Instant Pot Salsa Verde Shredded Chicken

Make this Instant Pot Salsa Verde Shredded Chicken in 30 minutes or less and enjoy all week. This flavorful salsa verde chicken is perfect for burritos, quesadillas, burrito bowls, and much more!

Make salsa verde chicken in the Instant Pot and use for many recipes!

Is it an exaggeration to say that I wanted an instant pot solely so I could easily make shredded chicken for my weekly meal preps? I use it for many other things, but it is perfect for Instant Pot Salsa Verde Shredded Chicken.

This healthy shredded chicken is SO flavorful and tender! Made with only 3 simple ingredients, this chicken is whole30 and paleo friendly and comes together in less than30 minutes. I like to prep all of my other food while the Instant Pot comes to pressure.

Side note about allowing your instant pot to come to pressure. This recipe takes 12 minutes to cook, but the Instant Pot will always take 10-15 minutes to come to pressure before the “cook” timer starts to count down.

This salsa verde shredded chicken is SO versatile

I use this salsa verde shredded chicken in many ways each time that I make it. The most common way I use it is in Whole30 friendly chipotle bowls with cauliflower rice.

Another delicious way to eat this shredded chicken is on quesadillas. I have recently come to absolutely love breakfast quesadillas and I love making a fried egg breakfast quesadilla with cheese and shredded chicken. Dip that quesadilla in some guacamole and you will be in heaven.

I also like making a big batch of this Whole30 shredded chicken and using it on some nachos. This recipe makes quite a bit of shredded chicken so if you can’t find enough ways to eat it in 4 days you can always freeze it in a sealed container and defrost it to enjoy later.

This instant pot salsa verde shredded chicken recipe is so simple you will want to be making it every week. It has become an at least once a month meal prep staple in my house.

Kitchen tools

• Instant Pot
• Sharp knife and cutting board
• Serving spoon for mixing

Obviously the instant pot is the most important kitchen gadget needed to make this healthy shredded chicken, but it is also helpful to have an electric hand mixer.

Shredding chicken with a hand mixer is a little trick I was introduced to on Pinterest and it is a GAME CHANGER. When the chicken is done cooking you just use the hand mixer to shred instead of 2 forks and it is way easier.

Ingredients

You only need three simple ingredients to make this instant pot salsa verde chicken.

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Salsa verde
• White onion

Ingredient Substitutions

You can make this healthy salsa verde chicken recipe with chicken breasts of chicken thighs. I like to use both! Chicken thighs tend to be a little more tender.

You can also use frozen chicken breasts. Just increase the pressure cooker cook time by 5 minutes to account for the frozen chicken.

This is a green salsa recipe, but you can easily replace it with a jar of standard red salsa. I like to use a cantina salsa instead of a pico de gallo because it mixes in with the chicken.

How to make salsa verde chicken in the Instant Pot

Step 1: Prep ingredients

It is super easy to make this Whole30 and paleo friendly instant pot salsa verde shredded chicken. Start by dicing a white onion and placing it in the instant pot.

Then, pour half of the jar of salsa verde in on top of the onion. Layer 3 chicken breasts on top of the salsa and pour in the rest of salsa on top of that.

Step 2: Cook on high pressure

Next, close the instant pot and close the vent to sealing. Set the instant pot to manual for 12 minutes.

Allow the instant pot to come to pressure for 10-15 minutes and then cook for 12 minutes. Once the 12 minutes is up, allow the instant pot to naturally release pressure for 5 minutes.

Step 3: Shred chicken

Then, manually quick release the pressure. Remove the chicken breasts from the instant pot and shred with 2 forks or an electric hand mixer.

Finally, return shredded chicken to the instant pot and mix with the warm salsa verde.

Can I use a slow cooker?

Yes! You can use this same recipe to make crock pot salsa verde chicken. Place all ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook over low heat for 6 hours. You’ll know the chicken is done when it is tender and easily shreds.

Storage, freezing and reheating

Allow the salsa verde chicken to cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. To keep for longer, freeze for up to 3 months in an air tight container.

Reheat in a sauce pan on the stove top until the chicken warmed through.

Check out these other quick and easy Instant Pot recipes

• Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
• Easy Instant Pot Meatballs
• Instant Pot Chicken Fajita
• Instant Pot Tomato Soup
• Short Rib Ragu

You can find the full recipe below and, as always, if you make this recipe, be sure to share your creations with me on Instagram!

Recipe

Instant Pot Salsa Verde Shredded Chicken

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

Make this salsa verde shredded chicken in an instant pot in less than 30 minutes

Recipe By: Madeline

Prep: 5 mintuesCook: 12 minutesTotal: 54 minute

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Servings: 3 Servings 1x

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1/2 a white onion diced
• 16oz jar salsa verde
• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs

Instructions

1. Dice the white onion
2. Add onion, chicken thighs, and salsa verde to the instant pot and stir to combine
3. Close the Instant Pot vent to sealing
4. Set the Instant Pot to manual for 12 minutes
5. Allow the IP to come to pressure and then cook for 12 minutes
6. Manually release the pressure 
7. Remove the chicken from the IP 
8. Shred with two forks and add shredded chicken back into the IP with the salsa verder
9. Serve immediately or allow to cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.