Last week, I bought something that I have been wanting for a few years, an Instant Pot. I had never used one before because I will be honest, I’ve always been a little scared of cooking with a pressure cooker. However, I finally gave in and decided to give it a try. I had come across a few recipes that called for using an Instant Pot, so I decided I’d finally buy one. I am glad that I did. The first thing I cooked using it were some thick-cut pork chops, and they came out juicy and tender. However, I would probably not cook something like pork chops in it again because you don’t get the sear on the pork chops like you would if you were frying them in a pan. The next recipe I made was chicken tacos. Now, this was a recipe that came out very well. Here’s the recipe:
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
Prep Time: 2 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (store-bought or homemade)
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ¾ cup salsa
- ¼ cup tomatoes with green chilis (I usually use Rotel)
- Taco shells or tortillas
- Topping of your choice: cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and/or sour cream
Preparation Steps
- Salt and pepper chicken breast.
- Place chicken breast in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Add chicken broth, taco seasoning, salsa, and tomatoes and green chilis into a blender (I don’t like chunky sauce so I put all of it in the food processor or a blender and blend until smooth, but you can just mix the ingredients together without blending them). Pour mixture over chicken breasts.
- Close and lock the lid and turn the steam release handle to Sealing.
- Press “Pressure Cooker” and cook on high for 15 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, heat the taco shells or tortillas in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 325 degrees.
- Either let the pressure release naturally or use the quick release.
- For a thicker sauce, simmer on sauté mode for 5 minutes.
- Shred chicken with two forks. Combine with sauce in Instant Pot.
- Spoon chicken onto taco shells or tortillas and add preferred toppings.
Simple and delicious. I’m glad I got the Instant Pot. It does make cooking quicker and simpler. Also, the chicken was much more tender than whenever I tried to make it on the stovetop.
Joe
The Closet Professor 
February 1st, 2021 at 2:42 pm
Like you, I was nervous (to say the least) about pressure cookers. I remember my mother’s all too well. But my partner bought me an 8 quart Instant Pot for Christmas a year ago, and now it’s the most used utensile in our kitchen. I probably use it at least 3 times a week. We love pot roast in it, and you can use the saute setting to sear your meat before turning on the pressure. That’s what I do for almost all meat dishes–making it truly a one-pot-wonder.
Congrats and happy cooking.
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:41 pm
So far, I ah e cooked a number of things in my Instant Pot. I made the recipe in the post, Mississippi pot roast, and currently, I’m cooking garlic herb chicken and rice. We’ll see how that last one turns out.