Instant Pot Chicken Nachos
Instant Pot Chicken Nachos are made with flavorful shredded chicken, crispy tortilla chips, chili beans, loaded with two different kinds of cheese and all of your favorite toppings.
Instant Pot chicken nachos are full of flavor, loaded with two kinds of melty cheeses and topped off with plenty of delicious toppings! What I love about this recipe is, making chicken in the Instant Pot makes things so much faster and easier.
My family loves nachos. So if we’re having guests over or we’re just in the mood for nachos, I always pull out this recipe!
Ingredients
- chicken broth or water
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and black pepper
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- cumin
- chili powder
- paprika
- oregano
- tortilla chips
- shredded Colby-Jack cheese
- shredded cheddar cheese
- chili beans
- tomatoes
- green onions
- black olives
- jalapeño peppers
- avocado
- sour cream
- non-stick cooking spray
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Instant Pot\electric pressure cooker
Add chicken broth or water to your Instant Pot. (If you don’t have chicken broth, you can substitute with water.)
Insert the wire trivet for the Instant Pot.
Place your washed chicken breasts onto the trivet.
Add salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, paprika and oregano to the chicken.
Pour the salsa onto the seasoned chicken.
Put the cover on your Instant Pot and make sure the valve is set to the sealing position so it can build up pressure. Press the pressure cook button on your instant pot and set it to 10 minutes at high pressure. (Always follow the manufacturer’s directions on how to operate your Instant Pot.)
Once the Instant Pot comes to pressure and cooks for 10 minutes, let it natural release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, manually release the pressure valve with the long end of a wooden spoon, being careful not to come in contact with the steam. (It took approximately 10 minutes for my Instant Pot to come to pressure and start the actual cooking process.) Remove the cover from the Instant Pot.
Lift the chicken out of the Instant Pot with the handles of the trivet using a pot holder. Place trivet onto a cutting board.
Using two forks or an electric mixer, shred the chicken. Add back to the Instant Pot with the broth, salsa and spices.
Mix the chicken with the liquid in the Instant Pot.
Dice your tomatoes, green onions and jalapeños. Cut your avocado at the end.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Spray a large sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Add tortilla chips to sheet pan in a single layer.
Add chicken evenly over the tortilla chips with a large fork or tongs.
Open chili beans and drain most of the sauce. Add the chili beans evenly over the chicken.
Sprinkle both cheeses over the beans and chicken evenly.
Bake nachos in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Remove nachos from the oven.
Add tomatoes, green onions, jalapeños and black olives to the nachos.
Cut up your avocado in chunks.
Serve nachos and garnish with sour cream and avocado.
Hint: Serve right out of the oven. Nachos are best after they are just baked.
Variations
- Spices – Instead of using spices, you can add 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning.
- Toppings – You can change up the toppings for your nachos. Add or omit any of the toppings I have in my recipe to make it your own.
- Mild or spicy – You can add less chili powder and omit the jalapeños if you like more mild nachos. For spicy, add more chili powder, use spicy chili beans and add more jalapeños. You can also add cayenne to the spices.
Equipment
- Instant Pot\Electric Pressure Cooker
- large sheet pan
- large cutting board
- large, sharp knife
Storage
Chicken nachos are best served out of the oven the day they are made. I do not recommend saving them because the chips get soggy. If you do want to save them, they can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Top tip
Let the chicken natural release for 10 minutes before releasing manually the rest of the way. Releasing pressure too early can cause the chicken to shrink and become tough.
Related
Looking for other dinner recipes? Try these:
Instant Pot Chicken Nachos
- Instant Pot/ Electric Pressure Cooker
- large sheet pan
- large cutting board
- large, sharp knife
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 13 ounces (340g) tortilla chips
- 1 1/2 cups (169g) shredded Colby-Jack cheese
- 1 1/2 cups (169g) shredded cheddar cheese
- 16 ounces (440g) chili beans
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) tomatoes
- 1/2 cup (52g) green onions
- 2.25 ounces (64g) black olives 1 small can
- 1/4 cup (41g) jalapeño peppers
- 1/2 cup (150g) avocado
- 1 cup (240) sour cream
- non-stick cooking spray
- Add chicken broth or water to your Instant Pot. (If you don’t have chicken broth, you can substitute with water.)
- Insert the wire trivet for the Instant Pot.
- Place your washed chicken breasts onto the trivet.
- Add salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, paprika and oregano to the chicken.
- Pour the salsa onto the seasoned chicken.
- Put the cover on your Instant Pot and make sure the valve is set to the sealing position so it can build up pressure. Press the pressure cook button on your instant pot and set it to 10 minutes at high pressure. (Always follow the manufacturer’s directions on how to operate your Instant Pot.)
- Once the Instant Pot comes to pressure and cooks for 10 minutes, let it natural release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, manually release the pressure valve with the long end of a wooden spoon, being careful not to come in contact with the steam. (It took approximately 10 minutes for my Instant Pot to come to pressure and start the actual cooking process.) Remove the cover from the Instant Pot.
- Lift the chicken out of the Instant Pot with the handles of the trivet using a pot holder. Place trivet onto a cutting board.
- Using two forks or an electric mixer, shred the chicken.
- Add the chicken back to the Instant Pot with the broth, salsa and spices.
- Mix the chicken with the liquid in the Instant Pot.
- Dice your tomatoes, green onions and jalapeños. (Cut your avocado at the end so it doesn't brown.)
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Spray a large sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add tortilla chips to sheet pan in a single layer.
- Add chicken evenly over the tortilla chips with a large fork or tongs.
- Open chili beans and drain most of the sauce. Add the chili beans evenly over the chicken.
- Sprinkle both cheeses over the beans and chicken evenly.
- Bake nachos in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove nachos from the oven.
- Add tomatoes, green onions, jalapeños and black olives to the nachos.
- Cut up your avocado in chunks.
- Serve nachos and garnish with sour cream and avocado.
Chicken nachos are always a crowd-pleaser. Whether you’re celebrating for Cinco de Mayo, having a game-day party or a cookout, chicken nachos are the perfect appetizer to serve!
If you try my recipe, please let me know in the comments below!
Sweet regards,
Michele
