Ready in under 30 minutes, Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas are the perfect dinner to make on those busy weeknights! Let the Instant Pot do all the hard work for you, while you enjoy a flavorful and easy weeknight meal!
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After a long day of work and school, we don't want to have to spend an hour in the kitchen making dinner. Let your trusty Instant Pot do the work for you!
This instant pot fajita chicken recipe is an easy dump and go recipe your whole family will love! Make sure to check out more Instant Pot recipes here!
These instant pot fajitas are so flavorful! Load up a soft tortilla, lettuce cup, or pile the chicken high on a salad for a protein filled dinner for you family!
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Why This Recipe Is Great!
- It's a one pot meal! All the ingredients are added to the Instant Pot, set to high pressure, and cooked!
- It's ready in under 30 minutes! No need to spend time in the kitchen after a long day of work. The Instant Pot gets this dinner cooked and ready in no time!
- It's family friendly! Break out the sour cream, cheddar cheese, limes, avocado, and refried beans and let the family have a chicken fajita bar. Everyone can make their own!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken breasts. Depending on the size of chicken breasts your grocery store sells, use two or three to equal one pound.
- Peppers. I like color in my fajitas, but you can use green bell peppers, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, orange bell pepper, or a mixture of peppers.
- Onion. One large Vidalia onion or two medium onions.
- Water. Chicken broth or vegetable broth can be used instead of water. You need enough liquid in your Instant Pot to prevent the "burn notice" warning from happening.
- Spices. I created my own fajita mix by combining salt, Italian seasoning, ground cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika. You can add onion powder, garlic powder, or your favorite premade fajita mix or taco seasoning mix.
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
Place the chicken breasts in the Instant Pot. Add the water to the pot.
Wash and cut the peppers and place them on top of the chicken. Cut the onion into slices and place them on the peppers.
Add the spices to the Instant Pot.
Close the lid of the Instant Pot and set the pressure to "high pressure" for 18 minutes. After 18 minutes, carefully quick release the pressure.
Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and shred or cut the chicken into small pieces. Add the shredded chicken back to the Instant Pot and stir all the ingredients to combine and add a squeeze of lime juice to brighten the flavor. Serve with flour tortillas and your favorite fajita toppings.
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure the valve is set to the sealing position before you close the lid. That will make sure the Instant Pot comes up to pressure quickly.
- Feel free to cut the chicken into thin strips before cooking them if you do not want to shred the chicken once it is cooked and very hot.
- The chicken should have an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F. If you are unsure if the chicken is cooked, grab a meat thermometer and check the internal temperature.
What To Serve With Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
These are some of my favorite toppings for chicken fajitas.
- Fresh pico de gallo
- Mango salsa
- Warm tortillas (flour or corn tortillas)
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh squeeze limed juice
- Black beans
- Sour cream
- Cheddar cheese
- Avocado
- Tortilla chips
Variations
- Use lettuce wraps! Instead of flour tortillas, use a lettuce wrap to make these fajitas low carb!
- Serve the chicken over rice! Pile the chicken and veggie mixture high on brown rice, white rice, or even cauliflower rice!
- Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs! Chicken thighs tend to have a little more fat, but you can use them just the same in this recipe.
- Use chicken tenders! If you have chicken tenders, feel free to use them! You won't have to cut the chicken into pieces or shred the chicken because the chicken tenders are already quite small.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! If you forgot to defrost chicken, the Instant pot is a great place to use frozen chicken. Increase the cook time to 22 minutes. Check to make sure the chicken is completely cooked and if it looks like it needs a little more time, close the lid and add about 5 minutes. The Instant Pot is great to cook frozen chicken thighs and frozen drumsticks too!
Yes! You can add the ingredients to a slow cooker and set the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. There's always the sheet pan fajita option too!
Yes! You can freeze all the ingredients first! I like to add all the ingredients (except the water) to a Ziploc bag and freeze it. Then place the frozen chicken fajitas into your electric pressure cooker. Add a cup of water or chicken broth to the bottom of the pot. Pressure cook for 22 minutes and then check the chicken for doneness.
Other Recipes To Try!
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Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below with a 5 star rating! It will help other hungry readers find my recipe!
📖 Recipe
Easy Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
- 1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast about 2 large breasts
- 3 Bell Peppers
- 1 Large Onion or two medium
- 2 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 1 cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 Lime OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts in the Instant Pot. Add the water to the pot.
- Wash and remove the stem of the peppers. Cut the peppers into slices and place them on top of the chicken. Cut the onion into slices and place them on the peppers. Add the minced garlic to the onions.
- Add the spices to the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot and set the pressure to "high pressure" for 18 minutes. After 18 minutes, carefully quick release the pressure.
- Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and shred or cut the chicken into small pieces. Add the shredded chicken back to the Instant Pot and stir all the ingredients to combine and add a squeeze of lime juice to brighten the flavor. Serve with flour tortillas and your favorite fajita toppings.
Notes
- The Instant Pot will take 5-10 minutes to come up to pressure before it begins cooking.
- If you prefer, use boneless, skinless chicken thighs! Chicken thighs tend to have a little more fat, but you can use them just the same in this recipe.
- You can also use chicken tenders! If you have chicken tenders, feel free to use them! You won't have to cut the chicken into pieces or shred the chicken because the chicken tenders are already quite small.
Glenda
Yum! What an easy and delicious supper! My family loved them and I had enough for chicken fajita rice bowls in lunches the next day.
Donna
Perfect for a busy weeknight! The instant pot made it very hands-off as well which is always a nice bonus 🙂
Jennifer
I wasn't a believer until I tried - who needs a grill? Fajitas in the IP are the only way to go! Everyone loved them!
Sherry
I love your tasty Instant Pot Chicken Fajita recipe!! I made your fajita recipe for a family gathering and everyone loved it!!