Tender shredded chicken, smothered in the most mouthwatering Mexican sauce made from salsa, green chiles, tomatoes and plenty of bold spices! With both Instant Pot and slow cooker instructions, you’ll have this flavorful dinner on the table with minimal effort. Such a versatile recipe, you can use it in tacos, burritos, chimichangas, enchiladas and more!
Recipes like my Baked Mexican Rice and Beef Barbacoa are great for when you want restaurant quality food, made easily at home. We love hearty Mexican-inspired meals, and this is one of my Mexican recipes you’ll definitely want in your dinner rotation!
MEXICAN SHREDDED CHICKEN
I don’t know about you guys, but Mexican food is my all time favorite, and I’m pretty much ALWAYS in the mood for it.
So I’ve been tinkering around trying to come up with the perfect all purpose Mexican chicken, that would be super easy to throw together, and could be used in a big variety of ways.
When I settled on this combination, I knew this was it! No searing or browning, no complicated ingredients, an option to make this with no fresh produce, makes enough food for a crowd, but PACKED with flavor.
This is what I would consider a “dump it in and go” kind of meal. You literally add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot, start cooking, and walk away!
We love to serve this Mexican shredded chicken over rice (like this Verde rice), in tacos, taquitos, burritos, enchiladas (try out my homemade sauce here), over top a southwest salad, and my personal favorite… chimichangas!
HOW TO MAKE SHREDDED MEXICAN CHICKEN
- Add all ingredients to liner of Instant Pot. Seriously, just dump it all in… that’s the beauty of this recipe. No need to stir or layer anything.
- Add lid and pressure cook for 15 minutes.
- Let pot depressurize for 5-10 minutes. Then go ahead and release any remaining pressure. I don’t like to do a quick release here as I found it could make the chicken dry.
- Remove chicken and shred. You can alternately shred the chicken in the Instant Pot, I just like to really be able to go at the chicken, and I don’t have enough room to do that without sloshing liquid around.
- If you want to thicken the sauce, make a slurry. Just mix together 2 Tbsp of cornstarch and 3 Tbsp of water in a small bowl until smooth, then stir that into the sauce. Hit “saute” and cook, stirring often, until thickened.
- Return chicken to the sauce. And serve as desired!
ADDITIONAL COOKING TIPS
- CHICKEN – You can easily swap out the chicken breasts for boneless skinless chicken thighs, just decrease the pressure cook time down to 12-13 minutes. When I make this using breasts, my chicken usually weighs between 3 and 3.5 lbs. so you’ll want to use about that amount of thighs.
- FROZEN – Didn’t remember to thaw your chicken out, (I’ve totally been there!), no problem! You can cook this recipe with frozen breasts – just increase the pressure cook time to 17-19 minutes. Also, make sure the chicken breasts are separated – a big block of frozen chicken just isn’t going to cook evenly.
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- SPICIER – As written, I would say this recipe is about a mild heat level. If you’d like it spicier, use HOT diced green chiles, add a chopped jalapeno to the ingredients, and/or use a hot salsa.
- BEER – For some extra flavor, try using a Mexican beer like Modelo instead of the chicken broth.
- OTHER SALSAS – I love the tang that the salsa verde adds to this chicken, but feel free to use your favorite salsa. There are SO many flavors out there… the sky is the limit!
- COOKING METHODS – this is made for the Instant Pot, but I’ve detailed how to make this in a slow cooker or on the stovetop if you’d prefer. Those instructions will be down in the “recipe notes” section of of the recipe card.
- NO FRESH PRODUCE – hey, I get it… there are times when you may not have a fresh onion or garlic around the house. You can swap in 1/2 Tbsp onion powder and 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder if you prefer.
MAKING MEXICAN SHREDDED CHICKEN AHEAD OF TIME
As with most braised meats, this shredded chicken beef tastes even better the next day! Those flavors sit and meld together. So feel free to make this recipe a day or two ahead of time.
STORAGE
Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 5 days.
Keep in mind that more liquid can be absorbed during storage, so if you want it saucier, you may need to add a splash of chicken broth.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
- Instant Pot – I recently upgraded to this model and I love it!
- Slow Cooker – I’ve had this slow cooker for years and it still works perfectly.
- Dutch Oven – LeCreuset is my favorite brand, but they’re really pricey, so this Lodge version is a great alternative!
OTHER MEXICAN DISHES:
BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT OTHER READERS’ COMMENTS FOR TIPS AND REVIEWS.
AND DON’T FORGET, IF YOU’VE MADE THIS RECIPE, LEAVE A COMMENT AND PLEASE GIVE IT A STAR RATING LETTING ME KNOW HOW YOU ENJOYED IT!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 5-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium yellow onion sliced
- 2 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 3/4 tsp ancho chile pepper powder
- 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano (regular oregano will work if you can't find the Mexican variety)
- 15 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes drained
- 4 oz can diced green chiles mild
- 1 cup salsa verde
- 1 cup chicken broth reduced sodium
- 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
FOR GARNISH:
- sliced jalapenos
- minced fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the liner of an Instant Pot. No need to stir.
- Secure Instant Pot lid, making sure the valve is set to "sealing". Press the Pressure Cook or Manual button and use the +/- buttons to set the timer for 16 minutes.
- Once the timer beeps, let the pot depressurize on it's own for 5-10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure. When the pin drops, remove lid and set aside.
- Remove chicken breasts to a large bowl and shred.
TO THICKEN THE SAUCE
- In a small bowl, stir together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 3 Tbsp water until smooth. Pour this mixture into the pot with the sauce and select "saute". Cook for several minutes, stirring often, until thickened to your tastes.
- Toss shredded chicken with as much of the cooking liquid as you'd like.
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Chef Tips
SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS
- Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.
- Remove chicken and shred, then return to the sauce.
- Serve as desired.
STOVETOP DIRECTIONS
- Add all ingredients to a very large dutch oven and heat to boiling.
- Reduce heat to MED LOW and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until all chicken is cooked through.
- Remove chicken and shred, then return to the sauce.
- Serve as desired.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Becky Semsrott says
I ended up using 2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes I had hanging out in my freezer, instead of the can of fire-roasted tomatoes. Holy smokes! Unbelievably delicious! The resulting sauce will be perfect for enchiladas!!!
Janey says
16 seems like a long time to set for chicken breasts… The cooking guidelines for my model of IP (6 qt. Müeller UltraPot 10-in-1 Pro Series) says 8-10 minutes… And since IP cook times aren’t determined by the volume of meat, but the type of meat, wouldn’t that be overcooking the chicken by cooking it twice as long? I currently have this cooking in my IP as I write this and set to cook for 16 minutes, but I am concerned the chicken with be overcooked and loose all the natural chicken flavor of the juicy meat. I know for sure in about 13 minutes, but I wanted to ask so others who might have the same question will be able to read the answer.
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve never had an issue with dry or overcooked chicken using this recipe, and I make it all the time.
Lauren C says
I stumbled upon this recipe…and all I can say is “WOW” and “BEST DINNER EVER”! My whole family loved it. Tween/Teen daughters said “this one’s a keeper” thank you
Michelle says
Easy and incredibly tasty! I used the mixture and made quesadillas. Will add this recipe to my rotation for sure!
john says
Great! I’ve been looking for a recipe like this for frozen chicken and everything worked perfectly. Thank you!
Emily says
FINALLY a good instant pot shredded chicken recipe that doesn’t dry out the meat. Cooking time is perfect.
Only change I made was instead of thickening the sauce, I added it to the blender then poured it back on top of the chickens.
Sarah says
This was delicious! I had quite a bit of cooking liquid left so I added some of the shredded chicken to it and we ate it as sort of a Mexican chicken chowder!
Caprice says
Hi Amanda! I was wondering if you’d ever tried freezing this recipe? Thanks.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Caprice 🙂 I have, and it freezes really well! I add the chicken and a couple of splashes of the cooking liquid to freezer bags and freeze them for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, and reheat 🙂
Glenn Z says
This was the first recipe I made in my new instant pot, its now a household favorite. Served over rice, rolled into burritos, in tacos or on fresh made sopas, it’s become a staple here.
Thank you for posting this.
LH says
What’s the best way to reheat shredded chicken without drying it out?
The Chunky Chef says
I like to reheat it in a saucepan with a splash of chicken broth.
Janelle says
I had to leave the spicy stuff out because my mom can’t have it, but this was still very tasty! I use it in chinichangas.
Pat says
Can you make this with an already roasted chicken?
Amanda says
I wouldn’t advise it, since it would be way overcooked.