This Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tacos recipe is one for the books! Chicken is so quick to make in the Instant Pot, and this recipe combines just a few staple ingredients to make a delicious taco filling perfect for hard shells, soft shells, nachos, burritos, enchiladas and more!
In my last post, I talked about how much I adore my Instant Pot Duo Plus! It does so many things so I am still trying to navigate my way through them all, but I’ve created some really awesome recipes so far. We are a taco loving family, so naturally I wanted to create a couple taco night recipes that everyone in my family could enjoy. This Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Taco recipe was a winner, and approved by my husband and the kids!
This was certainly a “let’s just throw these ingredients into the pot and see what happens” kind of experiment, but I was pretty sure it would work out great. Cream cheese is in the recipe and is basically my secret weapon of cooking so I knew it would make a really delicious addition to tacos. This is a recipe that I probably would have tried to make in my slow cooker before, however the Instant Pot is so quick it has replaced my slow cooker for a lot of recipes.
I still think the slow cooker has it’s own place in the kitchen, however it just doesn’t compare to the Instant Pot for so many reasons. The slow cooker has one function, while the Instant Pot has nine and is way easier to clean! I also like the look of the Instant Pot better so for now my slow cooker is on the shelf. I’m sure at some point I will find which recipes I like better in the Slow Cooker vs Instant Pot but the experimenting with the Instant Pot is super fun!
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Taco Recipe Tips
- As always, please read your Instant Pot manual in full before starting any recipe if you aren’t familiar with using it. 🙂
- I used 6 chicken breasts which equaled 2.5 pounds of meat. I do buy organic chicken, so the breasts are a lot smaller then the ginormous ones you may sometimes find at the grocery store. I would suggest going by weight and trying to get as close to 2.5 pounds of meat as you can.
- When you take the lid off of your Instant Pot, you will need to stir in the cream cheese as it will still be in chunks. To get a really smooth sauce, I put my Instant Pot on saute for a couple minutes and pulled apart the chicken while the cream cheese was melting down into the sauce. This step only adds an extra couple of minutes and makes the most delicious sauce ever!
- When you open your Instant Pot you may think the sauce seems thin. Once your chicken is pulled apart it really starts to soak everything up and come together. It will thicken the longer it sits as well so making this ahead of time is never a bad idea (totally not necessary though).
- I used Ortega brand products because that is what I prefer. You can surely use your own favorites in place of Ortega. I used to make my own taco seasoning but when I was pregnant with the baby I couldn’t get enough of Ortega seasoned tacos and it has stuck ever since then!
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A delicious, creamy taco filling that can also be used in your other favorite Tex-Mex meals!
Ingredients
6 chicken breasts (2.5 pounds of meat)
1 cup water
1 packet Ortega Taco Seasoning
1/4 cup Ortega Taco Sauce
8 ounces cream cheese
additional salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into the Instant Pot. I just pulled apart my block of cream cheese into chunks and it worked great.
- Stir taco seasoning into liquid. Secure lid onto Instant Pot and set on manual mode for 12 minutes. After your 12 minutes of cooking time, you will want to do a 10 minute natural release of pressure. See recipe tips if you are unfamiliar with what this means.
- After your 10 minute natural release of pressure, release your steam vent to let out any additional steam, then remove lid. Switch your Instant Pot to saute mode, and mix cream cheese particles into the sauce. The saute will also help you shred your chicken easily.
- Serve in hard taco shells with all of your favorite taco night toppings! We served ours with hard taco shells, cojita cheese, and fresh cilantro.
Notes
I use an Instant Pot Duo Plus and love it!
Keywords: Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tacos
These sounds so simple, delicious, and perfect for a busy weeknight! YUM!
This sounds so simple I might have to get an instapot! Yum! And thanks for stopping by!
★★★★★
I guess I need to get an instapot! This looks delicious!
My mother in law got ours for us for our baby shower! Random gift but when you have 5 kids you don’t really need a ton of baby items! haha It took us a couple months to start using it a couple times a week because it has quite a few settings and looked a little intimidating. Lately though it has been super handy and when the food is done I’m like wow that was so easy!
This looks so good! I love tacos but my family doesn’t. Perhaps they can be persuaded to change their mind with this recipe? :p
There are people who don’t like tacos??? haha Mind blown!