Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Breast
Instant pot shredded chicken breast is the easiest way to make shredded chicken for meal prep or to use to make salads, soups, casseroles and more! You are not going to believe how simple it is to make pulled chicken in your instant pot!
Ingredients
- Chicken breast – you can make instant pot shredded chicken breast or chicken thighs. It’s best to use boneless, skinless chicken.
- Water or chicken stock – water is needed to help the instant pot get up to pressure. You can also use chicken broth or chicken stock as it can add more flavor to the chicken.
How to make instant pot shredded chicken
Start by adding the chicken to the pressure cooker. Sprinkle the chicken breast with optional salt and seasoning, liberally coating the top side of the chicken with spices. Add 1-2 cups of liquid to the pot.
Put the lid on, make sure it’s sealed and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Allow the chicken to naturally release pressure (this takes typically 10-14 minutes).
Note: The total time for cooking chicken breast like this is usually about 35-40 minutes, since it takes about 7-10 minutes for the instant pot to come up to pressure depending on how much water you add and how much chicken is in the pot.
After the pressure has been released, remove the lid.
If you made plain chicken, shred the chicken directly in the instant pot, as the chicken will soak up some of the juices from cooking as you shred it. This makes the leftover chicken juicier.
If you added spices, you may want to transfer the chicken to a bowl to shred as the spices will get diluted in the water as you shred the chicken. You can always add a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid to the bowl you are shredding the chicken in to help it absorb some liquid.
Use immediately or store in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Top tips
- Cooking time depends on how many pounds you will be cooking at once and how thick the chicken breast is.
- I tend to buy larger chicken breast (2 breast is about 1-1.25 pounds of chicken), and that needs 15 minutes of high pressure, with a natural release.
- If you have smaller chicken breast or are cooking chicken tenders, you can reduce the cooking time to 12-13 minutes instead of 15 minutes.
- If you need your chicken cooked faster, cut it down into thin strips or cubes. You can chicken cut into 1 inch cubes and cook it for 3 minutes, high pressure and at least 10 minutes natural release time.
- Season as needed. If you are going to use this instant pot shredded chicken as part of your meal prep and plan on using the chicken in many ways, (on salads, in tacos, in soups, in casseroles) don’t season the chicken during cooking. Instead, season the chicken right before using.
- Cook directly from frozen by adding 3-5 minutes to the cooking time. 3 minutes for 1-2 pounds of chicken and 3-5 minutes for 2+ pounds of chicken.
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast, boneless, skinless
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
Instructions
- Add the chicken directly to the instant pot. Sprinkle with salt and optional spices and pour the water around the chicken.1 pound chicken breast, boneless, skinless, ½ teaspoon salt (optional), 1 cup water
- Put the lid on and make sure the instant pot is set to sealing.
- Cook high pressure for 15 minutes, allow pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes.
- Once pressure has released, open the instant pot. Shred the chicken directly in the instant pot with 2 forks or take out and shred in a bowl with forks or a hand mixer/kitchen aid mixer.
- Use immediately or store in fridge 3-4 days or freezer up to 3 months.
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Recipe Notes
- Taco – liberally sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of taco seasoning and ½ teaspoon salt over the chicken
- Cajun – liberally sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of cajun seasoning and ½ teaspoon salt over the chicken
- Ranch – add 1 tablespoon dried chives, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon dried dill, and ½ tsp. salt.
- Italian – add 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon garlic powder to the chicken
- Greek – add 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon garlic powder to the chicken.
- Fridge: Chicken can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days after cooking in an airtight container.
- Freezer: You can store cooked shredded chicken in the freezer for up to 3 months. I like to freeze the chicken in individual servings (4-6 oz) so that I can defrost just one serving or 4 at a time depending on what I’m making. I use Soupercubes to make freezing leftovers easy.
- Defrost frozen instant pot shredded chicken in the fridge overnight or in a small saucepan with about ½ cup of water over low to medium low heat until defrosted and warmed through.
Nutrition Information
Seasoning ideas
You can also add sauces to plain shredded chicken cooked in the instant pot to add flavor after cooking. Some delicious sauces to add include:
- Chimichurri
- Pesto
- Roasted Red Pepper
- Chipotle Cherry BBQ Sauce
- Honey Mustard Dressing
- Creamy Basil Dressing or Cilantro Lime Dressing
How to use shredded chicken breast
- Add to salads
- Use in chicken salads
- Make healthy creamy buffalo chicken dip or add to spinach artichoke dip
- In casseroles
- Add to soups
- To make tacos (simply sprinkle with homemade taco seasoning) or lettuce wraps (add cajun seasoning for a flavorful and simple lettuce wrap).
- To make quick meals like chicken shawarma rice.
Common questions
Do you need to use the trivet in the instant pot when cooking chicken?
No, just add the chicken directly to the instant pot insert, no need to use the trivet. The chicken will cook directly in the liquid.
What is the best way to shred chicken
Chicken shreds the easiest when it is still warm, so if you plan on shredding the chicken it’s best to do it while it’s still warm from cooking. There are 2 ways to shred instant pot chicken easily:
- Two forks – for 1-2 pounds of chicken you can shred the chicken with two forks. It should be very soft and easy to shred. You can shred the chicken in the liquid from cooking or in a separate bowl.
- Hand mixer or Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer – if you made more than 2 pounds of chicken at once, it may be easier to shred the chicken using a hand mixer or stand mixer to shred the chicken in under 30 seconds. You can add the chicken back to the cooking liquid to absorb some of the liquid after cooking or leave it out of the liquid.
How to cut down cooking time
Cooking time is dependent on how thick the chicken is.
If you want to cut down cooking time, cut the chicken into smaller pieces.
- If you can cut the chicken down into 1 inch cubes, you can cook 3 minutes on high pressure and naturally release pressure.
- You can cut the chicken into tenders, you can cut the cooking time down to 8-10 minutes.
Do you have to increase cooking time when you double the recipe?
If you will be cooking more than 2 pounds of chicken at once in the instant pot, increase the cooking time 1-2 minutes to ensure all the chicken has time to cook through. You do not need to increase the water though.
Can you make instant pot shredded chicken with chicken thighs?
Yes! I would recommend getting boneless, skinless chicken thighs to make it easy to shred them after cooking.
Follow the same instructions here, but only cook the chicken thighs for 13 minutes on high pressure with a natural release (increase that to 15 minutes for frozen). Check out all my tips on how to make shredded chicken thighs in the instant pot.
