I’m continuing to love my Instant Pot Electric pressure cooker, and as requested, I have another recipe for you–Pressure Cooker Chili-Lime Chicken! If you don’t have a pressure cooker- don’t turn away, this is still a great recipe that you could use with any other cooking method so stick with me.
boneless skinless chicken breasts
The first few times I cooked boneless, skinless chicken in my pressure cooker, I was disappointed. It always had a funny texture; kind of dry and mealy- similar to when you overcook it in a slowcooker. After several trial and error experiences, I finally figured out I was cooking it waaaaay too long. For me, the magic number has been 6. Six minutes under high pressure and I get perfectly cooked, juicy, flavorful chicken that my family loves. I also discovered that I didn’t need lots of extra moisture, like broth. When extra liquid was added, it simply diluted the flavors and turned quite soupy. To remedy this, I put this chicken in without any additional fat; simply a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a handful of seasonings. It results in the perfect amount of flavor-packed juices to toss the chicken in.
Although I make this a lot for dinners, I also love to make it simply to keep in my fridge for quick meals during the week. I posted this pic on our health and fitness Instagram account, @ourbestbites_fitclub and I’m probably going to eat it again every day this week because it was so good! If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can still use this same rub and just toss your chicken on the grill or under the broiler. It’s very similar to this Grilled Taco Chicken that we love.
kitchen staples
This recipe was born and stays a go-to week night recipe for me because these are things I always have on hand.
If I don’t happen to have fresh limes around, I always have a big shaker jar of TrueLime (seriously one of my FAVORITE pantry ingredients. It’s granulated fresh lime and works brilliantly in just about everything.)
how to make it
I just toss boneless, skinless chicken breasts into my pressure cooker and squeeze a lime over it, then add chili powder, cumin, onion powder, salt and pepper, and some fresh minced garlic. You could even use garlic powder if you didn’t have fresh garlic on hand. I also add just a bit of liquid smoke which gives it the perfect hint of smoky flavor. I use my hands to just toss everything around and make sure it’s well coated.
I generally use chicken breasts that are a little over than an inch thick at most. I would say if they’re any thicker than that I’d probably just cut them in half to make sure they get cooked through.
I have an Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker, if you want to read more info about it, I’ve written about it, here!
You could probably do an immediate steam release, especially since you’re going to shred the chicken anyway (immediate release tends to break food up a bit sometimes) but I generally let it sit for just a few minutes as I’m prepping dinner and then release. Your chicken should look nice and plump and juicy. I always pop an instant-read thermometer in there just to make sure everything is to temperature. It should be at least 165 degrees.
Take the chicken out and shred it with two forks and pop it back in the pan and toss it with the juices.
You’re left with really flavorful chicken, perfect for salads, tacos, burritos, you name it.
It’s great to keep in the fridge to pull out for quick meals throughout the week.
I love to have it on hand for meals while my kids are at school and I need a quick, healthy, filling lunch. It’s so easy to toss in a wrap, or in a bowl with leftover quinoa or rice and some veggies.
Try it out and let me know what you think!
Looking for more pressure cooker recipes? Try these!
Pressure Cooker BBQ Ribs
Pressure Cooker Brazilian Black Beans
8 Must-Have Pressure Cooker Recipes (including this one!)
Pressure Cooker Chili-Lime Chicken
Description
Quick and easy chicken with Latin flavors that works great for meal prep, tacos, salads, and more.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 medium (or large) sized limes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (use a little less is substituting table salt)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
Instructions
- If chicken breasts are more than 1-inch thick, cut in half. Place chicken in pressure cooker pot. Squeeze in the juice of both limes. Sprinkle all seasonings and liquid smoke over chicken and add garlic. Use clean hands to rub spice mixture all over all sides of chicken.
- Secure lid on pot and cook at high pressure for 6 minutes. When finished let rest for 5 minutes and then release steam. (Or if you’re short on time, just do immediate steam release). Check temperature of chicken with an instant-read thermometer and make sure internal temperature is at least 165 degrees.
- Shred chicken and return to pot and toss in juices. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
Notes
- If using frozen chicken breasts, I usually do 12 minutes high pressure. If using “thin cut” frozen (I buy them in bags at Costco) they cook in 6 minutes!
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Questions & Reviews
Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful creation. It is undoubtedly the BEST chicken recipe I’ve tasted in a LONG LONG time. I served it over sautéed zoodles, with avocado slices on top and it was AH-MAZING!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU…. I’m off to scope out more of your recipes :D. NEW FAN!!!!
is the liquid smoke a deal breaker? i don’t have any and don’t care for it
You’ll lose that flavor component, but if you’re not a fan of it then I’d def just leave it out, no prob!
I have made this several times now. We love it. We subsititue Rotel diced tomatoes and keep the juice as part of the liquid. I have done it with frozen and find about 15 minutes and natural release.
Thank you!!
Just made this with bone-in chicken breasts (in a mini Instant Pot) and without the onion powder (which I didn’t have). Fabulous. I’m a newbie (1 week) to electric pressure cooking, but am already a fan, as an experienced cook.
These werethe most succulent chicken breasts I’ve made ever — no more undercooked poached chicken breasts, over cooked roasted ones , or dicey sautéed versions for me.
I loved these seasonings, but obviously the method is outstanding, and would accommodate all sorts of other flavors.
Does it matter if you use the Poultry setting or Manual? Is there a difference between the two?
Just use manual. I very rarely use those preset buttons because you just have less control over them.
Would you use this to make your taquitos or just cook plain chicken to make them? If you would use this recipe, would you change the ingredients in the taquitos recipe since it would already be seasoned? Thanks!
Made this from 2 lbs of frozen chicken with your instructions above to add 1/2 cup of Chicken broth and pressure for 30 minutes. 10 minute natural release and it was outstanding, there was not a shred of chicken left after dinner! Used the excess liquid to flavor some steamed rice and it was great!
so apparently I used to much true lime…how much do you use?
This recipe calls for 2 juicy limes, which is about 1/2 cup lime juice, so I would just use the conversion on the true lime label for that much. Hope that helps!
Thank you for sharing this technique of pressure cooking chicken with less liquid! Using these instructions, I cooked 2 lbs of chicken breast with 2-1/2 tablespoons of green chile ranch seasoning, the juice of 1 lime, and 2 tablespoons of water. They were cooked perfectly after 6 mins and a 5 min pressure release. I then put the chicken and all of the accumulated juices into the bowl of my KA stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and shredded on low speed. Perfection!
do you think the timing would be more or less using boneless, skinless thighs? I have about 6 lbs of thighs I want to use for a family party – this sounds like a good recipe everyone would enjoy. I know it only takes 6 minutes, but I’m going to be extremely short on time, would this be OK made the day before?
Halved all ingredients (same time) without issue tonight for lovely shredded chicken. I didn’t have liquid smoke, so shook in a dash of smoked paprika for the smoky flavour. My crazy kids won’t eat it, but I loved it. Served with quinoa it was lovely, and I’m looking forward to having some of the leftovers in a sandwich with avocado. The just slightly over 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast I made divided into 6 servings with each coming in at 79 calories, 1.7 g of fat and 15.4 g of protein, for those counting. Thanks for the recipe!
Have you ever done frozen meat? I’m curious how long to cook frozen chicken for. ?
Yep! Regular sized breasts usually take about 12 minutes on high pressure, and if you get the “thin cut” frozen (I buy them in bags at Costco) they cook in 6 minutes straight from frozen!
I made this last night and it was my first dinner using my instant pot. It turned out fantastic! Will definitely be making it again.
How much cooking time for thighs as opppse to breasts ?
Should be about the same!
I’ve made this no less than 5 times and it’s amazing! My daughters (who are picky about meat) eat it without complaining. I’ve doubled it without a problem (I add a minute because I’m nervous like that). It freezes and thaws like a dream, too!
This is an amazing recipe! Just made it tonight and it turned out perfectly. I served it with a saute of broccoli slaw, a little rice and some “Slap Yo Mama” seasoning. Delicious!
How do you think cooking times per added pound of fresh chicken?? I tend to like to do closer to 4 or 5lb chicken
Honestly not tons more- maybe just a minute or so. I’d start there and see how it goes!
Came here from the Instant Pot Homeschoolers page! Thanks for an awesome post! Using tonight
Hi do you cook on a trivet. I thought you had to have some water in it to come to pressure?
You don’t need a trivet in this recipe. The amount of added liquid from the lime juice, combined with the juice from the meats is enough to create pressure in the pot.
Ok so no water, I know that you can do this with peppers.
Just don’t want an explosion lol.
Thanks
This was amazing! My whole family loved it!
Making this tonight! So fun to Google “Instant Pot Chicken from Frozen” and to come up finding YOU here! Yay Sara! I’ve bookmarked your page and my family is grateful. 😉 Hugs!
Can the breasts be frozen when I put them in the instant pot?
Yep! They just take a couple minutes extra to cook.
My husband got me an Instant Pot for Christmas. At first I was confused, but now that I see all the time it’s going to save me during the week, I understand why he got it! We tried this recipe tonight, and it was great! My husband was about to dump barbecue sauce on it, but after tasting it, he said “it stands on its own”. That’s high praise.
Can’t wait to try this later today. If I use 1.3 pounds of Chicken instead of 2 do you think I will need to cut my time down? I just got an instapot last night and I am so excited to try it!
No it’s probably about the same.
I’m new to the pressure cooker world and I would LOVE at OBB pressure cooker cookbook!!
This chicken recipe is delicious! I added about 2 tsp of Frank’s Hot Sauce. My husband made a burrito. I put chunks over mixed greens with craisins and ranch dressing. Both very good! I cut the chicken breasts into 4 pieces each. The 6 minute pressure cook time was perfect. Thanks!!!!
This recipe was flippin’ awesome! I guess my chicken breast were too big and I had to do 2 extra minutes. My kids wouldn’t stop eating chicken tacos! I’m new to the pressure cooking game and can’t thank you enough for this recipe. I’ll definitely be checking out your other stuff.
So moist! I was sceptical of using so little liquid, but I had IP beef chili that I made yesterday to fall back on if your recipe didn’t work. I shouldn’t have worried at all.
It was out of this world!
I have to cook with no fat for my husband who has had a gastric bypass operation. This recipe and so many others I can make in my IP help us eat delicious food that is so very healthy.
Thanks for this gem.
Just made this tonight and put it in burritos. It was delicious and you really can’t beat chicken done in six minutes! This is only my second time using the Instant Pot too!
If using the True Lime, how much would I measure? And how much additional liquid?
Just use the measurements on the package, it will tell you the equivalent!