Name: Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 39 min
Ingredients: 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 15 ounces chicken broth (1 can); 1 red onion (diced); 1 jalapeno (seeded and diced); 2 garlic cloves (minced); ⅓ cup orange juice; ⅓ cup lime juice; 1 ounce taco seasoning (1 packet, (or homemade taco taco seasoning))

If you need an easy Mexican dish to serve, our Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas is the recipe for you! They are filled with so much incredible flavor between the lime and orange juice, onion, and jalapenos that these carnitas will leave your mouth watering (in a good way).

Welcome to your new favorite family recipe, our Instant Pot chicken carnitas recipe. You might think I’m kind of kidding, but I am not. They are so flavorful, juicy and delicious.

Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas on tortillas with toppings

This easy chicken carnitas recipe is what dream are made of! When you mix the lime and orange juice together with the taco seasoning you will get an amazingly seasoned chicken breast that you shed for the perfect carnita dish.

If you have been bored with some of your recent Instant Pot chicken recipes, this one will knock it out of the park. Believe me!

You might be asking yourself, what to serve with chicken carnitas. Well, we love to serve ours with Spanish cauliflower rice, fresh lime salsa (easy homemade salsa) with tortilla chips, and our amazing Mexican street corn, you will have a meal you’ll be reminiscing on for days!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas

Ingredients You’ll Need For Our Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas Recipe:

Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
Chicken broth
Red onion
Jalapeno
Garlic cloves
Orange juice
Lime juice
Taco seasoning

How To Make Our Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas Recipe:

First get out your instant pot and place the chicken breast in the bottom of the inner pot.

Pouring chicken broth over chicken in instant pot

Then you will pour the chicken broth over top of the chicken breasts.

Chopped onion and jalapeno on top of chicken in Instant Pot

Next you are going to top the chicken with the diced red onion, seeded and diced jalapeno, minced garlic, orange juice, and the lime juice.

Taco Seasoning sprinkled on top of chicken and veggies in Instant Pot

Once all of that is in there, sprinkle the packet of taco seasoning over top of everything.

Now place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the valve to the SEALING position.

After that is all set, press the MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK button and set the timer to 17 minutes if you’re using raw chicken, and 23 minutes if you are working with frozen chicken.

When the chicken is done cooking, do a quick release of the pressure by turn the valve to the VENTING position.

Now you will want to preheat your broiler.

Cooked Chicken on cutting board with 2 forks shredding it

Once all of the pressure is out, remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and put it on a cutting board to shred the chicken, but leave the juice in the pot (don’t discard it).

Shred the chicken with two forks or even a mixer if you want to speed the process up a bit.

Grab a large baking sheet and spray it with nonstick cooking spray.

Shredded chicken spread out on a baking sheet

Once the sheet is prepared, spread the shredded chicken out on the pan.

When the chicken is arranged on the pan pour about ⅓-⅔ cup of the liquid from the Instant Pot over top of the chicken.

Take the baking sheet and place it in the broiler carefully (use two hands to try and avoid spilling the liquid) and leave it in there for only 2-4 minutes to slightly brown the chicken and give it a little crunch.

Keep a close eye on it because it will crispy fast and then the chicken will just burn.

Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas in tortillas with toppings

After you pull the chicken from the broiler, serve the chicken on top of tortillas, nachos, salad, or however you’d like to eat it!

To Make This Easy Chicken Carnitas Recipe You Will Need:

Instant Pot (THIS is a great one!)
Large baking sheet
Nonstick cooking spray
Forks or mixer (for shredding the chicken)

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How to Make Your Own Taco Seasoning

One thing I love to make that people don’t always think of to look up or make themselves is taco seasoning! It is actually quite simple to do and normally you have most if not all of the ingredients that you need already in your pantry.

If you want to give it a shot, take a look at The Recipe Critic’s best homemade taco seasoning recipe. You might even find out that you enjoy the flavor even more than the store bought packet.

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