Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls are cooked with chicken breasts, rice, salsa, and lime juice for an easy dump and start dinner recipe!
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These Chicken Taco Bowls in the Instant Pot are a family favorite of ours. Everything is cooked in the pot at the same time, which means fewer dishes to clean!
Even better, this chicken and rice recipe is considered a dump and go recipe since you can just dump the ingredients in, let it cook, and it’s done!
In this post I will show you:
- How to make easy Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls
- Directions on how to quick release your Instant Pot safely
- How to use frozen chicken breasts in the recipe
- How to make this recipe healthier with quinoa
- What the best toppings for chicken taco bowls in the Instant Pot
Pro tip: Use mild salsa to make this burrito bowl toddler approved or up the spice level by using a medium or hot salsa for those who love spicy food.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls
STEP ONE: Add ½ cup of chicken broth to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add in the chicken breasts in one layer around the bottom.
The chicken broth helps keep the chicken from sticking.
STEP TWO: Evenly pour the taco seasoning packet across the top of the chicken breasts. If you don’t have any packets on hand, you can use our homemade taco seasoning recipe here and measure out 1 ounce.
STEP THREE: Add in the black beans, frozen corn, salsa, and then the lime juice – in that order.
Do not stir the ingredients, but level them out as best as possible.
You can use a mild, medium, or hot salsa depending on your spice preference.
STEP FOUR: Pour the rice into the Instant Pot followed by the remaining cup of chicken broth. Again, do not stir the rice, but press it down gently so all the rice is evenly covered by chicken broth.
STEP FIVE: Set the Instant Pot to high pressure (manual) for 11 minutes, then carefully quick release the pressure.
STEP SIX: Open the Instant Pot and dig out the chicken on the bottom. Place them in a bowl and shred the chicken either by hand or with a hand mixer.
I love shredding it with a hand mixer because it’s faster and more convenient.
STEP SEVEN: Add the shredded chicken back into the Instant Pot and mix all ingredients to combine.
STEP EIGHT: Serve the Instant Pot Taco Bowls either in a bowl or on a plate.
Other Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love:
- Instant Pot French Onion Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken Stroganoff
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
- Instant Pot Potato Salad with Eggs
- Instant Pot 5-Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese
- Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
What Size Instant Pot Did You Use?
I made this recipe using a 6 QT Instant Pot Duo Nova.
Any 6 QT Instant Pot will work, but I love the Duo Nova because the top automatically seals. That means no wasted time thinking your pot is coming to pressure only to realize the valve wasn’t closed all the way!
How to Safely Quick-Release Your Instant Pot
The Instant Pot shredded chicken burrito bowl is done cooking when the Instant Pot reaches 0 minutes and it starts beeping.
To release the pressure, take a long wooden spoon, or a long-oven mitt (I personally use this one), and turn your pressure release valve to vent. You will immediately see steam streaming from your Instant Pot. This is normal and VERY HOT.
Allow the pressure to release from your Instant Pot until the metal float valve drops down to show the pressure is gone.
If your Instant Pot starts spraying water, carefully close the pressure release, wait 10 seconds, and then open it again.
Once the float valve has dropped, you can now open your Instant Pot.
Do not use a towel or anything else to obstruct the steam coming out of the Instant Pot.
I Don’t Eat Rice. How Can I Make This Recipe Healthier?
Yes, it completely possible to make these Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls without rice!
I also love to enjoy these taco bowls with quinoa! Since quinoa cooks much faster in the Instant Pot, I recommend meal prepping ahead and making a big batch of quinoa first.
Then cook this recipe as stated but remove the rice and only use 1 cup of chicken stock (a 6 QT Instant Pot requires at least 1 cup of liquid to come to pressure).
Can I Use Frozen Chicken Breasts Instead?
Yes! To use frozen chicken breasts, they must be individually frozen and no larger than 8 ounces each.
Add the ingredients as normal and set the pressure for 11 minutes, then allow for a 10-minute natural release (let the Instant Pot sit for an extra 10 minutes) before removing the remaining pressure manually.
I personally enjoy this recipe with raw chicken breasts best as the rice cooks to the perfect texture.
Ideas for Chicken Taco Bowls in the Instant Pot Toppings
I love to load my burrito bowl up with tons of toppings and tend to use whatever we have on hand.
Here are a few great ideas:
- Shredded lettuce
- Avocado Crema
- Shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese
- Chopped tomatoes
- Guacamole
- Sour cream
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Freshly chopped cilantro
- Jalapenos
More Bowl Recipes
Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth divided
- 1 packet taco seasoning 1.25 ounce
- 1 can 15 ounce black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup salsa jarred or homemade
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 cup white jasmine rice
Instructions
- Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth into the Instant Pot. Add in the chicken breasts then pour the taco seasoning on top, spreading it evenly across the chicken.
- Add in the black beans, frozen corn, salsa, and then the lime juice.
- Pour in the rice on top then top with the remaining chicken broth.
- Do not stir the rice, but press it down so all the rice is covered with the broth. Uncovered rice will not cook correctly.
- Set the Instant Pot to high pressure (manual) for 11 minutes, then carefully quick release. Use the cooking time to prep any toppings you plan to use!
- Open the Instant Pot and dig to the bottom to remove the chicken breasts and place them in a medium-sized bowl.
- Shred the chicken breasts using a hand mixer (or by hand), then add back into the Instant Pot.
- Serve into bowls with toppings and enjoy!
This was so easy and i loved having fewer dishes to wash at the end. The jasmine rice AND the chicken ended up perfectly cooked
So glad you love it, Katie!
Can anything else be substituted for the salsa or left out?
Hi Cheri, I personally prefer to use the salsa as it adds to the taco bowl flavor, but you could change it out for some diced tomatoes instead!
How much Quinoa to replace the rice? Do I need to change the broth ratio?
Hi Kage, a 1:1 ratio of rice to quinoa will work great. As noted above in the post, you would need just 1 cup of chicken broth/stock instead.