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Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas is packed with amazing flavors & juicy chicken. It's made with our homemade Salt free fajita seasoning in the pressure cooker just like this instant pot shrimp fajitas and under 15 mins.
Instant Pot Fajita Chicken
Don't miss our homemade sugar free and salt free fajita seasoning recipe. It makes the best fajitas in whole wide world, be it steak fajitas, chicken fajitas, shrimp fajitas, Instant pot chicken fajita rice or Instant pot fajita pasta, you name it!
Instant Pot Fajita chicken can be made into a complete dump & start recipe. We just sautéed the minced garlic for 60 seconds to add a layer of extra flavor. You can skip this step.
Tips & Tricks
- Best flavor secret: Marinate the chicken with homemade fajita seasoning over night in the fridge. You'll have an amazing tender and flavor packed chicken fajitas. Add Better than Bouillon chicken base for an extra depth of flavor.
- What chicken is best for fajitas: We prefer using boneless & skinless chicken thighs or breasts. We used a mix of both chicken breasts and chicken thighs.
- Softer bell peppers: Pressure cook the bell peppers long with everything else for softer tender bell peppers (todays recipe).
- Crunchy bell peppers: If you prefer crunchy bell peppers add them later after the pressure cooking cycle is over. Mix and allow them to rest for 5-10 mins. The residual heat will perfectly cook them down while keeping them crunchy.
- For extra sauce: If you prefer the fajita chicken instant pot recipe with more sauce add ½ cup water instead of ¼ cup. You'll have a good amount of sauce to enjoy with some perfect Jasmine rice instant pot recipe.
Fajita Chicken Instant Pot - Ingredients
Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.
- Chicken: Use boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into thin strips about 2.5 inches long. We used a mix of chicken breasts and thighs. You can do that as well!
- Homemade sugar free & salt free fajita seasoning: You will just need less than 5 mins to make a small batch fajita seasoning at home with readily available spices. It'll last you a long time, it's the best seasoning to make restaurant quality authentic fajitas at home and it's definitely budget friendly and healthy. Don't miss our version because it packs a punch always 😀
- Aromatics: Yellow onion and garlic.
- Bell Pepper: Green, yellow and red bell pepper. We totally recommend the green bell pepper for a fresh, crisp and sharp flavor. Whereas, the red and yellow bell peppers add a subtle sweetness to the dish. So good!
- Better than Bouillon chicken base: If you want an almost instant flavor boost and want to take your home cooking to the next level add this to your dishes. Once we started using this crazy good stuff we never looked back to store bought chicken stock ever!
- Liquid: Water.
- Cooking fat: Use any neutral oil like avocado, canola, sunflower, vegetable or extra light/light olive oil.
How do you make chicken fajitas from scratch in instant pot?
Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.
Step #1 Saute aromatics, deglaze pot
- Saute aromatics: Add oil in instant pot on SAUTE mode kept at HIGH and saute the garlic for just 1 minute, throw in the onion and saute for 30 seconds.
- De-glaze pot: Pour water and deglaze the pot very well scraping the sides and the bottom of the pot with a spatula. This will help loosen any stuck food particles and prevent the BURN error.
Step #2 Pressure cook & serve
- Dump ingredients: Add the bell peppers and the marinated chicken (marinate overnight with fajita seasoning). Also add 1 tbsp better than bouillon chicken base & salt according to your personal taste preference. DO NOT mix or stir anything.
- Pressure cook: Secure the lid, seal the valve and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 3 mins. Perform a quick pressure release manually by moving the valve from the sealing to the venting position. Now, stir the pressure cooked chicken fajita to mix everything well. Serve hot with tortillas, Mexican rice or cilantro lime rice. So yummy!
Can chicken fajitas be frozen?
Yes, chicken fajitas can be frozen for upto 2 months in proper freezer safe containers or bags.
How long can you store Fajita chicken in the fridge?
Fridge: You can store the instant pot chicken fajita in air tight container for upto 4 days in the fridge. Follow the re-heating tips below.
Can you reheat chicken fajitas?
Yes you can reheat chicken fajitas in the microwave oven until warm or hot. The bell peppers and the onion will cook down further.
Frozen fajita chicken: Thaw the frozen chicken fajitas overnight in the fridge and follow the reheating directions shared above.
What goes with chicken fajitas?
Serve instant pot fajita chicken with the following:
- Mexican rice.
- Cilantro lime rice.
- Steamed Jasmine rice (goes well with saucy fajita chicken instant pot recipe).
- Tortilla.
Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
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Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken (**skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts cut into2 or 2.5 inch thin strips)
- 1 onion (**medium yellow onion thickly sliced.)
- 1 tbsp garlic (**minced.)
- 1 green bell pepper (**sliced thickly. Medium bell pepper.)
- 1 red bell pepper (**sliced thickly. Medium bell pepper.)
- 1 orange bell pepper (**sliced thickly. Medium bell pepper.)
- 2 tbsp Fajita seasoning (**use our homemade sugar free & salt free fajita seasoning for best flavor)
- 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon (**chicken base in paste form.)
- ¼ cup Water
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil (**use light or extra light or you may use any neutral oil. Refer the list in NOTES below.)
- salt (**according to your personal preference.)
Equipment Used
Instructions
- Marinate chicken: Cut the skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts or both into 2-2.5 inch thin strips & marinate them with 2 tbsp homemade fajita seasoning, salt (use according to your own personal preference) & 1 tbsp olive oil or any neutral oil. Massage the chicken pieces very well with the fajita seasoning & oil and keep them in the fridge overnight for the best flavor.
- Saute aromatics: Set the instant pot on SAUTE function and add 1 tbsp oil. When the oil becomes moderately hot gently release the garlic & saute for 1 min, add the onion and saute for 60 seconds.
- Deglaze pot: Pour water and deglaze the pot very well scrapping the sides and the bottom of the pot with the help of a spatula. This will help loosen ay stuck food particles & help prevent the BURN error. CANCEL the SAUTE function.
- Pressure Cook: Now throw in the bell peppers & the marinated chicken strips, add better than bouillon chicken base on top of the bell peppers. DO NOT stir or mix the ingredients in the pot. Secure the lid, seal the valve and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for 3 minutes. When the cooking cycle is over the instant pot will begin to beep, immediately perform a quick pressure release by manually moving the valve from the sealing to the venting position. Open the lid carefully when the metal pin on the lid drops.
- Stir & serve: Now, give everything in the pot a good stir. This will help mix the ingredients well. You'll have a little more sauce because the onion and the bell peppers will also release moisture. Serve hot with Mexican rice, Cilantro lime rice, Jasmine rice or stuff the fajita chicken in tortillas. If you prefer more sauce add more water or chicken stock at this stage. Enjoy!
Notes
- Neutral oils: Flavorless oils like avocado oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, extra light or light olive oil, vegetable oil are all good examples of neutral oil. The do not have any taste or flavor of their own. You can use any of these oils to make the chicken fajitas in instant pot.
- Saucy fajita chicken: If you prefer more sauce you can add ⅓ or ½ cup water instead of ¼ cup. The veggies and the onion will also release some amount of moisture.
- Should I add salt: Yes, you need to add salt according to your personal taste preference because our homemade fajita seasoning is salt free and also sugar free.
- Crisp & crunchy bell peppers: If that's what you prefer do not pressure cook the bell peppers instead add them once the pressure cooking cycle is over and allow them to rest for 5-10 before serving. This way the bell peppers will perfectly cook down and also remain crunchy.
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