Instant Pot meat and Crock Pot meat have never been my faves unless they are in a sauce. I’ve never had success with just doing straight up meat before, like these chicken breasts. But I was determined to find a way to do it successfully in the Instant Pot so that I could create a recipe for juicy chicken that could be used as a base in meals for the whole week!
And we figured it out peeps. This chicken is moist, tender, and juicy.
There are a few Instant Pot tricks to making the chicken so juicy:
- Using the trivet (it comes with your Instant Pot) instead of putting the chicken directly in liquid.
- Not cooking it for too long.
- Using a natural release to let the chicken finish cooking gently and rest
The trivet allows us to pressure steam the chicken instead of boiling it straight in the liquid, which makes the chicken way juicier, and the cook time is key because everyone knows overcooked chicken is dry as a pile of napkins.
Just lookit dat juicy meat right there ^^^ YASSSS.
So this chicken is designed to be used as a base for different recipes. Can you eat it as just straight up chicken breasts with a side of veggies? Sure you can. But it’s also a great base for lots of things like…
- Tacos
- Quesadillas
- Burrito bowls
- Salad
You could also add it to soup, make creamy Mexican chicken salad with it, the options are endless, but the above four bullets are my faves!
I’m also definitely not opposed to slicing it up and throwing some cilantro on there + squeezing some fresh lime juice over everything before proceeding with your delicious use of said chicken, but that’s totes up to you.
So this past weekend we flew to North Carolina for my brother-in-law and soon to be sister-in-law’s engagement party. Remember our flight drama in early July when we went to Vegas for an anniversary trip? And ended up missing the flight and getting in at midnight instead of the originally planned 9:30 am? Good times.
Because of that traumatizing day, we were PREPPED to get to the Kansas City airport super early this past weekend so we had a stress free travel day. And we did – we got there two hours early, which is more than enough for Kansas City since their airport is easy and tiny.
So we get there two hours early, plenty of time to spare, and then guess what? The check in + check bags line was so, so, so, so, so, so long…like longer than I’ve ever seen a line at an airport before. Turns out that there was a Veterans of Foreign War convention that week in Kansas City that Donald Trump came to speak at…aka, in airport terms, ten thousand people trying to get home at the same time. WHYYYYY.
So despite our two hour early arrival, we were still cutting it so close. We were in the line for security, not even IN security yet, just the line for security, and we heard them calling our name over the intercom as a “final call for boarding” alert. “We are boarded up and ready to go, this is our last call for Seth and Annie Chesson.” WHILE IN THE LINE FOR SECURITY. Y’all. It was awful. We whipped through security and I took off with Ford and sprinted to the gate, which was SO FAR away. P.S. sprinting at 22 weeks pregnant while holding a 25 pound one year old? Not going to make it on my list of favorite activities.
We got there in time ONLY because they were holding the plane for 5 connecting passengers coming from another Southwest flight. We barely, barely made it. It was SO STRESSFUL. Basically I have just decided that I am never traveling again ever and staying home for the rest of my life…k? K.
Just kidding…kind of.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend that was slightly less stressful than ours and are having an even better week so far! Make this chicken and use it on ALL THE MEXICAN THINGS.
PrintJuicy Instant Pot Mexican Chicken
- Prep Time: 7 mins
- Cook Time: 13 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts (about 2 1/4 pounds)
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth
- 1 lime, sliced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- Cilantro + extra lime (optional add-ons)
Instructions
- Place your trivet into your Instant Pot and pour in your chicken stock
- Season your chicken breasts liberally with salt and pepper
- Combine all your spices (chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder, oregano) in a small bowl, and evenly season both sides of your chicken breasts with the rub. It’ll be about 1/2 teaspoon per side
- Lay your lime slices out on top of the trivet, and squeeze any remaining juice from the ends of the lime in with the chicken stock
- Place your chicken breasts on top of the trivet and limes (some overlapping is fine), close the lid on your Instant Pot and cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 8 minutes and then quick release the rest
- Remove your chicken, let it rest for a few more minutes, and then either slice/cube it up to use immediately or store in the fridge until ready to use throughout the week!
Notes
When I slice the chicken up as leftovers, I always squirt some lime juice on the chicken and sprinkle some fresh cilantro over top before I do anything else with it – totally optional, but tasty :).
It’s easy to under season the chicken since some of the seasoning will rub off on the lime slices/other pieces of chicken + the boiling chicken stock underneath the meat might take some of the salt off, so when you slice the chicken up to use it, taste it and add salt if needed
Total recipe time does not include time that the Instant Pot takes to come to pressure.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 chicken breast
- Calories: 165
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 641 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 2 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 24 g
- Cholesterol: 68 mg
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!
In the mood for more Instant Pot recipes? Check these out:
Instant Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
THE Ultimate Artichokes (Instant Pot + Grilled)
Instant Pot Curry Rice with Almonds
kathleen says
How would I make this in the crockpot?
Annie Chesson says
My best guess would be 4 hours on low! Just throw everything in there together and let it do its thing. I’ve never had this in the crock pot, though, so I can’t confirm!
Lisa K. says
Wow, this recipe is AWESOME! I also have not been a fan of chicken cooked in the crockpot or instant pot – but this recipe has changed that for sure. The chicken was not soggy, and held together well, both of which I appreciate in such a quick and easy recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing it – I will definitely be making this one again!
★★★★★
Annie Chesson says
Yay! SO glad you loved it, Lisa! Thanks for the comment!
Sheila says
I have some visitors coming over this weekend and I am not yet sure what to serve. I believe this instant pot Mexican chicken is a great idea. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. You are a life-saver.