About
Contact Me
Motherhood
Recipes

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

by Cristina | Last Updated: October 6, 2021

I love this super easy instant pot shredded chicken recipe. This shredded chicken has become the hero I never knew I needed on the week nights. It’s a one pot, easy to make, and can go with almost anything chicken.

Something has happened to me. I have officially reached peak soccer mom life.  Most of my afternoons are spent shuffling the kids from tutors to soccer practice to drama rehearsal. On these days I am leaving for pick up around 2:30 and not getting back home until 7. So cooking on these days is actually just impossible. So I’m either ordering out or scrambling at 7 to get something somewhat nutritious on the table. Enter the Instant Pot.

I Have a Love Affair With My Instant Pot

I so desperately wanted to hate the Instant Pot. All these women I know were going on and on about it, and I just refused to budge. Then someone gifted it to me. Now I’m one of those annoying women telling you to buy an Instant Pot. No, this is not an ad for an Instant Pot, but hey Instant Pot if you’re offering, I’m not saying no. Seriously, it really is a great buy. It takes the place of your slow cooker.  Because guess what- it can slow cook for you on top of the other 145 dreamy functions it can perform. 

I now use the Instant Pot once to two times a week and it really saves lives.  This shredded chicken has become a staple.  If I know the week is going to be extra crazy, I make it on Sunday because then I just have chicken on hand all week for quick meals and nights where I’m too exhausted or over run to start a meal from scratch.

I try to keep it pretty simple. It’s delicious as is, but also it’s a great starting point to build additional flavor to. For example you can get a little taco seasoning and use it for Taco Night.

Also it’s important to note, that this time I had some red peppers on hand, so I went ahead and threw them in there. If you have something on hand that you want to throw in there to mix it up, go for it! But I find it’s usually better to make it as simple as possible or however you like it to be more of a blank canvas for whatever you are in the mood for during the week. Either way it’s always delicious

Things you can add the shredded chicken too:

You get the picture. It can come in pretty handy and is really so versatile.

So here it is… 

Ingredients

Easy How To:

Rinse the chicken under cold water.  Pat dry with a paper towel. Pour half the olive oil over the chicken, and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.    

Instant Pot

Place the chicken in the Instant Pot.  Pour in the chicken broth, add in the onions and garlic with your seasonsings and lime juice.  Make sure your Instant Pot is set to seal, and then hit the Poultry Button. 

15-20 minutes later you are done. If you’re in a rush you can let out the steam. Just move the seal to “Venting” and make sure to move your hand. If you are like me, you probably had to leave, so you can leave it and come home to it later in the day and the steam will just have worked it’s way out slowly and on it’s own.   

Slow Cooker

For those of you who will not listen and refuse to change your ways, this is possible in your slowcooker but will just take a little longer. 

Place the chicken in the Instant Pot.  Pour in the chicken broth, add in the onions and garlic with your seasonings and lime juice.  Set it to slow cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6. 

Either Way You Can’t Lose

Shred it with two forks and you can serve that night with some rice or some roasted veggies.  Lately, I really love it with THIS spaghetti squash side.

You can store the rest and take it out as needed to keep dinner quick and easy all week.