Instant Pot (or slow cooker) Shredded Salsa Chicken
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Make multiple dinners with this one Shredded Salsa Chicken recipe
Last week I made Stuffed Sopapillas– a regional dish of New Mexico. This time I stuffed them with Salsa Chicken, a recipe from my own cookbook, New Mexican Food Made Easy (see below the recipe). I’ve always slow-cooked it for about 3 hours in a Dutch oven, but this time I used the Instant Pot and a jar of The Fresh Chile Co. Papa’s Salsa made with authentic Hatch chile and just the right seasonings. It was so tasty, and I just had to share the recipe with my readers!
Shredded Salsa Chicken can be eaten as it is or used in all sorts of recipes- it’s great for taco salad, burrito or sopapilla stuffing, taco meat, loaded nachos, homemade taquitos, etc. It’s one of my family’s favorites and is always the most delicious when I use real Hatch chile salsa!
What are Hatch Chile Peppers?
Hatch Chile peppers are world famous for their delicious flavors, produced by the unique climate and soil composition that exists only in the Hatch Valley of Southern New Mexico. These factors combine to grow exceptional-tasting chile peppers with smoky, sweet, and hot flavor notes. More people discover Hatch Chiles each year, and their popularity continues to grow.
Growing up in New Mexico where chile peppers are an integral part of the culture, I know that Hatch chiles have earned a reputation for being the best of the best. I personally only use authentic Hatch in all my cooking because it simply tastes amazing. You should be able to find canned Hatch chile in any supermarket these days, or you can order it directly like I do. Frozen chile is much, much better tasting than canned!
The Hatch Chile Store is the premiere website for ordering your Hatch chile– they are incredibly good at shipping fresh authentic chile right to your door, whatever variety and hotness lever you prefer. It’s where I get all my Hatch Chile, and I must say the flavor really does stand out above any other chile pepper variety.
Head on over now to The Hatch Chile Store to stock up on the most delicious Hatch chile you can buy anywhere- they’ve always got great deals on your favorite products!
Did you know I have a full-color cookbook with lots more easy and delicious New Mexican recipes? You can learn more about it here!
How to make Shredded Salsa Chicken
Pour an entire 16-ounce jar of salsa into the bottom of your Instant Pot.
Add in some black beans, canned or frozen corn (I forgot I was all out of corn when I made this recipe last week), and cream cheese.
Next, place frozen chicken breasts right on top and season with salt and pepper, or your favorite chicken seasoning mix. No need to add water, just shut the lid and program it to pressure cook on high for the recommended time (down in the recipe below).
Want to use fresh chicken breast meat instead of frozen? Here is my Complete Instant Pot Time Chart for properly cooking chicken. It’s a must-read if you are regularly cooking chicken breast in the IP!
Shred the chicken and stir it around with the rest of the ingredients, then stir in a large dollop of sour cream. Soooooo fantastically delicious!
Instant Pot Southwestern Salsa Chicken
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
Simply add a jar of your favorite salsa, some canned black beans, a few frozen chicken breasts, and some dollops of cream cheese to the instant pot. Cook, shred, stir in sour cream, and serve. Eat it on it’s own or use as a filling for quesadillas, taquitos, sopapillas, burritos, enchiladas and so much more!
Ingredients
- 1 16–ounce jar of The Fresh Chile Company’s Papa’s Salsa (or your favorite salsa)
- 1/3 cup black beans
- 1/3 cup corn
- 2 ounces of cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
- 2–3 frozen chicken breasts (for fresh see notes)
- salt and pepper (or your prefered chicken seasoning)
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- optional: freshly chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Empty the entire jar of salsa into the bottom of the instant pot. Add the black beans and corn. Place pieces of cream cheese over the top, then place the chicken breast on top. Season generously with salt and pepper to taste, or season with your favorite chicken seasoning.
- Close the lid and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 16 minutes for large chicken breast pieces (12-16 oz) or 14 minutes for medium-sized chicken breasts (9-12 oz). Release the pressure immediately after the cooking time has ended.
- Shred the chicken and stir in the sour cream. Sprinkle with cilantro if using. Serve.
Notes
If you want to use fresh chicken breast meat, tap the meat/stew button on your Instant pot and set to cook for 20 minutes. It should be extremely easy to shred and very moist.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Southwestern American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Did you know I have a full-color cookbook with lots more easy and delicious New Mexican recipes? You can learn more about it here!
Chili chicken in instant pot I want to try. Don’t have the IP.
If you do not have an instant pot (which i do not) how can you make this in a slow cooker?
Hi! To convert this to a slow cooker, simply layer the ingredients the same way into your slow cooker. Place the lid on and set it to medium and slow cook it for 4 hours. Remove the chicken and shred, then stir it back into the pot. Enjoy!