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    Home » Recipes » Main Dishes » Chicken

    Pressure Cooker Chicken Taco Filling

    Published by Melissa on June 13, 2011 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 69 Comments

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    Chicken-Tacos

    It’s great to have taco meat in the freezer waiting to be used for a quick lunch or easy dinner. Since I was making the filling for my Chicken Emapanadas, I decided to triple the recipe so I would have plenty to freeze.

    I also wanted to use frozen chicken breasts, but I wanted to use them without having to defrost them first. I was inspired by Frieda’s From Frozen to Fabulous in 12 Minutes: BBQ Chicken. Cooking them in the pressure cooker allows you to avoid defrosting and results in moist, tender, flavorful chicken. Perfect for any recipe.

    Chicken-Empanada-Filling

    I froze the taco meat in ½ cup portions in quart size Freezer Ziplocs. The perfect amount for one individual serving.

    If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you could cook the chicken in the crockpot for 8 hours, or check out my Shredded Pork Tacos post to get a method for cooking it in the oven.

    Visit Pressure Cooking Today for all my pressure cooking recipes.

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    5 from 2 votes

    Pressure Cooker Chicken Taco Filling

    Cook Time30 mins
    Total Time30 mins
    Course: Chicken
    Keyword: cooking, food, Mexican, recipe
    Servings: 6 servings
    Author: Barbara Schieving
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    Ingredients

    • 1 large onion diced
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 6 large chicken breasts frozen*
    • 1 can 10 oz. diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel Original)
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon pepper

    Instructions

    • Heat the oil in pressure cooker pot for 2 to 3 minutes. Sauté the onion until tender, approximately 10 minutes.
    • Add the chicken, tomatoes, chili powder, salt and pepper.
    • Cover and lock lid in place. Select High Pressure and 12 - 15 minutes cook time (depending on how large your breasts are). When timer beeps, turn off and use a quick pressure release. *If using thawed chicken breasts reduce cook time.
    • Remove chicken from pressure cooker and shred. Return shredded chicken to pressure cooker pot and stir to combine with tomatoes and juice in pot.
    • Select Sauté and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until all liquid is absorbed/evaporated.
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    « Chicken Empanadas with Ranchero Ranch Dressing
    Guiltless Ghost Banishing Nachos »
    about us

    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Erika

      August 31, 2017 at 12:44 pm

      I have 10lbs of thawed chicken breast.  How much liquid do I add and how long do I cook?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        September 01, 2017 at 4:20 pm

        Hi Erika – I’m not sure 10 lbs of chicken will fit in a 6 quart pressure cooker. You shouldn’t fill your pressure cooker more than 2/3’s full. Thawed chicken breasts will cook in 6 minutes. The liquid in the tomatoes along with the liquid the chicken releases as it cooks should be enough liquid.

        Reply
    2. SandyToes

      June 06, 2017 at 12:13 am

      Hi Barbara,

      Your carnitas recipe is the second one I tried, and the last. It’s just so good I’ve never been tempted to try another. It’s like a party on my tongue and the neighbors think I’m a goddess because of them. Although this recipe didn’t make me turn cartwheels (everyone else really liked it, making me think I’m maybe not a fan of chicken with tomatoes) I still wanted to give you a shout-out for mentioning that it is timed for large chicken breasts. I used 8-oz frozen breasts and they were perfectly cooked, neither too dry nor too wet. Just ideal, really. 

      These little details make all the difference in your recipes and have made me a loyal follower for over 2 years. Thanks so much!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        June 06, 2017 at 6:15 am

        Thanks so much for the feedback. I appreciate you taking the time to comment and for being a loyal follower 🙂

        Reply
    3. James

      March 25, 2017 at 3:53 pm

      I substituted the chilli powder with JD’s Salsa in Seconds. What a great idea that was! Thank you for such an easy recipe.

      Reply
    4. Abe Rodriguez

      February 25, 2017 at 12:49 pm

      Great recipe! I was mostly looking for the method for the pressure cooker, but I did everything almost as directed, I didn’t have the canned tomatoes, added bell peppers, and adjusted seasoning accordingly. It turned out great! And my wife could not believe it was done so quickly!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        February 25, 2017 at 5:31 pm

        Thanks Abe – so glad I could help make you a hero with your wife.

        Reply
    5. Randall

      December 13, 2016 at 10:28 pm

      Do you add water? What keeps it from burning on bottom

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        December 13, 2016 at 10:41 pm

        Hi Randall – the liquid in the tomatoes and the liquid released from the chicken is enough unless you have a stove top pressure cooker that you know requires extra liquid.

        Reply
    6. Julie

      August 18, 2016 at 9:29 am

      How many 1/2 c servings does the recipe make? I am trying to count calories and it helps to have number of servings.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        August 18, 2016 at 9:45 am

        Hi Julie – chicken breasts vary in size so much, but generally I would say you’ll get 12 1/2 cup servings from this recipe.

        Reply
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