Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

This Instant Pot shredded chicken recipe is super quick and easy to prepare.

The chicken is perfectly seasoned and full of flavor as well as being deliciously tender and moist.

Shredded chicken in a bowl topped with parsley

I love cooking this recipe in big batches and storing it in the fridge or freezer, ready to be used at a later date.

Preparing this easy Instant Pot pulled chicken in advance will save you loads of time when cooking other Instant Pot dishes, as you’ll already have some on hand to use.

What I Love About Cooking Chicken

Chicken is a great, versatile bird. It’s high in protein and low in calories, meaning it’s perfect for many different diets such as keto diets, low-calorie diets, and meal prep recipe diets.

With loads of amino acids, chicken is also a very healthy protein that helps to build muscle and improve your normal bodily functions. It’s also gluten-free, making it suitable for gluten-free diets, too.

Chicken is really affordable and readily available in pretty much every grocery store across the United States.

I use chicken in soooo many of my Instant Pot recipes and I guarantee it ensures they all taste AMAZING.

How to Cook Chicken in Instant Pot

  1. Gather your ingredients.
  2. Add your chicken breasts, broth or water, and choice of seasoning to the pressure cooker.
  3. Secure the lid of your pot and close the pressure valve so as not to release any steam. Cook for 10 minutes at High Pressure.
  4. When cooking time ends, do a quick release of pressure by flicking off the release valve, allowing the steam to vent faster. If you want to perform a natural release of pressure, leave the crockpot for 5 to 10 minutes. The steam will release slower this way.
  5. Open the lid and shred the meat with two forks.
  6. Enjoy your Instant Pot shredded chicken.

What Can I Make With Shredded Chicken

You can make hundreds of different Instant Pot dishes with this slow cooker shredded chicken. This food is so popular and versatile that it appears in so many of my recipes.

Below are some of my favorite recipes to pair with pulled chicken breasts. These kinds of recipes are suitable for either your lunch or dinner course.

You can make this moo shu chicken recipe from the blog A girl worth saving.

You can also use this Instant Pot shredded chicken for pasta, salads, soups, and stir-fries. The possibilities are nearly endless!

If you are feeling healthy, try to make this Instant Pot chicken noodle soup or this Instant Pot Chicken Salad.

You an make Instant Pot Shredded Pork and Instant Pot Shredded Beef and mix them all together.

How Do I Store Leftovers?

You can keep your leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

You can also keep the chicken in the freezer for up to 1 month.

It’s easy to make big batches of shredded chicken in the Instant Pot pressure cooker that you won’t eat in just one sitting. Luckily, chicken keeps really well in either the fridge or the freezer so you can cook and store lots of it to use at later dates.

You can also make this Instant Pot Turkey Soup with chicken instead of turkey.

Can I Use Frozen Chicken?

In order to make shredded chicken, you can use fresh or frozen chicken breasts or thighs in this Instant Pot chicken recipe.

I recommend an addition of 3 to 4 minutes onto the original cooking time to ensure the frozen meat cooks all the way through.

Can I Freeze Cooked  Shredded Chicken?

You can freeze this recipe for up to 1 month.

An ingenious way to freeze this chicken is in portioned batches. By doing this, you don’t have to defrost one big batch and cook it all in one go. This method of storing is great for meal prep.

Instead, you can take 1 or 2 portioned pulled chicken servings and use this to make one of my many chicken-based Instant Pot recipes.

How To Store?

Just like the Instant Pot Pulled Pork, I recommend storing the shredded chicken in individual freezer bags or small, airtight storage containers.

Using either of these storage methods allows you to easily portion your pulled chicken for later use.

These methods also save space in the fridge and freezer by avoiding the use of one big bag or container.

What Part of the Chicken Can I Use?

You can use either chicken breasts or chicken thighs to cook this chicken recipe in the Instant Pot.

Chicken breasts have fewer calories so it is a leaner, healthier option.

Chicken thighs, although higher in calories, have a richer taste.

This instant pot shredded chicken recipe is totally up to your personal preference as to which option you use. Both chicken breasts and thighs cook for the same length of time and taste great.

You can also cook either cut of meat on or off the bone. Using boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs is less hassle and you don’t have to remove any element before shredding.

If you prefer to use bone-in chicken, make sure you’ve removed all of the bones before shredding the chicken.

How To Serve

My most recommended side dishes to pair with your shredded chicken Instant Pot recipe are:

  • Instant Pot Spanish Rice – It’s pressure cooked rice, but with a bit of extra flavor. Pairing with shredded chicken that’s been pressure cooked with Italian seasoning gives you tasty Italian-themed main dishes. You could also pair this dish with pulled chicken tacos.

  • Instant Pot Zucchini Noodles – Zucchini noodles are a fantastic low carb alternative to pasta noodles. Pressure cook your Instant Pot chicken using Chinese 5 spice seasoning to create a healthy, Chinese noodle inspired dish.Instant Pot Zucchini Noodles – Zoodles
  • Instant Pot Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower – Roasted veggies are always a perfect complement to chicken. This is an excellent option if you’re counting calories, as this roasted broccoli and cauliflower are only 30 calories per portion! Add some slow cooker tomato salsa to make it saucier.Roasted Broccoli And Cauliflower

Need more ideas? Check out What To Serve With Shredded Chicken for 15 delicious side dishes.

What Seasoning Should I Use?

You can experiment with your chicken seasoning for this recipe.

Depending on which meals you are planning on combining the pulled chicken breasts with, your seasoning choice can vary.

Below are a few seasoning mix ideas that will complement a variety of cuisines. You’re going to be using around 1 teaspoon per herb or spice.

Seasoning mix
Ingredients
Italian seasoning
  • Dried basil
  • Dried oregano
  • Dried rosemary
  • Dried parsley
  • Dried thyme
  • Red chili flakes
  • Garlic powder
Taco seasoning
  • Chili powder
  • Onion powder
  • Crushed red pepper flakes
  • Dried oregano
  • Paprika
  • Ground cumin
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
Cajun seasoning
  • Paprika
  • Garlic powder
  • White pepper
  • Black pepper
  • Dried oregano
  • Onion powder
  • Dried thyme
  • Cayenne powder
  • Salt
Chinese 5 spice seasoning
  • Star anise
  • Fennel seeds
  • Szechuan peppercorns
  • Whole cloves
  • Cinnamon stick

How Do I Shred Chicken?

One of the simplest ways to shred your cooked chicken is to use two forks and roughly pull the chicken apart.

After your pressure cooker has finished cooking, your chicken should be practically falling apart anyway, so it won’t take much effort to shred it up.

If you want, you can use a hand mixer or stand mixer to shred your chicken after it is finished pressure cooking in the pot.

To be honest, I think that using hand mixer to shred is a little unnecessary, as it creates more dishes to clean. However, this method might be worth it if you’ve made a particularly big portion.

I recommend shredding the chicken in some, if not all, of the liquid you used to pressure cook the food in. This way, the chicken will reabsorb some of the broth and seasoning, becoming further infused with that gorgeous taste.

My recommended shredding method also ensures that more of the chicken’s surface area is coated. Ultimately, you’re going to get the best results from shredding the chicken this way. Trust me.

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

Make a bowl of delicious shredded chicken in an Instant Pot with perfection.
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: lunch, Side Dish
Cuisine: international
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 12 minutes
Servings: 2
Author: Corrie

Ingredients

  • 1 pounds chicken breast
  • 4 cup water or chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  • Add all of the ingredients to the Instant Pot.
  • Secure the lid, close the pressure valve, and cook for 10 minutes at High Pressure.
  • When cooking time ends, do a quick release pressure.
  • Open the lid and shred the chicken with two forks.
  • Serve on a plate and enjoy. :]

Nutrition

Calories: 260kcal Carbohydrates: 1g Protein: 48g Fat: 6g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 2g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 145mg Sodium: 1426mg Potassium: 846mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 1g Vitamin A: 71IU Vitamin C: 3mg Calcium: 14mg Iron: 1mg
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