Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

Instant pot shredded chicken is tender, full of flavor and super easy to make! Using the Instant pot is one of my favorite ways to cook chicken and shredded beef. With shredded chicken you can do countless meals like Air Fryer chicken tacos.

You can use chicken thighs or chicken breast for this recipe. My personal favorite are boneless chicken thighs. Thighs are just packed with more flavor and are incredibly tender. This recipe comes together effortlessly and extremely quickly. Just dump all your ingredients in the instant pot and let your instant pot do all the work for thirty minutes.

Why you'll love this recipe

• Quick and easy to make
• It's perfect for meal prep.
• You can make endless meals with shredded chicken. Like tacos, rice bowls, burritos, soups casseroles, the list goes on and on.

Instant pot chicken thighs cook time

This recipe is ready in 30 minutes! Set instant pot on manual mode for 20 minutes and let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. For full recipe details scroll down to the recipe.

How to make shredded chicken in an instant pot

Gather all your ingredients

• chicken thighs (you can use chicken breast if you prefer) trim all the excess fat from chicken thighs before adding to the instant pot
• chili powder
• chicken broth I like using low sodium
• oregano
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• parsley flakes
• kosher salt

Step 1

Add chicken, chicken broth and all ingredients to your instant pot

Step 2

Close the lid and set your instant pot on manual mode on high pressure for 10 minutes - The Instant pot used here was 6 QT Instant Pot Duo Plus (affiliate). After time is up let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then release any leftover pressure carefully and open lid 

Step 3

You can shred the chicken in the pot using two forks and then transfer to a bowl keeping some of the broth in the shredded chicken, so it maintains moisture and is infused in the broth flavors. Or you can transfer the cooked chicken to a bowl and shred that way. Whatever makes it easier for you.

Cooking chicken thighs on stovetop

If you don't have an instant pot you can go the stovetop route. Place all your chicken in a large saucepan, stockpot or dutch oven, then cover with chicken broth and top with water. Add all ingredients to the pot and cook on medium high bringing to a boil. Once it starts boiling lower the heat and let it simmer for about 25 minutes or until chicken reads 165°F on thermometer. Let it cool down and transfer to a bowl and shred with two forks or your hands.

Why I love cooking chicken in the instant pot vs slow cooker?

Before owning an instant pot, I used to cook chicken in the slow cooker. Don't get me wrong, chicken cooks nicely and is always full of flavor when cooked in the slow cooker. However, owning an Instant pot has been life changing. It can cut cooking time by more than half; and usually more, sometimes by hours! The chicken comes out so tender and is always just as flavorful when using the instant pot. It really is preference. If you rather go the slow cooker route try these slow cooker spicy chicken tacos.

Storing suggestions

You can store shredded chicken in an airtight container or zip top bag up to four days in the refrigerator or up to four months in the freezer.

Substitutions

• Instead of chicken thighs you can use chicken breast
• Broth - if you don't have chicken broth, you can use vegetable or beef broth too. You can also you the bouillon cubes. But, if none of those are an option you can easily just use water, but using broth gives the chicken a much more delicious flavor.

How to serve shredded chicken:

There are so many ways you can eat shredded chicken, below are my favorite ways:

• Tacos
• Burritos
• Tostadas
• Quesadillas
• Rice bowls
• Tossed over salad
• Soups

Other favorite Instant Pot recipes you might like:

• Instant Pot lentils
• Instant Pot Shredded Beef

If you make this recipe - please leave a comment below and let me know how you enjoyed this recipe!