If I had to pick just 1 food to live on for life, it would probably be tacos. Pasta is way up there too, but overall tacos win out for their lively flavor and sheer versatility!
This Chicken Tinga version makes an awesome ‘lettuce wrap taco’, but I have included a link below to make grain free tortillas as well. For everyday weeknight tacos, I pretty much always use lettuce as my shell because it’s easier than actually making tortillas.
Another great thing about this recipe is you can make it ahead meal prep style, and have batches of it frozen and ready to go for quick meals.
For the sauce you just want to chop the ingredients well enough to fit into the blender. Don’t worry about dicing the onion evenly or anything like that because it just gets blended right up.
Once everything but the spices are in the blender, blend until the sauce is nice and smooth.
Then add the spices and blend just to combine.
From there you pour the sauce into the Instant Pot and add in the chicken thighs. The Instant Pot makes quick work of of the cooking. And in no time at all you’ll have shredded Chicken Tinga perfect for taco wraps or taco bowls, (see notes at the end about how to make a bowl).
And finally you just need to choose some toppings! For salsa, my favorites with this are a classic Pico de Gallo, (or my Fire Roasted Blender Salsa). But if you’re craving a bit of sweetness, try my mango or pineapple salsa with these because they both pair so well with the chipotle flavors in the chicken.
Last but definitely not least, let’s not forget the guacamole because let’s face it – that’s the true reason we’re all so crazy about tacos! And if you can have dairy, you might want to add a smidge of sour cream. But to be honest we all, (me and my tasters) felt like it was awesome without it.
Taco Bowl Tips: We love making taco bowls instead of wraps sometimes. You can use steamed rice or cauliflower rice as the base, but our all time favorite is roasted sweet potatoes. From there, just pile everything taco related onto the sweet potatoes, and enjoy!
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Instant Pot Chicken Tinga Tacos (Whole30, Keto)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
The classic Chicken Tinga made easier in the Instant Pot, and perfect for weeknight meals as well as meal prepping!
Ingredients
1 – 14 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 small onion, peeled and roughly diced, 8 ounces
6 tomatillos, peeled and cut into quarters, 5 ounces
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock, see notes
1 1/2 Teaspoon dried oregano
1 Teaspoon chipotle powder
1 Teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 Teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 8
2 bay leaves
To Serve with half of the finished chicken, (see notes):
2 heads butter lettuce for the ‘shells’ or my grain free tortillas
1–2 ripe avocados, sliced or 1 batch of The Best Guacamole
2 cups Pico De Gallo or my Easy Fire Roasted Blender Salsa
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
Place the fire roasted tomatoes, diced onion, tomatillos, garlic, apple cider vinegar, and chicken stock into the blender. Blend until smooth, then add the oregano, chipotle, cumin, and sea salt. Blend just to combine, then pour the sauce into a 6-quart Instant Pot.
Place the chicken thighs into the sauce and spoon a bit of sauce over them just to cover. Add the bay leaves in on top. Then set the Instant Pot to sealing, and pressure cook for 10 minutes.
After the cooking time is over, use the quick release function. When the Instant Pot is safe to open, remove the chicken thighs and shred them. While you’re shredding the chicken, use the sauté function to reduce down the sauce for around 8 minutes. I like to shred my chicken in a Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment because it’s incredibly fast, but you can also pull it apart with two forks.
When the sauce has been reduced, turn off the sauté function and add the shredded chicken in. Stir to combine the juices with the chicken, and season to taste with sea salt.
Serve half of the chicken mixture immediately with your choice of shells and toppings.
To cook this recipe in a slow cooker, refer to my Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken for directions and cooking time. Then after the chicken has cooked, you’ll need to reduce the juices on the stove top and proceed as direction in the above recipe.
Notes
The amount of salt you’ll need for this recipe will vary depending on your chicken stock. I used my Homemade Chicken Stock which is unsalted. So if you have salted chicken stock, use less salt and taste to adjust after the Chicken Tinga is finished cooking.
This recipe makes enough for 8 servings, so it’s perfect for freezing half of the chicken for another future meal. You can also refrigerate and use up the remaining half within 3-5 days.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
Keywords: Instant Pot, Whole30, Keto, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Paleo
Oh my, looking at these is making me hungry! What a delicious recipe. I have to make it for my hubby. He’s obsessed with tacos.
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I sure hope he enjoys these! 🙂
I’m seriously drooling over here! Looks so gorgeous and mouthwatering.
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Thank you! 🙂
Such a beautiful recipe with all those tempting, fresh ingredients!!
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Thank you, I’m really craving all things fresh right now in the depths of winter!
These look delicious! The colors are amazing.
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Thank you! 🙂
I am so into this recipe!! SO much flavor and colors 🙂
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Thanks so much, I sure hope you enjoy it!
I would totally choose lettuce wrap over flour tortillas every single time! The green and red contrast look so refreshing!
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It does make for a more ‘refreshing’ taco for sure!