Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

Easy Instant Pot Salsa Chicken has only a few wholesome ingredients you can keep on hand to make a quick, healthy, delicious meal. Have dinner ready in less than one hour with minimal effort and basically no planning. This gluten-free, dairy-free meal is great for meal prep, too!

About Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

This Instant Pot Salsa Chicken is seriously the main reason I love my Instant Pot so dang much!

It's foolproof and can be adapted to your taste preferences and whatever you have in your kitchen.

Simply add chicken, a jar of salsa, a little water, and optional bell pepper + onion to a pressure cooker.

I prefer using frozen chicken because it's usually less expensive and you don't have to mess with raw chicken.

The cook, shred the chicken, and enjoy!

It's great for dinner when you forget to cook or you want to meal prep for the week.

Is it safe to use frozen chicken in the Instant Pot?

Wondering if it's safe to use frozen chicken in your Instant Pot?

Yes, it's safe. It's actually safer than cooking in a slow cooker because the pressure cooker cooks the chicken so fast that it is in the temperature danger zone -- the temperature range for when food-borne bacteria can rapidly grow -- for only a short amount of time.

When it's in the slow cooker, the chicken thaws and is cooked at a much slower rate so it is in the temperature danger zone for a lot longer and usually for longer than is technically safe.

If you don't want to cook frozen chicken (or don't have it), you can easily use fresh raw chicken and cook for half the time.

How to Make Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

• Chop two bell peppers and an onion (or use frozen) and throw in the Instant Pot.
• Add your chicken and a jar of salsa.
• Pour a little water into the salsa jar to make sure you get all the salsa out of it and pour on top.
• Cook, shred, and enjoy!

It is SO simple!

Recipe Tips

Best Salsa for the Recipe

The best salsa is really just your favorite salsa. I honestly use whatever salsa is on sale at the store that week.

I like to change it up occasionally and use salsa verde one week, a regular salsa another week, and then a "fancy" salsa like mango black bean another week.

Any salsa will work in this recipe.

Make Ahead Tips

This is a great recipe for meal prepping for the week. In fact, it is one of my favorite (and only) things that I do to meal prep for the week.

Prepare and save the leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to one month.

Variations & Substitutions

Chicken: You can easily use chicken thighs in this recipe. I usually go back and forth between chicken thighs and chicken breast and usually use whatever was on sale at the store that week. However, with the chicken thighs, there will be a little more grease in the Salsa Chicken when it is cooked.

You can also use pork loin or pork tenderloin.

As noted above, you can use frozen or fresh raw chicken. I personally use frozen which I think is easier, but it's completely up to you.

Veggies: While the bell pepper and onions are not mandatory to make this recipe work, I really like having the extra veggies. In fact, I usually use two peppers. I appreciate that I can throw this in a bowl and eat with chips and not have to worry about getting in extra veggies -- they're already in my bowl!

If you don't like onions, use only bell peppers. If you don't like bell peppers, use only onions. Or don't use either. Carrots, celery, and tomatoes would also work well in this recipe.

Alternative prep & cooking methods

If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can make this in the slow cooker. I've actually done another video on Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Pork that I really like.

What to Serve with Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

Because this recipe has protein and veggies in it, all you need to do is add a carb and you're good to go!

I serve mine with tortilla chips or in tortillas or over some cooked quinoa or brown rice. I've even served it alongside some mashed potatoes.

It's also really taste when you add some sliced avocados. Or drain off the liquid and add over some chips. Sprinkle with cheese and make nachos.

Final thoughts:

I cannot recommend this recipe enough. Anytime I have a friend who is debating whether or not to buy an Instant Pot®, this is the recipe I tell them about and it convinces people 99% of the time to buy one.

I'm seriously so thankful for this recipe because you do not have to plan ahead. Try to keep a jar of salsa in your pantry and a bag of frozen chicken in the freezer, so you can have a meal ready in less than an hour.

And keep onions on the counter or diced bell peppers in the freezer (but even if you don't have them, don't worry because you get some veggies in the salsa).

MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE:

• Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
• Lamb Curry in Instant Pot
• Instant Pot Beef Pho
• Jambalaya in Instant Pot
• Instant Pot Lentil Curry

Instant Pot Salsa Chicken Nutrition Facts