Just about any day of the week you’ll find shredded chicken in our freezer. When our lives were ruled by the boys’ sports schedules, the key to my sanity was found in the freezer and/or the Crock-Pot. I’m still at it, cooking meat and portioning it out for a meal later, with the only difference being portions for two instead of four.
I’ve always done chicken in the Crock-Pot. It doesn’t get any easier than throwing frozen chicken breasts in, covering with some green salsa and walking away. The only drawback was it took a while and there were days when I needed it much faster than a few hours.
Then we bought an Instant Pot. At first, it was an intimidating machine. I used it like the old pressure cooker it replaced, for steamed artichokes. Surely I could use it for more. The search was on for more ways to use it. Since it cooks things so fast, it has to be even better in the RV.
First up to try were chicken breasts.
I’ve always used green salsa in the Crock-Pot and decided to try it in the Instant Pot as well. The liquid keeps the breasts moist and I love the little bit of flavor it adds. It’s just a hint so it won’t mess up your recipes that aren’t Mexican food. I searched online for cooking times as I wanted to get it close to right the first time since chicken breasts aren’t cheap. There are large variations in time. Some say longer for frozen breasts. One website had what I thought was a ridiculous time, like holy cow man, that chicken will be a shriveled piece of rubber time. Surely it can’t be that complicated.
Lucky me, we still had the cookbook from our old trusty pressure cooker. Lo and behold the time was 12 minutes. Could it be that easy to transfer the time directly to my new fancy Instant Pot? Yes, yes it can!
I decided to try it with both fresh and frozen breasts, just to see if there were any differences. I kept the cook time the same at 12 minutes. The biggest difference between using fresh and frozen breasts was total time. It took longer for the frozen breasts to come to pressure than the fresh ones. The cook time remained the same.
Enough of the experiment, let’s get to the chicken!
Put your chicken in the inner pot of the Instant Pot then top with salsa. Don’t be afraid to use the entire jar.
Put the lid on, slide to locked position and set the valve to Sealing.
Push the PRESSURE button to HIGH. Press the up/down button to 12 minutes. You’ll hear a beep and the screen will read ON.
Now, how to use your time while the pot works it’s magic? Read a book, call a friend, sneak some candy, fold laundry?
You’ll hear another beep when it’s at pressure and has started cooking. The screen will now show the countdown. At the end of cooking time, the screen will start the count up to natural release. I set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes.
When my kitchen timer dings, I push the valve to Venting to release any extra pressure, before removing the lid. Now it’s shredding time!
Grab two forks and start shredding. The chicken will absorb the extra liquid.
You can use it right away in chicken tacos, taco salad, shredded chicken sandwiches or anything else you can think of. I use this in my chicken noodle soup, chicken salad, enchiladas and chicken tetrazzini.
If I’m not using the chicken right away, I portion it out into Ziploc bags and toss it in the freezer for later.
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Salsa Verde, about 12-16 ounces per pound of chicken
- Place chicken in Instant Pot and top with salsa.
- Close lid, set rocker in Sealing position.
- Press Manual, then High Pressure, then time to 12 minutes.
- When timer dings, allow Natural Pressure Release (NPR) for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid and shred chicken with two forks.