Two-Ingredient Shredded Chicken Taco Filling for the Instant Pot

I finally caved and bought myself an Instant Pot when Kohl's was practically giving them away before Thanksgiving - on major sale plus Kohl's Cash! My main hesitation was having yet another kitchen appliance taking up space in my no-storage kitchen. When I bought it, I committed to using it at least once per week so it could earn its keep. Most things have been a success. Some are now in the regular rotation. I'd talked about it quite a bit at work and had a chance to show it off for a team potluck to commemorate one of my co-worker's last day.

Long before I'd heard of an Instant Pot, I'd become a dedicated Penzey's customer. Their herbs and spices are high-quality and at a price that works in our budget. Their blends have introduced great new flavors to our lives. One of our favorite groups of products are the taco/fajita/chili products. The Chicken Taco Seasoning blend is hands-down a favorite. I buy it in the big bag and refill my jar.

On this particular day, I got to show off many of the Instant Pot's cooking functions: Pressure Cooking, Slow Cooking and Saute. I arrived at work with frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts and by lunch had perfect shredded chicken. The pressure cooking chicken preset left me with fully-cooked, tender, ready-to-be-shredded chicken. After shredding, I added two tablespoons of Chicken Taco Seasoning per pound of chicken, reset the lid and put it on the slow cooker setting. When set-up for lunch was getting started, I opened the lid and turned on the sauté function to cook off the excess liquid. Being able to do all of these functions with only one thing to wash is exactly what I love most about the Instant Pot!

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Taco Filling

2.5 lbs. frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4-6 tablespoons Penzey's Chicken Taco Seasoning

1. Put the frozen chicken in the bottom of the instant pot liner. Seal the lid. Use the Poultry setting on high pressure for 40 minutes.
2. Shred chicken. I use a tongs and "squish" the chicken leaving bite-sized pieces.
3. Add seasoning. I wait to season until this step so it doesn't burn. If you won't be using the slow cooker setting, it can be added before the initial cooking phase.
4. Seal the lid and use the slow cooker function until 10-15 minutes before serving.
5. Open the lid. Use the sauté function to cook off any excess liquid.
6. Serve with corn or flour tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, cheese, salsa and guacamole. Or, on a salad, in an enchilada, on a rice bowl, on a baked potato, in a quesadilla, or any number of other uses for seasoned shredded chicken.

Chicken Taco Bowls

We like all kinds of tacos, burritos, rice bowls, and quesadillas. To keep things interesting, we are always looking for new, quick filling ideas. With a hectic work, school, and activity schedule, a slow cooker filling would provide a quick dinner at whatever time everyone got home to eat.

A quick inspection of the freezer yielded three pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Once defrosted, they were seasoned with Penzy's Chicken Taco seasoning. As I've mentioned, we love Penzy's. Whether I visit the retail store about an hour away or order online, I always find high-quality, interesting seasoning mixes to try. There have been few that have not made the regular rotation in my kitchen. The Chicken Taco is one of our favorites. I now buy it by the bag for a big jar instead of the little sampler sizes. It works great mixed with some rotisserie chicken for a quick taco filling or as seasoning for chicken fajitas. It is also a great seasoning for carnitas, other pork and vegetables. The seasoning mix doesn't have any salt so I can control the amount of salt added, too.

The night I made this chicken taco filling, we ended up with a cancelled soccer game. While the kids played elsewhere, I made a big pan of fajita veggies and a pot of rice. Not only did dinner get more interesting, but I was able to make a few taco bowls for lunches later in the week and beyond. These taco bowls freeze well for future lunches or quick dinners, too.

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Filling

3 lbs. Thawed Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breasts

4 tbs. Penzy's Chicken Taco Seasoning

1-2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1 lime

Put the chicken in the slow cooker. Sprinkle the seasoning on top. Pour the chicken broth over the seasoning and chicken. Set the slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours. I have a model that lets me set the cooking time and automatically switches to a warm setting until whenever someone turns it off. I love this! With this feature, I set the time to the low end of the range as the warm setting will continue to cook a little bit. A typical work day for us is usually about 11 hours of total slow cooking time.

To serve, shred the chicken and mix in the seasoned broth. I smashed the chicken pieces with a tongs to shred. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. When I slow cook with a pre-made broth, I always wait to season with salt until the end. I find that even the low sodium brand cooks down and concentrates the salt flavor. Juice one lime over the chicken.

Serve in tacos, on top of baked potatoes, in a rice bowl or in quesadillas. Leftovers can be refrigerated for three days or frozen.

Fajita Veggies

3 large bell peppers - we prefer red and I'm always tempted by the big bag at Costco

3 large yellow onions

2-3 tbs. olive oil

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

2-3 tbs. Penzy's Chicken Taco Seasoning

Cut the peppers into strips, and finely slice the onions. I prefer the pieces of peppers a little bigger and the onions a little finer. Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the vegetables. Cook over medium-low to medium heat for twenty to thirty minutes. Stir frequently, being sure to scrape the bottom. I like a flat-edged wooden spoon for this. If you notice some areas sticking or over-browning, add a little more olive oil. Midway through, I add a cup or so of low-sodium chicken broth and the seasoning. This steams the vegetables and helps adhere the seasoning to them. When the vegetables are all soft and have a little color, they are done.