This Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas is not your average chicken dinner. With the instant pot (IP) doing the heavy lifting—you get tender, full of flavor shredded chicken goodness—in a fraction of the time. Clean up is easier too. Delicious.
The IP takes the worry out of low-and-slow style cooking. Since the IP controls the temp for you, there’s no constant checking. Just consistent, tender results. I’m not sure which I love more, the IP or the chicken carnitas themselves.
Instant Pot Crispy Chicken Carnitas Recipe
Are you crazy about Carnitas? This Mexican dish is generally made from pork. My husband and I love pork carnitas. And we cook (and eat) them a lot. I love this chicken recipe for 2 main reasons:
- Chicken is leaner than pork, making them a bit healthier.
- Having an alternate version keeps us from burning out on our beloved carnitas (I’m not sure that could ever really happen, but I don’t want to find out.)
For more brilliant ways to make your dinners IP-level easy, check out instant pot lemon chicken, instant pot chicken and rice, and instant pot turkey chili.
So get your instant pot in the game—and chicken dinner will never be the same.
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Ingredients For Instant Pot Crispy Chicken Carnitas
- chicken breasts
- onion
- orange
- limes
- chicken broth
- garlic
- chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- salt
- corn or flour tortillas
- cilantro
- jalapeños
- avocado
Tips
- Serve: with extra limes for an extra squeeze of fresh lime juice and your favorite toppings.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Store Instant Pot chicken carnitas leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes, chicken carnitas can be kept in the freezer (sans tortillas and toppings) for 3-4 months.
- Make-Ahead Tips: You can cook an extra batch, store it in the fridge, and reheat it.
Serving Recommendations
I like to serve this with my homemade restaurant-style Mexican rice, Mexican corn salad, Mexican street corn casserole, or my fajita veggies on the side.
Variations
- Mix Up Your Spices: Experiment with different combos of cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and chili powder!
- Burrito Bowls: Skip the tortillas and serve the chicken carnitas over rice with your favorite toppings for a nice change of pace.
- Quesadillas: Prefer gooey melted cheese? Use the filling in a quesadilla instead.
- Meal prep: This dish is great to use for meal prep for the week.
- Make It Breakfast: This carnitas makes great breakfast burritos. Make a filling with the carnitas, cooked potatoes, sautéd onions, and scrambled eggs all wrapped up in a flour tortilla.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas
- Mix the sauce in a mixing bowl.
- Place the chicken and the sauce in the Instant Pot. Let it cook then shred it.
- Broil the shredded chicken in the preheated oven.
- Serve.
The complete instructions are below.
More Mexican Inspired Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Fajita Pasta
- Fiesta Chicken
- Mexican Chicken Casserole
- Mexican Chicken Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Casserole
- BBQ Chicken Quesadilla
If you make this Instant Pot chicken carnitas, I’d love it if you snapped a photo and tagged me on Instagram, @gonna_want_seconds, or please share this recipe on Pinterest, Facebook, or Yummly! I really appreciate your support, my friends. 🙋🏼♀️
Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 white or yellow onion diced
- 1 orange juiced
- 2 limes juiced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth (beer, or water)
- 5 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 4 chipotles in adobo sauce chopped
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt optional
- Corn or flour tortillas
- Fresh cilantro for garnish
- Jalapenos slices for garnish
- Avocado slices for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the orange juice (1), lime juice (2), chicken broth (½ cup), minced garlic (5), onion (1), chipotles in adobo (4), and kosher salt (1). Whisk until combined.
- Place the chicken breasts (2 pounds) in the Instant Pot. Pour the carnitas sauce all over the chicken.
- Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and close the valve. Press the pressure cook button and set the cooking time to 15 minutes on high pressure.
- While it cooks, prepare the toppings. Heat the tortillas, and slice the jalapenos and avocados. Set aside.
- Once the cooking time is up, quickly release the pressure.
- Take the chicken out of the Instant Pot and shred.
- Preheat the oven to broil.
- Add the shredded chicken to a sheet pan with ¼ cup of the carnitas juices from the Instant Pot. Broil the chicken on high for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and pour another ¼ cup of juice over the chicken. Place it back under the broiler for an additional 10 minutes, or until the chicken is crispy.
- Remove the chicken from the broiler and toss in any remaining carnitas juice and a squeeze of lime.
- Serve the chicken carnitas in tortillas, garnished with cilantro, jalapenos, avocado slices, and extra adobo sauce.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Serve: with extra limes for an extra squeeze of fresh lime juice and your favorite toppings.
Nutrition
Oooh we loved this! My sister asked for the recipe
That’s fantastic, Cecille! Thank you for your feedback 🙂
Suggestion if I do not have instant pot….can I use crock pot?
Hi, Joy! Yes, cook it on low for 6-8 hours or 4-5 hours on high or until the chicken is tender and can be fork shredded easily. Enjoy! Let us know how it turns out 🙂