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Packed with tender shredded chicken and loaded with cheesy goodness, what’s not to love? Fully loaded and so good, these Instant Pot Chicken Nachos are the perfect crowd pleaser!
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Instant Pot Chicken Nachos
These chicken nachos are one of my favorite recipes to make for several reasons! For starters, it’s nachos, and who doesn’t love nachos?! Check out my web story on these delicious and easy nachos!
But, if that’s not enough to make you drool, here’s why they are so great:
- The recipe is so easy. There’s no searing, no browning, and very little prep work to do. It’s the perfect quick weeknight or party recipe.
- Leftover chicken. You can easily make extra chicken in your Instant Pot to use for later such as for tacos, quesadillas, or burrito bowls.
- It’s perfect for a crowd. If you have a group of people coming over, you can easily feed a crowd with these chicken nachos.
- You can customize it. Additionally, this recipe is easily customizable. Add whatever topping your heart desires.
How To Make Chicken Nachos
Because these chicken nachos are quick and easy to make, you’ll only need a handful of ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Chicken breasts– I use boneless skinless chicken breasts to easily shred the chicken. You can use any boneless, skinless chicken you prefer.
- Salsa– Don’t add the salsa during the baking process or you’ll end up with soggy nachos.
- Tortilla Chips– Don’t use thin chips. You want thick tortilla chips for nachos so that they don’t break when you lift them.
- Black beans– Canned black beans work best for this recipe, but you could also use refried beans if you’d like.
- Cheese– I use shredded cheddar cheese, but you can use Mexican or any other shredded cheese you prefer. Keep in mind that cheddar cheese melts the best.
- First, place your chicken in the Instant Pot, top it with salsa, push the pressure cook or manual button, and cook for 12-minutes.
- After the Instant Pot beeps, let the pressure naturally release for 10-minutes, and then release the steam valve.
- Next, preheat your oven to 400?.
- While the oven is preheating, remove your chicken from the Instant Pot and shred it with two forks. Then, place it back in the pot and stir.
- Drain the chicken by straining it in a colander or fine mesh strainer.
- Then, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the tortilla chips evenly on the baking sheet in a single layer. Top the tortilla chips with layers of chicken, bean and cheese.
- Bake your nachos in the oven for 10-minutes or until the cheese has completely melted.
- Top the nachos with your favorite toppings like salsa or sour cream. Serve and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks to Perfect Chicken Nachos and FAQs:
- The Instant Pot will take about 10-15 minutes to come to pressure. After it comes to pressure, it will begin counting down the time. When it is finished, it will beep.
- Drain the chicken before using it. This prevents the nachos from getting soft.
- Use freshly shredded cheese. For the best results, freshly shredded cheese works best for melting.
FAQs
For this recipe, you will first need to cook the chicken before baking the nachos. The chicken will be cooked at high pressure in your Instant Pot for 12-minutes. Then, you will bake the assembled chicken nachos at 400?
It will only take you a couple of minutes to prep everything. The chicken will take about 22-27 minutes to cook, and the nachos will take 10-minutes to bake. Altogether, the recipe should take you about 47-minutes to complete.
Not really. You can store any leftover chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-days. However, you won’t want to store the assembled nachos as the chips will get hard and soggy making the whole dish unappetizing.
Yes! This is the great thing about the Instant Pot, you can cook the chicken from frozen. However, if your chicken is frozen, you will need to increase the cooking time from 12-minutes to 15-minutes to ensure it fully cooks.
What To Serve With Chicken Nachos
Packed with protein and all the ingredients for a full meal, these chicken nachos are the perfect dinner solution all on their own, but can be paired with a variety of sides as well. Black Bean Salad or Spanish Rice would compliment these nachos well, as well as our Spicy Pineapple Mango Salsa, or our Knockoff Tito’s Tacos Salsa.
You can find more taco tuesday night ideas here.
Instant Pot Chicken Nachos Recipe
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Instant Pot Chicken Nachos
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 8 oz salsa
- 1 cup black beans rinsed and drained (optional)
- 3 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 12 oz bag tortilla chips
Instructions
- Place chicken in instant pot and pour salsa over top.
- Close pressure valve and set MANUAL pressure on high for 5 minutes (or 10 if using frozen chicken breasts).
- Once timer beeps, allow 5 minutes before releasing the pressure valve.
- Shred chicken on cutting board with 2 forks and place back into pot, stirring to combine.
- Let rest for 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread tortilla chips onto cookie sheet.
- Strain chicken in a fine mesh strainer or colander.
- Top chips with desired amount of shredded chicken, then top with black beans and cheese.
- Bake about 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
- Serve with salsa, sour cream, jalapenos, or your favorites.
