This Instant Pot Sweet & Smoky Chicken is crazy delicious and so simple to make. Use it for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, salads, quesadillas or whatever else your little heart desires.
Hey there! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and ate lots and lots of yummy food! I absolutely love Thanksgiving! I love being with my family and of course all the delicious food is just an added bonus!
I’m gearing up for my 12 Days of Sugar starting this Saturday. I hope you’re as excited as I am about it. I have some recipes I can’t wait to share, so sit tight!
But before the crazy sugar rush begins, let’s talk about this chicken.
This Instant Pot Sweet & Smoky Chicken might be the best thing yet to come out of my Instant Pot. 
It turned out even better than I had imagined. The flavor is amazing! You’ve got a little sweetness going on a long with a little smokiness. It’s seriously the bomb!
I love that you can use this chicken for just about anything. We made street tacos with it, but you can use this for enchiladas, salads, nachos, burritos, quesadillas, etc.
You can even do what some of us did after we inhaled two or three tacos. . . just eat it with a fork, right out of the Instant Pot.
We of course had to drizzle some homemade cafe rio dressing over our tacos (I really need to give this dressing it’s own post!)
With the busy holiday season here, this chicken is going to be a lifesaver for those hectic, crazy days! 
Don’t worry if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can easily make this in your slow cooker. Just dump everything in your slow cooker and cook on low 5 to 6 hours or until your chicken shreds easily.
I’m pretty sure you’re going to LOVE this!
Oh one more thing, do me a favor and PLEASE use smoked paprika! I promise it makes a huge difference. I buy mine at Costco and it lasts me a long time and is super cheap compared to the grocery stores.
- 1 cup salsa (homemade or store bought)
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 lbs boneless , skinless chicken breasts (3 to 4 large chicken breasts)
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To your Instant Pot, add the salsa, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, liquid smoke and salt. Mix together and then nestle the chicken breasts into the sauce. Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.
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Let the pressure release naturally about 10 minutes and then manually release the remaining pressure.
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Using two forks, shred the chicken and stir to coat it all in the sauce.
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Use for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, salads, etc.
LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW IF YOU GIVE THIS A TRY! I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK. SHARE IT ON INSTAGRAM USING THE HASHTAG #5BOYSBAKER SO I CAN SEE WHAT YOU’RE MAKING IN YOUR KITCHEN.
Recipe Source: 5 Boys Baker
There’s no water or any other liquid? Last time I tried chicken breast in IP with 1/2c water it burned & stuck to bottom.
Hi Gina! There is no water in this, but there is enough liquid from the 1 cup of salsa. It’s never burned on me.