Instant Pot Shredded Poached Chicken takes just 6 minutes to cook. It can be used in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken, such as chicken chili, cold Chinese noodles with chicken and peanut sauce, or chicken curried fried rice.
Poaching chicken is a healthy and simple way to cook chicken. At its most basic form, poaching can be chicken cooked in water only. However, you can infuse additional flavor into chicken by including aromatics in the poaching liquid. These aromatics might include onion, garlic, bell pepper and black peppercorns as I’m using in this Instant Pot shredded poached chicken recipe. A squeeze of lime adds some extra flavor too.
Boneless, skinless chicken breast comes out moist, not dry using the poaching method. Pressure cooked poached boneless chicken takes just 6 minutes to cook (I used Bell and Evans chicken breast which are medium sized chicken breasts. If you use larger breasts, you may want to cook for a few minutes longer).
The cooked chicken breast shreds easily using two forks or your fingers. The broth is strained and can be used for soup or frozen for later use.
Shredded poached chicken is a versatile protein to have on hand. Cooked chicken breast can be portioned out and frozen so you can pull it out as you need. Add some to a green salad, use in enchiladas, chicken chili, sesame noodles,  chicken salad, quesadillas, tacos, pulled chicken sandwiches and more.
Instant Pot Shredded Poached Chicken
This basic recipe can be used whenever you need shredded chicken for a recipe. You can also cut the cooked chicken into cubes.
Ingredients
- 1.25 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
- 1 small onion cut up
- 1/2 green pepper cut up
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 lime
Instructions
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Place chicken in Instant Pot with onion, green pepper, garlic, salt, peppercorns, and water. Squeeze juice from lime half and add lime to the pot. Cover and cook at high pressure for 6 minutes. Natural release 10 minutes; then quick release.
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Remove chicken to a plate and cool; shred using two forks or your fingers. Strain broth from pot and reserve for another use (or freeze).
Poached chicken breast is a staple at our home. I usually make it in the oven when I am roasting veggies..love your IP version.
I love the simplicity of poached and roasted chicken – leftovers are great to have on hand 🙂
I don’t have an IP, can this be done in a slow cooker?
You can cook it in a slow cooker or on the stovetop. I haven’t made it in a slow cooker, but I’m guessing it should take no more than 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low. If you do this on the stovetop, put all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil; then reduce heat to a simmer and let poach for about 15 minutes.