These Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas are destined to be just as popular as the slow cooker version, which have been a favorite in my kitchen and in the kitchens of thousands of Eat at Home readers.
They couldn’t be easier to make. The Instant Pot version starts with still frozen chicken, adds onions and bell peppers along with a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies. Not needing to thaw the chicken first makes these super simple to make and it means you don’t have to plan ahead for dinner.
With just 5 minutes of hands-on time to get these in the Instant Pot and only 12 minutes of cooking time (plus a few minutes for the pot to come to pressure), this recipe is a perfect weeknight dinner.
We usually wrap the chicken fajita filling in soft taco shells, adding cheese, sour cream and other fixings. But it also makes great nachos. Or try serving it over rice.
Using the Instant Pot makes the whole process quick. You can have the entire meal done in about 30 minutes and that includes putting the ingredients in the pot, allowing time for it to come to pressure and to cook.
If you prefer less juice in your fajita meat, then you can use a mesh strainer when cooking your fajita meat. Check out my 10 Best Instant Pot Accessories post for information about that and other great tools to use with your Instapot.
Find the Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas recipe by clicking here.
Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas (with a slow cooker option)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. frozen boneless chicken tenders
- 3 Peppers Green, Red, and Yellow, sliced
- 1 Onion sliced
- 1 can Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
- 1 Package of Taco Seasoning
- Flour or corn tortillas
- Toppings – sour cream cheese, guacamole, etc.
Instructions
- Put frozen chicken tenders in pot.
- Add peppers and onions and pour tomatoes over the top.
- Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything.
- Seal the lid and set the cook time to 12 minutes. Do a quick pressure release.
- Serve in tortillas with toppings.
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Do the veggies get really soft when cooked like this in the instant pot? My family loves fajitas and I am in love with my instant pot, but I am scared the veggies will turn to mush.
The veggies do get soft. If you want them crisper, leave them out till the end of cooking time. Release the pressure on the pot, then add the veggies and give it another 1-2 minutes of cook time.
I just got my IP, today. What do you mean by a quick release of pressure? Thank you
After the pressure cooking time has finished you can open the valve to release the pressure quickly. You’ll want to use tongs to do this as the steam is extremely hot. There should also be an explanation of the best way to do this for your specific model.
When setting the time do you push the poultry button or which button?
I typically do mine on high pressure, unless the recipe specifies otherwise. And I also tend to set my own times instead of using the preset buttons, like poultry. Perhaps it’s a control thing 😉
I am still learning my IP, and I happen to have thawed tenders I would like to use. Any idea how much time I should cut back? Thanks!
I think I’d start with 8 minutes.
12 minutes is definitely not long enough. Chicken was raw in the middle.
Ashley, I used frozen chicken tenders and the 12 minutes was long enough, but if your chicken was a larger cut or your pressure cooker cooks a bit different that can affect the cook time. If that happens, you can seal the lid again and set it for more time.
I just got my pot for Christmas so I’m still learning. Is this 12 minutes after it’s pressurized or from start to finish?
Dawn – great question! All of my Instant Pot Cook Times are the actual time that you set the IP for. So, these will cook for 12 minutes, but it will take time for the pot to come to pressure first. How much time depends on if your meat is frozen or thawed and how full your pot is when you load it.
Perhaps a silly question, but I don’t want to get it wrong using my new Instant Pot. Lol How many chicken tenders equals 2 pounds? Thank you!
Jana, that’s a great question, but a little hard to answer. It really depends on the brand because each one cuts their tenders in different sizes. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, I think the easiest way may be to “divide” them out based on the total weight of the package. It ends up being a guess, but it should be fairly accurate. Hope that helps!
Thank you! I ended up buying a kitchen scale and made this last night. It was delicious!
Altitude makes a big difference, add time if you are over 2000 ft. I am at close to 5000 & have to add 15% to the timing on recipes.
Do I add watee
The pot came to pressure when I made it just with the ingredients listed.
How do we open the pot to add veggies -won’t that cause t to take another 15 mins to get pressurized again?
It won’t take very long to come to pressure again, because the pot is already hot. It should seal back up pretty quick.
Thanks!
Would it work to release the pressure, add the peppers then just finish the whole thing off on the Sauté setting to keep the veggies crunchy?
YES, that would work great!
Would you take out the chicken before sauteing the vegetables
Danielle – you can actually toss them all in together!
Mine was very liquidy. Was anyone else’s?
Yes, the instant pot version of this does turn out pretty liquidy. You’ll need to serve with a slotted spoon. Because the pot needs extra liquid to come to pressure, there’s not a great way around this.
You can add cornstarch to the pot after cooking is complete to thicken the mixture.
Good idea!
Wondering if there is enough liquid left over to throw some rice while cooking it?
Do you know how much taco seasoning is in a packet? I make my own and keep it in a jar. A tbsp maybe?
I think 1/4 cup
I made this last week with larger breasts of chicken that we’re not quite thawed. It worked perfectly.
Made this tonight with totally frozen chicken tenders. I had frozen diced red and yellow bell peppers. Instead of taco seasoning I used fajita chicken seasoning. I used hot rotel tomatoes. This was fabulous. Yes there was a lot of juice so I drained the veggies,onions and peppers out then sliced the chicken. Husband and I loved it!
If I use frozen chicken thighs how long do you think i should cook for?
How long do I set this to slow cook?
5-6 hours on high or 7-8 on low
Do you cook on the slow-cooker setting?
You can use the Instant Pot as a slow cooker. I did this recipe under pressure though.
Absolute success. Canned tomatoes, chicken, and taco seasoning for 8 then added the veggies for another 3. Kept the veggies al dented and everything cooked. Thank you so much!
It was good, though my family complained that the meat was a dry. I ate more sauce on mine and thought it was okay for breasts. I prefer thighs for this reason. We ate the breasts over brown rice. I I shredded the leftover for enchiladas or taco soup. I haven’t decided. Thank you for the recipe,
Love this recipe-it is delicious! This will definitely be a staple in my house 🙂 The only thing I wanted to bring to your attention is that your recipe says “with a slow cooker option” BUT you don’t offer that info in the actual recipe. I had to look through the comments to find it. If you are going to say that there is a slow cooker option please put it in the recipe. Thanks!
I agree. This is the first time using my pressure cooker instapot. I found that the can size of tomatoes would also be helpfful, it doesn’t give that information.
This would be a 14 oz can or if you’re using tomatoes with green chilies, those sometimes come in a 12 oz can. Either one will work.
The canned tomatoes at Aldis are Red Gold.
Sounds like a great recipe but after 12 min my chicken was still very raw! 🙁 I have an Instant pot ip-duo. If I should try again I will definitely put vegetables in after as they were just mush by the time I got the chicken cooked 🙁
Was your pot sealed? Also don’t set a timer, let the instant pot come to pressure and then count down on its on. If your pot is whistling the whole time, it’s not sealed.
We do not eat tomatoes in my family. Are there other liquids we can substitute the diced tomato with?
I’d use chick broth instead 🙂
First time using IP – I think I am in trouble – used fresh boneless cb and probably not enough water… b u r n – oops. Maybe we are having pizza tonight 😂
Oh no! Sorry it didn’t turn out, but sometimes that’s part of the learning process. Keep trying!
I remove the veggies and chicken. Add a cup of white rice and put it on the rice function. Gives you delicious tomatoe rice and you don’t have to throw away the liquid!
I love this idea! So smart!
Brilliant idea! I did this too tonight and had an amazing chicken and rice dinner! I used full chicken breasts instead of tenderloins and so did 20 minutes instead of 12 and it turned out just incredible.
Good call on the time adjustment and I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
I did this tonight as well! Amazing addition to the recipe!
In total this recipe was great! I used a insta pot and frozen chicken tenders. At 12 mins high pressure my chicken cake out perfect. I did time from starting to table total was 52mins. But only about 10 of that was prep work. Just took the pot a bit to come to pressure
Just made this with thawed out boneless skinless thighs. It’s so delicious and tender…chicken melts in your mouth!
Glad to hear that you enjoyed it, Jennifer!
How long do you think I should do fresh, not frozen, boneless skinless chicken thighs?
I did these at high pressure for 9 mins. Chicken was very small and tasty. Veggies were even softer but tasted good non the less.
That was supposed to be soft and tasty, not small.
How long with boneless thighs?
The cook time should be about the same for boneless thighs 🙂
I was wondering if you could make this into a freezer meal? I have a friend that is a dog breeder and sometimes will need a couple freezer meals to feed her family since she will be busy with new puppies.
Oh, I not going to use frozen chicken – fresh then freeze.
It’s great to be able to use whatever works best for your family, isn’t it!
Yes you can, Nikki! Just have her put the chicken, peppers, onion & taco seasoning in a freezer bag, then thaw overnight in the fridge, and 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high in the slow cooker and dinner’s ready. If she has an Instant Pot then she could just add 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies. Add all ingredients to the pressure cooker pot. Set for 15 minutes cook time. Do a quick pressure release.
Either way, it’s a great dinner idea when there are new puppies, or new babies, or kids in sports, or a really good novel that you want to read over the weekend instead of spending an hour or so over dinner!
I have the power cooker…not instant pot. Will it work the same way??
Yes, Stephanie! THat should work just fine 🙂
My insta pot is taking forever to come to pressure! Is that because the frozen chicken?
Ally – that is probably exactly what’s going on! You can check the seal and gasket, but you’ll want to add extra time, probably 5 – 10 minutes depending on the weight and whether or not your using a whole chicken or pieces when starting from frozen. Hope that helps!
You didnt mention what settings to use, just cook for 12 minutes. This would be helpful for us beginners.
Beth – Tiffany usually goes with high on most of her recipes, including this one. Hope that helps!
I need to make a larger quantity. Should I increase cook time by double?
Lelia – You might need to add 2-3 minutes cook time, but that should take care of it!
Made this tonight. After the chicken/peppers cooked I used some of the tomato broth for the liquid and cooked some rice. And served chicken, peppers and onions over the rice. Delicious!
Sounds delicious!
Do we mix this together? The way the instructions read it’s just layer on top of layer.. but I don’t see the chicken getting seasoned that way very well??
Jessia – Tiffany doesn’t always mix ingredients in the crockpot, which works really well on some recipes. It may depend on the size of your chicken tenders and how well each of them is seasoned. But, it usually doesn’t hurt to mix things up a bit either!
Where are the instructions for the slow cooker option?
Oh dear – we’ll need to correct that post! Here are the slow cooker directions –
Slice peppers and onions then place them on the bottom of the slow cooker. Put chicken on top of the peppers and onions. Sprinkle taco seasoning on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Shred everything and mix in the juice. Serve on tortillas with your favorite toppings.
Thanks Kendra!
Thanks for the delicious recipe! So easy and whole family loves it!
Finally tried this and it was great! Hubby approved and can’t wait to have it again!
HELLo! First of all, thanks for the recipe. This is the second meal I have made in my instantpot but I kept getting a burn message. What could I have done wrong? I put the chicken tenders, frozen in the pot and added the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and some extra water.
First burb message; nothing burning so I added more water . 2nd time: chicken was burning a bit and looked cooked but never came to pressure. Any Insight will be helpful.
Ps- was planning to add veggies last to avoid mushiness
Hmmm, I would try adding liquid tot he pot first so the chicken isn’t sitting directly on the bottom of the pot. Some pots seem to be more sensitive than others with the burn notice!
Thanks so much! First time using my Instapot and this turned out great! I had two frozen chicken breasts from Costco that I cooked on their own for 15 minutes, then I took them out and sliced them as they were still frozen in the center. I put them back in with the onion and peppers for another 5 minutes and they came out great! I have now added a cup of rice to IP and hope it comes out great as well…either way, I feel very happy with the fajitas and feel more confident about using my new IP! Thanks for everyone’s suggestions!
So you don’t cut up the chicken first I’ll be using breast and if you want cook them first little bit and then the onions and peppers how would you go bout it thanks
I made this last night. I didn’t pay attention about straining, however, I just did it myself. It was soupy, but they were delicious and the chicken was so tender! Thanks!
I don’t see the slow cooker option mentioned in the title of the recipe. Can you clarify/explain what that is or direct me to that recipe?
Here’s the link to the Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita recipe.
Does it change if use frozen chicken breast
This recipe actually starts with frozen chicken, so it should work just fine as is. If you do find that frozen chicken isn’t completely cooked in an IP recipe, simply lock the lid back on and give it a few more minutes and it should come to temperature even quicker and you’ll be set!