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Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

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Juicy and tender, this recipe for Instant Pot shredded chicken breast is super easy to make and cooks up super fast.

For more great simple chicken dishes, why not make this Blackened Chicken? Or The Best Chicken à la King instead?

Table of Contents
  1. Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
  2. Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Ingredients
  3. How To Make Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
  4. How To Flavor Your Shredded Chicken
  5. How To Best Prepare This Shredded Chicken Ahead Of Time
  6. Pin this recipe to your INSTANT POT RECIPES Board and Remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!
  7. Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Breast Recipe
shredded chicken on a platter

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

This recipe for Instant Pot shredded chicken is the perfect way to get some shredded chicken, ready for adding to soups, salads, or even just as a meal on its own.

This recipe is pretty basic, bear in mind, and doesn’t really have any flavoring other than what your chosen chicken broth tastes like. So make sure that you have some salt and spices on hand to flavor your chicken for your final recipe.             

shredded chicken ingredients

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

• Large boneless skinless chicken breasts

• Chicken broth

shredded chicken in instant pot

How To Make Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

• Pour the chicken stock into the bottom of your Instant Pot

• Place the chicken breasts in an even layer at the bottom and set to pressure cook

• Lock the lid into place and cook on high / manual pressure for 10 minutes

• When the cooking time is finished, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release

• Remove the lid and shred the chicken using two forks and then serve

Shredded chicken on plate

How To Flavor Your Shredded Chicken

This recipe will produce some super tender and juicy chicken, but it won’t have much flavor. For one thing, unless your chicken broth is super salty, there won’t really be any salt to help the chicken flavors.

So, before you use this chicken in any sort of recipe, you need to flavor it with some salt and spices.

To decide on the right flavors, try and pair them with whatever the final recipe is going to be. For example, if you plan to use your shredded chicken in a soup or salad, then you can probably get away with just salt and pepper, relying on the flavor of the other ingredients to flavor the whole dish.

However, if you are planning on eating your shredded chicken as a sandwich filling, or even just on its own, then you need to give it some unique spices.

For a Mexican chicken, add some cumin, garlic powder, cayenne and regular salt. For something a bit more French and delicate, consider chopped-up thyme and a little bit of lemon juice.

You can honestly use whatever you have on hand; just try a few things out and see what tastes good to you.

closeup of shredded chicken

How To Best Prepare This Shredded Chicken Ahead Of Time

This recipe produces some great shredded chicken that can easily be eaten on its own. However, the best way to use this chicken is to use it as part of all kinds of different recipes or as a snack in its own right.

Seeing as how it does take a little while before it is ready, the best thing to do is to make this well in advance and then store it until you need it.

To store it, you want to make sure that you pack it tightly into either a freezer safe bag with the air pushed out or a sealed container. The key is to make sure that it doesn’t have too much oxygen in with it in the container; otherwise, it will slowly start to lose its flavor and change its texture.

You also want to make sure to carefully store any juices that come from the Instant Pot. Though the liquid might be a bit murky looking, the juices that flow from the chicken are absolutely worth keeping, and they provide so much of the flavor and juiciness of the chicken.

One problem you might run into, though, is the juices freezing and turning into ice when kept in the freezer.

This is pretty unavoidable, so just make sure that you store it properly so that the liquid can’t run out into the freezer, and it can be reheated together with the chicken when it gets thawed out.

Looking for more delicious Chicken recipes? Try these out:

Happy Cooking

Love,

Karlynn

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Juicy and tender Instant Pot shredded chicken breast that cooks up in a jiffy!
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Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Breast

Juicy and tender Instant Pot shredded chicken breast that cooks up in a jiffy!
5 from 3 votes
shredded chicken on a platter
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
American
Servings
4
Calories
261
Author
Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients
 

  • 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup chicken broth

Instructions
 

  • Pour the chicken stock into the bottom of your Instant Pot. Place the chicken breasts into the bottom in an even layer.
  • Lock the lid into place and make sure the valve is set to seal according to the manufacturers instructions.
  • Pressure cook on manual/high pressure for 10 minutes.
  • When the cook time is up, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes then quick release any remaining pressure according to the manufacturers instructions.
  • Remove the lid to the Instant Pot and use two forks to shred the chicken. Make sure to toss with the remaining juices in the pressure cooker to coat it – this ensures it will stay juicy and moist!
  • Serve warm right away or store.
  • Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  • To freeze, portion the chicken out into containers or freezer safe bags, seal and freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 261kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 48g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 145mg, Sodium: 477mg, Potassium: 883mg, Vitamin A: 69IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 15mg, Iron: 1mg

All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

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Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

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