pressure yourself. Once the needle has dropped, you can safely open the pot.

How to shred the chicken breasts

cooked shredded chicken on a cutting board

There are two different ways you can shred the chicken:

You can shred the chicken in the Instant Pot itself, but be careful because the pot will be hot.
Or, you can use tongs and place the chicken breasts on a cutting board. Then, use two forks to shred the chicken apart.

overhead shot of cooked shredded chicken inside of the instant pot pressure cooker

Saucing the chicken

I place the shredded chicken back into my Instant Pot and mix it with all the juices. Don’t sleep on how delicious all those juices are at the bottom! They also help keep the leftovers moist when refrigerated.

overhead shot of shredded pressure cooked chicken in a white bowl

How to serve Mexican shredded chicken

This chicken is so versatile! Some of the dishes I use it in are my chicken enchiladas and shredded chicken fajitas, and it can be used for meal prep too!

You can also switch up the spices used for different dishes, such as my pesto chicken pasta bake.

This is a simple way to cook chicken breasts and reuse them in other recipes.

overhead half shot of shredded chicken inside instant pot pressure cooker

How to cook frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot

I would add 2 extra minutes to the cooking time if using frozen chicken. Also, if the chicken breasts are extremely thick, consider cutting them in half to be thinner because I have noticed the chicken will come out tough.

How-to store shredded chicken

This shredded chicken will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to three days. Keep it in an airtight container or food storage bag.

Then, reheat it in the microwave, in a skillet on the stove, or in the oven. Reheating it on the stove or oven will make it crispier.

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